Tag Archives: Traveling Teachers

Science educator Lisa Niver at the Enkereri School in Kenya

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Science educator Lisa Niver with students from the Enkereri Primary School on the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Photo by Matt Payne. See more about Payne at https://instagram.com/mattpaynetravelphotography

Though many teachers dream of visiting schools on other continents, science educator Lisa Niver has managed to accomplish quite a bit of this. Lisa is pictured above visiting a school located on the Maasai Mara in Kenya. “I was showing the children photos of animals we had seen on our safari as well as photos I took of them in their classroom,” explained Lisa. “I hope to visit Enkereri Primary School again someday!” she said.

The Enkereri Primary School is one of nine schools in the Maasai Mara. This unique school provides a digital literacy program for the students which features e-readers loaded with textbooks and literature. To learn more about the school at Maasai Mara, visit this website at Sanctuary Retreats.

Lisa is a former junior high school science educator from Los Angeles, California. She is well-known in science teacher circles for her instructional strategies that emphasize the use of technology in the classroom. She’s also noted for using students’ real world connections to explore their passions and to work towards solving today’s most complex issues. Lisa developed a successful summer science camp for students and created a science-based website entitled Science Isn’t Scary. In 2009, Lisa founded the Los Angeles Science Teachers Network (LASTN), a professional development network that by May, 2012, involved over 70 teachers and 40 schools. The effort was praised by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In addition to her career as a professional educator, Lisa is also a sought-after motivational speaker, travel agent, and travel writer. Lisa has traveled to over 99 countries, and has been recognized as one of the top five female travel bloggers. In addition, she is the Adventure Correspondent for The Jet Set, the first travel-based TV Talk show. To learn more about unique travel experiences, check out Lisa’s fabulous website at We Said Go Travel.

Lisa has published many articles in online and offline magazines, including National Geographic, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and The Jewish Journal. She was a 2012 nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching. In 2018, she was nominated in three categories of the Southern California Journalism Awards: Science/Technology Reporting; Travel Reporting; and Personality Profile. Impressively, this month she was nominated for the award once again in five categories, including Online Journalist of the Year.

Way to go, Lisa!

Pennsylvania history teacher Jennifer Wahl: She shares a passion for travel

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High school social studies teacher Jennifer Wahl teaches a love for travel. The talented educator earned recognition as the 2018 Pennsylvania State Teacher of the Year.

I love to write about talented educators who share their passions with their students. One of these is Jennifer Wahl, a high school history teacher from Pennsylvania. In her classroom in a small-town school, she shares her monumental love for international travel.

Jennifer has been teaching at Loyalsock Township High School in Lycoming County since 2006. There she teaches courses in history, psychology, and sociology. She also teaches courses at the Pennsylvania State College. Her career as an educator has spanned the last 13 years.

Jennifer is originally from New York City, but she spent much of her childhood overseas with her mother, who is from the Middle East. The young teacher’s love of travel has only expanded since she has become an educator. Jennifer has been involved in numerous professional development opportunities that have taken her to some pretty amazing places. She was chosen by the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia to travel to China for a two-week study tour In 2011. The following year, the Japan Society chose her to travel to Japan to attend a three-week study tour. In 2013, she studied restorative justice and teaching for Peace in Delhi, India, at the International School for Jain Studies.

Jennifer is eager to share her love of travel with her students. She uses pictures, artifacts, and food to bring history alive for her students, some of whom have grown up to share her love of world travel. “I’m happy for those students that they got out of a small-town environment to see the world and then brought it back here,” Jennifer declares. “I love that they broadened their horizons.”

In addition to her work in the classroom, Jennifer belongs to a number of professional organizations. She is a member of The Japan Society, the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia, the International School for Jain Studies, the College Board, the National and State Teacher of the Year Pennsylvania Chapter, and the Pennsylvania State Education Association. She is also an active member of her union and served as the vice president and member of the negotiations committee of her local chapter.

Jennifer earned her Bachelor’s degree in History and Secondary Education from Cabrini University located in Radnor, Pennsylvania. She earned her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Pennsylvania State University. For her work in the classroom, Jennifer was named the 2018 Pennsylvania State Teacher of the Year.

To learn more about this accomplished chalkboard champion, visit this link: CCSSO.

Tour of US Supreme Court building makes excellent experiential learning

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A tour of the United States Supreme Court building located in Washington, DC, would make an excellent experiential learning experience for students.

Most educators agree that travel is one of the best methods of experiential learning. And one of the most rewarding destinations for travel for American students is our nation’s capital city, Washington, DC. There are many historic sites to visit in the city, and one of the most impressive is the United States Supreme Court building. This building is the work place of the United States Supreme Court, the highest and most influential court in the nation.

Originally the Supreme Court justices met in a small side chamber in the US Capitol building. By the turn of the 20th century, however, the court had outgrown the space. In 1912, Chief Justice William Howard Taft began advocating for a separate structure to house the justices. Shortly thereafter, architect Cass Gilbert designed a new Supreme Court building in the neoclassical style. Construction began in 1932 and was completed in 1935.

A visit to this impressive building would make an excellent experiential learning experience for students. While there, they can view the actual courtroom where the Supreme Court justices meet. If they time it right, they can even listen to a short lecture conducted by one of the docents. The docent will present interesting information about how the court works. In addition to the Courtroom, portions of the first and ground floors of the building are open to the public. Be sure your students see the John Marshall statue and the numerous portraits and busts of former justices which decorate the hallways.

Your class can learn more about the US Supreme Court at this website: Supreme Court. You can also view this brief 3-minute YouTube video for an overview of the building  (please ignore the commercial at the end).

As always, I urge you to teach a great day!

https://youtu.be/dmBFq3s3oJE

Visit the US Holocaust Museum as part of Holocaust curriculum

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The author’s husband, Hal Marzell, at the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

Many teachers include Holocaust education is a part of their educational curriculum. There are many ways to incorporate lessons about the Holocaust into a lesson plan, but one of the best would be a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum located in Washington, DC.

My husband and I recently spent an entire day exploring this extensive museum. The institution holds a collection of more than 12,750 artifacts; 49 million pages of archival documents; 85,000 historical photographs; a list of over 200,000 registered survivors and their families; 1,000 hours of archival footage; 93,000 library items; and 9,000 oral history testimonies.

When your students enter the permanent exhibit, they will be given an identification card which tells the story of a random victim or survivor of the Holocaust. When they exit the elevators on the fourth floor, they will walk through a chronological depiction of the history of the Holocaust. The depiction starts with the Nazi rise to power led by Adolf Hitler, and additional exhibits explore the topics of Aryan ideology, Kristallnacht, Anti-Semitism, and the American response to Nazi Germany. More exhibits explore Jewish ghettos, the Final Solution, and the liberation of the concentration camps, among other topics. The exhibits conclude with videotaped survivor testimony.

One of the most moving places in the museum,in my opinion, is the Hall of Remembrance. This hall is the USHMM’s official memorial to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Here visitors can memorialize the event by lighting a candle, visiting an eternal flame, and reflecting in silence in the brightly lit hexagon-shaped space.

To regulate the number of visitors occupying the space at one time, it is recommended that visitors obtain admission tickets in advance. Tickets are distributed outside the museum beginning at 9:45 am for visits at specified times throughout the day. The museum is open every day except Yom Kippur and Christmas Day. Admission is free.

To learn more about this museum, you and you students can click on the link USHMM.

 

Tour of US Capitol makes excellent experiential learning experience

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Author and retired teacher Terry Lee Marzell stands in front of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC.

Most teachers would agree that travel is one of the best methods of experiential learning for our students. And one of the most educational destinations for travel is Washington, DC, our nation’s capital city. There are many great museums and historical sites to visit in the city, but one of the best is the US Capitol.

This iconic structure serves as a symbol for American government, a system of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The Capitol building has housed the meeting chambers of both the House of Representatives and the Senate for over two hundred years.

The design of the building is an excellent example of 19th-century neoclassical architecture. Design principals embodied in the structure stem from ancient Greece and Rome. The crowning architectural achievement of the building is its dome, constructed from nearly 9,000,000 pounds of ironwork bolted to together. The Capitol Dome just may be the most famous man-made landmark in America.

In addition to its use by Congress, the Capitol serves as a museum of American art and history. Statuary Hall is a chamber of the building devoted to statues of famous Americans. Some of the most interesting include Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks, Thomas Edison, Sacagawea, Will Rogers, Helen Keller, and King Kamehameha I of Hawaii.

Terry Lee Marzell enjoys a tour of the US Capitol conducted by an intern from the office of her Congressman, Gil Cisneros.

The best way for teachers and students to enjoy a public tour of the US Capitol is by making a reservation in advance. Although a limited number of same-day tickets are available, expect the lines to be long, especially in spring and summer. A tour can also be arranged through the office of your Congressman or state senator. The guided tour doesn’t include the Senate and House galleries. However, your Congressman can arrange a pass to these view these chambers when Congress is not in session. Best of all, tours of the US Capitol are free!

To learn more about the Capitol building, consult this link: About the US Capitol. To explore a virtual tour of the building, click on this link: US Capitol Virtual Tour.

Happy traveling!