Joan Gillman: A Seasoned Educator with Unique & Innovative Hacks to Teach
As Brad Henry once said, a good teacher inspires hope, ignites imagination, and instills a love for learning. Teachers are the light of faith in a student’s potential to succeed in society, imparting essential life skills like compassion, communication, and curiosity. Joan Gillman, a passionate Browning School teacher, exemplifies these qualities, making complex concepts simpler through hands-on experiences. Inclination Right from the Beginning Joan’s fascination with teaching began in high school, where she volunteered for a community service program by tutoring young children in math, teaching a recorder, and organizing games in the playground. Her natural curiosity, particularly in science and engineering, was evident early on. As a child, she analyzed weather patterns during snowfall and appreciated nature’s beauty. Joan’s dedication to environmental education extends beyond the classroom, inspiring students to engage in community-based projects like clean-up drives and conservation efforts. Never-Ending List of Accolades Joan received the Urhy Teacher of the Year Award in 2017, a moment she cherishes as a highlight of her career. She has also earned numerous Marquis Who’s Who awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and recognition as a humanitarian. In 2024, she was featured in National Digest Magazine, World Leaders Magazine, and Forbes, among others. Uplifting Voyage Joan’s “Straw Rocket” unit gained national attention, leading to workshops and inclusion in a book titled Bringing STEM to the Elementary Classroom. Recently, she was honored with several prestigious accolades, including the CXO Time Awards’ Most Inspiring Educator in Science Education Award 2024 and CIO Views Magazine’s Top 10 Empowering Women Leaders of the Year, 2024. Charging up the Future Leaders As a science teacher and Green Team leader, Joan nurtures her students’ natural curiosity and empowers them to create positive change. She emphasizes that knowledge is a tool to shape a better future. Educating for Sustainability Joan addresses climate change in her teaching by encouraging students to adopt simple, impactful actions like recycling and conserving energy. Through weekly “Green Actions” and school-wide initiatives, she fosters a culture of responsibility and environmental awareness among students and staff alike. Imbibing Curiosity In the straw rocket project, Joan loves the fact that students use their math and measurement skills with their science knowledge. Students measure the flight length of each launch and then analyze the results to determine the ideal launch angle, rocket length, nose cone size, and fin design. With this knowledge, students redesign and test their rockets, applying their insights to improve their designs—a memorable learning experience. Teaching science across multiple age groups is both challenging and rewarding. In Grade 2, the fall engineering unit lets students design and build skyscrapers and bridges, learning about structures worldwide and celebrating their cultures. Instead of testing, she uses “The Elephant Project,” where students build a bridge that can support two adult elephants and a baby. Using recycled materials and art supplies, students apply science, math, and creativity, making it a fun and memorable learning experience. Sheer Passion While educators can be overwhelmed by administrative tasks, nothing diminishes the joy and excitement they feel when seeing students become engaged in learning and achieving their goals. Teaching remains a unique profession that can profoundly change children’s lives for the better. The aim of educators is to help students become lifelong learners, fostering a curiosity that extends beyond the classroom. Educators model this lifelong learning by continuously pursuing professional development. Over the years, she has taken numerous workshops to enhance her skills and stay current in her field. Showcasing Student Ingenuity Throughout the year, the Browning School hosts special events to showcase student work. These include “STEAM Expos” for middle school students and the “Invention Convention” for third and fourth-grade students. For the Invention Convention, students identify a problem they wish to solve and then design and build an invention to address it. The ingenuity of the students consistently impresses, and parents show strong support by attending the events in large numbers. One of the highlights of her teaching career has been the opportunity to attend numerous professional conferences and share strategies and techniques with fellow educators. Her first experience teaching at conferences was at the ATIS (Association of Independent Schools) Conferences. She fondly recalls leading workshops such as “Fish, Snails, and Whale Tails” and “The Wonderful World of Weather.” Empowering Students Teaching science across various age groups is both challenging and rewarding. Her ability to engage students of all ages is one of her greatest strengths. A creative individual, she develops lessons that cover the scientific curriculum while allowing students to solve real-world challenges. She ensures lessons are hands-on and interdisciplinary, integrating academic skills for comprehensive learning. Later in her career, she began presenting workshops at conferences such as NSTA, NSTA STEM, STANYS, SCONYC, and the NYSAIS Diversity Symposium. Topics she presented include Equity and Diversity in the STEM Classroom, Mars Here I Come, Let’s Put the Fun Back in Fungi, Straw Rockets are Out of This World, and others. She enjoys sharing her passion for education and providing educators with new materials and strategies to enhance their teaching. She aims to inspire educators to stay in the field and impact their students’ lives. This past spring, she helped organize the SCONYC Conference, her first experience in conference planning. Though it was a lot of work, it was rewarding to see her efforts come to fruition. Teachers left with positive experiences, and she hopes future conferences will attract more NYC teachers. Engaging Education Joan is a strong believer in hands-on learning and interdisciplinary curricula. Young students have a natural curiosity about the world around them, and as an educator, she taps into this sense of wonder to create lessons that align with their interests while helping them gain proficiency in various scientific topics. Her Fourth Grade Straw Rocket unit exemplifies how she achieves these goals. In this unit, students are challenged to design a rocket capable of flying the maximum distance. They work with various variables, including the length of the straw, the number and style of fins, the size of the clay nose cone, and the
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