| Social Studies – Preparing Students for College, Career and Civic Life |  |
- Can conference spark civic engagement among high-school students?
The Center for Service-Learning and Social Change, a Minnesota-based nonprofit group that works with schools, recently hosted about 300 Minnesota high-school students at a conference with the hope they'll inspire their peers to get involved with important social issues, such as bullying and animal rights. "It's meant to be a catalyst. The conference is a chance for young people to come together and learn what the world's social issues are," said Kevin LaNave, executive director of the organization. St. Cloud Times (Minn.)
(10/25)
 
- Teachers elect to use presidential race in civics lessons
An eighth-grade social studies teacher in Pennsylvania is using the upcoming presidential election to give her students a real-world civics lesson. One part of those lessons has been viewing the presidential debates. In other Philadelphia-area schools, students are using the topic of the presidential election in activities, including participating in an essay-writing contest and designing campaign posters for their favorite candidate. The Philadelphia Inquirer
(10/24)
- Teacher turns the blues into a good thing in the classroom
 Second-grade teacher Jon Schwartz plays guitar and uses blues music to help teach academic lessons in reading, writing, social studies and other subjects. In this blog post, he writes that he selects songs that have appropriate vocabulary and subject matter. Besides engaging students in lessons and giving them a creative outlet, Schwartz writes that the instructional technique also includes technology, as students blog about their songs and learn about audio production and digital video editing. Edutopia.org/Jon Schwartz's blog
(10/24)
 | Master More Than Just Names and Dates
Learn from an institution that has been making significant history of its own since 1819. Informed by the American Historical Society's guidelines, Norwich University's Masters in History teaches you how to master the great historical debates in your field, conduct graduate level research in history, and open opportunities to apply for teaching jobs at the college level. Learn more >>
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| Policy Watch
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- Tenn. school district looks to create STEM-inspired academies
The leaders of Tennessee's Clarksville-Montgomery County School System are hoping to expand upon the concept of academies based on science, technology, engineering and math with the help of a $40 million Race to the Top federal grant. The proposal calls for "pocket academies" to be created at all seven of the county's high schools with themes such as business and finance, as well as health care. The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville, Tenn.)
(10/24)
- Are value-added scores for secondary-school teachers flawed?
 Value-added scores used to assess middle- and high-school teachers' effectiveness could be unreliable, according to a pair of studies. Researchers found that such measures do not account for more- or less-rigorous tracks taken by secondary-school students. "I think it suggests that we're making even more errors than we need to -- and probably pretty large errors -- when we're applying value-added to the middle-school level," said Douglas N. Harris, an associate professor of economics at Tulane University in New Orleans. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)
(10/24)
 | NCSS Annual Conference - November 16-18 - Seattle
Join your colleagues in Seattle for more than 500 sessions, a lineup of renowned speakers and education experts, more than 150 exhibiting organizations displaying the latest in educational resources, and the opportunity to share the most current knowledge, ideas, research, and expertise in social studies education. Learn more here.
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| Technology in the Classroom
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- Pa. school tweaks flipped classroom method for history projects
Carlisle High School in Pennsylvania is piloting a program that takes the flipped classroom approach and applies it to projects of the students' choosing. Social studies teacher Kevin Wagner creates online lecture videos and materials that his Advanced Placement U.S. history students can use outside of class, while guiding students in using the Internet and other technology to develop projects about historical topics they choose. "This gives each student the freedom to go more in-depth into the particular area of history that interests them," Wagner said. The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.)
(10/24)
| Social Studies & Civic Life
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- Opinion: Why social, emotional learning is important
 It is important to further democratic principles by teaching social and emotional intelligence in school, writes David Penberg, an urban and international educational leader. Penberg writes in this blog post that to achieve this goal, schools should focus on building relationships, seek out ways to be involved in the world, take part in "social action projects," network with like-minded schools and hold a moment of silence during the school day. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education
(10/25)
| NCSS Updates
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Annual conference highlight: Conversations with Authors
The 2012 NCSS Annual Conference will include a new feature -- Conversations with Authors. In these sessions, noted authors of middle grade and young adult contemporary or historical books will lead informal discussions on their work and how to use them in a social studies classroom. A full list of participating authors is on our website.
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Tips for first-time attendees
Will you be joining us at the NCSS Annual Conference for the first time this year? We have put together some tips to help you get the most out of the conference. Read on.
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