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How My Geography Class Used Tins to Tell the Story of Place

I loved and appreciated the insights that students shared with me through their Story of Place assignments. Fast-forward to this September: we were back in the classroom full-time, and I wanted to transform the project into something more tangible. Continue reading How My Geography Class Used Tins to Tell the Story of Place

Going Beyond Black Wall Street: Opening Students to a World of Black Heritage in their Own Backyard

r over 30 years, before I ever heard about it in school. No one ever told me how our family might be connected to this history. All I knew as a child was that my mom was born in Tuskegee, Alabama (with all of its loaded history) and my dad came from Cleveland, Tennessee (a city situated next to a Sundown town known as Ducktown – the name made famous by the slogan “any Blacks caught here better duck”). And as far as I knew, we were the first generation in our family to make the journey from the deep south to Oklahoma territory. Or so I thought, but that is a separate story I am exploring in my role as a Wayfinder for the 2892 Miles to Go Project.  Continue reading Going Beyond Black Wall Street: Opening Students to a World of Black Heritage in their Own Backyard

GIS in the Classroom: A Conversation with Ali Pressel & Kyle Tredinnick

In October 2019, Teacher Advisory Council members Ali Pressel and Kyle Tredinnick hosted a breakout session titled “StoryMaps: Building a GeoHabit” at National Geographic’s Education Summit. ArcGIS StoryMaps is a system that allows users to tell digital stories with text, interactive maps, imagery, and more. The two high school teachers value this skillset and geographic information systems (GIS) in the classroom as they prepare students … Continue reading GIS in the Classroom: A Conversation with Ali Pressel & Kyle Tredinnick

“Our World is All About Spatial Data”: A Conversation with Anita Palmer

Recognized as a “hero” in her industry, Anita Palmer has over 25 years pioneering the perception and education around the framework of geographic information systems (GIS). Anita is National Geographic’s first-ever GIS-focused Education fellow.  The growing field of GIS is continuously evolving and shaping the way we view geography beyond static maps. To further raise awareness and push the conversation around this focus, an annual … Continue reading “Our World is All About Spatial Data”: A Conversation with Anita Palmer

Geography Awareness Week: Honoring a Forgotten Slave Cemetery

UNITED STATES Students and educators who discovered a slave burial site at a Bronx park are working to have a marker placed, delivering belated recognition to early New Yorkers. (New York Times) The Hunts Point Slave Burial Ground Project has a fantastic, standards-aligned curriculum. This citizen science project is a perfect example of the Geography of Civil Rights—this year’s Geography Awareness Week theme. Teachers, scroll … Continue reading Geography Awareness Week: Honoring a Forgotten Slave Cemetery