National Council for Geographic Education

ESRI ArcGIS Online Competition-Getting Started
2022-10-27 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar
Esri challenges US students to conduct and share a research project about something in their home state. Esri’s ArcGIS Online Competition is open to high school (“HS,” gr.9-12) and middle school (“MS,” gr.4-8) students in participating states in the US who can gather, create, analyze, interpret, and present data via an ArcGIS StoryMap.
ESRI is hosting a quartet of meetups (=webinars) for state leaders and educators. These are aimed at adults who want to help students participate effectively. (Hint: There are instances where you can see “the power of one,” but best success “takes a village.”) Meetups will be recorded and available to the public. Each session will include Q&A time.
Each session is free but registration is required.

iScore 5 All Year Long
2022-11-02 19:00 - 20:00
Teaching students how to read and understand quantitative and qualitative data is a skill that must be repeated constantly and used throughout the year. Four veteran teachers of AP Human Geography share their strategies on how to teach students to efficiently learn content. Using data to provide students with constant formative feedback while also preparing students for success on the AP Human Geography exam. Participants will learn about Verbal FRQing and how to use NCGE’s bell ringers in your classroom as strategies to help students grow
Presenters: Paul Gray, Greg Sherwin, and Ken Keller
JOIN WEBINAR HERE!
# Member-only access

Beyond Reading the Definition From a Slide: Teaching Sense of Place and Place Making
2022-11-08 19:00 - 19:45
Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan’s work focused on the human aspects of human geography. He wrote about the spatial concepts of space and place in his landmark work Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Learn how to guide your students in using your school as a field study to understand and evaluate a sense of place and place-making. Students will build upon their field study with a guided visual discovery activity that helps them understand how regional patterns of religion, ethnicity, and language contribute to creating a sense of place.
About the Presenter:
Laura Kmetz has been teaching AP Human Geography since 2014 at Booker T. Washington High School, an arts magnet in Dallas, TX. She is the current author of the NCGE bell ringers, the lead APHG teacher for Dallas ISD, and a table leader at the AP reading. Laura loves sparking students’ curiosity about our complex world and their place in it.
Log-in and JOIN THE WEBINAR HERE!
# Member-only Access

GeoCamp Iceland: Professional Development in the Land of Fire and Ice
2022-11-09 19:00 - 20:00
This webinar introduces NCGE’s GeoCamp Iceland professional development program. Past program leaders Ellen Foster and Jeff Lash are joined by 2021 participant Debra Troxel to introduce the program, share experiences, discuss registration, and address potential GeoCamper questions and concerns.
Presenters: Jeff Lash, Ellen Foster, and Debra Troxell

JOIN THE WEBINAR HERE!
#Member-only access

Water Politics and Environmental Justice
2022-11-14 19:00 - 19:45
Water quenches thirst, sustains crops, generates power, cools industry, conveys ships, carries waste, and maintains ecosystems. This webinar examines the political, social, and cultural dimensions of each of these facets of water resources management. We’ll explore the political dynamics of water distribution, access, and use. We also investigate questions of urban water management, river restoration, water-related hazards, shared transboundary waters, and the threat of water wars.
Presenter: Dr. Jessica Barnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and the School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of South Carolina. She is the author of Cultivating the Nile: The Everyday Politics of Water in Egypt, also published by Duke University Press, and co-editor of Climate Cultures: Anthropological Perspectives on Climate Change.
JOIN WEBINAR HERE! #Open access

Electoral Maps and Legislative Elections: Resources for teaching about redistricting
2022-11-16 19:00 - 20:00
The 2020 Census and redistricting cycle will manifest itself in the United States Congress and state legislatures across the country. Consider the analysis of the midterm elections has been in your state. Yet even though it seems as though discussions about redistricting should be over, every year new students need to learn about elections at the federal, state, and local levels, including where lines are drawn to create electoral districts. This overview of the GeoCivics project will provide educators with materials to engage students in hands-on exploration of this process, from understanding population movement to analyzing current maps. Redistricting may be taught through historical, legal, economic, and geographic frameworks, providing an opportunity to introduce students to online mapping tools, which are increasingly prevalent for understanding, collecting, and analyzing a variety of data.

Presenter: Rebecca Theobald
JOIN THE WEBINAR HERE!
#Member-only access

Agriculture in APHG: Making Connections to Food, Land & People
2023-01-11 19:00 - 19:45
Summary
Participants in this webinar will explore free resources aligned with APHG Unit 5: Agricultural Patterns, Spatial Organization, Changes, and Impacts. These resources include classroom tested lessons and hands-on activities that are designed to connect geography to the agricultural production of food, clothing, and shelter that we depend on each day. Attendees will discuss strategies for utilizing these resources and actively engaging their students to investigate the economic, social, political and environmental impacts of geography and agriculture.
Presenter

Sue Knott
Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) Education Specialist
Webinar Access
#Member only access | JOIN HERE

GeoCamp Amazon
2023-01-18 19:00 - 19:45
Summary
This webinar introduces NCGE’s GeoCamp Amazon professional development program. Past program leaders will introduce the program, share experiences, discuss registration, and address potential GeoCamper questions.
Webinar Access
#OPEN access | JOIN HERE

Basics of Cartography: Mapping Infrastructure in the Occupied West Bank
2023-01-23 19:00 - 20:00
Summary:
This webinar will demonstrate basic geo-processing tools and cartography using open source software (QGIS) and data/shape-files to map the inadequate provision of infrastructure in the West Bank. Participants will be provided with relevant data, a live demo, and written instructions. The presentation will cover basic map-making principles and explore how to integrate map-making exercises in the classroom.
About the Presenter:
Danielle Katz is a senior studying Geography and GIS at the George Washington University. She is interested in open source software and collective data management, especially in issues of land and food sovereignty. She is a part of the YouthMappers Validation hub at GWU, where she works closely with OpenStreetMap projects to improve data quality for various projects. On campus, she is an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace, where she facilitates teach-ins, programming, and protests. Beyond her work, she enjoys traveling, inventing recipes, tending to her plants, and a good sewing project.
#Open Access | JOIN WEBINAR

GeoCamp Iceland
2023-01-31 19:00 - 19:45
Summary
This webinar introduces NCGE’s GeoCamp Iceland professional development program. Past program leaders Ellen Foster and Jeff Lash are joined by 2021 participant Debra Troxel to introduce the program, share experiences, discuss registration, and address potential GeoCamper questions
Webinar Access
#Open Access | JOIN WEBINAR

Your State in 5 Maps
2023-02-01 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Harnessing the digital scholarship tools and resources of New American History, explore history, geography and civics in your own backyard through a series of digital maps and tools designed to engage students through inquiry-based learning.
About the Presenter:
Annie Evans is the Director of Education and Outreach for New American History at the University of Richmond. She feels most at home engaging with teachers and students both in and outside of the classroom, where she has spent over half her life teaching history, civics, and geography. With over 30 years of classroom and educational leadership experience, she designs curricula and facilitates professional learning for K-16 teachers and museum educators, focusing on Historical Thinking Skills, GeoLiteracy, Instructional Coaching, Project and Place-Based Learning, and Performance Assessments.
Embracing inquiry and place-based learning as both a young learner and later a teacher, she continues to serve as co-coordinator of the Virginia Geographic Alliance and is a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow and Certified Educator.
Exploring new landscapes, historic sites, or museums is her “happy place,” and she hopes New American History will inspire the next generation of educators, public historians, and engaged citizens.
New American History is led by Dr. Ed Ayers with generous support from the University of Richmond.
Webinar Access
#Member Only | JOIN WEBINAR

Interactive Clickable Maps for K-12 Geography
2023-02-22 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Interactive (“clickable”) maps are a tool to focus student attention on just one or two selected topics at a time. Reducing distracting clutter can make it easier for students to acquire and use specific skills of spatial reasoning. Careful selection of topics can promote thoughtful inquiry in primary school and at the same time provide a strong factual foundation for more complex studies in later grades. Participants in this webinar will explore examples of clickable maps designed to support K-8 learning progressions in geography, U.S. and world history, economics, and earth science.
About the Presenter:

Phil Gersmehl is emeritus professor at the University of Minnesota. One of the third generation of “Teacher Gersmehls,” he received a BA in Education from Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Illinois, and a PhD in Geography from the University of Georgia, then taught at Concordia for five years before moving to the University of Minnesota. There, he helped develop several distance-learning courses and large-enrollment classes, including an innovative general-education course on the Language of Maps, which led to an Annenberg Public-TV project and a course manual that is now distributed by the National Council for Geographic Education. In 1990, the Association of American Geographers asked Phil to serve as Director of ARGUS (Activities and Readings in the Geography of the United States), ARGWorld (Activities and Resources in the Geography of the World), and the Teaching Geography Project. During 12 years of funded projects, Phil authored a number of interactive computer simulations and made presentations in summer institutes and other teacher workshops in 34 states, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Meanwhile, his research about erosion control, soil productivity, GIS applications, and the neuropsychology of spatial cognition has resulted in four healed gullies, some kindergarten and first-grade teaching units, a package of curricular scaffolds and interactive maps, and his election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A third edition of his book, Teaching Geography, was published by Guilford Press in 2014. Recently, he has been working with teams of Michigan teachers to develop and test lessons to meet the new social-studies standards in that state.
Webinar Access
#Member Only | JOIN WEBINAR

AP Human Geography: Tricks and Tips for Unit 6, Urban Patterns
2023-03-01 19:00 - 19:45
Summary
This webinar will share some strategies and activities for teaching the urban models in Unit 6. This is always challenging for the students. The presenters will provide teaching strategies and applications of the models.
Presenters:
Seth Dixon, Kelly Glos and Corey Merril
Webinar Access
#member-only access | Join

Geography and Identity in the 2022 World Cup
2023-03-06 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
In this webinar, discussion on how geography can shape identity and vice versa (ex: how the Moroccan world cup team was claimed by both Arab fans/audiences as an ‘Arab’ team and also by African audiences – as well as the myriad political and cultural issues that surround the distinctions).

About the Presenter:
Graham H. Cornwell is a historian of the Middle East and North Africa based at George Washington University. You can follow him on Twitter at @ghcornwell.

Webinar Access:
#Open Access | JOIN WEBINAR

Embedding Outdoor Learning into everyday Geography lessons
2023-03-08 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
This presentation will focus on identifying opportunities that exist to utilize the outdoors as a part of geography education. Geography teachers and practitioners are known as some of the best in using the outdoors to enhance teaching and learning outcomes; however, this field is rapidly evolving. Join this session to engage in conversations surrounding topics such as identifying opportunities for outdoor learning, structuring outdoor learning programs, and the benefits of outdoor learning programs before focusing on 20 – 40 activities that can be implemented within any curriculum. All attendees will receive a copy of a teaching toolkit dedicated to embedding outdoor learning into both elementary and high school education.
About the Presenter
Meet Luke Parker; after undertaking an undergraduate degree in teaching, he taught in various schools in Australia before moving into higher education. Parker was a lecturer at an Australian university for five years and developed a passion for research and teaching the use of the outdoors in education, in addition to being the project officer at Outdoors Victoria, leading grants dedicated to creating resources to embed outdoor learning in all Australian schools. In 2021 he moved to the University of Kansas to undertake a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, focusing on researching the use of Outdoor Learning within education, specifically investigating how many schools in the USA use the outdoors as a part of their everyday teaching and learning.
Webinar Access
#member-only access | Join

ESRI Map Competition
2023-03-09 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
2022-23 Competition Meetup Series
A quartet of meetups (=webinars) for state leaders and educators. These are aimed at adults who want to help students participate effectively. (Hint: There are instances where you can see “the power of one,” but best success “takes a village.”) Meetups will be recorded and available to the public. Each session will include Q&A time. Each session is free but registration is required.
Webinar Access
#Open Access | More info and Join

Strategies for Teaching the Internal Structures of Cities
2023-03-22 19:00 - 20:00
CANCELLED:
Due to unforeseen circumstances this event has been cancelled. A reschedule date coming soon, please check back.
Summary
This presentation will share the popular teaching strategy and activity of Speed dating. See how the presenter uses this strategy for teaching Topic 6.5 – the Internal Structure of Cities and how this strategy can be used in other parts of the course. It is also a great review strategy
The Presenter:

Paula Woods,
Clark County School District. Advanced Technologies Academy High School
Webinar Access:
#Member Only | JOIN the WEBINAR-CANCELLED

AP Review
2023-03-25 12:00 - 13:30
Summary
In partnership with College Board, this webinar will provide strategies and ideas to help prepare your students for the AP exam. There will be McQ strategies, review of the FRQ task verbs and an overview of the exam itself.
Presenters:
Lisa Benton-Short, David Valdez, and Julie Wakefield
Webinar Access
#Open Access | Join HERE

Webinar: APHG StoryMaps - The Travels of a T-Shirt
2023-03-29 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
ArcGIS StoryMaps from ESRI are an engaging way to allow students to interact with a variety of different content. StoryMaps incorporate text, graphics, videos and maps to tell a compelling story that students are able to peruse at their own pace. This presentation will show how to use them in class and ideas of how to get the students started in working on their own.
About the Presenter
Matt Poleski is a teacher, husband and father living in Henderson, NV. He graduated with his teaching degree from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV) and earned his master’s degree in GIS from Elmhurst College in Illinois. He has been teaching AP Human Geography for twelve years and has been an AP Reader for seven years. He is passionate about incorporating technology into the classroom and creating opportunities for his students to “do” geography. When he isn’t in the classroom, Matt loves reading and playing with his two little boys and traveling the world with his wife, Kristyn.
ArcGIS StoryMaps from ESRI are an engaging way to allow students to interact with a variety of different content. StoryMaps incorporate text, graphics, videos and maps to tell a compelling story that students are able to peruse at their own pace.
He belongs to the Geographic Alliance in Nevada (GAIN), National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) and American Geographic Society (AGS). In 2019, Matt was chosen as one of the AGS Geography Teacher Fellows for the Geography 2050 Symposium.
Webinar Access
#Member Only | JOIN WEBINAR

AP Review News You Can Use
2023-04-12 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Do you need advice on how to prepare students for the AP exam? Or do you have a great strategy you want to share? Then come to the AP REVIEW webinar question and answer session where expert teachers (insert names here) will share their strategies and offer advice on the best way to prepare students for the exam. This will be an open-ended discussion-based format with Juile Wakefield moderating questions from the community.
Presenters
Ken Keller, Paul Gray, Greg Sherwin, Laura Kmetz
Access
#OpenAccess | Join Here

Teaching Food and Famine
2023-05-15 19:00 - 20:00
SUMMARY
This seminar will offer an overview of Middle East food studies and tools for teachers to implement in the classroom. We will work with an exercise that incorporates recipes for active student learning that bridges theory and practice. Questions of nationalism, class, and gender will be at the center of our inquiry.
PRESENTER INFORMATION

Graham Auman Pitts, PhD BIO
Graham Auman Pitts is a historian of food, famine, and environmental history. His work focuses on Lebanon and the modern Middle East but the major themes of his research: capitalism, disease, foodways, and migration demand a global framing. Among his recent publications (as co-editor and co-author) is Making Levantine Cuisine: Modern Foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean (UT Press, 2021), a book project that he developed as a collaboration between scholars, food writers, and chefs. Pitts’ current book manuscript concerns the famine that struck Lebanon during World War I. Before coming to the University of Mississippi, Pitts held faculty positions at North Carolina State, Georgetown, and George Washington. For two years, he was honored to be the American Druze Foundation fellow at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. He completed his PhD in history at Georgetown University.
WEBINAR ACCESS
#OpenAccess | Join Here

APHG Bellringers Webinar
2023-08-17 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Are you an APHG Teacher preparing for the 2023-2024 school year? Don’t miss this chance to learn from Laura Kmetz, the NCGE Bellringer author and AP reading table leader, along with Eric Rodgers and Kelen Weathers. Get ready for an enlightening discussion on how to effectively apply Bellringers in your classroom for the 2023-2024 school year. Your students will thank you
Webinar Access
#Open to All | Join Webinar

Imagination Land - Using Imagination to Teach Abstract & Difficult Concepts
2023-09-06 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Many students struggle to understand complex and abstract concepts. Imagination-land uses brain science to explore ways teachers can use story telling and fictional situations to help students grasp abstract concepts, before transferring them into “the real world.”
The Presenter: Michael Grether
Wake Forest High School (Wake County Public Schools); Michael Grether has been an educator since 2007 with Wake County Public Schools; currently teaching Social Studies at Wake Forest High School. Mr. Grether has a Bachelor’s Degree for Ohio University and a Masters in Curriculum/Instruction/Assessment from Walden University. In 2019 Michael Grether was a Top 10 Finalist for Wake County Teacher of the Year, along with WRAL’s Top Choice Teacher Runner-Up. In 2020, he was the NSHSS Claes Nobel National Coach-Educator Runner Up.

Webinar Access
#member only | Join Here

APHG Essentials: Dive into Population & Migration
2023-09-13 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Are you interested in teaching engaging lessons that “stick” with students? In this interactive webinar led by Laura Kmetz, an experienced APHG teacher and exam reader, you will have the opportunity to preview activities from Population Education that are directly correlated to APHG unit 2 population and migration and ready to use in your classroom. Whether you are a new APHG teacher wondering how you can most effectively use limited class time or an experienced teacher looking for new activities, this webinar is for you. You will leave the webinar with access to dozens of lessons in Population Education’s curriculum that you can use in teaching units 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7.
Webinar Access
#member only | Join Here

Explore the new MapMaker
2023-09-14 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Learn about the newly updated National Geographic MapMaker powered by ArcGIS Online. We’ll start at the beginning, covering the tools and a subset of data packaged within the MapMaker. All software and data used are free, accessible without login, and work on tablets and laptops.
About the Presenters:
Tom Baker is an education manager on the Esri Education Solutions team, strategizing effective use of GIS technology and solutions to solve instruction, administrative, and research challenges in schools, universities, and informal education. An instructional technologist and researcher by training, he now specializes in integrating classroom practice and technology with GIS. Most of Tom’s time at Esri is spent serving the nearly 5 million K12 educators of the United States—and their 50 million students. Tom seeks to use his experience to enhance learning at all levels and subjects by leveraging the science of where.
Charlie Fitzpatrick is K12 Education manager at Esri. After being a formal student for many years, he taught social studies in grades 7-12 (mostly 8th grade geography) for 15 years. He also started teaching teachers to understand the patterns, relationships, and systems of the world using computers. He joined Esri as education manager in 1992, where he works with students, educators, and influencers across the nation. He and his colleagues work to provide software, instructional resources, and educator support free to every school and club, so learners of all ages can explore and understand the world, analyze information, make good decisions, and solve problems by thinking geographically using GIS.
Webinar Access
#open access | Join Here

Teaching About Judaism
2023-09-20 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Explore one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions by examining the origin of Judaism, highlighting its rich history, laws, traditions, and diversity.
The Presenters: Erika Lowery
Erika is in her 27th year in education. Before joining ICS, she taught middle school and high school geography courses and was a Secondary Social Studies Coordinator. She was awarded the National Council for Geographic Education Distinguished Teaching Achievement award in 2013. She has been President of Texas Council for the Social Studies and President of the National Social Studies Supervisors Association. She was honored as the Dr. Rosemary Morrow TSSSA Supervisor of the Year in 2022. Erika received her Bachelor of Science in Social Studies Education from The Florida State University, was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in the College of Education in 2020, and a Master of Education Leadership from National Louis University.
Webinar Access
#Member only | Join Webinar

Using Primary Sources to Examine Impacts on the Environment
2023-10-04 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Looking for middle school resources to explore hot-topic issues? Want to incorporate primary sources and practice real-world data analysis? Join Barbara Huth from Population Education in this interactive webinar that jumps into analyzing current and historic sources to make sense of how people are changing the world. Start with climate change: examining a variety of different types of data for themes, commonalities, and connections. Then jump into the issue of fracking and practice uncovering bias in sources. Finish with a historic case study of a US air quality disaster, and use historic images to recreate the story. Receive standards-aligned lessons, digital adaptations, and access to a library of classroom resources from Population Education.
Presenter
Barbara Huth is the Online Learning Manager for Population Education, a national non-profit program that supports teachers in covering population and related environmental and social topics in the classroom. Barbara brings extensive classroom experience, having spent 10 years as a teacher. She is a National Board Certified teacher, taught Earth Science, AP Environmental Science, and IB Environmental Systems & Societies. Prior to joining the PopEd team, she spent over five years providing professional development on topics around digital learning, social-emotional learning and digital citizenship for Common Sense Education. Barbara oversees PopEd’s online graduate level course, coordinates the program’s annual World of 8 Billion student video contest, and supports online workshop facilitation.
Webinar Access
#open Access | Join Here

ArcGIS Map Viewer Create or Modify Maps
2023-10-05 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
Are you creating storymaps? Engaging students in the Esri-NCGE student storymap competition? Then this webinar is for you! Part of a 3-part series by Esri designed to support educators who are looking to engage their students in the world of geography. In this webinar, Tom Baker and Charlie Fitzpatrick will discuss the map viewer as the cornerstone for visualizing map-based data. In this webinar, we will cover the basics of creating maps using data from ArcGIS Online or collected by students.
Presenters
Tom Baker is an education manager on the Esri Education Solutions team, strategizing effective use of GIS technology and solutions to solve instruction, administrative, and research challenges in schools, universities, and informal education. An instructional technologist and researcher by training, he now specializes in integrating classroom practice and technology with GIS. Most of Tom’s time at Esri is spent serving the nearly 5 million K12 educators of the United States—and their 50 million students. Tom seeks to use his experience to enhance learning at all levels and subjects by leveraging the science of where.
Charlie Fitzpatrick is K12 Education manager at Esri. After being a formal student for many years, he taught social studies in grades 7-12 (mostly 8th grade geography) for 15 years. He also started teaching teachers to understand the patterns, relationships, and systems of the world using computers. He joined Esri as education manager in 1992, where he works with students, educators, and influencers across the nation. He and his colleagues work to provide software, instructional resources, and educator support free to every school and club, so learners of all ages can explore and understand the world, analyze information, make good decisions, and solve problems by thinking geographically using GIS.
Webinar Access
#open access | Join Here

Project Based Learning in the World Geography Classroom
2023-10-11 19:00 - 20:00
Summary
The goal of this session is to spark inspiration, exchange, and even debate amongst geography educators at all levels about the merits of a project-based approach to teaching world geography.
Presenter

Tiffany Grobelski, Assistant Professor
Department of Environment, Geography, and Earth Sciences (EGE)
Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies (PJCS)
Gustavus Adolphus College
Saint Peter, Minnesota
The goal of this session is to spark inspiration, exchange, and even debate amongst geography educators at all levels about the merits of a project-based approach to teaching world geography. I will share the lessons my colleagues and I have learned since overhauling our introductory undergraduate World Geography course five years ago. We redesigned the course from a textbook-based survey of world regions to a project-based class centered around two student projects: one tracing global commodities and another eliciting international migrants’ experiences. I talk through the best practices I have developed in my classroom (both in-person and virtual), summarize student survey responses about the course design, and showcase some student work. I make the case that despite the challenges and possible drawbacks, project-based approaches to world geography are worthwhile.
Webinar Access
#member only | Join Here
