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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

 

DCPS Arts Innovation Leadership Institute: Incorporating Arts and Technology in the Classroom with the Smithsonian Learning Lab

<p>This Learning Lab collection complements an introductory Learning Lab training for DCPS educators in the Arts Innovation Leadership Institute (AILI). We will explore artwork and resources from the Smithsonian digital collections, including the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition, <em><a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/IgLygJNprGf3JA%20and%20https:/npg.si.edu/exhibition/eye-i-self-portraits-1900-today">Eye to I: Self-Portraiture as an Exploration of Identity</a></em>, as a way to consider the functionality of the Learning Lab and help AILI educators understand how they can use the Learning Lab to enhance their students' learning and classroom experience. </p>
Philippa Rappoport
34
 

National Portrait Gallery / Gallery Educators Introduction to the Learning Lab: Opening Activity

<p>This Learning Lab collection complements an introductory Learning lab training for National Portrait Gallery (NPG) gallery educators. We will explore artwork from the Smithsonian digital collections, including NPG's exhibition, <em><a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/IgLygJNprGf3JA%20and%20https:/npg.si.edu/exhibition/eye-i-self-portraits-1900-today">Eye to I: Self-Portraiture as an Exploration of Identity</a></em>, a way to consider the functionality of the Learning Lab and how the platform can support gallery educators in their teaching. <em>Eye to I </em>compels viewers to consider how self-portraits reflect an artist’s identity through what is revealed and concealed.</p> <p></p>
Philippa Rappoport
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Deep Time: A Planetary Heat Wave 56 Million Years Ago (National Museum of Natural History)

<p>This collection complements Unit 6 of the EdX course, <em>Teaching with the Smithsonian: Addressing 21st-Century Challenges in the Community College Classroom. </em>It includes resources to support the session presentation by Scott Wing, Research Scientist and Curator of Fossil Plants, at the National Museum of Natural History. </p> <p></p> <p>#MCTeach #EdXTeach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
21
 

Topical collection for State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE)

<p>This topical collection is designed to introduce SEADAE educators to the Smithsonian Learning Lab and to help them consider a variety of ways to incorporate digital museum content - images, video footage, and learning activities -  into their new toolkit for arts educators.</p> <p>#SEADAE</p>
Philippa Rappoport
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Replicable Activities to Become Conversant using Digital Museum Resources in the Classroom: Flashcards

<p>This collection is designed to help educators think about how to incorporate museum content into the classroom experience. Along with its <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/replicable-activities-to-become-conversant-using-digital-museum-resources-in-the-classroom-close-looking-global-thinking/PSwYlJyjKTWfGxXE" target="_blank">companion collection of close-looking activities</a>, it is intended to demonstrate various ways to use the Learning Lab and its tools, while offering specific, replicable, pre-engagement activities that can be used directly, or copied to a new collection and then edited, to help students engage with museum resources. </p> <p>Included here is a set of resources, connected to the theme of 21st-century challenges, that can be used as flashcards in both a virtual or in-person classroom. The benefit of this type of activity is that students begin to make a personal connection to the objects and issues they are exploring. They take ownership and, as a result, the conversation, sense of community, and any further activity become deeper and more meaningful. As you explore the resources yourself, be sure to click on the paper clips to see additional instructions and information. At the end of the collection, you'll see a template document that can be used to create and print your own specific set of flashcards. </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
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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
 

Luis Cruz Azaceta's "Shifting States: Iraq"

<p>This teaching collection helps students to think critically and globally by using two Thinking Routines to explore the painting, "Shifting States: Iraq," by Cuban American artist Luis Cruz Azaceta. The work is a metaphorical representation of the unrest taking place in Iraq, and more broadly, an exploration of the human condition during times of crisis.</p> <p>Included here are the work itself from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, a video with curator E. Carmen Ramos, another video from Articulateshow.org, three suggested Thinking Routines - ""See, Think Wonder," Colors, Shapes, Lines" and "The 3 Y's" - from Harvard's Project Zero Artful Thinking and Global Thinking materials, and three other works by Azaceta in the Smithsonian collections.</p> <p>For use in Social Studies, Spanish, English, American History, Art History classes</p> <p>#LatinoHAC</p>
Philippa Rappoport
12
 

Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands (National Portrait Gallery)

<p>This collection complements Unit 5 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 to support the session presentations by artist Hung Liu and curator Dorothy Moss of the National Portrait Gallery, discussing the exhibition, <em>Portraits of Promised Lands.</em></p> <p>#MCTeach #EdXTeach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
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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
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Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World (National Museum of Natural History)

<p>This collection complements Unit 8 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>It includes resources to support the session presentation by Ashley Peery of the National Museum of Natural History.</p> <p>#MCTeach #EdXTeach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
12
 

Educating to Create Change: Let’s Talk About Race (National Museum of African American History and Culture)

<p>This collection complements Unit 2 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>It includes resources recommended by presenters Candra Flanagan and Anna Hindley of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) - links to:</p> <ul><li>the museum's website (3rd tile),</li><li>the <em>Let's Talk About Race </em>portal (4th tile),</li><li>the Learning Lab profile page of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (5th tile), and</li><li>recommended reading (6th tile).</li></ul> <p>Click on these tiles to open up content in a new window. In each case, you'll find information, objects, resources, and strategies that will help you think about how to incorporate these ideas in your classroom. </p> <p>The Learning Lab profile page (from the 5th tile) is split into multiple content sections, and within sections, each tile leads you to a curated collection of content, with objects and strategies, from the NMAAHC Education team.</p> <p><br></p> <p>#MCTeach #EdXTeach</p>
Philippa Rappoport
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Analyzing Primary Sources to Teach the Japanese American WWII Experience | Cultivating Learning

<p><span dir="auto">This collection serves as a digital companion to a <em>Cultivating Learning</em> professional development session with Lynn Yamasaki, Director of Education at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in Los Angeles, exploring the unjust, forced removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast during World War II. Session participants practice techniques to examine primary source materials from JANM’s collection including government-issued documents, artwork, and personal histories to introduce this topic to students. This session focuses on close looking and critical thinking to consider the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans and how it is that such a massive violation of rights happened within our democracy. Participants gain classroom-ready resources to share with students, as well as transferable strategies to use with primary source documents. </span></p> <p><em>Cultivating Learning</em> is an interactive webinar series focusing on techniques to use digital museum resources for learning. Check out <em>Cultivating Learning</em> and other Smithsonian Learning Lab webinars: <a spellcheck="false" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVlZcllscmVnWTFZQktxQ2tMWnJocldqVWtyUXxBQ3Jtc0tuR24tYUJHR2VpRFlrck9ieV9KZXQ3N3VHV0pBSzFLZzJVMVM3RVdaZGwzOG5DWGZrYU5TdWRucXpiNVRhS1dhUHNTQmN3dWJLZTgycjVWUHRReWJOZGRoX0FaVklsd2E4RTVnZWlMWlc3N0FDRjBWWQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Flearninglab.si.edu%2Fhelp&v=AFrSG98ihoI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" dir="auto">https://learninglab.si.edu/help</a></p>
Philippa Rappoport
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