Beth Gryczewski joins the faculty at Flint Hill School in Oakton this year teaching History at the middle school level. She has been named a 2013-14 Teacher of the Future by the National Association of Independent Schools. Patch recently sat down with Gryczewski to find out more about her teaching methods and how she inspires her students.
Patch: Where did you work prior to Flint Hill School? What are you looking forward to about working at your new school?
Gryczewski: Prior to coming to Flint Hill School, I taught history at Capitol Hill Day School in Washington, D.C. I am looking forward to working at Flint Hill because it has a 1:1 laptop program, and already has many of the innovative tools that I use on a regular basis, to make my teaching much more seamless. More importantly, however, I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with so many intelligent and inspiring teachers here. I am excited by the opportunity to join a History department and work with other History teachers, as well!
Patch: You recently attended a meeting with other Future Teachers in Washington, D.C. How was your experience at the recent meeting? What have you learned from the group so far?
Gryczewski: My experience in DC with the other Teachers of the Future was exhilarating. The group is full of creative energy, enthusiasm, and has new and different ways of approaching education, and engaging their students; while we were there we all fed off of each other’s creativity and enthusiasm. I have learned so much from the group already, but each one of us was chosen for our different talents, interests and accomplishments.
For instance, one teacher is passionate about environmental sustainability and gardening, so he infused his classes with hands-on, real world environmental projects and service learning (in the 6th grade). Part of this innovative approach includes students actually gardening on the grounds of the school, providing the school with fresh vegetables for lunches. Some of us have used technology in innovative ways to inspire interest and curiosity in our students; others are interested in new educational movements like Design Thinking and “Maker Spaces.”
Patch: What are some of your approaches or methods for inspiring your students? What are some ways to help make learning history more fun?
Gryczewski: My passion is History. I am enthusiastic about coming to school every day because I love to learn about, talk about, and engage in History. Part of my students’ enthusiasm stems from my own excitement about class everyday. Another way I engage students is to demonstrate real-world connections and implications that may actually affect them. For instance, we discuss current events-usually ones that interest students, sometimes not-and I help them understand the historical significance or connection to contemporary events.
Last year, when we were studying the Cold War in an 8th grade class, we found many connections between the Prague Spring, the Hungarian Revolution, the Democratic movement in Tiananmen Square, and what is happening right now with the Arab Spring. The students were very interested to understand why revolutions are springing up in Arab countries; we used their knowledge of the American Revolution and other attempted revolutions during the Cold War to help facilitate their understanding of these present revolutions. Students get excited when they can make these connections and really begin to understand the world around them.
Another thing that excites my classes is that I try to be innovative in everything I do.
My classroom is totally paperless (at least as much as I can control), so all of our work is done through online apps, virtual bulletin boards, and using Google apps for Education. I try to innovate projects so students are excited to do them and learn the material. One of my favorites from last year was I created a fake-Facebook for an 8th grade American History class. Each student was a founding father, and had to provide status updates on the class Facebook as if they were that actual person, including creating a biography and trying to establish a presence on the Facebook that was not just about that person’s political experience (if you think about what’s on Facebook, there is a lot of personal information that gets posted, as well as political material). This project requires a significant amount of research to be able to know the founding fathers and their accomplishments in such an in-depth way. The student loved this project because it was done using this contemporary tool-it was fun!