New York State English Council Program of Excellence
Are you looking for resources to increase your students' critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity? Are you looking for a way to increase students' independence and purposeful technology use? Through a well-scaffolded research process, students deepen their knowledge and understanding of a bioethical issue and craft an argument addressing a specific-based question about their issue. Students also present their findings through a web page, infographic, or podcast. This unit can be co-taught with science, be adapted to fit grades 9-12, and is easily differentiated.
National Geographic Educator Certification
I set out to complete the Nat Geo Educator Certificate in 2017 when I taught Persepolis for the first time with my English 12 students. I wanted to expand my thinking about Persepolis, beyond the major coming-of-age themes. I wanted my students to understand the historical and cultural context of the Iranian Revolution, an historical event that continues to influence the United States' relationship with Iran. The National Geographic Learning Framework helped me think through the different contexts and perspectives my students needed to know and understand. Since the Framework encourages interdisciplinary approaches, I was able to incorporate geography and culture as well as history and literature into my lessons.
The certification process also opened my eyes to the educational resources that National Geographic offers. The extensive online library of lessons, units, and activities as well as ideas and resources for bringing the world into the classroom is an invaluable tool for teachers of any grade level or subject area.
At the end of the certification process, candidates create a capstone project that demonstrates their knowledge and understanding of the Framework. As an English teacher, I also appreciated the emphasis on storytelling.
The certification process also opened my eyes to the educational resources that National Geographic offers. The extensive online library of lessons, units, and activities as well as ideas and resources for bringing the world into the classroom is an invaluable tool for teachers of any grade level or subject area.
At the end of the certification process, candidates create a capstone project that demonstrates their knowledge and understanding of the Framework. As an English teacher, I also appreciated the emphasis on storytelling.
National Consortium for Teaching about Asia
During the 2015-2016 school year, I participated in the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia at Clarkson University's Capital Region Campus in Schenectady, NY. Yes, I drove three hours one-way to participate in this seminar series. Gas was only $1.99 then, but even if it hadn't been, this experience was worth it. I knew very little about East Asia before attending this seminar. It also opened up a world of professional development for both me and my husband who teaches social studies. I continue to participate in their books clubs and both my husband and I have completed a few of their webinars. They offer a wide variety of professional development, which can be found at nctasia.org/. They provide professional development for humanities teachers K-12.