2018-19 Thing X Mapping & Geography

When I started to research this topic I figured this would be a lot of information I was already familiar with, I was definitely wrong! I offered a PD a few years ago on Google My Maps. It was, and still is a pretty under-used app available in the apps for education suite through google. In my opinion it can be used across all content areas, and if you have visual learners, then this is a great way to help scholars retain information that includes locations and landmarks. You can also use the app to measure distance and show different layers of locations.

I started my PD very basic; make a map of where you grew up. Teachers were shown how to add pins to a location (they could type in and address or zoom in on the map and click the location). I showed them how to add a picture to the location, they could add links or videos, endless possibilities. I shared my map as an example. I grew up in a small town, only one K-12 school building (still the same today). It was safe and everyone knows everyone. It’s town, but also has a village. Lots of farms, pizza shops, factories, a few bars, and a variety of churches. My scholar’s love when I tell them what it was like to grow up in such a place; I cannot imagine living there now. I am the only one in my family that has moved away (and I’m only an hour from them). It has history!

I have showed teachers how to use the app for lit trips or history tours. My AP USHG teacher used the app to takes the scholars on the freedom trail. He shared the map with his scholars and they had to add the information with videos and photos. I used the app to show scholars the route George and Lenny took in Of Mice and Men. There are so many cool ways to use the app, and it is rarely thought as a resource in classrooms.

Exploring more with mapping and geography apps, I was surprised to find out that National Geographic has a connection to google through the voyager experience. You can pick a place to tour and it has great dynamic photos to make your experience seem very real. There is also a google Earth Engine that allows you to go back in time and see what places used to look like. You can see water patterns, and how they have changed over time. I was interested in the site, youvisit.com after reading the brief overview, it made me think about ways I could create an interactive tour of my building for new scholars or potential new scholars. But after visiting the site, it cost money, I think there are free apps that would work with the same idea.

There were tons of sites and suggestions for using mapping within your curriculum, but the last one that caught my interest was the History Pin (link is bad), What was There, and the Sepia Town sites. These sites allow users to add photos and stories to specific locations. I immediately thought of our ELL scholars; we have many languages spoken at school and scholars have relocated here from all over the world. These sites could tie our scholars to where they have moved from, and if they came here as babies, they could see what it looks like today.

Again, an overwhelming amount of ideas, apps, and sites to implement mapping and geography into everyday lesson planning. I cannot believe how many opportunities there are to truly make lessons come alive. I am jealous about how much more I could have learned as a student if they would have been able to get my attention through interactive learning.