Weekly AISD Social Studies Update
September 20-27
Professional Development Opportunities
History Alive! Level 1 Training
This workshop is especially great for new teachers, teachers new to using History Alive! and to teachers looking for new tools to add to their toolbelt!
History Alive! Level One Training: Fall 2015 (2 day training)
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015
8:30am – 3:30pm
Section # 77773
Location: Baker
Reach for the STAAR 2015
Just in Time Social Studies: Reach for the STAAR 2015 (For all secondary teachers)
Focus on Assessment writing to support student success
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
9:00am – 4:00pm
Section # 78159
Location: Baker
Austin Museum Partnership Educator's Night!
Free for teachers! Refreshments | Free parking | Raffle
October 1, 2015
5:00-8:00pm
Bullock History Museum
RSVP: Education@TheStoryOfTexas.com***
Austin Museum Partnership Educator’s Night will bring Austin-area museums together all under one roof and create an unmatched, one-stop resource expo for local teachers!
The event will feature information tables and break-out sessions. Also, enjoy raffle prizes, refreshments, the company of your fellow teachers, and receive a certificate of participation, SBEC approved.
Designed for teachers of all grade levels and subjects, this free event will introduce new ways teachers can bring local museums into your classroom, professional development opportunities, and unique classroom resources.
Educator's Night is drop-in from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Parking is complimentary in the Bullock Museum's parking garage. Questions? Email Education@TheStoryofTexas.com.
Race, Reconstruction, and Relevance
BookPeople and AISD are collaborating on a program to offer campus curriculum enhancements for the picture book, The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch, written by local author Chris Barton and illustrated by local artist Don Tate.
BookPeople and AISD will host an evening for educators, October 6, 2015 from 6:00-8:00 P.M. at BookPeople featuring a panel discussion with Shirley E. Thompson, Associate Professor of American Studies and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas, members of AISD’s Cultural Proficiency and Inclusion Principals Council, and the book’s author and illustrator. Additional resources about teaching Reconstruction will be available. Space is limited to 50 educators.
The Social Studies Department will provide a copy of the book to those who register for and attend this event.
Please register in HCP (Section #78864).
Teaching the U.S. Constitution Workshop
This fall, Humanities Texas will hold four free professional development workshops on “Teaching the U.S. Constitution” for U.S. history and government teachers. Content will align with the TEKS.
Topics to be addressed include:
- the debates that took place during the drafting and ratification of the Constitution
- teaching the Bill of Rights
- significant constitutional issues in the nineteenth century
Date: October 9, 2015 at the Byrne-Reed House
As always, Humanities Texas will give first priority to early-career teachers in low-performing schools.
As in the past, the workshops are free to teachers and their schools. Humanities Texas will reimburse schools $80 for a substitute for any teacher who attends. Humanities Texas will not locate or secure substitutes; this remains the responsibility of the schools or districts. Participants will receive CPE hours and may be eligible to receive GT credit, depending on district standards. CPE hours will be adjusted if a teacher misses any portion of the program.
Please visit our website for further information on the programs and for the online application form. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.
Questions? Please contact institutes@humanitiestexas.org.
New online Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources
U.S. Government: Free Speech and Social Media
C-SPAN Classroom Deliberations, a site produced by C-SPAN's Senior Fellows, Brian Rock and Randy Bilyeu, has been updated with a new and in-depth lesson to help your students deliberate a current U.S. Supreme Court case.
For the last century, the Supreme Court has tried to define what the First Amendment means and exactly what kinds of speech are and are not protected. You can't create a clear and present danger, but you can espouse violent ideas that don't encourage imminent lawless action. You can be profane in person, but you can't be profane on the radio. You can be artistic, but you can't be obscene. You can make political statements at school, so long as you don't interrupt the school day.
These issues have more or less been settled, but the advent of social media raises a host of new questions. Is an online statement threatening, if the author doesn't intend it to be so? Where's the line between friendly banter and cyberbullying? Should there be consequences for defaming someone online? How should the government deal with terrorist organizations that use social media tools to recruit and terrorize? To what extent should your activity on social media be protected as free speech under the First Amendment?
Learn about the various for and against positions by watching C-SPAN videos, reading related articles, and using our lesson plan on our C-SPAN Classroom Deliberations site. Then participate in a "Deliberation" in your classroom regarding the Elonis v. United States Supreme Court case.
Student Contest Opportunities!
Economics: The Stock Market Game
Helping young people learn to think and make better economic and financial choices in a global economy.
REGISTER NOW - Fall Program Dates:
September 28 - December 4, 2015
Students Learn Real World Personal Finance Skills & Apply Economics, Math, Business Concepts, Technology and Language Arts
Learn why over 25,000 students in grades 4-12 participated last year in this easy to teach, easy to learn online investment simulation/competition.
Click here to view a short video on the Stock Market Game™.
Registration Fee is $10 per Team with up to five students per team.
Free live webinar training Click here for more info
Register your student teams today at www.stockmarketgame.org