#raechel_with_an_e
About Me
My name is Raechel (with an "e"). I help design schools for a living and travel whenever I can. This year I am combining my two favorite things in Melbourne, Australia as a Post-Graduate Fulbright Scholar. This site will chronicle all the research and happenings while I am here, sharing the exciting things happening in schools, great food that I eat, fluffy animals I encounter, travel adventures, and any other things that just make me happy.
Feel free to contact me at: schoolsandtravel@gmail.com
October 5, 2017
Check out my latest DLR Group Insight!
In 1999, the oft-cited Heschong Mahone study revealing the importance of daylighting was published. The research correlated the prominence of daylighting to improved elementary student test scores, pushing the pendulum away from ar...
August 17, 2017
Check out my latest DLR Group Insight!
As I've reached the halfway point of my Fulbright scholarship, I took an opportunity to revisit conversations I had with leaders from 15 Texas school districts prior to my February 2017 departure for Australia. Districts ranged fro...
August 9, 2017
I want to start by saying that yes, open spaces can be effective if the pedagogy aligns. Schools that have great success realize they are not intended for direct instruction and leadership and teachers shift pedagogy to focus on team-teaching and leverage the space to...
May 19, 2017
Check out my latest Insight for DLR Group!
I’ve been in Australia for more than four months now, and am excited to share this latest update on the research variables in my study of innovative learning environments. The Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher C...
May 9, 2017
Through the wonders of the internet (specifically, The Listserv), I met a new friend who happens to be a teacher at a school in Hanoi. Thus, when we started planning our trip to Vietnam, I reached out to set up a visit and jumped at the chance to not only tour the scho...
May 3, 2017
It was no surprise to me when moving to Australia that folks would be very interested in and knowledgeable about political affairs in the United States. The interest is palpable. So much so that it sparks things like what I picture here, an ad for nail polish disguised...
April 28, 2017
When I help plan a school, each choice has a purpose. The size and shape of a room afford for certain activities, the technology in place and its location can support various types of instruction, color choice can create a certain mood. However, in a time in which I am...
April 13, 2017
Last week I had the pleasure of spending a day with James Riggall in Launceston, Tasmania (pronounced lawn-sest-un for those like me who struggle...). As soon as we met last month we hit it off with our mutual interest in co-working, the maker movement, and education s...
March 18, 2017
In addition to my research goals, I came to Australia to visit as many schools as possible and I picked a great one for my first deep-dive visit. This week, I spent the day with Anne Knock, Director of Development at the Sydney Centre for Innovative Learning (SCIL) bas...
March 12, 2017
A couple weeks ago we took our first trip out of Melbourne on the Great Ocean Road. We rented a campervan from Wicked Campers which is a pretty sweet set up with sleeping areas inside, kitchen and storage in back. We got lucky and the decor on our van was not horribly...
