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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
 

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: the National Museum of American History

<p>This collection serves as a preview for the third 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>Patty Arteaga and Orlando Serrano will discuss how the National Museum of Amerian History is addressing issues of social justice through collecting, projects, programming, exhibitions, education, and engagement. </p> <p>Resources included in this collection have been recommended by the presenters for participants to explore before and after the seminar itself.<br></p> <p>#MCteach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
26
 

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>
Philippa Rappoport
23
 

2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program - National Museum of Natural History

<p>This collection serves as an introduction to the second 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>Three Smithsonian staff members, Jennifer Collins, Siobhan Starrs, and Matthew Carrano, will discuss content and educational materials related to the National Museum of Natural History exhibition, <em>Deep Time,</em> as well as the <em>Human Connections </em>section of the Sant Oceans Hall<em>. </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
20
 

2024 Smithsonian-Montgomery College Faculty Fellowship Program - National Museum of American History

<p>This collection serves as an introduction to the second 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.” </p> <p>Educator Orlando Serrano will present and discuss the museum's exhibition, <em>Many Voices, One Nation, </em>and <em>Becoming US </em>educational content. Curator Theo Gonzalves will present and discuss the exhibition, <em>Entertainment Nation.</em> </p>
Philippa Rappoport
21
 

Replicable Activities to Become Conversant using Digital Museum Resources in the Classroom: Close Looking, Global Thinking

<p>This collection, along with its <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/replicable-activities-to-become-conversant-using-digital-museum-resources-in-the-classroom-flashcards/r0h2qObCwQZvSGxR" target="_blank">companion flashcard activity collection</a>, is designed to demonstrate various ways to use the Learning Lab and its tools, while offering specific, replicable, pre-engagement activities that can simply be copied to a new collection and used to help students engage with museum resources. The activities below can be used in both a virtual and in-person classroom in a variety of ways - to introduce concepts, to develop observational skills in students and confidence in their ability to express their ideas, perhaps as an activity to prepare them to visit a museum, and much more. <br></p> <p>Included here are three sets of looking activities that pair works of art and other resources from the Smithsonian collections with thinking routines - "See, Think, Wonder," "The 3 Y's," "Step In, Step Out, Step Back," and "Think, Feel, Care" - from Harvard's Project Zero Visible Thinking and Global Thinking materials, to help participants develop their observational skills and to encourage a cross-disciplinary approach to help students think critically, globally, and empathetically. As you explore the objects below, we encourage you to move directly to the padlet so that you can do the first part of the activity - the "See, Think, Wonder" routine - before you have read the title and supplementary information next to the artwork itself. After doing the first part of the close-looking activity, you can then return to the Learning Lab collection to view the correlating video in the second part of each looking activity, and then record your next set of comments in the padlet. </p> <p>Content in the "Additional Resources" section will help you in creating your own Learning Lab collection. Be sure also to check the <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/help" target="_blank">Learning Lab Help Page </a>for specific guidance in creating your collection. </p> <p>This collection complements the opening unit, "Introduction to the Learning Lab and Museum Resources," of the EdX course, <em><a href="https://www.edx.org/course/teaching-with-the-smithsonian-addressing-21st-century-challenges-in-the-community-college-classroom" target="_blank">Teaching with the Smithsonian: Addressing 21st-Century Challenges in the College Classroom</a></em><em>. </em></p> <p>#MCTeach #EdXTeach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
36
 

Religion in Diaspora: How did a Shofar Come to the National Museum of African American History and Culture?

<p>This teaching collection asks students to consider a Jewish ritual object, the shofar, as an entry point to discuss the transmission of traditions and beliefs across the globe. Using Project Zero looking and global thinking  routines, students can examine images of shofars, listen to shofar music,  explore photos from African American Jewish communities,  and consider how traditions and religious beliefs are carried around the globe with their practitioners. The activity concludes with a discussion to foster in students a broader understanding and appreciation of today’s complex world.</p>
Philippa Rappoport
24
 

(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
 

1619 Project: Support collection of resources from the National Museum of African American History and Culture

<p>Here are some resources suggested by colleagues at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in support of a professional development workshop with the University of Arizona's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy and The 1619 Project Advocates of Arizona.</p>
Philippa Rappoport
6
 

Preview Activity for Learning Lab Training Collection on the Theme: “Facing the Complex, Multiple Challenges of the 21st Century"

<p>This collection is designed to help educators bridge the classroom experience to a museum visit. It is intended as a preview activity to our upcoming workshop demonstrating various ways to use the Learning Lab and its tools, while offering specific, replicable, pre-engagement activities that can simply be copied to a new collection and used to help students engage with museum resources. </p> <p>Included here is a set of flashcards, a template document so that teachers can create and print their own specific sets, and strategies for their use in their classrooms, and some questions to guide users in exploring the objects.</p> <p>In the following activity, explore the objects in this collection and choose one that you would want to work with in your classroom. Be prepared to introduce yourself at the workshop by sharing the object you selected, why you selected it, and how you might use it in your classroom.<br></p><ul></ul> <p>Keywords: #MCteach</p> <p><br></p>
Philippa Rappoport
41
 

Power of Storytelling (National Museum of African American History and Culture)

<p>This collection complements Unit 3 of the EdX course, <em><a href="https://www.edx.org/course/teaching-with-the-smithsonian-addressing-21st-century-challenges-in-the-community-college-classroom" target="_blank">Teaching with the Smithsonian: Addressing 21st-Century Challenges in the College Classroom</a></em><em>. </em>It includes resources recommended by session presenter Kelly Elaine Navies of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. </p> <p><br></p>
Philippa Rappoport
12