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Educator Workshops

Educators are invited to join Museum staff throughout the year to learn about incorporating sustainable design, design education, architecture, etc. into classroom curricula. The hands-on workshops offer educators a variety of opportunities to learn by doing. 

Educator Workshop: Growing a Green Community

Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Time: 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Registration Required:
$20 per Teacher
FREE for DCPS and DCPCS teachers

Join Museum Educators from the National Building Museum and Earth Force, a non-profit environmental organization for a hands-on teacher workshop investigating how to incorporate environmental issues and ideas for student action into classroom curriculum and links to national and state standards of learning. Enjoy the Museum’s new exhibition Green Community and learn simple steps to provide your students with hands-on, real-world opportunities to practice civic skills, acquire and understand environmental knowledge, and develop the skills and motivation to become life-long leaders in addressing environmental issues.

The workshop will include:

• Hands-on activities for classroom use
• Lesson plans
• Resource lists
• Poster and other environmentally-friendly classroom decorations
• A chance to brainstorm ideas and lessons for your specific needs
• Feedback from other educators

Why Teach about Sustainable Design and Environmental Issues?

Environmental education offers teachers and students an opportunity to learn about a topic that cuts across traditional subject lines and can have a large impact on their everyday lives. Teaching students about sustainable, or environmentally-friendly design, engages them in real life problem solving through thought-provoking activities. Every person, regardless of age, has various choices when making decisions that are considered environmentally friendly. From the food people eat to leaving the bedroom lights on, walking or driving, batteries or plugs, the choices of being environmentally friendly, or being “green,” can affect all aspects of life. This Educator Workshop is designed with the upper elementary and middle school teacher in mind and will empower teachers to introduce environmental topics into their classrooms and complement their existing science, social studies, and technology curricula.

Click here to register for the Growing a Green Community Educator Workshop.

Previous Educator Workshops

Teaching through the Design Lens: Investigating Where We Live

Thursday July 31, 2008 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Workshop Fee: $20 per participant. FREE for DCPS and DCPCS educators.  
Each participating educator received a FREE digital camera to keep.

Join educators at the National Building Museum and from Turning the Page for a hands-on educator workshop to explore how you can modify and use concepts and skills from the Museum's award-winning Investigating Where We Live (IWWL) program and the Literacy Through Photography (LTP) program in your own classroom! 

In both programs, elementary through high school students use photography, oral histories, and creative writing to explore their communities and then design an exhibition. How can you use photography, creative writing, and the process of exhibition design to tap into your students' creativity? How can you teach to different learning styles while still meeting standards across the disciplines? You'll also be able to visit the new Investigating Where We Live exhibition at the National Building Museum for ideas and inspiration to take back to your classroom.

At the Workshop you'll use your new camera to try out the lessons from IWWL and LTP in the vibrant Penn Quarter neighborhood of the Museum. Tips, techniques, and lessons learned will be shared by NBM and Turning the Page educators. Brainstorm ideas with your colleagues on where best to utilize these ideas in your own curriculum and ways to find funding.

Investigating Where We Live and Literacy Through Photography are great programs to get students excited about a topic, learn about various forms of research, and become active citizens in their own communities.

 The workshop included*:

• Light breakfast, snacks, and workshop materials
• A digital camera for each participant to keep
• Investigating Where We Live  and Literacy Through Photography lesson plans adaptable for classroom use
• Tour of the new Investigating Where We Live student exhibition
• Resource lists and ideas for funding 
• A chance to brainstorm ideas and lessons for your specific needs

*Participants are also invited to join the Museum for the 2008 Investigating Where We Live opening reception of student work on Weds. July 30, 2008 from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Museum, prior to attending the Workshop. For more information, please email the Outreach Programs Coordinator

Bridge Basics:  Engineering FUNdamentals Through Bridge Design and Construction

Experience one of the Museum's most popular programs, Bridge Basics, now presented in a classroom friendly Program Kit. Learn about the fundamental engineering concepts behind bridge building. Then work in groups with other teachers to design and build your own bridge and, as students would, develop problem solving and collaborative work skills.  This experiential learning process increases awareness of bridges and their importance within the built environment and allows the bridge builders to learn about fundamental engineering concepts. Model some of the lesson plans included in the extensive curriculum plan and learn ways for utilizing the other teaching tools and materials which are part of the Bridge Basics Program Kit.

The workshop included:

• Complimentary Bridge Basics Program Kit for each participating DCPS teacher ($110 value)
• Hands-on activities, designed for and easily adaptable to classroom use
• The modeling of lesson plans and core activities
• Educational networking opportunities with fellow teachers and museum educators
• A colorful "Bridges of Washington DC" poster for your classroom
• Coffee, light breakfast and snacks

Please contact the National Curricula Coordinator at 202.272.2448, ext. 3124 or bridgebasics@nbm.org for more information on the Museum's Bridge Basics Program Kits.

In the Museum Shop

Innovative teaching aids are also available in the Museum Shop. Proceeds help support education programs. Teachers and museum members deduct 10% and add $5.00 for shipping. To request a list of resources or information on bulk orders and quantity discounts, or for more information, contact the Museum Shop at 202.272.7706.