Educator Astronauts Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger (left), Ricard Arnold (center), and Joseph Acaba (right). Photo credit: NASA

The recent solar eclipse has renewed an interest in all things that occur in space. In addition, NASA has just concluded this year’s annual celebration of Space Week, which took place from April 6—13, 2024. During this celebration, teachers throughout the country explore a variety of lesson plans and hands-on experiments that teach STEM concepts in the classroom. Through these educational experiences, teacher provide their students with authentic content, hands-on inquiry-based experiences, and partner-driven collaborations. All of these events remind me of our nation’s Educator Astronaut program.

The Educator Astronaut Project is a program sponsored by NASA to educate America’s students about space exploration. Inaugurated in the 1990s, the program advances the objectives established in the original Teacher in Space Program from the 1980s. One of these objectives was to elevate teaching as a profession, and another was to inspire students to pursue careers in science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM). Another of the primary goals of the project is to give educators the skills and knowledge to use NASA-related content in their classrooms.

Educator astronauts are teachers, but they are also fully trained astronauts who fly aboard spacecraft as full-fledged crew members. They have duties and responsibilities that are the same as any other astronaut. In addition, they prepare lessons and demonstrations about space exploration for students in America’s classrooms.

To date, there have been four teachers who have been trained as educator astronauts. These teachers are Barbara Morgan of Montana; educator Joseph Acaba of Florida; Richard Arnold of Maryland; and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger of Washington. New Hampshire educator Christa McAuliffe, the first participant in the Teacher in Space program, was classified as a civilian member of the crew. Tragically, she perished along with six astronauts in the space shuttle Challengerdisaster in 1986.

To read more about teachers in space, click on this link to Citizens in Space.org. To read more about the Educator Astronaut Project, click on this link to Revolvy.

Looking for some funny pranks to play on your students on April Fool’s Day? Something new that you haven’t done before? Your students will enjoy a harmless April Fool’s prank because they provide a break from their normal, more serious routine. A funny prank signals that the teacher loves to put some humor into the serious business of learning. Get in on the fun on April 1 with one (or more!) of these good-natured pranks.

Humorous Announcements:

Make humorous announcements every hour on the hour. These could be fictionalized scenarios or jokes. For example, “I’ve just received word that everything for lunch will be pickle-themed. Banana pudding, banana smoothies, and meatloaf with banana.” If your students ask why the day is banana-themed, you could answer,  “Because students find bananas very a-peeling!”

The Old Lollipop Switcher

For this April Fools’ prank, simply unwrap a spherical-shaped lollipop such as (Dum-Dums), replace the candy inside with a Brussels sprout, and then re-wrap the treat to present to your unsuspecting students. After you have all had a good laugh, celebrate with real lolliepops.

The Old Fake Foot Exam Gambit:

For your elementary school students, tell your class you are having a visit from the school nurse, who will conduct a foot exam. By now, students have participated in numerous health exams, such as hearing tests or eye exams. Today, they will have a “foot exam.” For this drill, tell the students to take off their shoes and socks, roll up their pants, and sit on top of their desks. Then they have to clean their feet in a very specific manner. Make it as silly as you dare. They can spend several minutes  on their desks, while you compliment their feet, before you tell them “April Fools!”

Want more suggestions?

Want some more suggestions? Click on this link to 17 humorous pranks published by We Are Teachers.

Oscar-winning directors Ben Proudfoot (left) and Kris Bowers (right) pose with student musicians who were their guests at the 96th Oscars Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Photo Credit: John Shearer, Black Entertainment Television, LLC

Composer and director Kris Bowers delivered remarks about the power and importance of music education during his Oscar acceptance speech on Sunday, March 10, 2024. He was recognized by the Motion Picture Academy for his film The Last Repair Shop, which he co-directed with Ben Proudfoot. The production garnered the Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Short Film.

“Music education isn’t just about creating incredible musicians,” declared Bowers. “It’s about creating incredible humans,” he said. Bowers went on to explain the importance of music education in a time of increased technology usage by young people. “We’re living in pretty traumatic times and spending less than 30 seconds on Instagram I can feel pretty anxious and depressed,” asserts Bowers. “And you have so many kids that don’t have the tools to process those feelings,” he continued. “The arts are an incredibly important vehicle to communicate through these times.” Proudfoot added, “We hope young people will put down their phones and pick up a saxophone.”

The film’s subject matter shines a spotlight on the inspirational story of a Los Angeles workshop that repairs broken musical instruments that are loaned to over 80,000 public school students free of charge. Los Angeles Unified is the only big city school system that provides free bassoons, trombones, sousaphones, cellos, piccolos, and every other kind of instrument to their student musicians.

In this downtown workshop, a team of four technicians maintain the instruments. The four technicians profiled in the documentary are Dana Atkinson, who repairs stringed instruments; Duane Michaels, who works on woodwinds; Paty Moreno, who repairs brass instrument; and Steve Bagmanyan, who began as a piano tuner but has. now become supervisor of the shop.