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Philippa Rappoport

Lead, Education and Engagement
Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology
Smithsonian Staff

I work in education and engagement, teacher professional development, and outreach at the Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology (OET), and have a particular interest in developing and producing trainings, programs, teaching techniques, and platforms that foster deep learning and contribute knowledge to improve practices in museum and preK-16 education and engagement. At OET over the last decade+, I created digital assets for schools, families, and new immigrant English Language learners to complement teacher professional development and pan-Smithsonian programming, including Learning Lab teaching collections, YouTube videos with tradition bearers, a handmade family stories book-making website, and online heritage tours.

Philippa Rappoport's collections

 

Student Activity: An Exploration of Immigration/Migration Experiences

<p>With this collection, students can explore people's stories of moving to a new country or culture (both forced and voluntarily), and then walk, fly, or sail "a mile in their shoes" to imagine some of the challenges they encountered in moving to their new home.</p> <p>Then, they can write up their own family stories, using a variety of resources including a "Today I Am Here" homemade book, or PBS Learning Media's resources, "Digging at the Roots of Your Family Tree."</p> <p>#EthnicStudies <br></p> <p>This collection supports Unit 1: Precious Knowledge - Exploring notions of identity and community, Personal history / identity / membership / agency, of the Austin ISD Ethnic Studies Part A course.</p> <p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. </em></p>
Philippa Rappoport
11
 

Story Work to Increase Engagement and Empathy (Companion Collection for a Smithsonian National Education Summit Workshop)

<p>Interested in designing rewarding assignments for students that incorporate museum digital content, while developing written communication skills, collaboration, and technology literacy? This collection supports a workshop that introduces participants to Digital Storytelling--a high-impact pedagogy embraced by artists, activists, and educators worldwide--with the support of content from the Smithsonian’s free online Learning Lab platform. Participants analyze examples and create their own digital stories to inform applications for their classrooms. Examples shown come from college classrooms, but digital storytelling is broadly applicable across disciplines and grade levels.</p> <p>Included here are materials intended to help users produce digital storytelling projects in their own classrooms. Click on the paperclip on the agenda tile (first row, thrid tile) to see the pre-workshop assignment that participants were asked to complete before attending the in-person workshop.</p> <p>The workshop and collection have been produced by Matthew Decker and Sara Ducey of Montgomery College and Philippa Rappoport of the Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology.</p> <p></p> <p>#DigitalStorytelling, #MCTeach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
45
 

Stories of Irish American Assimilation in 19th-century America

<p>"In 18th-century Ireland, a large majority of the Irish farming population had to rent or lease land from their English owners. When the English landlords switched from farming to cattle ranching to answer Britain's demand for beef, nearly 90 percent of Ireland's farm laborers found themselves out of work. Those not lucky enough to profit from the beef industry were left to live in extremely poor conditions, with families living in small huts, sharing a single bed of straw, and surviving on a diet of potatoes. By 1845, these difficult conditions became exponentially worse, with the appearance of a new fungus that attacked potatoes and caused 40 percent of that year's crop to rot. Thus began the migration of one and a half million Irish to the United States during what was known as the Great Famine." (see Ranald Takaki, <em>A Different Mirror:A History of Multicultural America, for Young People, </em>by Ronald Takaki, pages 106-107)<em></em></p> <p>This topical collection prompts students to explore Irish American life in 19th-century American through a selection of objects, stories, and articles, paired with with discussion questions from Project Zero's Global Thinking routine, "Step In, Step Out, Step Back." <br></p> <ul></ul> <p>For use in Social Studies, Ethnic Studies, English, and American History classes<br></p> <p>#EthnicStudies</p> <p>This collection supports Unit 1: Intersectionality of Economics, Politics, and Policy, of the Austin ISD Ethnic Studies Part B course, and pairs well with chapter 4, "The Flight from Ireland," in Ronald Takaki's book, <em>A Different Mirror:A History of Multicultural America, for Young People.</em></p> <p></p>
Philippa Rappoport
14
 

Social Justice in the Time of Pandemic: Presentations from the National Museum of African American History and Culture

<p>This collection serves as a preview for the fifth of six seminar sessions in the 2022 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program. This year's theme is “Social Justice in the time of Pandemic."<br><br>Colleagues from the National Museum of African American History and Culture - Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Kelly Elaine Navies, Doretha Williams, and Auntaneshia Staveloz - will discuss signature programs of the museum's engagement, collection, digitization, and outreach strategy. </p> <p>Resources included in this collection have been recommended by the presenters for participants to explore before the seminar session itself. A fuller description and presenter bios are included inside the collection.<br></p> <p>Special thanks to Danielle Lancaster for her support of this program.</p> <p>#MCteach</p> <p><br></p>
Philippa Rappoport
29
 

2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program - Opening Panel Resources

<p>This collection serves as an introduction to the opening panel of the 2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program. This year's theme is “Teaching and Learning with the Smithsonian: Creating Classroom Conversations that Foster a Hopeful Future to Meet the Challenges of a Rapidly Changing World.” </p> <p>Three curators from the National Museum of Natural History will present: Joshua Bell <em>(Cellphone: Unseen Connections)</em>, Igor Krupnik <em>(Living on the Changing Planet: Why Indigenous Voices Matter?)</em>, and Stephen Loring <em>(Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky).</em> Their bios and related resources are included inside. (Click on each tile for more information.)</p> <p></p> <p>#MCTeach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
23
 

2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program - National Portrait Gallery

<p>This collection serves as an introduction to the fifth session of the 2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program. This year's theme is “Teaching and Learning with the Smithsonian: Creating Classroom Conversations that Foster a Hopeful Future to Meet the Challenges of a Rapidly Changing World.”<br><br>Briana Zavadil White, Head of Education and Public Programs at the National Portrait Gallery, will introduce strategies to engage students in reading portraiture, looking at the <em>Recent Acquisitions </em>and<em> 20th Century Americans </em>galleries. Resources included in this collection have been recommended by the presenter for participants to explore before the seminar itself.<br></p> <p>#MCteach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
9
 

2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program - National Air and Space Museum

<p>This collection serves as an introduction to the tfourth session of the 2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program. This year's theme is “Teaching and Learning with the Smithsonian: Creating Classroom Conversations that Foster a Hopeful Future to Meet the Challenges of a Rapidly Changing World.”<br><br>Four Smithsonian staff members - Shannon Baldiolo, Bob Craddock, Mike Hulslander, and Cathy Lewis - will discuss content and educational materials and strategies related to the National Air and Space Museum exhibitions, <em>Exploring the Planets </em>and <em>Destination Moon. </em>Their bios and presentation descriptions are included inside. Resources included in this collection have been recommended by the presenters for participants to explore before the seminar itself.<br></p> <p>#MCteach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
5
 

Serving Community in the 21st Century: Presentations from the National Museum of African American History and Culture

<p>This collection serves as a preview for the fifth of six seminar sessions in the 2021 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program. This year's theme is “Facing the Complex, Multiple Challenges of the 21st Century."<br><br>Five colleagues from the National Museum of African American History and Culture - Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Candra Flanagan, Anna Hindley, Kelly Elaine Navies, and Esther Washington - will discuss signature programs of the museum's engagement, education, and outreach strategy. </p> <p>Resources included in this collection have been recommended by the presenters for participants to explore before the seminar session itself. A fuller description and presenter bios are included inside the collection.<br></p> <p>Special thanks to Candra Flanagan for the beautiful slides, and to Danielle Lancaster for keeping us all on track!</p> <p>#MCteach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
15
 

Rethinking Americans

This collection serves as a preview for the second of six seminar sessions in the 2019 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program. This year's theme is “The Search for an American Identity: Building a Nation Together.”<br /><br /> National Museum of American Indian colleagues Paul Chaat Smith, Cecile R. Ganteaume, Colleen Call Smith, and Mandy Van Heuvelen will provide a behind the scenes look at the most daring exhibition the National Museum of the American Indian has ever staged. The exhibition argues that Native American imagery is everywhere in American life, and rather than being merely kitsch, stereotype, and cultural appropriation, it is evidence of the centrality of Indians in both history and 21st century life in the United States.<br /><br /> Resources included in this collection have been chosen by the presenters for participants to explore before the seminar itself.<br /><br /> #MCteach
Philippa Rappoport
8
 

(Re)Imagining Youth Engagement: National Museum of the American Indian

<p>This collection serves as a preview for the sixth of six seminar sessions in the 2021 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program. This year's theme is “Facing the Complex, Multiple Challenges of the 21st Century."<br><br>Four colleagues from the National Museum of the American Indian - Gaetana DeGennaro, Carrie Gonzales, Adrienne Smith, and Ami Temarantz - will discuss and demonstrate key features of the museum's youth engagement strategy. <br></p> <p>Resources included in this collection have been recommended by the presenters for participants to explore before the seminar session itself. A fuller description and presenter bios are included inside the collection.<br></p> <p>#MCteach<br></p>
Philippa Rappoport
17
 

Reimagining a National Symbol: The Immokalee Statue of Liberty, by Kat Rodriguez

<p>This teaching collection helps students to look closely and think critically by examining Kat Rodgriguez's <em>Immokalee Statue of Liberty</em>. In 2000 members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in Florida carried this statue on a two-week, 230-mile march for “dignity, dialogue, and a fair wage.” The CIW brought together diverse, interracial groups including agricultural workers, environmentalists, and community organizers, to negotiate for better working conditions and higher wages in the agricultural industry. The statue represents liberty, diversity, inclusion, and liberal rights, and seems to asks us to examine our ideas of national identity. <br></p> <p>This collection prompts students to consider both the Immokalee Statue of Liberty and the Statue of Liberty at Ellis Island, and our changing notions of liberty. Included here are </p><ul><li>the statue</li><li>a suggested Thinking Routine, "See, Think, Wonder," from Harvard's Project Zero Thinking materials</li><li>a bilingual video with Smithsonian National Museum of American History curator Margaret Salazar-Porzio</li><li>two poems - "I, too, am America" by Langston Hughes, which was featured on the Immokalee statue's original pedestal, and "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, which is featured on a bronze plaque on the pedestal the Statue of Liberty at Ellis Island, after which the Immokalee statue is reimagined</li><li>a discussion/writing prompt</li><li>supporting digital content from the National Museum of American History<br></li></ul> <p>For use in Social Studies, Spanish, English, and American History classes<br></p> <p>#LatinoHAC #EthnicStudies</p> <p>This collection supports Unit 1: Intersectionality of Economics, Politics, and Policy, of the Austin ISD Ethnic Studies Part B course.</p> <p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. </em></p> <p><br><br></p> <p></p>
Philippa Rappoport
10
 

Raven Steals the Sun: A Celebration of Tlingit Culture

<p>This collections comes from an American Indian Heritage Month family festival focusing on Tlingit culture from the northwest coast of America. Included here are music and dance performances by the Dakhka Kwaan Dancers, storytelling by Gene Tagaban, Shelly Laws, and Maria Williams (of her book, "How Raven Stole the Sun"), a moiety game, and hands-on demonstrations by Shelly Laws of how to weave a two-stranded basket and to make Tlingit-style beaded ear loops .</p>
Philippa Rappoport
10