| Social Studies – Preparing Students for College, Career and Civic Life |  |
- Ariz. district may reinstate Mexican-American studies classes
A proposal to end a lengthy desegregation court case against the Tucson, Ariz., Unified School District may include the return of Mexican-American Studies and other ethnic studies classes that had been dropped amid much controversy. Part of the suggested plan calls, not just for ethnic studies courses in the high schools, but for more multicultural offerings in the middle schools as well, education reporter Lesli A. Maxwell writes in this blog post. Education Week/Learning the Language blog
(11/12)
 
- Teacher transfers take their toll on educators, students
Some teachers in Oregon who are certified in more than one subject area are teaching courses and grade levels in which they have no classroom experience. This comes after budget cuts led to the elimination of 344 positions. Some teachers and parents are concerned that the changes could affect student learning. "Seventh-grade math has 12 learning targets, and they are brand new to me," said Jessica Keskitalo, a former high-school history teacher. "How do you teach something you haven't been trained to teach?" The Oregonian (Portland)
(11/11)
 | Teach Holocaust History with Echoes and Reflections
Echoes and Reflections is the leader in Holocaust education, providing teacher training programs across the U.S. Earn professional development credit and explore classroom-ready materials― lessons include maps, photos, primary source documents, visual history testimony, and connections to standards. Find a program today!
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| Professional Development
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- Colo. school district seeks way to improve ongoing teacher training
Officials in Colorado's Falcon School District 49 say they want to grow a professional-development program that focuses on a teacher's first few years on the job, but still provides continuous mentoring and training opportunities. Part of the district's plan is to encourage teachers to become master teachers and mentors to fellow educators, and empower them to innovate and make more decisions about their classes. The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
(11/12)
- How teachers can avoid power struggles with students
 Deal with student disruptions quickly -- but wait until the end of class to privately discuss it with the student and address potential consequences -- to avoid power struggles during class, education consultant and author Allen Mendler writes in this blog post. Mendler recommends teachers avoid stopping instructing in response to student behavior. However, teachers should explain this strategy to students at the beginning of the year and ensure them there are consequences to bad behavior, even when meted in private. Edutopia.org/Allen Mendler's blog
(11/12)
 | SmartSummit: When teachers succeed, students succeed
Join Kahului Elementary School principal Sue Forbes and academic coach Stacey Hankinson on April 25 to hear how their teacher support program enabled their students to thrive amid the pandemic, despite extreme staff shortages and chronic absenteeism. The pair will also discuss why teachers are at the center of their student growth model and more.
Sign up today! |
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| Technology in the Classroom
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- Use traditional, digital literacy to improve students' research skills
Teachers should emphasize digital and traditional literacy to help students acquire enough knowledge on a subject to know whether an online source is reliable, journalist Annie Murphy Paul writes in this blog post. Paul cites a recent Pew Research Center survey of middle- and high-school teachers who say students expect to find information quickly because of search engines like Google and don't dig deeply enough. Paul offers three tips to improve students' research skills, such as requiring students to read nonfiction books. KQED.org/Mind/Shift blog
(11/9)
- Are there drawbacks to iPad textbooks?
As the three top textbook publishers -- Pearson, McGraw-Hill and HMH -- move slowly into the iPad textbook market, several questions remain about growth in the sector. Teachers using digital textbooks on iPads say they and their students are enthusiastic. Some, however, question whether the size of the textbooks is too large for iPads and whether they take up too much bandwidth. Some also question whether the digital textbooks' reliance on streaming could be an issue during an outage. T.H.E. Journal
(11/8)
| Social Studies & Civic Life
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- Researchers discover remains of Neolithic man, teenage girl
Archaeologists might have uncovered a murder that occurred 8,500 years ago when they discovered the skeletal remains of a 19-year-old woman and an older man that were dumped in a well in the Jezreel Valley in Israel. Many artifacts were found in the well, suggesting that the pair were farmers. "The impressive well that was revealed was connected to an ancient farming settlement, and it seems the inhabitants used it for their subsistence and living," said Yotam Tepper, the archaeologist in charge of the dig. The Daily Mail (London)
(11/9)
| NCSS Updates
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Conference highlight -- Oregon Council for the Social Studies 2012 Outstanding Educator of the Year Awards and Reception
All NCSS Annual Conference attendees are invited to the presentation of the 2012 Oregon Outstanding Social Studies Educator of the Year Awards. Help us honor our colleagues and salute excellence in the profession. The reception is generously sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Other sponsors supporting the event include American Reading Company, Discovery Education and Educational Travel Services, Incorporated. Read more about the Oregon Council of the Social Studies.
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Follow the Annual Conference on Twitter
Follow @Ncssnetwork on Twitter for program updates, changes, reminders, special offers and reports on speakers and sessions. Add you voice by tweeting about your conference experience and see other tweets about the conference by using hashtag #ncss12.
| SmartQuote
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 | The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."
--Ernest Hemingway,
American author and journalist
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