Nicole Keller brings history alive in her classroom with engaging lessons created with student input. Over the span of her 20-year teaching career, Ms. Keller has shared her love of history with her students. She was always drawn to history. “I would rather read my grandmother’s encyclopedia then to go outside,” says Ms. Keller. “I have always loved history. I love reading about real people and particularly African American history.”
Ms. Keller earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and was planning to become a lawyer until she realized that what she really wanted to do was to help young people. She started teaching middle school students and then high school students.
Ms. Keller recognizes firsthand the lifelong impact that teachers can have, and it’s one of the reasons she was driven to become one herself. “I had a difficult childhood, and I feel like it was because of my teachers that I am successful. I wanted to give back what my teachers gave to me and to be that positive person in someone’s life.”
Ms. Keller is a veteran teacher but relatively new to SEED DC. Her time at SEED started on a screen in the 2020-2021 school year during the pandemic. While it was far from the ideal environment, Nicole viewed it as a challenge to expand her repertoire. To be as effective as possible, she employed tools such as Google slides, online quizzes, and YouTube videos.
“It was challenging transitioning to a new school during the pandemic. However, I did get a chance to expand my teaching skills using technology tools while virtual. For example, polls related to the content we were learning helped me increase engagement. I posed questions like, ‘What comes to mind when you see civil disobedience?’, or, ‘What do you think was the most significant technological advancement made during the industrial revolution?’. “
Coming back to in-person learning this school year brought another round of adjustments. Though it took some time to connect with students after only knowing them virtually, Ms. Keller has ultimately formed strong relationships with them. For Ms. Keller, cooperative learning has been key to engagement. She solicits feedback from students so they can build learning experiences together.
“I try to be a reflective practitioner,” says Ms. Keller. “Every day I ask myself what worked and didn’t work—I may think I created an amazing assignment, but then notice students aren’t engaged, so I ask them, ‘How can I make the assignment more interesting for you?’, and they tell me.”
At the beginning of the year, she was still using a lot of technology, but after a year of learning on-screen, her students told her they wanted more creativity with in-person projects. They asked to do reenactments and to make things. “They want to use paper and do group activities—to have more interaction and variety.”
Ms. Keller implemented changes from their feedback and has created a more interactive lesson plan. For example, in an upcoming lesson on the United States after WW1 and the onset of the Great Depression, she plans to have students conduct a photo analysis using context clues to make inferences about what life was like in that time period. “I try to incorporate all the ways young people learn. I know they like to move around the class, so I try to make sure we are up and moving. I put myself in their shoes – I wouldn’t want to just sit and listen in my classes as a young person. I really want them to have a great experience.”
Ms. Keller finds the SEED model to be an ideal learning environment. Because of her small class sizes, she can give students the individual attention, plan small group activities, and give students the supports they need. “The 24-hour model is a great opportunity to provide students with a college environment – it’s an amazing model – students at SEED will be light years ahead of others” when they get to college. It also gives Ms. Keller an opportunity to get to know the kids outside of class. Showing care for students outside the classroom is important, she thinks, and makes it easier to reach students. She volunteers for dorm check-out and attends sporting events.
Much like the teachers who had such a profound influence on her, Ms. Keller provides her students with encouragement and support along with the knowledge of history—and ultimately contributing to their future success. “I love the relationships that I build with my students. I appreciate the rapport that I can build with each of them. I also appreciate knowing that I may have had a part in their success and to see them doing well.”