Annabelle Jones, a 2019 graduate of Elon's Master of Education program, was invited to participate in a new professional learning experience alongside educators in North Carolina, Iowa and Kentucky to learn, create, and share innovative practices in social studies education.
In the fall of 2020, a cohort of 90 teachers from North Carolina, Iowa and Kentucky engaged in a job-embedded, sustained professional learning experience focused on improving the implementation of geographic content and skills using an inquiry-based, integrative approach to teaching and learning. This pilot program sponsored by National Geographic concluded in the late spring of 2021.
One of those participants included 2019 M.Ed. alumna, Annabelle Jones.
The program contained a series of online modules where participants connected to rethink geography and social studies concepts to make it more meaningful to children by providing a sense of adventure and exploration. In the midst of a pandemic, the cohort found creative ways to do this for both virtual and in-person learning.
“Participating in this program really opened the possibilities to helping students see how history is not just about things that happened before us, but how they are a part of history and how they can influence positive change from small to global levels,” Jones said.
Even though the National Geographic pilot program has ended, Jones says cohort participants plan to stay connected and participate in follow-up discussions.
Jones received her master’s in gifted education from Elon in 2019 and is an educator at UNC Greensboro’s Moss Street Partnership School, a collaboration between UNC Greensboro and Rockingham County Schools.