by SARAH W. BEDNARZ & JAMES MARRAN
Texas A&M University & Teacher Emeritus, New Trier High School

Effective staff development involves more than watching a video. Here are suggestions for supplemental strategies to use with the video to engage teachers in a meaningful professional experience. Each strategy deals with a particular topic examined in the tape. The suggestions are aimed at a staff development provider but can be used by individual teachers using the tape alone or in small independent groups. In some cases additional materials and links to Web-based resources are provided.

1. Initiatives to improve geography education. Four are mentioned here: the Geography Bee (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/index.html), the Geography Olympiad (http://www.ncge.org), KidsNetwork, and Geography Awareness Week http://www.nationalgeographic. com/education/ index.html ). Explore how your school and students can get involved in these motivating and worthwhile activities. If you are already participating in one or more, discuss how students react to these kinds of "extra" opportunities to learn and apply geography.

2. What is geography? The first few minutes of the tape define geography and give examples of why it is important for students to learn this subject. Watch this section (up to the discussion of the complexity of Earth) and discuss these questions:

• What is geography? Express a definition in your own words.
• What are some examples of how geography is important in the life of an ordinary American? Name and explain one.
• How would you explain the importance of geography to a group of parents at Open House?
• Why is it useful to know about people, places, and environments now? How might this knowledge be useful in the future?
  

3. The next section of the tape begins with a discussion of the history of geography education in the last decade. The five themes of geography are then discussed in some detail. After watching this portion of the video, try this activity to confirm the global interconnections that affect our daily lives.

Distribute a world map to participants. Ask them to place a mark on the map where their shirt or jacket was manufactured. Neighbors will have to look at each other's tags so this is a good ice-breaker activity. Next, identify where each participants shoes were manufactured and again putting a dot on the map, then, turn, where their watch comes from and one or two other items such as their ancestors and their automobile. Finally, ask participants to put a mark on the map at their present location. Have them draw lines connecting where they are now with where their shirt was made, their shoes, watch, etc. Debrief the activity using the five themes (and later, the six essential elements of Geography for Life). The dots represent locations. The connections between locations represent the movement of goods and migrations of people. The human and physical characteristics of each place affect what is produced and that has an affect on the human-environment relations in each location. Different regions of the world can be identified in the process as producing certain kinds of products for export. What other global connections can participants think of?

4. Following the introduction to GENIP, new strategies to teach geography are explained. Several of these strategies focus on new ways to use maps and ask students to both read and make maps, especially sketch maps which reflect their mental understanding of geographic locations and places. Discuss these methods and ask teachers how they can incorporate them into their own practice.

5. The explanation of new strategies to teach geography ends with the example of flowers and trade. The next section briefly discusses the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Here is a summary of some of the key findings from that national examination given to a sample of students at grades 4, 8, and 12.

6. The last section of the tape focuses on Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards. Provide participants with a copy of the book (available from NCGE or see the list of standards on this Web. Divide participants into six small groups and assign each to a different essential element (Spatial Terms, Places and regions, Physical Systems, Human Systems, Environment and Society, and Uses of Geography). Have each group produce a visual, overhead, or poster summarizing the main ideas and topics important to each element. Ask each group to share and find links from the essential elements to the curriculum taught in your school.

7. Dr A. David Hill of the University of Colorado challenges each school district to establish their own curriculum based on national standards. Use this staff development time to plan a strategy for your district to incorporate the new geography standards and teaching strategies. Also investigate how such a strategy relates to and reinforces your state standards in geography (should they presently exist).

8. After watching the entire video, lead a discussion about what teachers in your district expect students to know and be able to do in relation to geography. How does that match the expectations established in Geography for Life? What can teachers do to move closer to these national standards?

9. As a means of summarizing the purpose and content of the video, invite members of the audience to suggest a title other than "Geographic Education: Exploring New Worlds of Understanding." What rationale can they provide to explain their choice? Does a change in title imply a change in the viewing audience and a change in the spirit of the content?

10. After a full discussion of the video using some of the activities provided here, conclude by posing these questions: Are there issues in geographic education that are not addressed in the video? If so, what are they and why are they important? Some possible examples of such issues are gender equity, teaching such socially sensitive topics as zero population growth and the negatives of globalization; the equalization of resource use among the world's peoples, and the appropriateness of government planning initiatives promoting a sustainable future. What criteria should schools develop to guide the teaching of controversial issues?

For more information related to Geography for Life for students, teachers, and parents, visit the Web site provided by MCI and the National Geographic Society (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ education/xpeditions/). It includes lessons for each standard at grades 4, 8, and 12, suggestions for family geography activities, and an interactive Web-based game that introduces the standards.