A’ndrea Fisher facilitated a video call with a class in Canada to help her first-grade students in Texas gain diverse perspectives. Students shared state and national symbols during the call as well as symbols they created to represent their class. Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Finding Similarities Across Cultures
Andrea Sayler fostered her students’ curiosity of the natural world by holding a BioBlitz in the nature preserve near their school. A BioBlitz is an event that brings together community members to find and identify as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. Andrea’s students used the data they gathered to develop research projects on flora or fauna that interested them. They shared their findings with their school community. Continue reading Educator Spotlight: A Student-Led Exploration of Local Species
Student discourse is a major component of any classroom. Teachers work to create a learning environment that fosters critical thought and provides a safe space for new ideas. There are a wide range of facilitation techniques designed to support classroom discussion, but they don’t always allow students to voice ideas based on their own understanding of the world. When we facilitate dialogue that feels separate from students’ lives, we limit the connections they can build. Continue reading Strategy Share: Support Classroom Discussion by Incorporating Students’ Culture
The following post was written by 2017 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Ali Farlow-Troy, a middle- and high-school science and physical education teacher in Toronto, Ontario, after her expedition to the Arctic. The Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program is a professional development opportunity for pre-K–12 educators made possible by a partnership between Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Education. Hanging off the bow of a ship called the National Geographic Explorer, watching a polar bear guide … Continue reading Strategy Share: Building Empathy Through Virtual Immersion
ENVIRONMENT The sea is awash with microscopic bits of plastic. But a hint of good news is emerging from Vancouver Island, where a recent investigation found that the amount of plastic contamination in shellfish there is just a tiny percentage of what the scientists expected. (Hakai Magazine) Take these 10 easy steps to fight plastic pollution. Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key … Continue reading Possible Good News: Some Plastic Pollution Isn’t Plastic After All
