Teachers: Think Outside the Box
As a teacher an at online public school, my professional experience is often met with surprise and curiosity. Last summer, I was able to connect with dozens of teachers from across the country at the George Washington Teacher Institute Summer Residential Program – and bring back ideas to implement in my online classrooms.
I first heard about the summer program from one of my mentors when I began teaching at North Carolina Virtual Academy. Open to teachers across the country, the Institute works to cultivate a learning environment where 18th-century history can be brought to life for 21st-century learners. I was immediately intrigued by the prospect of being on site at Mount Vernon and went through a rigorous application process. I was proud to be one of 125 participants chosen from over 1000 applicants to travel to Virginia to learn about diverse women in American history.
Hearing from authors and historians, we didn’t just learn about influential and elite voices from that period, but spent time also gaining insight about the everyday lives of enslaved women who have frequently been left out of history books. I carried what I learned into my classroom this fall, and it has been an honor to help my students discover these marginalized voices and shed light on the different lives from that time.
At the program I was the only online public school teacher and was happy to share my experience with other educators, as I learned there are many misconceptions about virtual school. I call on other virtual school teachers to get involved in these kinds of professional development opportunities in order to demonstrate all the possibilities online education offers, and I encourage all teachers to seek out learning opportunities outside your typical routine.
Erin Talbert is a high school social studies teacher at North Carolina Virtual Academy.
To learn more about North Carolina Virtual Academy, visit https://ncva.k12.com/.
