Wow …. who would of thought… NCGE Award Winner

I would have never guessed that I would be selected to as a National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) Distinguished Teacher award recipient my second year back in the classroom if ever. If you have read my previous posts going back to the classroom after a 10 year hiatus has been one heck of a ride.

In the last two years, I have met such wonderful people in the geography education world that have helped me along the way. I now have a small network of local AP Human Geography teachers that I meet up with to not only commiserate with but also to share and plan. I am part of an amazing organization, who feeds me need to learn. The South Carolina Geographic Alliance (SCGA) has helped me develop a geographer’s perspective on the world. Dr. Jerry Mitchell and Dr. Larianne Collins have given me opportunities to be a leader within the SCGA  and supported me as I have grown back in to a teacher. To them, I say, “Thank you for all that you have done to support me. I wouldn’t be the geography teacher I am without you!” My community at my school is strong and I love my fellow social studies nerds!

I realize this is starting to sound like an acceptance speech so I will stop but below is the press release from the NCGE and you can also check out the other winners in the link below.

THE NATIONAL  COUNCIL FOR GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATION RECOGNIZES THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST IN GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION Complete list of winners

Celebrating the nation’s best geography educators of 2017 WASHINGTON D.C.– For over a 100 years the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) has worked to enhance the status and quality of geography teaching and learning at all levels of instruction. Through its awards program, NCGE recognizes excellence in geography teaching, mentoring, research, instructional design, and service. “Each year we are impressed by the level of innovation, quality, and creativity of all our award nominees,” said Mr. Zachary R. Dulli, Chief Executive Officer, National Council for Geographic Education. “Understanding our world is critical to a high-quality education, and these award winners represent the best of the best in providing that to our students.” Recipients will receive their awards at a special ceremony held during the 2017 National Conference on Geography Education, July 27-July 30 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

THE K-12 DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARDS
Recognizes excellence in geography teaching at the primary and secondary levels

ANDREW DOJACK, William Monroe Middle School, Stanardsville, VA

BRIAN DAVIS, Central Middle School, Bartlesville, OK

JULIE STAVITSKI, Jack Jouett Middle School, Charlottesville, VA

KYLE TREDINNICK, Omaha Public Schools, Omaha, NE

MARYANN SANSONETTI-WOOD, Spring Valley High School, Columbia, SC

LEAANN WYRICK, Broken Bow Public Schools, Broken Bow, OK

ROBIN MANNING, Jack C. Hays High School, Buda, TX

ROSA CLARA SALAZAR, United High School, Laredo, TX

ABOUT THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR GEOGRAPHIC EDUCATION: The National Council for Geographic (NCGE) Education is a nonprofit membership organization that works to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of geography teaching and learning. NCGE provides a global forum for educators of all levels to exchange ideas and engage in professional learning opportunities to improve their geography teaching practice. We provide the organizational structure needed to advance research in geography education. We publish journals, the National Geography Standards, and a variety of materials for diffusing research and best practices on geography education. We recognize exceptional educators and supporters in geography education. We lead and support a variety of educational and creative programs to support our members and advance global literacy. Learn more at http://www.ncge.org

#Photojournalism Project for World Geography

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**This is a cross post from my school blog.**

Geography is everywhere. As we move further along in the semester, you will begin to see geography in your daily activities. It’s time to start capturing those activities….

How will you do that, you ask? You will take a weekly photo and write a reflection blog post on how it relates to World Geography. We have all ready talked about a number of things like the 5 themes of Geography, maps, different parts of the physical earth, etc. As we move through the rest of the class, it’s important that you start to see the geography all around you. We will be talking about population and migration or the movement of people, as well as, culture, political geography, industrialization and development, agriculture/food, rural and urban land use. You will have plenty of opportunities to see geography.

So what are you going to do?

  1. Take a few photos a week that remind you of something about Geography
  2. Select one you want to write about.
  3. Create a blog post with the photo and the answers to the following questions.
    What is happening in the picture? Give us the context. Why did you take this photo?
    How is it related to geography?
    Which of the 5 themes of Geography does this photo connect with and how?
  4. Be sure to tag/label the post with the following #WG_SVH_PJP
  5. Publish your blog!

Take a look at some of the student blogs #WG_SVH_PJP is the hashtag for the posts!

When are they blog posts due?

Weekly on Wednesdays starting Wednesday, February 23 – We will write the first two blog posts in class for bell work. Want to see an example I created? Here is another.

How will you be graded?
15 points per weekly blog post.

Title and Tag: 3 points
Students need to create an appropriate title for each blog post and have the label/tag #WG_SVH_PJP

Overview: What is happening in the picture? Give us the context. Why did you take this photo?
A one paragraph summary of the photo. Summary paragraph: Be sure to answer the basic questions of who, what, when, where and why in your paragraph.

0 points
Connection does not fit the photo or is only listed.
Section not answered.

2 points
Overview paragraph does not answer who, what, when, where or why. Or is not a paragraph just a couple sentences.
Minimal sentence structure or spelling errors.

4 points
Overview is a paragraph answering a few of the who, what, when, where and why.
Minimal errors.

6 points
Overview is an in depth paragraph answering who, what, when, where, and why.
Proper sentence structure and no spelling errors.

Parts that Connect: How is it related to geography?
Which of the 5 themes of Geography does this photo connect with and how?
Student makes connections from the photo to one of the 5 themes of geography or something we have studied in class. The connection is clearly explained. At least 1 paragraph.

0 Points
Connection does not fit the photo or is only listed.
Section not answered.

2 points
Connection is listed but not explained and loosely fits with the photo.

4 points
Connections paragraph connects this article to one of the 5 themes of geography AND content we have studied in class but does not give examples or explain the connection. (Does not answer how it connects.) Shows a good correlation to between the connection and the photo.

6 Points
Connections paragraph clearly connects this article to one of the 5 themes of geography AND content we have studied in class by giving examples and explaining the connection. (How does it connect?) Shows a strong correlation to between the connection and the photo.

What are some tips and tricks to help you out?
Take More Than One Photo
Be sure to take more than one photo. The photo you intended to be the one for the blog post may not be the one that gives you the words you need to reflect. Take a few of different images of things going on throughout the week and select the photo when you are writing the post.

Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
Don’t wait to take your photo until Tuesday with the post being due on Wednesday. Let this be a thoughtful process.

Blogger app (Android)
Place the blogger app on your phone and log in using your school login. This will allow you to take photos and upload them to a post from your phone. You can then write the post on your phone and publish or save it to draft and finish it on your computer

BlogTouch FREE version (iOS)
Blogger is suddenly missing from the iOS app store. This will at least help you get photos from your phone to a post.
iOS users can also create a folder in Google Drive called Blog Photos and upload them to the Google Drive folder to add to your blog later.