What do you want me to know, and to tell?
The geo-inquiries are important to instruction because you can see the growth in student work and is connected to clear standards...and a staple to my classes and journaling. The lessons are pivotal to developing the geo-inquiry process- it provides a framework to participate in and allows my students to explore data deeper and explore techniques in the various mapping software/platforms encompassing/supporting GIS. In essence, GIS is essential to the HS experience because we can focus on the inference skills required to analyze and act on data.
I want you to know that ArcGIS is powerful when integrating identity into the lesson layers, students are motivated when they feel included in the data.
Tell others that Tapestry Segmentation is potent, what does your zip code say about you? Is a tremendous way to engage students in narratives and learning to ask the right questions.
Pay close attention to superstar community colleges that are pushing the GIS work into HS, I have seeded GIS in Boyle Heights, South Central LA, and now in South Gate. Comparing the different experiences, I feel that willingness has been the main ingredient to success in the urban schools where GIS is being used. When I was in Boyle Heights the vision was to get dual enrollment for our students; like we were able to establish with 3D and ELAC. However, the bureaucracy and willingness of the essential stakeholders was poor and challenged the potential and momentum, thus isolating the GIS scale in BH. Now in South Gate, working with willing partners like Rio Hondo College and the High School STEAM Legacy HS has helped the work accelerate and grow robustly. The partnership is authentic and feels effective and efficient because the hardware, the software, the people, and the training is in sync.
What do you see? What works?
I see kids creating maps in abundance with critical thinking skills - they are fully engaged; creating, curating, turning on and off the layers to understand and simpler our world. Giving students in HS GIS is essential, it does work and gives all stakeholders a "taste" of the possibilities of any school vision or amplifies any schools' vision.
If students are given the tools to map their community they will make the inferences to augment the development of designing solutions that are plaguing the community.
What do you seek from us?
I seek a GIS library, a place where students of LA can call the LIBRARY OF GIS on the west coast, a place where students can make and actively participate in the GIS inquiry process, specifically, being able to access collections of GIS knowledge. The libraries can be carved on to school campuses and represent a collection of past, present, futuristic content.
I also seek opportunities where students can see GIS and DRONES in action
Lastly, we seek GIS opportunities that build partnerships with elementary and middle schools + colleges…
I make no promise other than to read and digest, but I’m always asked: “Give us specific examples.” And so yet again thank you if you can help us help others. Be safe!
The most specific example I can share is the work happening in South Gate, where 12 students used Geoinquiries, LearnArcGIS, and Teach with GIS to build a foundational set of skills and develop a comprehensive understanding of spatial literacy and the geo inquiry process. 104 hours, 52 hours of lecture and 52 hours of lab set the pace for a new wave of GIS pioneers to discover the problems of our world and to begin a mindset where they feel like they can use data provide answers to the questions they ask, know where to acquire the data, analyze the map, explore the layers, and act on the issue. In short, the GIS 120 students have delivered a new experience where STEAM is the theme, and GIS is the main ingredient inspiring the work being created by all grade levels at STEAM legacy to augment the theme. Since launching GIS at South Gate it has reinvented the existing partnerships, to refocus the schools' work on relationships that encompass high-quality instruction and meaningful accountability.
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