Rachel S.
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rayezilla.bsky.social
Rachel S.
@rayezilla.bsky.social
570 followers 710 following 100 posts
STEM educator | Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship 18-19 @ NASA Aero | PAEMST Awardee 2023 |Climate Change Research Initiative 24-25 @ GSFC.

Sometimes I lift heavy things, and I like cheese. “Like a TED talk with a sprinkle of catnip.”
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rayezilla.bsky.social
Empower Your STEM Teaching with NASA Resources
Join STEM education leaders Dr. Ryan Miller and Rachel Stagner for an immersive, hands-on professional development experience centered on NASA’s Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI). #PD #EduSky #ClimateChangeEducation
RSVP via bit.ly/3Gjrqik
May 14, 2025 at 3:05 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Excited to share that I'll be cohosting a NASA CCRI STEM PD Event on May 24 at American University. There is also the option to attend virtually. Please share with your networks, and we hope to see you there! Check the flyer for the sign up link and more details. #PD #STEM #EduSky
STEM Professional Development Workshop FOR DMV Teachers Join local educators Dr. Ryan Miller and Rachel Stagner for a hands-on professional development course focused on NASA's Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI). This PD provides access to innovative teaching resources, engaging NASA-backed STEM materials, and valuable networking opportunities. The PD Will: Introduce teachers to NASA CCRI research and applications in STEM education Foster innovative teaching strategies utilizing NASA data Equip educators with NASA STEM resources for their classrooms Create a network of educators and researchers for continued support Demonstrate hands-on STEM activities for classroom implementation Date: Saturday, May 24, 2025 Time: 9 - 12pm Location: American University - Don Myers Technology & Innovation Building (3501 Nebraska Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016), Room 111 Parking is free on our DMTI lot; Free shuttle from Tenleytown-AU redline metro stop All DMV teachers are welcome to attend and attendance is free. A light breakfast will be provided. Space is limited—please RSVP as soon as possible. RSVP: http://bit.ly/3Gjrqik
May 2, 2025 at 8:24 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
If you're a DC/MD/VA STEM Educator, we're starting a group to support and foster collaboration and networking! Our inaugural event is on May 9th at American University. See the attached flyer, and please forward to any friends! @drsullivan.bsky.social #EduSky
April 13, 2025 at 5:12 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Yesterday, my students and I visited AGU headquarters to learn more about how sustainable building practices can help us reach net zero energy usage. #EduSky #AGU #PBL
Students with clipboards stand and listen to a speaker as she talks about a display on the wall of AGU headquarters. Several students with clipboards stand, listen, and take notes while a guest speaker talks about a living wall feature at AGU headquarters. Students with clipboards stand and listen and take notes while a guest speaker talks about a frieze that was made with recycled building materials at AGU headquarters. A group photo of students and their teacher on the green roof of the AGU building. Above them are solar panels and behind them can be seen the plantings and some tables for working.
March 21, 2025 at 2:53 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Students are also working on their climate art project, based on the work of artist Jill Pelto. They use graphs, analysis, and artwork to educate others about climate change. They’ve been very engaged. #PAEMST #EduSky
A student works at a black lab table on his climate art project. Some student work in progress on big pieces of poster paper. Graphs and analysis are visible. A finished poster with graphs, analysis, and an art piece attached.
March 7, 2025 at 12:35 AM
rayezilla.bsky.social
During my EPI fellowship last week, we learned a game called evolution. We did it in class today to raise some energy. Very much a hit and a great way to get kids moving. #EduSky
March 7, 2025 at 12:28 AM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Our EPI teacher fellowship to Baja, Mexico has come to an end. What an amazing chance to see nature, snorkel, learn about marine ecosystems, and meet new friends. #EduSky #PD #PAEMST
A handmade blue card with a whale shark on the front that says “Fellowship EPI Mexico 2025” A rocky desert landscape with the ocean in the background. Three hikers and looking and waving at the camera on a trail. All of the EPI teachers, guides and our hosts at the coral restoration site in La Paz. A panoramic photo of a beach at sunrise. White sand, pink and blue water and two boats are in the scene.
March 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM
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Second day of our EPI Teacher Fellowship in La Paz, Mexico. We took a hike up to see the “most beautiful beach in the world”from above, then did a beach cleanup nearby. #EduSky #PD #PAEMST
A mural showing a map of the Baja Peninsula with an orca and whale also shown. A view of a desert landscape. A hill in In the distance with a road snaking across it and a bright blue sky with a few wispy clouds. A group of teachers stands listening to out instructor around a desert landscape including cacti. The ocean is in the distance. The most beautiful beach in the world as seen from a hill above. The water is crystal blue in a bay that is surrounded by desert landscape. The sand is white and the water is variegated in color—mostly light blue and shallow but with some darker blue deeper areas.
February 23, 2025 at 10:43 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
First day of the new semester was yesterday and my Climate Change 101 students went on fieldwork to investigate this “mysterious object” on the National Mall. They had some creative ideas about what it was for! Anyone want to guess? #PAEMST #EduSky #ExperientialLearning
Students sit or lean against a long, curving, dark grey, stone structure on the national mall. Two students lean against a dark gray wall-like structure on the National Mall. Two students sit and write observations about the dark grey stone structure they are leaning against. Two students sit atop a a high, gray, stone structure. They are writing.
February 11, 2025 at 5:09 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
I work at a PBL school and at end of every term our students participate in a public/community exhibition night event to showcase and share their work. Here are few photos of my students sharing their shoebox crime scene museum exhibit in FS and various other student work exhibits. #EduSky #PBL
A group of people around a lab table in a science room. A student in pink is talking to two adults about her shoebox crime scene, which highlights the case of Gypsy Rose and the evidence that was used to investigate the case. A photo of a bustling classroom with many people. Students and adults are talking and looking at shoebox crime scenes, which are arranged in the classroom to evoke a museum experience. The middle school STEM students participated in an event called the Future City competition. They had to design floating cities for this year's challenge. In the photo is one of the team's entries. There is a painted ocean background with a sunset and birds. In the foreground are hexagonal platforms with model houses, a windmill, and other structures. My field biology class visited the US Botanic Garden every week during Term 1 to learn more about plants, and focus on how a specific part of the outdoor garden changed over time as the seasons progressed. They kept notebooks of their observations and then created a final product that demonstrated what they learned. Pictured here are students notebooks in the foreground, a tri-fold display with drawn birds and descriptions, a diorama of aquatic plants, and a QR code that links to a student's documentary.
January 29, 2025 at 3:23 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Our school has a core advisory period that focuses on personal growth, social-emotional learning, and exploring Ss passions and purpose. My students have been working on a passion project for the past few weeks, and today they shared their progress so that we could celebrate! #EduSky
A student presenting at the front of a classroom. On the TV is a drawing that they made. They are working on creating a variety of Pokemon characters because they love to draw and wanted to work on new characters! A student stands in a classroom holding a large scrapbook. She wanted to document her family's history so she interviewed her family members and gathered pictures to make a page for everyone in her family. The front cover of a student's scrapbook with drawn flowers. It reads "Roots & Reflections: The Stories of my Family."
January 27, 2025 at 10:10 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
For their end-of-term project, my forensic science students are creating shoebox crime scenes as part of an interactive exhibit that can help educate people on evidence collection and processing. Here's a few of them! #PBL #EduSky #PAEMST
A shoebox-sized diorama of a crime scene created by a student on the Gypsy Rose case. There is a figure in a messy room, laying facedown on a bed. Clothes and garbage are strewn throughout. A shoebox crime scene with a lot of vertical pillars made of cardboard. It is meant to be the warehouse room where Lee Harvey Oswald waiting for JFK's motorcade to arrive and where he ultimate committed the shooting. A shoebox crime scene with a living room scene, where a lego person lies in a pool of blood. There is an orange fabric colored couch, windows, and white chairs in the room. This is meant to be the murder of Sharon Tate.
January 27, 2025 at 10:05 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Those are some nice-looking volcanoes. 🌋 Always fun to see them from the air. Along with a pretty photo of the Potomac at sunset. Air travel is amazing.
Mt. St. Helens seen over the wing of an airplane from the air. Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainer seen from the air with an airplane wing in the foreground. A beautiful red and gold sunset over the Potomac River as seen from the the air with a plane wing in the foreground.
January 24, 2025 at 12:33 AM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Really enjoyed my short trip to Portland for #PIS2025. It was nice catching up with friends and getting a chance to be a tourist in my old city for a couple of days and visit some favorite spots.
A latte in a white ceramic cup with a perfect swirl of milk that looks like a heart. An image of a bowl of delicious noodle soup from Mee Sen Thai with pork, ground pork, bean sprouts, and peanuts with a deep-fried rice wrapper side. A cup of tea is to the right. A landscape image of sunrise over the Willamette River with bridges and Mount Hood in the distance. A tall can of Portland Water with the pattern of the Portland Airport carpet printed on the can.
January 20, 2025 at 2:32 AM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Really cool tour today of the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory! We learned more about how the volcanoes are monitored and how the equipment is built and delivered. We also visited their sediment lab and saw their robot SALI. Very cool.
A room with several screens showing seismic data for several of the cascades volcanoes. There are also two clocks and an informational poster on the wall. A large wooden box filled with sand. Inside the box, there are buried seismometers with heavy-duty cables attached. These are what are actually deployed at sites. They are being tested and calibrated for emergency deployment around the world. A man gestures to a fiberglass hut that has solar panels, a camera, an antennae, gps receiver, and other scientific instruments. This are the semi-permanent USGS monitoring stations that are set up at high elevations where deep snow is an issue. A glass enclosed area in a science lab. Inside there is a white robot, a rack of ceramic crucibles l, and mass balances. The robot grips each crucible, scans the barcode, then transfers it into the balance where the sediment sample is weighed. It then returns it and collects a new sample.
January 17, 2025 at 8:22 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
IYKYK. #PDXCarpet
A photo of feet in red sneakers on a brightly patterned rug as seen from the perspective of the feet’s owner.
January 17, 2025 at 7:34 AM
rayezilla.bsky.social
My biology Ss are working on a #OpenSciEd lesson on nat. selection. They used beads to track genetics over time of a panther population under selection pressure. The level of understanding my students have after three years of using OpenSciEd and before that, InquiryHub, is awesome. #PAEMST #EduSky
Colorful beads are laid out in pairs on a piece of white paper with punnet squares drawn on it.
January 15, 2025 at 2:29 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Ss in my forensic science class used real PCR/STR DNA electropherograms for a family unit in Tanzania to work through a paternity question. I learned about this activity years ago from Dr. Ruth Ballard at Sacramento State University. It's been a hit with my students for years! #EduSky #PAEMST
A student works on a laptop on a lab activity. A student works on a laptop on a lab activity, visible is his lab notebook with a handout that explains how to read electropherograms.
January 15, 2025 at 1:00 AM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Snow day! Who says that teachers can’t look forward to snow days, too! ❄️ ⛄️ #EduSky
January 6, 2025 at 2:12 PM
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Day 20 (I thought I had already gotten to 20… oops)

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers!
#BookSky 💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge
The cover of the book “Making Thinking Visible” by Ron Ritchhart and Mark Church
December 29, 2024 at 11:03 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Day 19

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers!
#BookSky 💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge
The book cover for “The Curious Incidwnt of the Dog in the Night Time” by Mark Haddon
December 23, 2024 at 5:15 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Day 18

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers!
#BookSky 💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge
The book cover for “George’s Marvelous Medicine,” by Roald Dahl
December 22, 2024 at 11:19 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Day 17

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers!
#BookSky 💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge
The book cover of “Ambitious Science Teaching” by Mark Windschtil, Jessica Thompson, and Melissa Braaten.
December 21, 2024 at 12:19 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Day 16

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers!
#BookSky 💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge
The book cover of “Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan.
December 19, 2024 at 10:59 PM
rayezilla.bsky.social
Day 15

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers!
#BookSky 💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge
The book cover of “Tending the Wild” by M. Kat Anderson. A sepia-toned photo on the cover shows a Native American woman on threshing dock seeds into a basket.
December 18, 2024 at 12:16 PM