The past couple  weeks I was  asked to help with creating curriculum for Earth School with amazing colleagues at UCI for the UN and TEDed! Ultimately, they saw a need to try and support over 1.5 billion students across the globe who are at home right now because of covid-19. Take a look at this awesome program  teaching students about our amazing Earth! The unit I got to help with is Biomimicry, which is essentially redesigning a solution with nature in mind. 
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https://ed.ted.com/earth-school

Today I had the exciting opportunity to speak to students and teachers at various schools  interested in pursuing a STEM career. SEI offers FREE environmental curriculum for science educators! They incorporate engineering, NGSS, and certification  for students  to be able to add to their resumes  for future green careers. Check them out today if you're looking for ideas! My full interview will be posted here next week and my first Empowered Educator will be featured next Friday!

https://www.energizeschools.org/curriculum.html

Happy Earth Day! Join the conversation and the movement with Earth Day Live with millions across the country! Listen to our youth movement and leading experts in the field with concert performances layered throughout. Share the event on social media to unite everyone at home today! 

"We are unstoppable, a better world is possible!"
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https://earthdaylive2020.org/

As a member of 100kin10 (President Obama's nationwide initiative to address systematic challenges underlying the current STEM teacher shortage in the U.S.), we are all gathering today at the annual summit to continue to find ways to address grand challenges in the U.S.

Here is a resource for COVID related content shared by 100kin10's Julie Paturzo (from finding caretakers to looking at relevant curriculum) to check out! 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WBSrGH4oo6QiE4CTMyNMpq78QWpjuK1gnzNdlTCpUfM/edit?usp=sharing

Take a look at this article written by Ten Strands summarizing the 2019 UCLA Environmental & Climate Change Literacy Project and Summit. I was honored to present my research and program for science educators alongside Frank Niepold (NOAA)  and Mark Stemen (CSU Chico), on leveraging the NGSS to teach about climate change in K-12. Excitedly, I'm in one of the pictures showcasing roundtables speaking to other leaders trying to bring climate change and environmental justice issues to the forefront of education.

Dr. Ram's Publication - Bending the Curve can be found on my Teacher Resources page.

https://tenstrands.org/ci/climate-change-its-not-one-more-thing-its-the-thing/

I am a proud graduate from LMU (Go Lions!), CSUDH (Go Toros!), and UCLA (Go Bruins!).

My commitment to addressing social and environmental inequities through science education stems from my personal K-12 experiences. I attended a Title 1 low SES school in L.A. where only eight percent of my senior class graduated from a four year university. This might seem startling, but this story is all too common for many. Hoping to transform education for underserved and underrepresented students, I went back to my school district to teach science.

For me, going to college was the only option to break the cycle of poverty for me and my family. As a teacher, I found this to be true for many of my students as well. Providing students with a rigorous and high-quality education that emphasized social and environmental justice inspired and prepared my students to be social agents of change in their own communities.

Once I found more success in teaching, I was called to take on more leadership roles in and outside of my district. Transforming schools can start with one individual, but requires a shared leadership approach guided by the same vision. My educational journey has taught me that collaboration is key in order to bring about much needed change in schools. That's where you come in to the picture. 

There is a saying that goes,
"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness because hopefully someone else with a candle will find you, and that's how movements begin."

Thank you for being curious about how to revamp your curriculum or possibly your teaching practices. Thank you for being part of this movement to disrupt science teaching and taking on climate change for your students.