Profession: Elementary School Teacher
Innovation: Gets students who never want to get involved eager to get involved
Attributes: Risk Taker, Rule Breaker, Fearless Collaborator
Teachers are tasked to blend technology with teaching every day. But there are a select few who are adding true innovation inside the classroom. Rachel Lamb is one of them.
Lamb, 34, started as an elementary teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 11 years ago. She has considerable experience working with children from a variety of backgrounds, some challenging. According to Lamb, her own upbringing is what makes her more open
to exploring new learning techniques to help discover what makes her students tick. Her mother, a product of missionary parents, grew up living on reservations and was a teacher who liked to push boundaries. Her father, a member of the Navajo Nation,
taught his daughter early on that you can climb out of a disadvantaged background.
“My dad was born on a dirt floor in a hogan [a Navajo structure made of wooden poles covered with tree bark and mud]. He had eight siblings, grew up with no electricity or running water. He went to boarding school and was separated from his family,”
said Lamb, who added that her father, a skilled welder, prized education and taught her to do the same.
So five years ago, when fellow teacher (and now husband) Steven Lamb suggested they team-teach via video conferencing, she was immediately receptive to the bold idea. The two used existing digital tools, team-teaching their students two to three times
a week in their separate classrooms at schools that were miles apart. More recently, the two took their collaborative classroom effort to the next level, using The Henry Ford’s Model I learning framework, which is based on the artifacts and
stories in The Henry Ford Archive of American Innovation, for digital team-teaching between their second- and fourth-grade classes.
“(Mrs. Lamb) is one of those teachers who loves teaching and helping kids grow … She got the students involved who were never involved,” said Marie Alarid, whose daughter is a former student of Lamb. “She made learning fun and
exposed them to a variety of things outside the regular school day.”
Lamb said that sharing knowledge digitally between different elementary grades at different schools “has a profound effect on student learning.” She further added: “The second-graders actually taught the fourth-graders a few things.”
Always focused on the next big idea, Lamb recently exposed not only her students but her entire community to another bit of educational tech. She made a request to Tinybop, the company behind The Human Body educational science app, asking if she could
translate the app into Navajo as part of a collaborative language exercise between her students and the local community. Tinybop agreed. Using the app, Lamb’s students and community members were able to work together to translate terms of the
human body from English to Navajo.
Her innovative idea for the science app helped her win acclaim as one of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Award winners in 2018, an accolade she now shares with her husband, who won the same award the previous year for the digital
team-teaching he conducted with his future wife.
- Marti Benedetti
Teacher Innovator Awards
The Teacher Innovator Awards, sponsored by The Henry Ford and Litton Entertainment, the producers of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation, recognizes teachers who inspire their students to be bold and think creatively, who are resourceful and who
make a positive impact on those around them, from their students to their community. Each year, 10 grand prize winners enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to The Henry Ford for an immersive experience, including an introduction to innovation curricula,
such as The Henry Ford’s Model I framework, that they can take back and apply in their classrooms.
“Educators are my heroes,” said Lucie Howell, chief learning officer for The Henry Ford. “They are the first adopters, the people who run with what we share and make an impact. They are Model I examples — always curious, ready
to take risks and they never back down from a challenge.”
To learn more or to nominate a teacher for the 2019 Teacher Innovator Awards, visit thf.org/teacherinnovator.
Mwalimu wa shule ya msingi: Wanafunzi ambao hawajawahi kushiriki wanapata hamu ya kushiriki sifa: Mshiriki wa hatari, Mvunjaji wa Kanuni, Mshirika asiye na hofu Walimu wana jukumu la kuchanganya teknolojia na kufundisha kila siku. Lakini kuna wachache waliochaguliwa ambao wanaongeza uvumbuzi wa kweli ndani ya darasa. Rachel Lamb ni mmoja wao. Lamb, mwenye umri wa miaka 34, alianza kazi yake akiwa mwalimu wa shule ya msingi huko Albuquerque, New Mexico, miaka 11 iliyopita. Ana uzoefu mkubwa wa kufanya kazi na watoto kutoka asili mbalimbali, baadhi yao ni changamoto. Kulingana na Lamb, malezi yake mwenyewe ni kile kinachomfanya afungue zaidi kwa kuchunguza mbinu mpya za kujifunza kusaidia kugundua nini hufanya wanafunzi wake wafanye. Mama yake, mzazi wa wamishonari, alilelewa katika maeneo ya makazi ya watu wa asili na alikuwa mwalimu aliyependa kuvunja mipaka. Baba yake, mshiriki wa Taifa la Navajo, alimfundisha binti yake mapema kwamba unaweza kupanda kutoka kwa asili ya hasara. <unk>Baba yangu alizaliwa kwenye sakafu ya udongo katika hogan [jengo la Navajo lililofanyizwa kwa nguzo za mbao zilizofunikwa na magamba ya miti na matope]. Alikuwa na ndugu wanane, alilelewa bila umeme wala maji ya kuogelea. "Alikwenda shule ya bweni na kutenganishwa na familia yake, ""alisema Lamb, ambaye aliongeza kwamba baba yake, mshonaji stadi, alithamini elimu na kumfundisha kufanya vivyo hivyo." Mwaka mmoja uliopita, mwalimu mwenzake Steven Lamb alipendekeza wafundishe kwa njia ya video, mwanamke huyo alishangilia sana. Walitumia vifaa vya digital vilivyopo, wakiwafundisha wanafunzi wao mara mbili hadi tatu kwa wiki katika madarasa yao tofauti katika shule zilizokuwa mbali sana. Hivi karibuni, wawili hao walichukua juhudi zao za darasa la ushirikiano kwa kiwango kifuatacho, wakitumia mfumo wa kujifunza wa The Henry Ford Model I, ambao unategemea vitu vya kale na hadithi katika The Henry Ford Archive of American Innovation, kwa ufundishaji wa timu ya dijiti kati ya madarasa yao ya darasa la pili na la nne. "Mama Lamb ni mmoja wa walimu hao ambao wanapenda kufundisha na kusaidia watoto kukua... Aliwaingiza wanafunzi ambao hawakuwahi kuhusika", alisema Marie Alarid, ambaye binti yake ni mwanafunzi wa zamani wa Lamb. "Lamb alisema kwamba kushiriki maarifa kwa njia ya dijiti kati ya madarasa tofauti ya msingi katika shule tofauti ""ina athari kubwa kwa kujifunza kwa wanafunzi"" na akaongeza: ""Wanafunzi wa darasa la pili kwa kweli waliwafundisha wanafunzi wa darasa la nne vitu vichache." Aliomba TinyBop, kampuni iliyo nyuma ya programu ya sayansi ya elimu ya Mwili wa Binadamu, ikiwa angeweza kutafsiri programu hiyo kwa lugha ya Navajo kama sehemu ya mazoezi ya lugha ya ushirikiano kati ya wanafunzi wake na jamii ya ndani. Tinybop alikubali. Kutumia programu hiyo, wanafunzi wa Lamb na wanachama wa jamii waliweza kufanya kazi pamoja kutafsiri maneno ya mwili wa binadamu kutoka Kiingereza hadi Navajo. "Mwanamke huyo wa kwanza wa Marekani, ambaye amekuwa akifanya kazi kwa muda mrefu katika kampuni ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia ya teknolojia.""" Tuzo za Mwalimu wa Ubunifu, zinazodhaminiwa na Henry Ford na Litton Entertainment, wazalishaji wa The Henry Ford Innovation Nation, zinatambua walimu ambao huwahamasisha wanafunzi wao kuwa na ujasiri na kufikiri kwa ubunifu, ambao ni wenye rasilimali na ambao hufanya athari nzuri kwa wale walio karibu nao, kutoka kwa wanafunzi wao hadi jamii yao. Kila mwaka, washindi wa tuzo kubwa 10 hufurahia safari ya gharama zote zilizolipwa kwa The Henry Ford kwa uzoefu wa kuvutia, ikiwa ni pamoja na utangulizi wa mtaala wa ubunifu, kama vile mfumo wa Model I wa Henry Ford, ambao wanaweza kuchukua na kutumia katika madarasa yao. "Walimu ni mashujaa wangu", alisema Lucie Howell, afisa mkuu wa elimu kwa The Henry Ford. <unk>Wao ni watumiaji wa kwanza, watu ambao hukimbia na kile tunachoshiriki na kufanya athari. "Wanafunzi wa shule ya msingi wa shule ya msingi ya shule ya msingi ya shule ya msingi ya shule ya msingi ya shule ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari ya sekondari."""