#NathGeo - The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship - Day 3

Today, Deb Holcomb-Freitag and I left no bus, train, subway, or taxi unridden. 

First stop...the University of Glasgow!! I knew next to nothing about the University so I was pleasantly surprised to see this 1451-founded campus with its green grass and sandstone-colored buildings. Deb and I walked around just taking pictures in awe. 

We also budgeted time to peruse the gift shop. Since my own school is named Glasgow Middle, I couldn't resist the urge to get some merch to show my students and colleagues. It was super hard to make a decision too. Deb, in her infinite wisdom, encouraged me to get this one particular sweatshirt. The "Changing the World" was perfect, but the fact that it had the Latin motto on it too ("the way, the truth, the life")!!! I think I did the right thing. I can't wait to show my students.  

But back to my original plan - we traveled to Glasgow to visit the Hunterian Museum's Roman collection, purportedly, the best in Scotland. The museum itself has that old antiquarium feel to it, and the Roman gallery was indeed awesome. The collection contains the distance slabs that celebrate the soldier builders of the Antonine Wall. These stone plaques are unique in the Roman world!

Next up was the Falkirk Wheel, a massive boat switcher near the Roman Antonine Wall. I had DREAMED of getting here so that I could sneak off the Roman fort located nearby. The modern Wheel was an added bonus, and I have to say, one of the best things I've seen on this trip. Used to lift and lower boats between canals at different levels, it replaced a complicated and slow system of locks. What a joyful thing to see in action! You can watch my video of it here.

I had tried to come up with a way for us to get to Rough Castle Roman Fort via public transportation, but it was tricky. A train, a bus, a long walk, but we made it! This fort is one of very few in existence (another along Hadrian's Wall) that shows the usage of LILIA pits to sabotage enemy attacks. I was surprised to see the depth of the ditch in front of the wall. Somehow, pictures just don't do size justice.

We finished the day with the Kelpies, giant metal sculptures of horse heads that celebrate the historical contribution of horses in Scotland as well as nod toward their mythological significance. I did not expect to like them so much. The metal work, by artist Andy Scott, is superb, and the effect is one of creepy awe. They light up at night for different occasions and events. I'm so glad I got to see these icons of Scotland!

#NathGeo: The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship - Day 2

Day 2 of #NathGeo - due to a plane malfunction and four-hour repair in Atlanta, I got to Edinburgh much later than I had intended. But hey, I’m always in favor of fixing the plane!

This post is all about the fantastic public transportation in the UK. I took the bus into the city from the airport - easy to find, easy to pay (and cheap), and so fun to ride. And even better - the bus driver used my favorite UK greeting, “hiya.” This bus was a double-decker so I could have climbed the stairs too. Plenty of spots for luggage, and from there, I just enjoyed the views. Then I walked for 30 minutes to our AirBnB to meet Deb Holcomb-Freitag, my shipmate and travel partner.

It's interesting to me to hear my UK friends complain about the cost of public transport, strikes, breakdowns, etc. To me, public transport is AMAZING because we don't have it in Baton Rouge. Well, we do, but it's so underfunded and thus, underused, and thus unreliable. I always feel bad for those sitting at bus stops in the Louisiana heat. It must be very hard for working people to us. This comparison has reminded me that comparisons across cultures don't always work. Sometimes, there's just too much difference.

To wrap up the day, we spent the late afternoon walking around the touristy area called the Royal Mile, near the famous Edinburgh Castle. Lots of Americans and many other nationalities present. (Taylor Swift starts a three-night run tomorrow).

Our AirBnB near Warrender Park

Harry Potter street

#NathGeo: The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship - Day 1

Today is a travel day. I was not expecting it to be fun, and so far, it’s worrisome. After watching a storm system rolling in all morning, I thought we’d beat it. So after already boarding my flight in Baton Rouge around 2, I was surprised to hear an announcement that they were deboarding us. The storm is coming through now - lots of wind, lightning, and rain. Typical summer storm here in Louisiana. 

The thunder reminds me of my mjölnir, or Thor’s hammer. I got interested in the symbol after watching the popular Netflix series THE LAST KINGDOM, about the 9th-century Danish invasion of what would one day become the unified kingdoms of England. The main character, born a Christian Saxon, gets captured and held as a slave by a Dane (or Viking). Loved by his captors, the Saxon boy, named Osbert, lives his teen and adult years as the Dane Uhtred. Throughout the series, Uhtred wears a mjölnir as a symbol of his belief in the Norse gods. He is known as a man who gets things done no matter what. Now, those things are not always good and righteous things - he serves as a mercenary for King Alfred the Great, but when something needs doing, they call Uhtred, his mjölnir hanging from his neck to protect him. The Norse mythological figure of Thor, god of thunder, uses his mjolnir to strike others down but also to offer blessings. Thus, the symbol seems particularly appropriate for such a conflicted character as Uhtred.

My favorite Greco-Roman god is Hephaestus, the maker, the craftsman, the metal forger, and hammer user. His mallet looks different from the mjolnir, and its purpose is different too. He hammers out beautiful and useful things for the other gods: thrones for the Olympians, jewelry for his wife Aphrodite, armor for the famous warrior Achilles, and even his own robots to assist him. His hammer is a creative tool. Years ago, when I first started teaching Roman Technology, I had to pull a nail out of a wooden form that I had for setting ancient concrete. One of my students saw me turn a hammer around and use its claw to pull out the nail. She was amazed at what she saw, "You're such a badass, Mrs. Roy!" I laughed at her ignorance of how a hammer works and at my newly-bestowed label. Shortly after this incident, I went to visit a dear old friend of mine who had just taken on a new job as the maker space coordinator at her local library. When I jokingly told her this story, she promptly walked across the room and pulled out a tiny purple 3-D printed hammer. Shortly after I received my special little hammer, I lost a job that I had had for 24 years. I connected these things in my mind and decided that the hammer was my new way of thinking through life. Just be creative and get things done. I moved onto a new job that allowed me to be creative and get things done.

Years later, I still love my hammer and wear it all the time. Whenever I have a special task to do, I wear my hammer. Whenever I have a presentation to give that I'm nervous about, I wear my hammer. Whenever I have a paper, article, or grant to write, I wear my hammer. With my new interest in the Danish world, I figured it made sense to get a mjolnir. This one is based on a famous one found in Denmark from the 9th century. It makes me think of all the cool things I'll be studying on this trip. I think of Uhtred getting it done. Here's my last picture waiting to board a flight in Atlanta to Edinburgh getting things done.

#NathGeo: The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, Part 3 - The Countdown Begins

You read that right. My circumnavigation of the British Isles with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions departs in 6 days. I'm almost ready, but let's back up a bit in the story.

When I returned from the DC training at the National Geographic Society's headquarters, my students were very curious about my upcoming journey. I'm rarely out of school so when I take three days off in the middle of a school week, they need to know where I was and what I was doing. Simply telling them about it was not enough. They needed pictures, videos, and lots of details. I decided that I needed to get organized with how I shared my journey so I made a presentation (click the link to learn more) explaining everything about the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

The students listened with rapt attention especially when I talked about my expedition ship, The National Geographic Explorer and the smaller zodiac boats that launch from it. This presentation came in very handy when I spoke to journalists about the fellowship. My local newspaper, The Baton Rouge Advocate, covered my story with a large article.
To maximize my students' interest, I decided to have them each do a small research project about a topic that would assist me on my expedition. I got this idea from one of the GTF alums, Karina New, whom I met at our DC training.

As I near the departure date for my expedition, I've been doing all kinds of preparation. I had to rent water-proof wellies (boots) for zodiac landings. I had to visit a doctor to talk about scopolamine patches and Dramamine for seasickness. I've never been seasick (even after an overnight ride on a commercial car ferry across the Mediterranean from Athens to Crete), but I've also never been on the North Sea. According to TikTok, the North Sea is trying to kill you. I've also bought some special gear like a phone lanyard so I don't accidentally drop my phone (camera) in the North Sea.

In addition, I've had to plan pre and post-expedition travel with my shipmate, Deb Frietag. We decided early that we would spend a few days traveling in Scotland before embarking on our expedition. We'll go to Glasgow to see the stunning Roman collection at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. My principal, Erin Howard, has already tasked me with getting "merch" with Glasgow on it since our school is named after the famous Scottish city. We'll spend one day taking a tour of the Highlands. After the expedition, I plan to spend another day in London visiting the British Museum to see Legion: Life in the Roman Army. This exhibition will end a few days after I see it so I feel so incredibly fortunate - it contains some of the most interesting Roman artefacts out there, borrowed from all over Europe. Most thrilling is the Vettweiss-Froitzheim dice tower that I've written entire Roman Technology class lessons on. I don't want to jinx it, but I truly can't wait to see this object with my own eyes.

I'll be sharing as much of my journey as I can. I hope you'll follow along!

#NathGeo: The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, Part 2 - Training at National Geographic Headquarters

When National Geographic called me to tell me they had named me a 2024 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, they also invited me to visit National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, DC, for training. The experience was phenomenal!

Day 1

On a Wednesday morning early, I departed from Baton Rouge just in time to miss a huge storm that had canceled my school district's classes for the whole day. I felt lucky to get out safe and on time, but I felt even luckier when I got to DC and found my shipmate Deb Holcomb Freitag waiting for me. She is AMAZING. She teaches elementary and middle school social studies at a small school in Monticello, WI. Have you ever had that feeling that you knew someone in another life? That's how I feel about Deb. She and I just get along. And we both love museums, travel, and adventure.

After checking our bags into our hotel, we spent the afternoon at the National Portrait Gallery where we took in the American Presidents Gallery and many other famous people. I got to see the original painting of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts, in a pink silk dress by Edward Hughes.

Can you see the yellow rectangle?

Later that evening, our program began at National Geographic Headquarters. Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society purchased a small building that eventually morphed into a huge complex of multiple buildings in different styles. It was under construction, and with my eye for the mechanical, I immediately noticed that the giant crane towering above held a yellow rectangle dangling from it. And I took 18 million pictures of it.

At the entrance of the building is a beautiful bronze plaque inlaid in the floor, the official logo of the society. Just wandering around the complex was fascinating. But our destination that night was our opening reception. We heard from lots of people about the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship and how it got started.

My foot on the bronze plaque!

Day 2

Deb and I were the first teachers there to take in the amazing building once again, get some breakfast, and gather our thoughts before we began an exciting day of learning. We got an overview of life aboard a ship, explored "explorer mindset" with the teacher Kip Hottman who talked about his journey to Antarctica, and learned about citizen science. We also discussed how to share our fellowship with media outlets. We ended the day by having dinner with some other teacher fellows. I was tired but invigorated by all I'd learned!


Day 3

If I had thought that Day 2 was crazy wonderful, Day 3 was 10 times as exciting. We started out hearing an exciting speaker, Alex Tait, the official geographer at National Geographic! He discussed the "geographic approach": observation > inquiry > data collection > analysis > visualization > communication > action. He stressed key geographic concepts to think of as we go our expeditions: 1. Place, 2. Pattern, 3. Layers, 4. Scale, and 5. Change through time. The biggest take-away for me from Alex's talk was the importance of STORY in geography. To illustrate this point, he shared storyteller Paul Salopek's "Out of Eden Walk."

Alex Tait, Geographer at NG

After meeting with some fellowship alums to discuss mapping and sharing our expeditions, we heard from Rosemary Martin, the director of educational grants at National Geographic. I took copious notes because I feel as though one day, I want to apply for one!

Last today was a photo boot camp with photographer Alex Daley-Clark. She talked about the five-photo story:
Image 1: Take an establishing shot that introduces the subject.
Image 2: Reveal some detail.
Image 3: Provide emotional context.
Image 4: Add more content.
Image 5: End the story.
Since one of our deliverables with the fellowship is to write a five-photo story, this workshop was extremely helpful. As a professional photographer, she also gave us the following tips:
1. Get CLOSE!
2. Look for the light including silhouettes.
3. Get high or low.
4. Look for patterns and reflections.
5. Fill the frame.
6. Use portrait mode.
7. Go wide - show the vastness of the location.
After this short lecture, Alex had us walk outside and actually take some pictures. Inspired by her tip to study reflections, I took the shot below of the National Geographic building with the sky reflected in its glass doors at the top of this post.

Day 4

In the morning sessions of this day, we got down to the nitty-gritty details about our individual expeditions. We met with our Lindblad experts, many of them either experienced photographers or naturalists. Deb and I met with Kevin Rattue whom we found out later would be our field staff mentor during our time on the expedition. We were thrilled about this news! Kevin has a geology background. Now retired, he spends about half of the year working as a naturalist for Lindblad. He gave us great tips about Edinburgh and many other places that we would be visiting. In the afternoon, we heard from GTF alums about their impact projects and work with students when they returned from the expeditions. They gave helpful advice on how to engage our students with an "explorer mindset."

Hanging around at NG

The last part of the training introduced the deliverables that we would be required to offer as fellows:

Year 1: The Expedition Experience
1. Storytelling for impact: Choose five photos from the expedition that narrate a powerful and compelling story about illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world. (Note to self - gonna be VERY challenging.)
2. Choose a platform to share the expedition experience with your community.
3. Give a short presentation aboard ship about your work as a fellow.

Year 2: Outreach after the Expedition
1. Plan an outreach event that highlights what you learned on the expedition.
2. Choose a leadership role within the fellowship either as a mentor to new fellows or as part of the education program at National Geographic.


Day 5

As I headed home, I was left with a sense of incredible promise. I can't wait to experience this journey with my students and school community. I took this picture during our photo boot camp, and I think it perfectly captures that feeling. The sky is the limit.

#NathGeo: The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, Part I - How it Started

I'm sure I'm not alone when I share my love of National Geographic. I've watched their documentaries on PBS all my life. My favorite is In the Shadow of Vesuvius, about the people who died due to the eruption of the volcano in 79 CE and about the ones who still live near the deadly mountain today. It tells the story of physical anthropologist Sara Bisel who studied the bones of the residents of ancient Herculaneum. Unlike the residents of ancient Pompeii who had many hours to escape the eruption, Herculaneans died violently and quickly of thermal shock, a heat so hot that their brains probably evaporated. But I digress.

I love watching their documentaries. I can hear the theme song right now. And I still subscribe to the hard copy of the magazine that comes once a month with its yellow-bordered cover. It nearly always contains a story about classical archaeology. Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society represents that spirit of adventure and discovery that so many teachers have.

That's why the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship exists. Every year, National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions selects about 35 teachers from all over North America to participate in the learning experience of a lifetime. National Geographic sends these teachers on expeditions with Lindblad, a company that specializes in exploring natural wonders all over the world: Alaska, Antarctica, Polynesia, Australia, Egypt, Iceland, the Galapagos, etc. Inspired by these expeditions, the teacher fellows write lessons and give presentations for National Geographic's educational arm. Through the process, students get to ride along for the excitement with their teachers. 

I learned of this opportunity through a 2018 fellow alum, Donnie Piercey. Also the 2021 Kentucky State Teacher of the Year, Donnie journeyed to Antarctica on his expedition and excitedly told all of his TOY cohort about his experience with the program: the penguins, the ice, and his polar plunge. I was intrigued and decided to apply.

The application process was rigorous. I had to write three essays about how I collaborated with community partners, how I designed projects for my students, and how I encouraged an explorer mindset. I also had to make a 2.5 minute video about myself. I decided to talk about how 4th-grade me had been denied the dream of becoming a paleontologist due to my mother telling me that "they had found all the dinosaurs already." You can see it here. (Apologies to my mom, but it's just a great story.)

I also had to choose dates that would work for me to take off 2 weeks in the next school year - these included the one month I had off this summer and other 1-week school vacations that would not incur the "wrath" of my principal. (Not really, she's totally supportive, but with a continued lack of substitute teachers in my school district, teachers being out near holidays is a hard situation for schools.) The tricky part about picking dates was that they didn't correspond to the destinations we chose. So...I hoped they would, but I didn't know.

I also had to list my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th choices of location to travel to. I chose an expedition called Ancient Isles: A Circumnavigation of the British Isles, Passage through Egypt, Exploring Alaska's Coastal Wilderness, and A Circumnavigation of Iceland. Since part of the program involves me writing lessons from my experience, I figured that I could connect each of those choices in some way to what I do in my classroom.

I turned everything in in December, and then the waiting started. I had read that those who were selected would receive a live phone call from a National Geographic or Lindblad employee sometime in February. February was almost over, and I had given up hope when on a random afternoon at 2:30 PM during dismissal time at my school, I got a phone call from New Jersey. The caller identified herself as someone calling from National Geographic to inform me that I had been chosen as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. As bells were ringing in the cavernous hallway and students were flooding by, I contained my excitement as she told me that I would be on the British Isles trip in early June and that I would need to go to Washington, DC, for a fellow workshop in April. I was speechless.

When I got home from work, I told my husband David first. "You suck," he said. "And congratulations, I'm so proud of you. But you really do suck." Cue the yellow rectangles.

I'll be sharing my experiences with the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship on my blog, and on my GTF Website. Join me!

The Penelope Project: Weaving Rizz

Remember our original idea to weave large sunshades for our school - it was going to be the finale for the Penelope Project? (It's ok if you don't.) Welp, it didn't work out as I thought it would. It worked out BETTER!

Just as we got to the phase of the project where I had to organize getting giant frame looms constructed to serve as the base for our shades, the school district decided that our school needed a large, black, industrial chain link metal fence surrounding it. The students immediately started to complain that they were being "imprisoned." Although I knew that the fence was actually about keeping them safe (we had a very open campus before), I thought they had a point. The fence was not particularly "aesthetic" (as the kids like to say), no cap. 

Then, as we were eating lunch one day outside near this fence, Athena struck me with an idea. Why didn't we just weave designs on the fence?! When I shared this idea with my students, we all agreed it would be a great idea to "rizz" it up. (I can't wait for my students to read this paragraph and melt to the floor in puddles of outrage that an adult is using already out-dated youth lingo. LOL)

So we started investigating materials that we could use for outside installations. I had originally settled on something like paracord, but the more I read about it disintegrating in sunlight due to it being plastic, I knew we had to find something else. When I looked up macrame yarn, I stumbled upon recycled t-shirt yarn. They take old t-shirts and slice them up to create yarn. Knowing that we would be spending many hours with this material running all over our hands, I wanted it to be comfortable so I ordered some to play around with. The kids and I both agreed that the t-shirt yarn was AMAZING. Bonus - it came in all kinds of pretty colors.

The next step was for the kids to design a pattern that we could easily transfer to the fence. They all turned in designs, and then we voted on the ones we liked best. We wanted the colors to match a mural that the art students installed years ago to beautify the front of the school. We also settled on an exact location: the main gate entrance to the school. Our weaving art would welcome visitors and students to the school.

We began weaving in late March. It was slow-going work but fun. The students got to work in small groups to weave the fence. They enjoyed chatting with each other as they worked side by side.

Because my classes are so large (3 sections of almost 30 each), not all the students could weave the fence at the same time. I had to devise small group station activities for students to work on while some wove the fence. Here are the stations we worked in every day: 1. fence weaving, 2. online reading program mandated by the school, 3. personal weaving on small frame looms, and 4. interpersonal skills (UNO or another card game in which they actually have to chat with each other and not interact with screens.) Thus, every student in every class got to weave the fence for at least 15 minutes per day. Some kids were better at it than others. Some were super fast and focused; others needed a lot of help. Weaving right alongside each other allowed that extra support for students who needed it.

Another cool aspect of the project was the opportunity to go outside for class. Anticipating seating issues with such a plan, I wrote the grant to cover outdoor seating. Every day when we go outside, we pick up our plastic lawn chairs and take them with us to the fence weaving space. Students who are working on their reading program on Chromebooks can comfortably sit while they do so.

As we wove, we got lots of questions and comments about our project. "Why are y'all doing this? Wow, that's pretty! That looks so nice - thanks for beautifying the fence." Kids who walk by it nearly always ask why they can't be in this class. (Hint: they CAN; they just didn't sign up for it.)

Now that we are nearly done with our fence weaving project, we have received so many compliments. It's really beautiful, and the students and teachers love it. Just recently, parents were discussing the newly installed fences on a social media app. One parent pointed out how we had beautified our fence and "made it so welcoming." We have achieved our purpose!

Advice to all teachers with "big ideas" - be flexible. Sometimes, things don't work out the way you want them to, but that doesn't mean they're not still awesome. Look around you - is there something that needs fixing? Something that could be better with just a little extra effort? Learning to notice those opportunities is a great skill to work on. 

Another bit of advice. Sometimes, projects take a REALLY long time so be patient. One day, my principal walked by as we were working on the fence, and she asked me, "So...when is this gonna be done?" I jokingly told her that we'd be finished at 2:25 PM on Wednesday, May 22. (That's the last minute of this school year. LOL) And may Athena help us, it seems as though that may actually be true. We've also had to take time off from class to celebrate the end-of-the-year achievements that happened because of this class - lots of silver and gold medals on the Pegagus National Mythology Exam!

We got so good at our work that the kids decided we needed to weave another section of the fence so that the gate is completely framed by the colorful panels. And our grant (from ADF) paid for plenty of yarn if we need more. See the bottom right corner of this picture? I'm regretting the use of that dark green and really want to redo it. Every perfectionist fiber in my body wants to. But, I'm going to try to live with it and let this project go.

As we finish out the school year with this project, it's good to know that we helped our school in some small way. My students learned to weave, they reflected on how long that process took in ancient times and in modern times too, and most importantly, they learned alongside each other.