Smithsonian Learning Lab ~ by Christy Mihaly

Did you know you can gain access to more than one million images, recordings, and texts from the collections of the world's largest museum, education, and research complex? Whether you're a writer, an educator, a curious mind, or just looking for some fascinating procrastination . . . check out  the Smithsonian Learning Lab. 

You don't have to live near Washington, D.C. to browse the extensive collections of the Smithsonian Institution. This national resource is open to anyone with an internet connection. A visit to the Smithsonian's web pages enables you to see material from 19 museums and galleries, 9 major research centers, and the National Zoo -- woo! 

But if you want to really play with these national collections, sign up for the Learning Lab. Joining Learning Lab is a two-step process but it doesn't take long, and the reward is that you'll be able not only to delve into the Smithsonian's vaults, but also to organize your own online collections of images and resources. The Learning Lab, according to the Smithsonian, is a toolkit that facilitates users' finding, customizing, and sharing digital museum resources. 

As a demo project, I input "Halloween" in the search box on the Learning Lab site. Such a search will generally retrieve images of various artifacts, articles, and videos relevant to the queried topic. My search identified not only a myriad of resources, but also two Learning Lab collections related to Halloween that had already been created. The first, by a Smithsonian employee, curated 46 "spooky delights and dark treasures" from the vaults including vintage Halloween greeting cards, postage stamps, and spooky artwork. The other collection, created by a member, focused on "Frankenstein." Specifically, it included a series of images of Frankenstein's "creature" over time, showing how our conception of the monster has evolved. Cool!

Then I created my own collection. Making your own a collection could be useful in keeping track of research for a book or other research project. It can also be tons of fun. My Halloween collection included photographs from the 1940s of children's Halloween parties. I was intrigued by the kids' costumes (think witches, gypsies, and vagabonds -- no superheroes). I also perused an array of Halloween-themed articles from Smithsonian Magazine, covering topics from tips on science-themed costume ideas to a description of President Gerald Ford's 1975 "Halloween Massacre." (The latter, for those too young to remember, involved little blood but much reshuffling of White House personnel.)

The Learning Lab, launched in the summer of 2016, seeks both to help educators utilize the Smithsonian's resources in their lesson plans, and to facilitate online collaboration. About 100 teachers helped develop the toolkit. Members sign up to post and share collections, quizzes, and assignments. From the home page, a member has three options: Discover (to search the archives); Create (to put together customized collections, lesson plans, and notes); and Share (to post collections, invite students to participate in quizzes, etc.) Check it out!

Special thanks to super-educator, Susan Koch, for pointing me in the direction of the Smithsonian Learning Lab. I invite GROG readers to sign on at the Learning Lab and share in the comments what you discover there. Enjoy!

Learning While Uncomfortable: Teacher and Explorer Susan Koch Shares Insights from the Arctic Circle ~ by Christy Mihaly

Welcome back! It's August, and thus our thoughts turn to the eternal question:

What did you do on your summer vacation?

First Grade Teacher Susan Koch on the icy sea in Svalbard, Norway

As writers, educators, artists, and librarians, GROG readers know it's important to s-t-r-e-t-c-h . . . to find fresh inspiration, especially over the summer months.

Today we'll talk with an educator who went outside of her comfort zone this summer—way outside. First grade teacher Susan Koch—Vermont's 2016 Teacher of the Year—traveled to the Arctic! She participated in the National Geographic Society's Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program, which sponsored her voyage aboard the National Geographic Explorer to Svalbard, Norway, "Land of the Ice Bears."

Susan and I sat down to chat about her amazing, all-expenses-paid adventure.

What Susan Saw!

CM: Congratulations, Susi, on being a Grosvenor Fellow! What does the program involve?

SK: Thanks! The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship is a two-year experience. Each year, 35 educators (from an applicant pool of about 500) are named to participate in a Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic voyage. Then, we bring what we learn out there back into the classroom. The Grosvenor program is a gift from Sven Lindblad, the owner of the expedition company, to honor a long-time educator and leader of the National Geographic Society, Gil Grosvenor. Two or three Fellows sail on select voyages, along with paying guests and staff. The Fellows participate in the onshore hikes, onboard programs, meals, and every aspect of the expedition.

Susan Koch's map, marked to show her route aboard the Explorer

CM: Which expedition did you sail on?

Susan Koch (right) in Svalbard with
her Grosvenor Fellow colleague Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver

SK: I was assigned to travel on the National Geographic Explorer for ten days in June. We journeyed around Svalbard, a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean. We spent eleven days north of the Arctic Circle; one day we sailed past the 80th parallel north, almost to the North Pole.

My roommate on the trip, Caitlin, is a teacher of recent immigrants in Boston. We were a good pair.

CM: What kind of training did you receive?

Walrus in Svalbard

SK: In March, this year's group met at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. to learn about the program and ideas about following up the experience with classroom lessons and public presentations. We met staff from Nat Geo and Lindblad, including Nat Geo photographers, shared tips on cold-weather gear, trip preparation, and photography, and connected with other Fellows.

CM: What are some memorable aspects of your voyage to the Arctic?

SK: It's actually hard to find the words to describe the experience, and the vastness of that landscape. But I've been trying.

Here are some highlights:

Polar Bear on the Ice (eating seal blubber)

Polar bears. The ship sailed really close to bears hunting on the ice. The ice floats on the ocean, and we could watch the bears jumping between sheets of ice. In one day, we saw 13 adult bears and 4 cubs. We saw bears eating  the blubber from seals they'd killed. At the same time, we were learning from the trip naturalists about the bears' lives and the food chain, and how threatened the bears are by climate change. It brings it all home when you're seeing them on the melting ice. We actually saw a dead, starved bear on the beach—if bears come ashore, it means they're lacking a food source. That was a powerful image, reminding us how precarious their situation is.

View from the Porthole of Susan's Cabin onboard the Explorer

Light. We had 24 hours of sunlight. It's weird how disorienting that is. The combination of the light and the excitement of being on the ship and hearing the captain announcing another wildlife sighting made it very hard to sleep, or keep a regular schedule. In fact, on June 21, the ship's chef, who is Swedish, prepared a special traditional midsummer dinner, but it was hard to convince people to come in from the ship's deck to eat, because there were so many animals to see. Even the staff was super excited to see the bears, the walruses, and the seals.

Susan with her Kindness Rock in Montpelier

Kindness rocks. As part of the Grosvenor program, some teachers bring tokens from home, to connect their adventure with their classrooms and students. My community, Montpelier, had participated in the Kindness Rocks Project, painting stones with inspirational messages and distributing them around town. I brought a painted rock on my voyage, and I asked guests to pose with it in various places during the trip. It was fun to see how both kids and adults were excited to hold the rock and participate in the project.

A young guest (traveling with his grandparents) 
shows off the Kindness Rock

CM: Okay, I have to ask: How the heck did you get so lucky as to go on this trip?

SK: It all started about two years ago, when I was nominated as Teacher of the Year. Initially I hesitated to go through the TOTY application process. I basically think all teachers should be recognized, and one shouldn't be raised up above others. But then my mother reminded me that she'd listened to me say that teachers don't have a voice in public debates. "This is a chance to speak up for teachers," she reminded me. I realized she was right.

Svalbard Ice

I'm so glad I took that leap, because being named Vermont's 2016 Teacher of the Year led to amazing, eye-opening opportunities. I met passionate, engaged teachers from all over the country. It was inspiring to find this community of people who love teaching as much as I do. We participated in educational programs—NASA Space Camp was awesome—and shared ideas and resources. And of course, a highlight of the year was meeting President Obama at the White House.

What a Thrill:
Vermont TOTY Susan Koch and President Obama at the White House

That TOTY recognition made me realize how much we grow when we seek out new experiences, and put me on the path of seeking out challenges. It also expanded my horizons, taught me about the educational opportunities available, and sparked my interest in a global connection. So, when I read on my Twitter feed about the Grosvenor Fellow program, I wanted to apply right away. I love getting kids outside to learn in nature and I've worked hard to develop and sustain an outdoor education program in the Montpelier public schools. The National Geographic Fellowship fits in with those interests, and promotes geographic literacy.

Ice Bear in Svalbard

I'd encourage other interested teachers to apply. Just check out the website, here, for information. (Note that starting this year, applicants must be "National Geographic Certified Educators." We're planning a separate post about that next month on GROG.)

CM: Okay, now for the wrap-up, Susi: What new insights did you bring back from the Arctic?

SK: I've been thinking about two things:

Svalbard Reindeer

The first is that the best learning happens when we’re a little bit uncomfortable. It’s not easy for us to do, but it's important to leave your comfort zone and appreciate a different perspective.

Bear on Ice

The second is that the trip has made global warming feel more immediate and real to me. We observed glaciers that had shrunk by as much as seven miles in recent years. When you're in the Arctic Circle, it's just so clear that we need to take action to address climate change. If we do nothing, nothing will improve. As I tell my students, each of us can (and must) do something.



CM: Thanks so much for sharing your experience and lessons learned with GROG, Susi.
And teachers: I hope you'll check out the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow program! (More on that in GROG's September 14 post.)

Kindness Rock and lichen of Svalbard

Makerspaces: A Whole New Market for Authors? By Todd Burleson

Makerspaces:  A Whole New Market for Authors? by Todd Burleson

What is a makerspace and why should authors be interested?  A makerspace is a place where learners create, tinker, explore, prototype, fail, research, discover and learn through a variety of materials. The tools can be anything from cardboard to microprocessors.  A makerspace is about producing rather than consuming.  Makers learn to make stuff by making things. “Schools often forget this as they endlessly prepare students for something that is going to happen to them next week, next year or in some future career. Students can and should be scientists, artists, engineers and writers today.”

As this movement continues to grow, educators and parents are constantly looking for ways to dovetail literacy with it. Sometimes, for me as a librarian, I’m looking for a way to fold in a lesson.  Take  Not a Box by Antoinette Portiss.   This lovely story about creativity is going to be an excellent way for me to introduce the Global Cardboard Challenge to my school.  

This coming October, we'll invite the school and wider community to come visit our IDEA Lab and Project Room. We’ll have stations set up and manned by parents and students.  This will be everyone’s chance to visit and learn more about the makerspace we’ve created.  Following the Open House, we’ll gather to watch the film that inspired the idea behind the Global Cardboard Challenge.

Then, we’ll invite families to use the hundreds of pounds of cardboard, dozens of rolls of Duck tape, packing tape, Make Do Kits, zip ties and more to create with cardboard.  They might create an arcade game or a robot.  The only limit is their imagination.  Finally, we’ll end the day by taking a gallery walk to see one another’s awesome creations.  

One of the elements of the Maker Movement that is most inspirational to me is that it is breaking down the traditional borders around engineering and making.  Great books like Rosie Revere the Engineer , Crafty Chloe, Violet the Pilot,Iggy Peck Architect are some tremendous examples.  

So why should I as an author be so interested in the Maker Movement?  I see the answer to this question in two parts. The first is that this should encourage authors to seek those obscure heroes from history; there’s never been a better time to highlight them.  The second is that as authors, indeed as human beings, we should be ‘making’ ourselves.  This summer, as a result of my attending the CMK Conference in Manchester, NY, I went from complete newbie with coding and circuitry to realizing that, with just a bit of research, I could make THIS

Rather than paying $3,000 dollars for it, I could actually make it. All it takes is a basic understanding of code and circuitry.

I began to look at the world with a lens that helped me feel empowered. No longer was I merely a consumer, I was a creator.  This is the same sense of empowerment we want to hone in our students and teachers who are involved in the maker movement.  Indeed, this is what it means when you hear that education is preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist. We are preparing them to think, explore and imagine!

As authors, we are constantly mining the world for our 'next' idea. When School Library Journal leads with a "Maker Issue," this is a good sign that the concepts are pretty entrenched.  

So, get out there.  If you are a teacher, plan to visit a makerspace near you.  If you are a parent, grandparent, uncle or cousin, check out how you can encourage this type of thinking at home.  If you have never worked with tools or microcomputers, I encourage you to explore.  

Makerspace, Hackerspaces, IDEA Labs, Innovation Studios, Fab Labs, whatever we call them, they are popping up in public libraries, in former furniture stores and a school near you.  Go CREATE!  Go get inspired and then turn those ideas and the ones they inspire into a piece of literature that will keep the movement going!

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1  "Why the Maker Movement matters to educators | SmartBlogs ..." 2013. 23 Aug. 2015 <http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/08/20/why-the-maker-movement-matters/>

How a Writing Marathon Can Impact Your Writing: Part 3 by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

This week I've shared information about hosting a writing marathon for students. But I can't ignore one important thing: how the writing marathon impacted the writers involved.

If you like data, here are the numbers for how my studentsdid on their writing marathon. Pretty good, huh? Much better than I expected.

When people tell me they don't have time to write, I'm amazed. You DO have time. If you have 15 minutes or 30 minutes to spare, you can get something done. You might think you can't get much done in 30 minutes, but 30 minutes adds up over time.

How can a short-term challenge impact your writing?

Challenges provide accountability.

Students expected me to be there to open up the library door for them every morning at 7:30. I was there, with my computer up and ready to write. There is a great energy in knowing that you are not alone and that as you sit and hear other keys tap-tapping, it's motivational.

If you are a teacher, consider writing with your students on a schedule. Don't deviate from the schedule.

If you are a writer, consider meeting up with other writers to write—not talk, but write. If you can't get together in person, set up a date and text each other or Tweet each other when the starting and ending times. Check in together.

Have a plan.

I had to know going into the marathon what I was going to work on. I had an educational related writing project I wanted to work on, so I worked on it every day for the month of February. At the end of the month, I had a proposal, an outline, and several sample chapters.

If you are a teacher, consider working on a project that you haven't had time to do. It can be writing down memories. Just work on something. I shared my project with my students. I didn't read it to them, but I wanted them to know WHAT I was working on.

If you are a writer, consider the project that has been tapping on the back of your brain for awhile. Work on that project 30 minutes a day.

Keep track of your progress.

I made my students keep track, so I kept track too. As writers, we can get bogged down in the mindset that we aren’t making progress. That evil editor whispers in our ears that we can't do it. But if you write down what you did, then you CAN see your progress. I used the same tracking sheet that my students did.

If you are a writer, consider keeping a DONE list. What did you accomplish, no matter how small?

  

If you are a teacher, I hope this series has given you some food for thought.  I hope that you will consider stretching your students and yourself—to write what you never thought you could.

If you are a writer, I hope that these few students inspire you. If they can write a half hour everyday before school starts, so can you.

This series was originally posted on Marcie Atkins' website. It is the third in a 3-part series.

Writing Marathon Part 1

Writing Marathon Resources Part 2