Ginger Lewman
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Ginger provides dynamic and hands-on learning for those interested in providing engaging professional learning opportunities for teachers, administrators, parents, and communities. |
Short Bio
I’m a national consultant & keynote speaker with ESSDACK, a non-profit education service center. I inspire and help all levels of educators figure out the in’s and out’s of Project/Problem Based Learning, technology integration, and working with gifted and high-ability learners. I’m passionate about helping educators rethink and revision what teaching and learning can be in today’s world. There’s nothing better than watching the faces of educators as they watch their own students get excited about learning and doing things that they never thought was possible. Because of my background as a learner, teacher, and school leader, I know exactly what that feels like. It’s the most awesome thing in the world…because in that moment, everything is possible and we want to do it again.
A Little More
Graduating from Emporia State University in 1994 with a BSE in Social Science, Ginger promptly began teaching the day school at a residential boys’ home for The Farm, Inc. where she quickly discovered differentiated instruction and how to engage students well beyond her formal pre-service teaching instruction. She taught all core subjects to 11 troubled boys at a time, ages 11-18, at the home’s two dining room tables, using previously-discarded 20 year old text books.
It is Ginger’s passion to help teachers inspire their students to do more, to be more, than they could ever imagine.
Eventually uncovering a lifelong passion, in 2004, she earned her Master’s degree in Psychology and Special Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education. Ginger began working as the Gifted Services Coordinator at Emporia Middle School and also serving as NCA Steering Committee Chair.
She served on the Board of Directors for the Kansas Association for the Gifted, Talented, and Creative for 7 years as a Region Representative, State and Federal Legislative Liaison, a Conference Chair, and the Kansas Education Liaison, and have been a member of the National Association for Gifted Children, working at both the state and federal levels, advocating for the needs of gifted children in Kansas. For 4 years, she served as the co-chair of the Professional Learning Committee for the Kansas Learning First Alliance (KLFA).
Ginger is currently on the Board of Directors for Advocates for High-Ability Learners (AHA Learners), is a member of the Kansas Council for the Social Studies, and is a Google Certified Innovator. Ginger also has a wonderfully understanding husband, Eric, of over 21 years who helps make this crazy life possible.
It is Ginger’s passion to help teachers inspire their students to do more, to be more, than they could ever imagine.
Eventually uncovering a lifelong passion, in 2004, she earned her Master’s degree in Psychology and Special Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education. Ginger began working as the Gifted Services Coordinator at Emporia Middle School and also serving as NCA Steering Committee Chair.
She served on the Board of Directors for the Kansas Association for the Gifted, Talented, and Creative for 7 years as a Region Representative, State and Federal Legislative Liaison, a Conference Chair, and the Kansas Education Liaison, and have been a member of the National Association for Gifted Children, working at both the state and federal levels, advocating for the needs of gifted children in Kansas. For 4 years, she served as the co-chair of the Professional Learning Committee for the Kansas Learning First Alliance (KLFA).
Ginger is currently on the Board of Directors for Advocates for High-Ability Learners (AHA Learners), is a member of the Kansas Council for the Social Studies, and is a Google Certified Innovator. Ginger also has a wonderfully understanding husband, Eric, of over 21 years who helps make this crazy life possible.
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Who Am I?
I’m an education consultant and keynote speaker with a non-profit education service center. I specialize in Project/Problem Based Learning, technology integration, and gifted & high ability learners.
What Am I Passionate About?
I’m passionate about helping educators rethink what teaching and learning can be in today’s world.
What Makes My Heart Sing?
There is nothing better than watching the face of a teacher, or a group of educators, or an entire school, as they watch their kids get excited about learning and doing things they never thought was possible. I know exactly what that feels like from the perspective of the learner, the teacher, and the school leader. It’s the most awesome thing in the world. Because in that moment, everything is possible. It’s the best feeling of possibilities for all involved and they will want to do it again.
What Does Ginger Do?
Ginger provides dynamic and hands-on learning for those interested in providing engaging professional learning opportunities for teachers, administrators, parents, and communities.
Ginger's Specialties
- Project Based Learning
- Technology Integration
- Creativity
- Gifted & High Ability Learners
- Anti-bullying, Digital Citizenship, and Digital Legacy
It is my passion to help teachers inspire their students to do more and be more than they could ever imagine.
Top Products for Ginger
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STEAMmaker Camp
STEAMmaker Camp is intense and immersed professional learning where teachers, alongside their own students, learn how to shift from teaching in a typical STEM classroom to create and operate a MakerSpace in their own schools. This is all about being hands-on.
At STEAMmaker Camp, teams of teachers and students come together to experience a MakerSpace event. Various modules are included on a rotation, such as 3D modeling and design; circuitry; robotics designing/coding/programming; music producer; wearable technology, and more. Each camp can be customized by module to fit the length of the camp, the number of participants, and the needs of the client.
Teachers leave a STEAMmaker Camp KNOWING how a MakerSpace can be managed; UNDERSTANDING how a MakerSpace operates regarding time, space, activities, materials, and academic learning; and ready to begin BUILDING their own programs in their own schools with a seed set of students who all have a common understanding of operation and the exciting engagement.
LifePractice PBL If our schools are supposed to be preparing our children for the real world, why don’t they look, act, and feel more like the real world than what they currently do? The LifePractice PBL model takes Project and Problem Based Learning to the next level, integrating core content with technology in a hands-on modern learning environment.
Speaker Menu Items
Today’s Modern Learning Environment: more than a new coat of paint
1 hour keynote
Audience: School Community Leadership (admin, K12 teachers, community, students)
Today’s kids have one foot in yesterday’s values and one foot in tomorrow’s realities. Our responsibility as community leaders is NOT to find a secure balance across that chasm, but to create opportunities for them to take a smart leap into tomorrow with yesterday’s values ingrained! But it’s no small task to make that shift. What are your schools doing differently today to get students ready for their tomorrow? Are you making real changes or are you just repainting the same old house a different color?
This high-energy keynote highlights various classrooms and instructional practices that are winning in schools right now. Kids aren’t just compliantly attending classes in these schools; they’re clamoring for more. Come learn the gamut of possibilities and how you can lead your community into tomorrow.
Creating Schools That Kindle the Inner Fires of Learning
1 hour keynote
Audience: admin, K12 teachers, parents, students
If we believe that students should be ignited by the flame of learning inside school, then we need to find what ignites their passions. In this session, participants will learn how to create intellectual sparks with passion-based learning and how that shifts the focus of learning in the classroom from teacher-centered to student-centered. Participants are also introduced to the concept of “Optimal Ambiguity” as a prime state for empowered learning.
Growing Roots and Wings with the Creativity of Learning by Doing
1 hour keynote
Audience: K12 teachers, administrators, students
Help our students grow the roots and wings needed for life with Project Based Learning! Learn the concepts of Project Based Learning through to Passion Based Learning at the K-12 level. We’ll explore examples and play with the technology that enables students to become highly-engaged independent learners. Our kids will thank us for helping them develop a solid educational foundation while still inspiring them to grow wings to soar.
Teaching High-Ability Kids in Today’s Mixed-Ability Classrooms
1 hour keynote
Audience: K12 teachers, gifted facilitators, school psychologists, administrators
Participants will learn about some of the unique characteristics and needs of high-ability students and how we, as busy teachers, can maximize their creative and cognitive potential for full engagement in our multi-leveled classrooms. Practical suggestions for grouping, independent projects, as well as compelling strategies involving technology, entrepreneurship, and service learning.
Creating the School of Your Dreams to Create the Life of Your Dreams
1 hour keynote
Audience: students, parents, educators, Middle School & High School
In this session, participants will examine how to utilize strategies and tools to discover and grab their passions. We’ll learn some tools for entrepreneurship and how to intelligently use the online tools of today to become master marketers. It’s about creating your own path.
Asking the Hard Questions About Educational Change
1 hour keynote
Audience: School Community Leadership (admin, K12 teachers, community, students)
This presentation engages school leadership in conversation about the current educational norms and the purpose to them. Participants consider which norms are there because of tradition, which are there because of need and which are there because of the law.
Leading School Change: a Project Based Learning Environment
1 hour keynote
Audience: K12 teachers, administrators, students
This workshop asks education leaders to consider the must-have skills and dispositions that a leader must cultivate in him/herself while firing up the potential of their colleagues and staff. We explore the hard questions and how we as leaders help our communities envision a better way.
Hooking Your Community Deep in the Gills: Gamification in Education
1 hour keynote
Audience: administrators, K12 teachers, community, students
What is it that creators of video games, retail stores, online social networks, and marketing gurus use to keep their audiences consistently coming back for more? And can we leverage some of the same techniques to get our communities more deeply involved in our schools? This session helps us learn some of the gamification strategies that marketers are using, while participants actively explore options for schools.
1 hour keynote
Audience: School Community Leadership (admin, K12 teachers, community, students)
Today’s kids have one foot in yesterday’s values and one foot in tomorrow’s realities. Our responsibility as community leaders is NOT to find a secure balance across that chasm, but to create opportunities for them to take a smart leap into tomorrow with yesterday’s values ingrained! But it’s no small task to make that shift. What are your schools doing differently today to get students ready for their tomorrow? Are you making real changes or are you just repainting the same old house a different color?
This high-energy keynote highlights various classrooms and instructional practices that are winning in schools right now. Kids aren’t just compliantly attending classes in these schools; they’re clamoring for more. Come learn the gamut of possibilities and how you can lead your community into tomorrow.
Creating Schools That Kindle the Inner Fires of Learning
1 hour keynote
Audience: admin, K12 teachers, parents, students
If we believe that students should be ignited by the flame of learning inside school, then we need to find what ignites their passions. In this session, participants will learn how to create intellectual sparks with passion-based learning and how that shifts the focus of learning in the classroom from teacher-centered to student-centered. Participants are also introduced to the concept of “Optimal Ambiguity” as a prime state for empowered learning.
Growing Roots and Wings with the Creativity of Learning by Doing
1 hour keynote
Audience: K12 teachers, administrators, students
Help our students grow the roots and wings needed for life with Project Based Learning! Learn the concepts of Project Based Learning through to Passion Based Learning at the K-12 level. We’ll explore examples and play with the technology that enables students to become highly-engaged independent learners. Our kids will thank us for helping them develop a solid educational foundation while still inspiring them to grow wings to soar.
Teaching High-Ability Kids in Today’s Mixed-Ability Classrooms
1 hour keynote
Audience: K12 teachers, gifted facilitators, school psychologists, administrators
Participants will learn about some of the unique characteristics and needs of high-ability students and how we, as busy teachers, can maximize their creative and cognitive potential for full engagement in our multi-leveled classrooms. Practical suggestions for grouping, independent projects, as well as compelling strategies involving technology, entrepreneurship, and service learning.
Creating the School of Your Dreams to Create the Life of Your Dreams
1 hour keynote
Audience: students, parents, educators, Middle School & High School
In this session, participants will examine how to utilize strategies and tools to discover and grab their passions. We’ll learn some tools for entrepreneurship and how to intelligently use the online tools of today to become master marketers. It’s about creating your own path.
Asking the Hard Questions About Educational Change
1 hour keynote
Audience: School Community Leadership (admin, K12 teachers, community, students)
This presentation engages school leadership in conversation about the current educational norms and the purpose to them. Participants consider which norms are there because of tradition, which are there because of need and which are there because of the law.
Leading School Change: a Project Based Learning Environment
1 hour keynote
Audience: K12 teachers, administrators, students
This workshop asks education leaders to consider the must-have skills and dispositions that a leader must cultivate in him/herself while firing up the potential of their colleagues and staff. We explore the hard questions and how we as leaders help our communities envision a better way.
Hooking Your Community Deep in the Gills: Gamification in Education
1 hour keynote
Audience: administrators, K12 teachers, community, students
What is it that creators of video games, retail stores, online social networks, and marketing gurus use to keep their audiences consistently coming back for more? And can we leverage some of the same techniques to get our communities more deeply involved in our schools? This session helps us learn some of the gamification strategies that marketers are using, while participants actively explore options for schools.
What Others Are Saying About Ginger
"I believe a strength Ginger has is she makes educational changes real for people. Educators know they need to flexible, always learning, and open to change, but that can be difficult because we are human. Ginger reminds us of this and empowers us to feel like we can be successful. She meets teachers where they are, even those who roll their eyes and say, ‘here we go again…didn’t we do this around 20 years ago?’ She shows them how activities can be tweaked to meet the needs of students of today and challenges the veteran teachers to do this with their lessons. She excites those teachers who are fresh and have never heard or seen the things she says or does. Her strength is the ability to listen, brainstorm, and show how education can work for every student in their classroom."
~ Monika King | Principal, Maur Hill-Mount Academy
"To have Ginger come into your building and show your teachers how they can teach children through STEAMmaker is powerful. We all talk about getting students engaged and how students need to learn by doing, but Ginger actually shows us how that can be done. It is powerful and like nothing I have ever seen."
~ Kelley Begley-McCall | Principal, Graber Elementary
"If you are looking to redesign your schools and create a more learner-centric environment, I can think of no one better to help guide that effort than Ginger Lewman."
~ John Martin | Director of Innovation & Technology Inter-Lakes School District
"Ginger’s greatest strength is her ability to put ideas in a framework that challenges individuals to stretch and grow professionally. As a presenter, Ginger shares inspiring stories of success and vivid images of an attainable future. As a consultant, Ginger lives by the belief that educators teach the way they are taught; she masterfully creates project-based scenarios that allow teachers to experience project-based learning while learning the intricacies of successfully implementing PBL in the classroom. I owe much of my professional growth to Ginger Lewman."
~ Justin Coffey | 2016 Kansas Teacher of the Year Math Teacher, Dodge City High School
"I have never met a more engaging presenter than Ginger. Her energy, creativity, humor, intelligence, and warmth draw people in and keep them wanting more. To watch Ginger in action is akin to participating in a master class for teaching."
~ Kristina Ayers Paul | Assistant Professor, Purdue University
~ Monika King | Principal, Maur Hill-Mount Academy
"To have Ginger come into your building and show your teachers how they can teach children through STEAMmaker is powerful. We all talk about getting students engaged and how students need to learn by doing, but Ginger actually shows us how that can be done. It is powerful and like nothing I have ever seen."
~ Kelley Begley-McCall | Principal, Graber Elementary
"If you are looking to redesign your schools and create a more learner-centric environment, I can think of no one better to help guide that effort than Ginger Lewman."
~ John Martin | Director of Innovation & Technology Inter-Lakes School District
"Ginger’s greatest strength is her ability to put ideas in a framework that challenges individuals to stretch and grow professionally. As a presenter, Ginger shares inspiring stories of success and vivid images of an attainable future. As a consultant, Ginger lives by the belief that educators teach the way they are taught; she masterfully creates project-based scenarios that allow teachers to experience project-based learning while learning the intricacies of successfully implementing PBL in the classroom. I owe much of my professional growth to Ginger Lewman."
~ Justin Coffey | 2016 Kansas Teacher of the Year Math Teacher, Dodge City High School
"I have never met a more engaging presenter than Ginger. Her energy, creativity, humor, intelligence, and warmth draw people in and keep them wanting more. To watch Ginger in action is akin to participating in a master class for teaching."
~ Kristina Ayers Paul | Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Learn More About Ginger
Please visit http://gingerlewman.org
Below you can find some of Ginger’s most recent blog posts:
LifePractice Learning
let's practice real life, right now
Bumper Sticker Thinking: it makes perfect sense if you don’t really think about it
As I scroll through my social media, each day I run across “bumper sticker thinking” posts. You know what those are, right? A quote or saying that seems to make even the most frustrating topics so simple. So easy. “yah, just do that, try that!” And you read it, get your shot of dopamine and […]
Is your community at risk? Most are.
I get to head to the Topeka area today to talk with a group of parents, teachers, and students — alongside law enforcement agencies — to help heal wounds caused by student mistakes with digital tools. My heart breaks for this community as they’re reeling from news headlines and ugliness done to good kids. Folks, […]
What Do You Do When They Beg for Worksheets?
I was contacted recently by a teacher friend in Virginia whom I’d previously worked with about shifting her classroom environment more to a PBL setting. Ginny Ogden is a high school Spanish teacher whose kids have all been shifted for about half of their day into a PBL setting. The students had no say in […]
let's practice real life, right now
Bumper Sticker Thinking: it makes perfect sense if you don’t really think about it
As I scroll through my social media, each day I run across “bumper sticker thinking” posts. You know what those are, right? A quote or saying that seems to make even the most frustrating topics so simple. So easy. “yah, just do that, try that!” And you read it, get your shot of dopamine and […]
Is your community at risk? Most are.
I get to head to the Topeka area today to talk with a group of parents, teachers, and students — alongside law enforcement agencies — to help heal wounds caused by student mistakes with digital tools. My heart breaks for this community as they’re reeling from news headlines and ugliness done to good kids. Folks, […]
What Do You Do When They Beg for Worksheets?
I was contacted recently by a teacher friend in Virginia whom I’d previously worked with about shifting her classroom environment more to a PBL setting. Ginny Ogden is a high school Spanish teacher whose kids have all been shifted for about half of their day into a PBL setting. The students had no say in […]