August 2022 Newsletter
Ready to kick into gear? Some of you will sing, “Yes!” and others may require some extra encouragement. Either way, we hope that the coming months will be a time when you discover new things about who you are and what you can do as a teacher.
Speaking of discovering new things, let’s jump into our monthly gathering of ideas and cool freebies!
Ready-for-You Activities
Between now and next June, we intend to double the number of NVIV posts available on our site. Each post in the Next Vista Inspiring Video series includes a video we’ve found that is fascinating and reasonably short. The video is accompanied by thoughts to spark discussion, and we see this as a great resource for those who are perfectly happy to let us do a little work for them.
Our first one for the coming school year is a piece about being outside, as told by prisoners.
Find all 42 of the NVIV posts from the ’21-’22 school year at this page, and if you’d like to get the short announcements each time a new one is posted, just say so here.
Learning Like Wildfire
Our little save-the-world nonprofit landed a grant this spring focused on wildfires and how to prevent them. We’ll partner with CAL FIRE, tapping their experts for webinars and connections to participating classes. If this sounds fascinating to you, then (a) you’re cool, and (b) contact us to find out how you and your students can be involved. We’d love to help you help your students help others through a project like this. That’s a lot of help going on, there.
image by Tengyart from Unsplash (license)
Contests for You
Next month we’ll announce another 90-second short video contest. In it, we’ll ask students to creatively explain anything one might encounter in school. Looking for some examples of what’s been submitted before? Here are a few of our winners from past contests:
How mRNA Vaccines Work: Coronavirus Edition
from the Creative Recovery ’21 contest
Photosynthesis From Stop Motion
from the Creative Bridge ’19 contest
Paragraph Pirates
from the Creative Fire ’17 contest
Kindergarten Solar System
from the Soaring Creativity ’16 contest
Even better, we’re willing to run a contest specifically for your students for free. You read that right. We want great content, and your kids enjoy getting certificates and prizes. Win-win! To make this happen, though, you need to reach out to us directly. Do so on our Contact Us page, and let us know you’re interested in having kids do a contest. We’ll find a time to Zoom with you to discuss our rules and how to help the kids make the strongest videos they can.
World-Changing Projects
We have worked with teachers all over the globe to help students to explore their potential in cool and interesting ways. Those wanting their students to make a difference might well take a look at our design thinking offering, Improve the World.
The link will give you all sorts of details, including a video overview and another video helping students understand the difference between a nice thought and a great idea. What your students share could make a major difference in the lives of others near and far. Why not learn more? If you need individual help launching the project, reach out and let us know. It’s free!
Super Sips
The winner of the July drawing was Jean Millheim, and we’re sending her a Starbucks card for her good fortune!
Would you like to win a card? If so, go to our Contact Us page and tell us about a cool piece of learning or teaching you have experienced.
Crazy easy, that is!
image by Nathan Dumlao from Unsplash (license)
First Finish
Sometimes the beginning of the term is as much stress as it is excitement, and if you find that you need someone to send you a cool video to encourage you, just let me know via the Next Vista Contact Us page. I’m happy to help out.
As you kick into gear, I give you my standard monthly encouragement: May you inspire, and be inspired, each and every day!
Rushton and the Next Vista team
Rushton Hurley (@rushtonh)
Next Vista for Learning (@nextvista)
Muchas Freebies
We love sharing cool free stuff, and invite you to help us out. You can find the best of what we’ve gathered over the years on the Next Vista Resources pages, but if there is something free and powerful you love that you don’t find there, let us know about it using our resources submission form.
Images in the freebies section are screenshots from videos or web pages unless otherwise noted.
Worth the Watch
* Thomas Heatherwick is a designer who speaks with intense passion about the dangers of boring architecture. This TED talk is one that offers many glimpses at a different approach, referred to in the title of the talk as, “radically human buildings.” (15:34)
* In some places, adequate lighting is a barrier to safety and community development. In this short video about Monika Jha and Cydee Technologies, you’ll learn how one woman in India is seeing an opportunity for making a business and making a difference by taking on that barrier. (3:45)
* What allows someone to feel the power of expression? At the Creative Growth Arts Center in Oakland, California, those with disabilities are expressing themselves in powerfully beautiful ways. This is one in a long list of great videos from Great Big Story. (4:38)
* “If 90% of children had ADHD and only 10% could sit still in a desk, how would we design our schools?” This is a quote from Kathryn Paige Harden of the University of Texas in this video titled, “Schools ignore genetics – and that’s actually a bad thing,” and her presentation raises challenging questions about how we think about neurodiversity and accommodation. (3:17)
* Data scientist James Hodge speaks in this talk about the intersection of gaming, community, accessibility, and Formula 1. It’s a good message for those who need an explanation for the wild popularity of esports, and a strong way of thinking about the intersection of data and competition. (11:27)
* When a tree comes down in a city, what happens to it? What could felled trees help make happen? The company Cambium Carbon works to answer that, and the story is a good one for helping students think about how to repurpose what others might think of as waste. (3:32)
Worth the Read
* Helping students with sensory needs includes understanding the value and challenges of what are sometimes called, “fidgets.” In this Edutopia piece, writer and special educator Braxton Hall helps you choose the most constructive fidget tools, and how they can help students focus on their academic potential.
* For those who will be helping new teachers as mentors, another great post from Edutopia is a must: The Qualities of Exceptional Mentor Teachers. The author, Sarah Gonser, is a writer based in New York City, and this short read is loaded with golden advice.
* EdSurge posted a piece earlier this year called Teaching Must Get More Flexible Before It Falls Apart. It’s a good summary of various issues that educators find challenging, and looks at several approaches to making teaching more flexible.
* If you’re looking for a science piece that covers engineering and philosophy, try the article Necrobotics: Dead Spiders Reincarnated as Robot Grippers from IEEE Spectrum. The idea is to use the corpses of spiders in ways that might generate some interesting ethical discussions with your students (or friends at a happy hour).
Worth the Try
* Good images can inspire good questions and discussion, and the sixteen images that show some of the candidates for the World Building of the Year Award from the World Architecture Festival are wonderful. Use these to have students guess at locations and functions, and perhaps have them design something new for their community.
* Share the Experience from the National Parks Foundation in the U.S. offers a photo contest that yields some really stunning images. Find the 2022 winners on this page, and watch it for more content each month.
* The World Population Dashboard shares some interesting data about reproductive health, family planning, education, and more. The tool is from the United Nations Population Fund, which sees itself this way: “Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.”
* Those wanting to connect with resources from museums should look at this Edutopia post about what’s offered The Metropolitan Museum Of Art, The Indianapolis Children’s Museum, The Museum Of Memory And Human Rights in Chile, The American Museum Of Natural History, The Columbus Museum Of Art, and The Smithsonian Institution. The post highlights specific resources and suggests classroom activities.
* Finally, Richard Byrne of Free Tech for Teachers put together a nice how-to video for finding lessons using the search and advanced search tools at OER Commons, which is like a free version of Teachers Pay Teachers. If you’re looking for lesson idea nuggets, this is a gold mine.
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Last Bit
The beginning of a school year is the start of a journey, not of merely assigning grades and filling out forms, but of discovering the unique and interesting potential of each student you encounter. May this be a year full of exploration for you and them!
photo by S Migaj
from Pexels
(license)
See you next month!
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