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Stone Soup and Mystery Calls: Bringing the World to My English Learners

Educator Asma Mustafa wrote this post. When I was younger, I listened to Radio Monte Carlo. At the time, I didn’t understand the broadcasts, because I didn’t know English. When I moved from Saudi Arabia to Gaza at 14 years old, I decided to learn more. Listening to songs and watching movies in English made me dream of speaking English myself. My family wanted me … Continue reading Stone Soup and Mystery Calls: Bringing the World to My English Learners

Teaching is an Act of Poetry

I want you to take a moment to see that every inch of what you have done this year as an educator and as a learner, as a human being, is already an act of poetry. When you have engaged in science and geography learning, espousing the Explorer Mindset through curiosity, observation and collaboration, you have been an act of poetry asking others to exchange with you and with each other their unique experiences. When you have asked them to study the history of those who came before them, to explore ancient civilizations and understand the human journey, they connect themselves to the wind and the tastes and the smells and the feeling of being in those moments, in the poetry of the bones of those who came before us. When you ask them to solve math problems and calculate the physics of how our shared planet operates, when you humanize numerical interactions, you are asking them to feel that sense of meaningful struggle and discovery and seeking out ways to understand things with universal connective tissues.  Continue reading Teaching is an Act of Poetry

Strategy Share: Using Photographs to Enhance Storytelling and Geography Skills

When I traveled to South Georgia as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, I felt compelled to read Alfred Lansing’s Endurance, about Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated attempt to transect Antarctica. Shackleton came to South Georgia to get help for the men he left on another Antarctic island. I was intrigued by his perilous journey and wanted to re-enact this epic trek on South Georgia once I got there. Unfortunately, in all the excitement of seeing icebergs, dodging fur seals, and trekking up snowy hills, I forgot to do my re-enactment. Continue reading Strategy Share: Using Photographs to Enhance Storytelling and Geography Skills

Educator Spotlight: Recreating Expeditions as Video Games

Michael Stanley drew out middle school students’ curiosity about the world while they brainstormed about personal explorations. Students also investigated a real-world scientific expedition and created an educational video game as a way to share their research with a wider audience. Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Recreating Expeditions as Video Games

Global Citizen, Explorer, Educator

This post was written by educator Kimi Waite. Read our Educator Spotlight on Kimi here. Hi everyone! I’m Kimberly Waite, but you can call me Kimi. I’m a global citizen, explorer, and educator. (Fabric fish seem to figure into Kimi’s life of exploration! —ed) My life’s passions are travel and exploration, and my most powerful teaching and learning experiences have occurred outside of the classroom … Continue reading Global Citizen, Explorer, Educator