Educator Spotlight: Cross-Cultural Exchange of Art and Hip-Hop

Lavie Raven is a high school social studies and language arts teacher at North Lawndale College Prep in his home city of Chicago. He is a fourth-generation teacher with 20 years experience, a practitioner of graffiti writing and illuminated script, rapper, and part-time b-boy. Activity: New Sun Rising Subjects: Social Studies and Language Arts Grade: High School Tell us about your activity. In this summer’s … Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Cross-Cultural Exchange of Art and Hip-Hop

Educator Spotlight: Exploring Indonesia through Art, Music, and Dance

Karen Krzystof-Bansley is a sixth-grade teacher at Maddock Elementary School in Burbank, Illinois. Karen has been teaching middle school for 16 years. Activity: Indonesian Pen Pals Subjects: writing, geography, communication Grade: 6-8 Tell us about your activity.   Over the course of the school year, my 6th graders were pen pals with a class in at SMP Sumatra 40 in Bandung, Indonesia. Through letter-writing, both sets … Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Exploring Indonesia through Art, Music, and Dance

Educator of the Week Gets S.T.E.A.M.’ed Up!

Connie Boltz incorporates visual arts and parent participation to inspire students’ personal and academic growth. She has been an educator for 20 years and currently teaches at Colvin Run Elementary in Vienna, Virginia. Activity: S.T.E.A.M. Kids Subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math Grade: Kindergarten Tell us about your activity. The S.T.E.A.M. Kids project empowers students to explore their passions through art. Students create “S.T.E.A.M. Kid” glyph figures, symbolizing what they love … Continue reading Educator of the Week Gets S.T.E.A.M.’ed Up!

GIS, Community Action, and Drone Flying!

This summer, Tim Hawthorne was proud to teach the next generation of GISers at the Urban Atlanta Geospatial STEM Academy—work that earned space as a finalist for the Fourth Annual STEM Education Awards. He has 10 years of teaching experience and is the former coordinator of the Georgia Geographic Alliance. He recently relocated and is now part of the faculty at the University of Central Florida.  Topics: GIS, Student-Driven Projects, Community Action, and Drone … Continue reading GIS, Community Action, and Drone Flying!

Classroom Time Machine: Ellis Island and the Immigrant Experience

Ric White builds research skills and global connections in his classrooms through student-driven simulations. He has been an educator for six years and currently teaches at Cliff Valley School in Atlanta, Georgia. Activity: Ellis Island Simulation Subject: Social Studies Grade: 6-8 Tell us about your activity. The Ellis Island simulation was a multi-week project where students honed their research skills, engaged with American immigrant stories, and turned the gym … Continue reading Classroom Time Machine: Ellis Island and the Immigrant Experience