Inspiring Ideas For Your Students

Inspiremykids.com is being used by educators, guidance counselors and school psychologists across the United States, Canada and around the world to provide a positive, interactive and unique way to support and integrate teaching requirements in Character Education, Citizenship, Service Learning and ELA.

For example, Special Ed teacher extraordinaire, Johnna Sarcone, as part of her Character Education curriculum, provides her students with the opportunity to review the site each week for new stories based on the character ed theme of the week. Students are directed to select one story and then, in support of her ELA curriculum, deliver a written and oral presentation to the class on what they learned.

Here are a few other ways IMK is being used successfully in the classroom:

  • “LOVE your site!!!! It’s just awesome!! Using it as a main resource for our Elementary school’s Citizenship program!!! Thank you and keep up the great work!! Too many exclamation points??” – Elementary School Teacher
  • “I work for Peel District School Board in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.  We have Character Trait Education (Caring, Inclusive, Cooperative, Honest, Respect, Responsibility) that we often combine with our isms social justice teaching k to 8. I use the videos, stories and quotes to build a peaceful, reflective and inspiring learning community in my classroom. My grade 3s have responded very positively to the many resources. In addition to being a rich part of my oral language program, I also use the quotes as journal prompts…asking the children to think about what the quote means to them and how they might connect the text to self. Another 10 week project I am using is teaching students about the gifts of self such as being a good example, active listening, teaching someone else something you know, accepting help from others, giving up a bad habit, sharing who you really are, accepting others for who they are, giving your time to others, and having fun together.” – Kathleen Clarke, Grade 3 Teacher, Munden Park Public School, PDSB.
  • “My students just love each story. I show it each Friday to my eighth graders, and they begin asking about it as soon as they hit my classroom doors. We watch and then discuss it orally.  It only takes about 25 minutes of my 90 minute class.  With so many students nowadays looking for a way out of tough situations even possibly suicide, I just feel that doing this each week helps them to realize we all have problems and some are worse than theirs.  This just helps them walk in someone else’s shoes.  Students this day and age seem to have no empathy for others.  This requires them to feel for others and some of my students have gotten teary eyed over one of your programs.  I think this great to teach them to be more thoughtful and caring, not just thinking only of themselves.  I feel that I am responsible for the whole child while they are in my classroom, and I thank you for helping me do this.  Some of my students would love to help write for you, just let us know.  I have some gifted writers that would love to help you.  Thanks again!!!!” – Amy Parker, Middle School Teacher
  • I am a school psychologist in PA and I am constantly looking for good online resources for kids and to for materials in groups/counseling. This website is my go-to place and has NEVER let me down.  Not only does this website inspire the students I work with but me as well!  I always tell people that I can’t watch the news anymore; its too depressing.  This website is the type of news the entire world needs!  Thank you for sharing. – School Psychologist, Pennsylvania

We have developed Elementary School and Middle School ELA worksheets to support your efforts and as time goes on we will be posting additional support materials.

Other practical ways identified by teachers for using the site throughout the school day to support your educational goals include:

  • Warm Up activity
  • “Do Nows”
  • Free time
  • Extra Credit
  • After School Activity
  • End of Class
  • Detention

Still more ways to leverage IMK are by developing a regular school-wide program leveraging IMK that unites the entire school around a character trait and IMK story each month. Then, each and every discipline and class can creatively apply the story to specific learning objectives for that month.

We also want to encourage you to submit your ideas for classroom usage, lesson plans and worksheets for use by the IMK community. In fact, if you do submit ideas and/or materials that are being used in the classroom, we would love to share the love. If you are up for it, we would be happy to write about you and your class and school in an upcoming post. Similarly, if you would like to write a guest post about your experience of using IMK in the class/school, we would be happy to expose this to the IMK community.

Lastly, if you have any suggestions on specific support materials you would like to see developed, please contact us.

Thanks so much…and please keep the great feedback coming!