For Teachers


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS

Super-charge student engagement with digital literacy and media activities for all grades and content areas

Museum of the Moving Image offers professional development programs for upper elementary, middle, and high school teachers of all content areas, as well as other education professionals. Join us to learn how to introduce your classroom to the moving image: a diverse art form based upon an image that has the appearance of movement. Guided by a media educator, teachers explore using the moving image as an instructional tool for engaging students with fun media activities. Moving image art work includes movies, videos, television series, and even digital games. Interactive web pages, animated social media content, GIFs, and live broadcasts are also forms of the moving image, and featured in our professional development programs.

All activities presented in our programs are easily modifiable for a wide range of learners, and help engage students in diverse subjects, including social studies, civics, English language arts, math, science, art, and English as a second language. Professional development classes and workshops are offered virtually and onsite in the Museum’s Digital Learning Suite, where social distancing is currently in place. Every session includes hands-on media-making.

Museum of the Moving Image PD for Teachers includes:

  • Hands-on media activities and lesson plans aligned to learning standards
  • A range of programs for teacher professional development, ranging from short workshop sessions to tailorable partnerships that include coaching and game kits
  • Please note: we are awaiting approval to offer CTLE accreditation for all programs (expected for the 2021-22 school year)

TEACHER CHALLENGE: MOVING IMAGE MASTERMINDS

For the 2021–22 school year, we are sponsoring a Teacher Challenge, open to all NYC public school teachers. Every teacher who joins the Moving Image Masterminds Challenge will earn a digital badge in the moving image and enter a lesson plan contest for the chance to win a teacher recognition award and have student work displayed at the Museum. You may complete the challenge on your own (see here for instructions), or sign up for an introductory orientation session. Open sessions are offered for coaching every first and last Tuesday of the month. The first 50 teachers to register for the Moving Image Masterminds Challenge will receive a free welcome kit, featuring custom-made Museum of the Moving Image games to use in the classroom, accompanied by a game activity book featuring the history of film, TV, and video games. For more information, email us at [email protected].

TEACHER & SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS

For a limited number of schools, we provide school partnerships of semester and year-long moving image programs that include lesson plans, toolkits, museum field trips, and coaching from a media educator. Schools select one theme for their year-long or semester-long partnership: media puppetry, video game design, filmmaking, or civics. Schools also have the option of choosing whether they would like to have a Museum Media Instructor lead a moving image class for students (meeting once or twice weekly), or receive a curriculum guide and teacher coaching. For the 2021-22 school year, we are inviting 50 classrooms to pilot our new game design curriculum and kit of educational games, which focuses on storytelling and world-building. We are now accepting applications for school partnerships. To apply, please complete this application. A representative from the Museum will get in touch with you about your application.

WORKSHOPS & SHORT COURSES

Through our workshops and short courses, teachers enhance their digital literacy skills and increase student engagement with moving image activities like animation, game design, web design, and documentary and narrative filmmaking. Workshops are free to all teachers in the NYC DOE ($15 per session for all others). Workshops are offered onsite, virtually, or in a hybrid format. Register here for the workshop of your choice.

2021-22 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

In addition to the workshops listed below, we hold drop in sessions for teachers of any grade level and content area every first and last Tuesday of the month from 3:30-5:00 pm (September 2021 - March 2022).

November 23: Creative Educator Meetup

Join us for a media resource open house at Museum of the Moving Image. Connect with peers in discussions about free cloud-based digital tools, and see educational demos with experts: filmmakers, game design educators, and education specialists from Adobe and Microsoft. We will also explore games that teach kids about film and game design, and teachers can partake in free mini tours of the museum’s galleries, featuring The Jim Henson Exhibition and Behind the Screen: The history of film, media and video games. All NYC DOE teachers will receive two free movie tickets to see a screening in our state of the art movie cinema theatre. Cost: FREE FOR ALL TEACHERS.Register here.

Theme: Local Stories by Digital Voices

4-6pm: Hands-on play with new tech tools, moving Image activities, gallery tours, and demos for teachers of all grades

January 31: Using games and media in the classroom

11 am - 12:30 pm: Using games and media in the middle school classroom

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm: Using games and media in the high school classroom


TAILORED PROGRAMS

Request a tailored professional development session for your school. Three-hour programs are available to New York City public school teachers free of charge; non-NYC public school groups should contact the Education Department for pricing, at [email protected]. Programs can be offered onsite or virtually, and are available by appointment only for groups of 10-30 teachers. All programs include a guided tour of the Museum’s core exhibition Behind the Screen.

Program options include:

Film and Television in the Classroom

Participate in a "Screening America" program and discuss the ways in which movies and television can be used in your classroom to teach English, English as a Second Language, Art, and Social Studies. Available by appointment for groups of 10-30 teachers. Free for NYC Public School teachers. All others contact the education department for rates.

Presidential Campaigns, Television, and the Internet

In this workshop for teachers of Social Studies and English Language Arts, Museum educators work with you to explore the Museum’s online exhibition The Living Room Candidate. Learn about the history of presidential campaign commercials and discuss ways of integrating the site’s resources into your curriculum. Available by appointment for groups of 10-30 teachers. Free for NYC Public School teachers. All others contact the education department for rates.

Video Games and Learning

Discover ways in which video games can be integrated into your curriculum through hands-on demonstrations of video game technology and your own participation in a Video Game Programming Workshop. This session is designed for teachers of Social Studies, Science, Math, and Art. Available by appointment for groups of 10-30 teachers. Free for NYC Public School teachers. All others contact the education department for rates.

Customized Program

Museum Staff is available to work with groups to create customized professional development programs ranging from half-day workshops to multi-day seminars. Catering is available as well. Please contact [email protected] for more information about options and pricing.

Online Resources

The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2012 This online exhibition presents more than 500 historical presidential campaign commercials from every election year beginning with 1952, when the first campaign ads aired. With nearly four hours of political advertising, interactive learning activities, and lesson plans, this site is a one-of-a-kind resource for teaching your students about the use of Internet and TV advertising in political campaigns. Related on-site programs are also available.

Sloan Science & Film Teacher's Guide

An online collection of 46 award-winning short narrative films that explore science and technology themes and characters, and are available for streaming in your classroom. The accompanying Teacher’s Guide aims to help help educators engage elementary, middle, and high school students in STEM learning around an array of scientific topics, and includes information on each film, possible questions to explore, and science resources for further engagement.

To book a tour or media workshop for your class, please visit this page. For more information or guidance, please write us at [email protected].