May 2023 Newsletter
What is the story of your school year? Have you seen a student make a major leap forward, or has your school launched something that has generated new enthusiasm in your community? Have you figured out what you can do to improve your teaching, even if it is something small?
The tie that binds all elements of these newsletters is the story of possibilities. There are contests in which students tell stories of their learning. We gather videos with stories that provoke us intellectually and emotionally. There are stories of collaboration and exploration in upcoming gatherings and answered questions.
We hope these are stories you both enjoy and find useful, and always welcome your feedback on how to tell these stories even better.
Art and Joy
The NVIV series is one of the most popular pieces of the Next Vista puzzle. In the last two weeks, we’ve shared a story of art that literally depends on where you stand and another exploring the pure joy of learning something new. They’re great stories, and great items if you need something to fill several minutes of a class.
Questions Answered
In the most recent episode of Two EdTech Guys Take Questions, Richard and Rushton look at alternatives to Google. For cool shares, you’ll hear about a tool for looking at image metadata and an Instagram account reliving the story of the climber who first scaled Mt Everest without oxygen assistance.
Projects to Inspire
Most of the videos shared in the Next Vista newsletter run just a few minutes. This one, however, is almost 40 minutes. Why such a long video? Because there’s something about getting to hear students (in San Mateo, California, and Cape Town, South Africa) tell the stories of the projects they imagined, launched, refined, and learned from that makes for a truly inspiring experience! Make some time to watch the Creative Solutions for the Global Good Project Showcase ’23!
Creative Contests
Speaking of stories, wouldn’t it be cool for your students’ creative stories of learning to be videos that we celebrate with educators around the world?
You can make this happen by getting involved in Creative Spark ’23, our annual contest asking students to explain something they’ve encountered in school in 90 seconds or less. It’s part of our nonprofit’s mission to help teachers ease into doing these kinds of dynamic activities, so if you’re curious how to make such projects easier on you, just let us know! We’re happy to connect during the (northern hemisphere’s) summer to help you out. No cost, of course!
Super Sips
Would you like to win a $5 Starbucks card? In April, Mary Sills did, adding to her story for the year!
Yours might be the name drawn from the hat for May if you watch either of the NVIV posts described above (click here to find them). Just watch one and tell us what you think of the post. We welcome your feedback, and hope to give you a little treat as a thanks!
image by Nathan Dumlao from Unsplash (license)
Understanding Wildfire
Our project Educational Videos for the Science and Prevention of Wildfires is one that is generating stories of great activities and videos. You can see what students have sent (and refined with our feedback and sent back) at this page. We would love to have your students help others learn about wildfires by interpreting the prompts by sharing cool videos they make. If you’re curious, just let us know and we’ll find a way to get you involved, too.
image by Tengyart from Unsplash (license)
First Finish
As always, we hope you have already been inspired (or at least intrigued) by what’s above, and will be so with one or more of what’s below! May your term finish well, and as we always say, may you inspire, and be inspired, each and every day.
In service,
Rushton and the Next Vista team
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
* Here’s evidence that scientists are normal people. Listen in on their reactions as an underwater camera that’s part of an expedition in Hawaii moves toward a really odd creature. It’s a great share from National Geographic. (1:46)
* If you like looking at big sand castles or listening to people speak English with an Italian accent, you’ll like this video from Insider Art about the work of artist Leonardo Ugolini. (3:14)
* Turning to astronomy, here’s a story of size. It matters. Titled NASA Animation Sizes Up the Biggest Black Holes, this one may blow your mind. Thanks to the Future Crunch newsletter guys for sharing this one! (1:43)
* If the idea that the marimba or the vibraphone could be very cool had never occurred to you, then it’s a given you’ve never watched a performance by Christoph Sietzen. This piece is called Attraction (the short version, apparently), and it’s by French composer and percussionist Emmanuel Séjourné. Fasten your seat belt. (2:46)
* Time for a quick trip to China! More specifically, it’s The Journey to the World’s Most Remote Teahouse. Would you make this climb? Thanks, as always, to Great Big Story for sharing so many amazing stories, and welcome back! (2:38)
* Those of you with dogs or cats understand the bond that can form between humans and animals. How about fish, though? Could a fish in the wild have a favorite diver? In this video from The Dodo, you’ll meet Rachel and her buddy Sonny, and you can decide for yourself. (3:14)
Worth the Read
* Avery Thrush, a Teach for America (TFA) teacher placed in Nashville in 2020, shares the powerful and heart-breaking story of how she now sees the educational system in general and TFA in particular. The post is in EdSurge, and is titled As a Naive College Student, I Fell for the Mission of Teach for America. It’s a read that doesn’t shy away from complexities in our society, and one I’d love to hear someone from TFA address.
* Another recent EdSurge post focuses on efforts in Houston and Maryland to raise teacher pay in order to be more competitive with peers. The context is a longshot bill to raise the minimum beginning teacher salary nationally to $60K/year. As multiple people quoted in the article emphasize, salary is only one of several elements to make education a more attractive option for talented young people coming out of college. It’s a critical element, though.
* The classroom management expert Michael Linsin put out a post in April called How To Handle A Student Who Doesn’t Like You. It’s a good reminder of the strengths of approaching interaction without thinking that what’s going on with the student is about you, when it probably isn’t.
Recent Newsletters
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Last Bit
Continuing the flower theme from last month, the epic rains here in California have led to what’s called a “superbloom.” You can learn more about the science of such things on the Wikipedia page, but suffice to say it can be pretty spectacular. The picture below is from the 2019 occurrence. We’re praying that all the melting water in the snow pack doesn’t mean we’ll follow this beauty with a lot of destruction.
photo by Pamela Heckel
from Unsplash
(license)
See you next month!
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