Imagineerz@School Teaching Tip: i-Can! Stories

What’s an i-Can! Story? Here are some tips on sharing our stories in your classroom.

An i-Can! Story IS…

An opportunity to review STOP Signs and common problem-solving strategies with your students.
A chance for students to visualize and internalize growth mindset.
Lots of fun — an opportunity for you to laugh along with students!

Supposed to go any certain way — there’s no one-size-fits-all experience!
Overly serious in its implementation — having fun makes these life lessons memorable!

Decide in advance who your storyteller (AKA your STOP Sign Ninja) will be.
- Be vigilant during building time.
- Familiarize yourself with the STOP Sign and solution in order to help your STOP Sign Ninja tell the story.
Limit the number of students “on stage” to 4-5 at a time.
Get in there and help the STOP Sign Ninja — and don’t be shy with your materials!

- Taking a student by the hands and doing an action (e.g. cutting if they’re pretending to be scissors) moves the action along and generates laughs.
Keep the STOP Sign Ninja on track.
- Ask questions that will get them to the point of their story, like: “What happened when you tried [insert lesson’s goal here]?”
Encourage students to act things out along with the STOP Sign Ninja.
- “Paper, tape — show us what that looks like!“
Have fun and be silly!
- This encourages students to have fun and helps them realize STOP Signs aren’t a big deal.

It takes some time to run an i-Can! Story that doesn’t feel completely hectic, but the more we practice, the better we get.