Community Building

The question of whether or not to leave a workplace can be a challenging one for many teachers. In this blog, one teacher shares her process with exploring core values, and allowing those values to guide her in her decision to change her district.

This activity helps students get to know each other while also providing them with an introduction to the engineering design process. We recommend using this activity at the beginning of the school year to build community and student understanding of engineering.

The Knowles Inquiry Modules guide teacher groups through a self-paced professional inquiry process. Across five modules (developing questions, considering data, collecting data, analyzing data, and sharing outcomes), educators collaboratively examine and refine their teaching practices. The framework promotes reflection, critical friendship, and continuous professional growth through structured yet flexible inquiry cycles.

The Knowles Teacher Initiative Hand Identity Activity is a reflection tool, adapted from Facing History and Ourselves, that supports educators in exploring self-perceptions and others’ perceptions. Teachers can use this activity to reflect on identity, share insights with colleagues, and consider how differences between self-view and external perception shape classroom and collegial interactions.

Carl Armstrong tells the history of students restoring prairie land at his suburban Chicago high school and reflects on their accomplishments.