In this week's episode, Aleta speaks with educator, activist, and author Jonathan Kozol about his new book, inequality in education, and -- most importantly -- how educators can combat it. 

Written version: https://inspiredteaching.org/interview-jonathan-kozol-hooray-for-monday

Resources:
Preoroder An End to Inequality here: https://thenewpress.com/books/end-inequality 
Check out the rest of Mr. Kozol's books here: https://www.jonathankozol.com/books

Inspired Teaching Institutes: https://inspiredteaching.org/inspired-teaching-institute/
Teaching with Improvisation Fellowship: https://inspiredteaching.org/teaching-with-improvisation-fellowship/
Speak Truth: https://inspiredteaching.org/youth/speak-truth/

February 26, 2024: An Interview with Jonathan Kozol

Just a few hours ago, President Joe Biden announced he is withdrawing from the race for President. This post explores the kinds of questions we might ask our students in this historical moment - and the ways we might begin thinking about the work ahead as we start a new year in this uncharted territory. 

Web Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/uncharted-territory-hooray-for-monday/

How to register to vote: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday publication to receive additional resources and important details on upcoming Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

July 22, 2024: Uncharted Territory

Collection and review of resources is an important first step in supporting our students when they find an issue they are curious about. In this week's episode, Jenna shares insight and resources for exploring the history and significance of this Monday's holiday -- whether it's Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, or otherwise -- with your students. 

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

October 14, 2024: What's in a Name?

Aleta speaks with parenting expert and researcher at Brookings, Rebecca Winthrop, about Rebecca's upcoming book, The Disengaged Teen, and the four modes of engagement her research uncovered.

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday for weekly resources and important updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

Pre-order The Disengaged Teen (out January 7): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/726142/the-disengaged-teen-by-jenny-anderson-and-rebecca-winthrop/

October 28, 2024: What Does Engagement Look Like?

Aleta speaks with educator, advocate, and author Esther Wojcicki about an array of topics -- from AI in the classroom to the benefits of student-led learning.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and important updates on upcoming Inspired Teaching professional development programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 9, 2024: Meet Esther Wojcicki

This issue of Hooray For Monday was originally published on November 2, 2020. While much has changed in the world since then, being kind to one another and modeling kindness for our students remains critical in combatting division and distrust. 

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for relevant resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

May 12, 2025: From the Archives: Our Capacity for Kindness

This week's Hooray For Monday features a conversation Jenna and Meag had with Deepa Iyer, a lawyer, activist, and author, who shares the framework she's developed that helps us all find our role in building community and advancing the causes we believe in.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter to receive weekly resources and information on upcoming Inspired Teaching events and programming: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/



June 16, 2025: Everyone Can Play a Role in Resistance

Jenna outlines how Inspired Teaching's ABCDE of Learner Needs apply to ensuring students and teachers in the LGBTQ+ community are welcomed, supported, and celebrated in schools everywhere, every day.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

June 23, 2025: Pride and the ABCDEs

Much has changed in 30 years. But much has remained the same. There are still too many schools and classrooms where kids are praised for staying in line and teachers are praised for keeping them there. But today there are thousands and thousands of Inspired Teachers who are driving change.

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

June 30, 2025: What This Moment Calls For

For 30 years, Inspired Teaching has invested in teachers as the source for transformational change in the education system.

30 Years of Curiosity: https://inspiredteaching.org/30-year-anniversary-center-for-inspired-teaching/

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and updates on upcoming Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

July 21, 2025: Teachers Matter

As part of our 30th anniversary celebration, we’ve got a special time-travel issue this week and next, in which we get to revisit the 2010-2011 school year. In that school year fidget spinners were making an appearance along with Silly Bandz, Adele’s Rolling in the Deep was the #1 song, and skinny jeans were still a popular thing. But what we’re sharing today goes a little deeper than these trends.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday podcast for relevant resources and information on upcoming Inspired Teaching events and programs: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

July 28, 2025: Inspired Teaching for the Long Term, Pt. 1

Orly Friedman, an Inspired Teacher and founder of Red Bridge in San Francisco, shares how the school centers student agency in all things, including determining when they advance to the next level, and how teachers anywhere can incorporate more opportunities for autonomy into their classrooms.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and information on upcoming Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

August 11, 2025: Agency and Autonomy

Jenna speaks with her son Leal, and shares actionable insights for teachers, about the importance of clarity and honesty in communication.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and information on upcoming Inspired Teaching events and programming: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

August 25, 2025: Clear is Kind

There is a lot going on in the world right now. Support your students in navigating this uncertainty.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: 

September 1, 2025: The Courage of a Maybe

There are no easy answers to the question of if, when, and how to use AI platforms in the classroom. But Inspired Teachers don’t expect easy answers; instead we engage our curiosity and ask good questions.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and information about upcoming Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

Join the Inspired Teaching Curiosity Challenge: https://inspiredteaching.org/curiosity-challenge-2025/

September 15, 2025: AI: Curiosity Killer or Fuel for Learning?

It's our responsibility—to our students and ourselves—to be the drivers, not the passengers, of educational innovation.

September 22, 2025: To AI or Not to AI? These are the Questions

Every teacher CAN have the agency to take the reins of what’s happening in their schools.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter to receive weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

September 29, 2025: Everyday Advocacy

Listen to this week's podcast episode to learn how to use the Everyday Advocacy framework in the face of book bans and censorship.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

October 6, 2025: It's Banned Books Week

Over more than 260 issues of Hooray For Monday, Inspired Teaching has featured the voices of leading activists, educators, and changemakers. Revisit those conversations in the Action & Advocacy playlist today: https://soundcloud.com/inspiredteaching/sets/action-advocacy/s-fAXv2NEd0Gu?si=7182f89e945849b2ba7941b06af5cba2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing 

October 13, 2025: Inspiration to Action

Revisit Inspired Teaching's October 2024 conversation with Rebecca Winthrop, author of The Disengaged Teen, to understand how young people engage--and how to support them in doing so authentically. 

October 20, 2025: (From the Archives) What Does Engagement Look Like?

Jenna and Aleta discuss cultural traditions around, personal experiences with, and classroom approaches to navigating death and loss. 

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter to receive weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

October 27, 2025: Dia de Los Muertos: A Beautiful Way to Talk with Kids About Death

Cosby Hunt, Inspired Teaching's Director of Instructional Design and a long-time history teacher in Washington, DC, speaks with Jenna Fournel about teaching history in this city, at this moment in time. He shares his advice for centering student voice and experience.

Sign up for the Hooray For Monday newsletter to receive weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

Mentioned in this episode: 

Mikva Challenge: https://mikvachallenge.org/
Speak Truth: https://inspiredteaching.org/youth/speak-truth/
Looping: https://inspiredteaching.org/looping/

November 3, 2025: Teaching in this Moment

Even with the long list of instructional objectives you need to address, each day you spend with your students is just one day out of a whole year of learning. And the whole year you spend with your students is just one out of over a dozen years those students will spend in school.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and information on Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

November 10, 2025: Operationalizing Curiosity

Each week at our Inspired Teaching staff meeting, we begin with a brief exercise. This past week, each of us responded to the question: “What are you curious about?” The question connects directly with Inspired Teaching’s work to promote the kind of teaching that fuels—instead of stifles—curiosity.

Conversation with Helanius J. Wilkins on curiosity: https://soundcloud.com/inspiredteaching/january-26-2023-curiosity-is-everything

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and information on Inspired Teaching events and programs: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

November 17, 2025: (From the Archives) The Opposite of Curiosity

As you celebrate Thanksgiving, consider the many unique traditions around the country--and celebrate that diversity, as well!

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

November 24, 2025: Thankful for Our Differences

Curiosity bridges divides among us, enables us to implement AI productively, and fuels student engagement. This means fueling curiosity should be high on your priority list.

Join the Inspired Teaching Curiosity Challenge: https://inspiredteaching.org/curiosity-challenge-2025/

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 1, 2025: Are We Curious Yet?

Aleta speaks with journalist, professor, and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Dr. George Miller for his insight into watching, reading, and listening to the news today.

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 8, 2025: It's All About Exploration

Jenna and Aleta reflect on what they've observed in the classrooms of Inspired Teaching Fellows this fall, and how those lessons can apply to classrooms everywhere.

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday to receive weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 15, 2025: What Our Teachers Are Teaching Us

Aleta and Michelle discuss how Hooray For Monday came to be, and ends up in your inbox every week, and a few of the 2025 issues they really love.

Read all of our--and your-- favorite Hooray For Mondays of 2025: https://inspiredteaching.org/2025-highlights-hooray-for-monday/

Join the Inspired Teaching Curiosity Challenge: https://inspiredteaching.org/inspired-teaching-curiosity-challenge/

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday for weekly resources and information on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 22, 2025: Our Favorite Issues of 2025

Hooray for Monday is an award-winning collection of resources from Center for Inspired Teaching, shared at the start of every week. These resources feature questions, ideas, reflections, and actions we can all take to remodel the school experience for students. Hooray for Monday challenges teachers to hone their skills as Instigators of Thought©, includes instructional ideas from our #Inspired2Learn collection, and provides links to other useful tools and opportunities.

About Us
Creating radical change in the school experience — away from compliance and toward authentic engagement. Center for Inspired Teaching envisions a future in which every person is prepared to thrive in and contribute to our complex and rapidly changing world, through an education that teaches students how to think, not what to think.

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