View of the lunar landing module on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum located in Washington, DC.

There is no doubt among teachers that experience is one of the best ways to learn, and most educators would agree that a visit to a museum is a terrific learning experience. One of the most exciting museums for students to visit is Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum located in Washington, DC.

One of the most spectacular displays at the museum, in my opinion, is the lunar landing module. This spacecraft, frankly pretty fragile in appearance, was designed to carry astronauts David Scott and James Irwin on their Apollo 15 mission to the moon. However, NASA decided that Apollo 15 and subsequent flights would be outfitted with lunar roving vehicles, so this module was replaced with the Lunar Rover.

Also on display is a replica of a lunar space suit and a model of the Telstar satellite. Of special interest is an actual moon rock, that your students are allowed to touch! And for Star Trek fans, Paramount Studios’ filming model of the starship USS Enterprise is grandly on display.

Personally, I have always been a fan of planetariums, and this museum is host to a fine one: the Albert Einstein Planetarium. For a small fee, we enjoyed a half-hour show entitled Journey to the Stars. We were treated to extraordinary images and physics-based simulations that helped us understand our universe better. And students will love that the presentation is narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.

In addition to these space-related artifacts, the museum boasts wonderful exhibits documenting the history of air travel. Included are Charles Lindbergh’s plane The Spirit of St. Louis; Wilbur and Orville Wright’s 1903 Wright Plane; the Lockheed Vega piloted by flying ace Amelia Earhart; and a 25-foot model of the dirigible Hindenburg. I especially appreciated “Black Wings,” an exhibit about the contributions of African Americans to aviation.

You and your students would definitely find a visit to this Smithsonian museum an invaluable learning experience. However, if you are unable to travel to Washington, DC, the exhibits can be explored online at this link: Air and Space Museum.

Happy traveling!

Photographs of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, taken by the author on her recent visit to Washington, DC.

Most educators would agree that one of the most efficient methods of experiential learning is travel. One of the best destinations for travel is our nation’s capital city, Washington, DC. This city is home to a multitude of worthwhile museums and historical sites. Among these is Arlington National Cemetery.

The cemetery is located in Arlington County, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the capital city. The hallowed grounds span 624 acres, and house the remains of our nation’s military dead and other notables from American history. Names familiar to history students are too numerous to name.

My husband and I were fortunate enough to visit this important historical site last month. We were there one day before the burial of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. He’s just one of many Supreme Court Justices buried at Arlington, including Warren E. Burger, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and William Rehnquist. 

While we were at the cemetery, we visited the somber final resting places of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the simple grave sites of his brothers Senators Robert and Edward Kennedy, and the sacred Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. President Kennedy isn’t the only president interred at Arlington. President William Taft is also buried there.

Also buried at Arlington are at least three soldiers who were former schoolteachers: General of the Armies John J. Pershing; Commander of the Flying Tigers of World War II Claire Lee Chennault; and US Navy Rear Admiral Simon Newcomb. Christa McAulifee, the first Teacher in Space, is interred elsewhere, but two of the astronauts who perished with her during the 1986 Challenger disaster are.

If you or your students are unable to travel to the Washington, DC, area in person, you can still explore Arlington National Cemetery through their website. Simply click on this link: Arlington Cemetery.

The author’s husband, Hal Marzell, in Ford’s Theatre, standing before the balcony where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865

I’m sure that many teachers would agree that one of the best methods of experiential learning is travel. And one of the most rewarding destinations for travel is Washington, DC, our nation’s capital city. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites to visit in the city, and one of the most interesting is Ford’s Theatre.

Students of history will recall that Ford’s Theatre is the scene of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. Lincoln was there watching a performance of the play Our American Cousin, when the actor John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president’s box, aimed his gun, and fired. Booth was a Confederate sympathizer, and was incensed at the surrender of the Confederacy just a few days before. The assassin then leaped from the box down to the stage and escaped through a rear door. The mortally wounded president was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the following morning.

Today, both the Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site and the Petersen House are part of the National Park Service. More than 650,000 visitors visit the site each year. Located within, students can view the Presidential Box where the assassination occurred, restored to the way it was on that fateful night. Visitors can also explore museum exhibits that depict Lincoln’s presidency, Civil War milestones, the events that led up to the assassination, and the aftermath. Students can also take at look at significant historic artifacts, including the pistol used to kill the president, the clothes he was wearing on the night he was assassinated, and Lincoln’s life masks.

Students and teachers who are unable to travel to Washington, DC, could learn more about this important historical site by examining the Ford’s Theatre website. You could also examine the Ford’s Theatre virtual tour. There are also some terrific resources for teachers available on the website.

Whether you visit Ford’s Theatre in person or online, I bid you happy learning!

Most educators agree that travel is one of the best methods of experiential learning. And one of the most rewarding destinations for travel for both American students and international travelers is our nation’s capital city, Washington, DC. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites to visit in the city, but the most famous is undoubtedly the White House. This historic structure serves as both the residence and the office of the President of the United States.

On our recent trip to Washington, Dc, my husband and I were fortunate enough to take a tour of the White House. While there, we were able to view many of the beautiful rooms of this historic museum house. On the bottom floor, we toured the Garden Room, the East Colonnade, and the Family Theater. We also saw the Vermeil room, the China Room, and the Library. One floor up, we were allowed to stroll through the appropriately named Green Room, Blue Room, and Red Room. In addition, we got a look at the State Dining Room. Then we viewed the stately Entrance Hall, and finally we exited the house through the famous North Portico.

I would definitely recommend the effort required for educators and students to visit this historic mansion. As you might guess, a visit to the White House requires a good deal of advance planning. A request for a public tour must be submitted through your Congressman. Make the request up to three months ahead, but no less than three weeks prior, to your visit to Washington, DC. Tours are self-guided, and are usually available Tuesday through Saturday, except on Federal holidays. Public tours are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. A limited number of spaces are available, so don’t wait too long! Be prepared for security checks prior to your admission to the building. Like most museums in the capital city, admission is free.

If you and your students are unable to travel to Washington, DC, you can take an unofficial virtual tour of the White House by clicking on the You Tube video below. Either way, happy touring!

With summer vacation finally here for most educators, many of us begin to think about how to spend our much-longed for and richly-deserved free time. For many of us, summer offers a great opportunity for travel. I have had the good fortune to make several tours overseas. Each time it was my good fortune to meet very knowledgeable and capable tour guides. It occurred to me that many traits that make a top-notch tour guide are the same traits that make an exceptional teacher.

First, and probably most importantly, the tour guide must be likable. It’s imperative to be warm and friendly, because it’s just human nature to respond more positively to someone you like. Both the tour guide and the teacher are more successful if they set a relaxed tone right away. They let it be known they are approachable, they are glad to see you, and they are excited to share a part of their day with you. I think sometimes we educators forget how important this quality is to success in the classroom. Tourists will generally attempt to find something of value in the tour guide’s speech, whether the speaker is likable or not, but students won’t always make the effort to bridge that gap.

Secondly, it’s imperative that the tour guide be well-versed in their subject matter. Like the classroom teacher, the tour guide must do their homework! Know your stuff! Furthermore, it’s important to be able to communicate the information in language that’s easy to comprehend. Deliver the material clearly and distinctly, at a suitable volume, using appropriate vocabulary levels, and creating a logical sequence and progression of ideas. If your group can’t hear you or can’t get past your heavy Italian accent, or they don’t believe what you’re saying to them, before long they will meander away to take photos of what appeals to their eye. Sadly, when this happens, they often having no idea what it is they’re taking pictures of.

Thirdly, it’s crucial for both the tour guide and the teacher to be flexible. Things happen! When you find the Vatican has closed the Sistine Chapel without any notice, when laborers stage an unexpected shut-down of the metro services, or when you arrive at the funicular only to find it out of order, the tour guide can find their lesson plan for the day derailed. When that happens, the tour guide must extemporaneously construct a workable Plan B. After all, promises have been made that must be kept. Sometimes, like when you’re surprised by a political protest at Piccadilly Circus which blocks your path to your tour bus, you just have to wait it out. You may be half an hour behind schedule, but eventually you’ll be back on track. Excellent teachers and first-rate tour guides are especially adept at reorganizing on the spot.

I have to say, during my travels I have had the good fortune to have really terrific tour guides everywhere that I have gone. I hope that your summer vacation, wherever you travel, is as fabulous as mine have been.