Last academic year, Mr Andrew Moulton and myself became National Geographic certified educators.
The certification course provided us with tools to bring multiple perspectives into our teaching. We learnt how to create engaging classroom activities that are interdisciplinary and centered around real-world problems. We also learnt about the National Geographic learning framework, a set of attitudes, skills and knowledge that underpin what is known as “the explorer mindset”. I was very pleased to notice many similarities between our school’s mission statement and the National Geographic mission statement: “We teach kids about the world and how it works, empowering them to succeed and to make it a better place”.
VIS mission statement: “At VIS we strive to ensure that all of our students become knowledgeable, inquisitive and ethical contributors to our world”.
My capstone project for the certification course focused on the work of NatGeo explorer Sandhya Narayanan, a linguistic anthropologist who conducts research on endangered languages in Peru.
Our Grade 3 and 5 students participated in a multidisciplinary project where they learnt Spanish with a purpose in mind - to understand the importance of Sandhya’s work. We used our Spanish to learn what linguistic anthropologists do; we used our Spanish to learn about Quechua and Aymara, two endangered languages spoken in Peru; we used our Spanish to learn how the Incas used quipus (knotted strings) to record information. We even used our Spanish to learn how to make our own quipus. The project helped students “see the point” of learning Spanish, and they were extremely happy when Sandhya herself sent them a video congratulating them on their effort.
The course was also a fantastic networking opportunity which has opened the doors to many interesting collaborations with other schools from around the world.
Becoming a National Geographic certified educator wasn’t an easy journey, but it truly reinvigorated my teaching practice.
Ms. Ana Acevedo Nistal - Elementary Spanish teacher
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
National Geographic Certified Educators!