Strategy Share: Expanding Our Worldview, One Conversation at a Time

You could have heard a pin drop in the room, it was so silent. As the Lindblad Expeditions ship National Geographic Explorer made her way through the midnight blue, choppy waters of the Arctic Ocean near Pond Inlet, Nunavut, we all listened; absorbed, transported. National Geographic Explorer Jennifer Kingsley was sharing a recorded interview with the Elverum family from her project Meet the North, which involved interviewing people who live above the Arctic Circle throughout Nunavut, Svalbard, Iceland, Russia, Alaska, and Greenland. Continue reading Strategy Share: Expanding Our Worldview, One Conversation at a Time

Educator Spotlight: Exploring Social Inequities Through Storytelling

Laura Chase’s 11th-grade biology students investigated social inequities that impact their local communities. Collaborating with a humanities teacher, Laura asked her students to draw from the analytical skills they learned in science, the persuasive methods they learned in English, and the technical skills they learned in film in order to communicate their stories in a thoughtful way. Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Exploring Social Inequities Through Storytelling

11 Things We Learned This Week

What did you learn this week? We learned … … why we’re still using bad maps, and what the most beautiful projection in the world is. Why are so many maps so distorted?   … nine questions to help you evaluate the credibility of a news source. How can you integrate news into your curriculum?   … cows can text. How else can technology benefit … Continue reading 11 Things We Learned This Week

Weekly Warm-Up: World Press Freedom Day

Your students have likely heard of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights, and they may even be able to name the freedoms it promises. But how often do they consider what those freedoms really mean and to what extent they’re celebrated by people both in and out of the United States? May 3 is World Press Freedom Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly … Continue reading Weekly Warm-Up: World Press Freedom Day

7 Strategies for Teaching about Midterm Elections

POLITICS Here are some skills that educators can teach budding reporters (and voters!) so that they can productively engage in the debates around the 2014 midterm elections. (PBS MediaShift) Use our United States MapMaker Kit to plot areas where voters will be deciding key issues. Teachers, scroll all the way down for a short list of key resources in our “Teachers’ Toolkit.” Discussion Ideas The … Continue reading 7 Strategies for Teaching about Midterm Elections