Deadlines are approaching for several national professional development programs!

On Feb. 1 (NOTE: deadline extended to Feb. 15th!), the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History stops accepting applications for its summer seminars for teachers. The week-long seminars take place at colleges and universities nationwide, and teach classroom strategies focused on using primary sources effectively. Apply for any of 40 seminars on a range of topics, including Native American history, the Civil War in global context, the 20th-century women's rights movements, and the role of the Supreme Court in American history. Participants will receive a $400 reimbursement.

On Mar. 1, the National Endowment for the Humanities stops accepting applications for its Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers and Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers. The 20 one-week workshops take place at or near significant cultural or historical sites and explore strategies for teaching with place and primary sources. Topics range from "Crafting Freedom: Black Artisans, Entrepreneurs, and Abolitionists in the Antebellum Upper South" to "The Richest Hills: Mining in the Far West, 1865–1920," and participants receive a $1,200 stipend. The seminars and institutes last from two to six weeks, with 13 focusing on U.S. history, including, among other topics, teaching American history through song, Appalachian history and culture, jazz and Motown, and Upper Mississippi River Valley archaeology. Participants receive stipends ranging from $2,100 to $4,500.

February 11 is the deadline for applications to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Teacher Fellowship program. Each year, 15 secondary-level educators from across the country are chosen to serve as museum representatives, engaging in outreach activities to encourage quality teaching on the Holocaust. Participants attend a five-day all-expenses-paid summer institute in DC.

Is professional development on your schedule for next summer? It may seem early to start planning, but many summer programs will soon (or have already) opened their applications. And professional development opportunities aren't limited to the summer! Organizations offer workshops, seminars, and other chances to network, expand your teaching repertoire, and earn professional credits throughout the year.

Where might you look for these opportunities? You don't have to look far afield—museums, historic sites, national parks, and historical societies in your area may offer professional development. Search a museum's website for its "Education" or "Teachers" section, and take a look. Does it offer programs for educators?

Large museums often provide a schedule of open houses (check for these in the fall), workshops, and pre-field trip orientations just for educators (see the Chicago History Museum Educator Programs page or the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum online catalogue of professional development opportunities.

Not finding anything? Maybe you have a presidential library and museum nearby, providing educators with workshops on using archival resources. Or a local university that offers professional development courses for teachers (such as the Learn NC program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).

Professional development opportunities may also spring up in unexpected places, in response to events and celebrations. Abraham Lincoln's Bicentennial in 2009 prompted Lincoln-related workshops, conferences, seminars, and other training opportunities nationwide.

Once you've found something that interests you, make sure to check all of the specifics. You may be guaranteed a spot just by applying, or you may have to compete to participate. Enrollment may be limited to teachers in a certain area or those who teach specific grades. Some opportunities are free, some give out stipends, some cost, and others charge but offer scholarships.

Will you earn professional development credits for attending? How many? Could you earn graduate credit? (Or even a full master's degree? Check out the James Madison Fellowship Foundation designed specifically for teachers).

The following organizations provide professional development on a regular basis:

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History — weeklong summer seminars for teachers, yearly, hosted by universities across the U.S. Attendees receive a stipend. Applications for summer 2011 are now open!

National Endowment for the Humanities — Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers, and Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers, both yearly. Summer Seminars and Institutes range from 2–6 weeks, and do not all focus on U.S. history topics. History and Culture Workshops last one week and focus on specific U.S. history landmark sites. Both provide a stipend.

Facing History and Ourselves — workshops and in-person and online seminars throughout the year. Focuses on human rights and social action topics, including the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Some workshops are free; other programs charge fees.

Colonial Williamsburg — week-long institutes for elementary, middle/high, and high teachers, yearly, at Colonial Williamsburg. Charges fees.

National Archives and Records Administrations — "Primarily Teaching" workshops, yearly, introducing techniques for using archive resources and teaching with documents. Small fee for materials.

Smithsonian American Art Museum — annual Clarice Smith National Teacher Institute, for teams of middle or high school teachers, with priority given to those teaching social studies and English/language arts. Participants learn how to use art and 21st-century skills to make interdisciplinary connections with their subjects. $200 registration fee; $500 scholarships available.

Federal Judicial Center and American Bar Association — yearly week-long Federal Trials and Great Debates in U.S. History institute for secondary U.S. history and government teachers. Provides reimbursement for travel, lodging, and meal expenses.

The Memorial Library and Holocaust Educators Network — 12-day summer seminar for middle through high teachers, on teaching the Holocaust and social justice issues. $1,000 stipend.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum — yearly teacher fellowship for 7–12-grade teachers, including a five-day teacher institute. Expenses paid for institute attendence.

National Humanities Center — hour-and-a-half long online seminars, including tie-ins with PBS American Experience documentaries. Charges fees.

C-SPAN — two-day conference for 6th–12th-grade social studies educators or media/technology specialists, on integrating C-SPAN's resources into the classroom. Also offers a four-week Teacher Fellowship program. Expenses paid.

Dirksen Center — Congress in the Classroom, a four-day workshop for middle- or high-school teachers, on both pedagogical strategies and content for teaching about Congress. Charges registration fee; other expenses paid.

The Ad Council has been producing public service announcements attempting to affect change in society and serve the public interest for nearly 70 years. The campaigns take the form of print, radio, and television advertisements. They have run the spectrum of societal issues, from "Rosie the Riveter" and the campaign to place women in war jobs to contemporary ads related to predatory lending. The Ad Council has brought us memorable characters like Smokey Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and Vince and Larry (the two crash test dummies who convinced us to wear seat belts). But what do these public advertising campaigns say about America? How can we use these ad campaigns to better understand U.S. history?

Through analyzing the ads we can isolate time periods in history and understand what were believed to be the most pressing societal issues of the time. These campaigns tried to decrease behaviors that were believed to lead to social problems or promote behaviors that would lead to a better society. Thus, in seeking to understand the advertisements, we can help students uncover the contemporaneous sociology of the ad campaign.

You can begin by exploring the Ad Council's Historic Campaigns that highlight some of the more notable campaigns in the last 70 years. Each campaign is complete with background information and some have links to PSA videos associated with the campaign. An even more complete retrospective of past advertising campaigns is maintained by the Advertising Educational Foundation and can be accessed here.

I have found the site particularly useful in helping students understand more recent history. For instance, few would disagree that, socially, the 1980s were rocked by the AIDS epidemic. The site highlights PSAs to prevent the spread of AIDS, which represent a dramatic shift in societal norms with the public call for condom use. The ads on crime prevention featuring McGruff the Crime Dog also help illuminate the 1980s. These ads coincide with America's "war on drugs" and emphasis on law and order during the 1980s. 1970s culture was epitomized by environmental awareness featuring Ad Council PSAs showing Native Americans distraught to find their territory littered. These ads and more can be found in the Historic Campaigns section.

Teaching with advertisements as primary sources is beneficial in two ways. One, students are exposed to yet another example of primary sources that come with their own unique set of historical questions. Two, by learning how to unpack the intent of advertisements on people of the past, students are more apt to be able to recognize advertising manipulation in the present. The Ad Council dedicates a page of resources for educators that includes useful links and frequently asked questions. These pages also identify current advertising campaigns, which might be useful for students to identify some of the important topics of today compared to the important issues they find in earlier decades.

Before having students analyze advertisements as primary sources, it is important to model for students how advertisements should be read. Students should also be made aware of the strengths and limitations of using advertisements to understand the past. An excellent overview of these strengths and weaknesses can be found on page 11 of this guide to primary sources, from the Smithsonian's History Explorer, along with questions to guide students in analyzing advertisements.

A natural fit to teaching U.S. history through public service announcements would be to have students create their own PSAs. Students could be given a list of pertinent social issues to a particular time period or could be asked to research important topics on their own. Students could write a script and use a pocket camcorder to record their PSA. Editing could be done using iMovie, Windows MovieMaker, or any number of free online video editing tools. The purpose of the assignment is to help students understand the changing nature of social issues in the United States.

Another idea is to have students research the effectiveness of given historic campaigns. The Ad Council maintains a database of reports and figures related to the success of various PSAs. This is a condensed version highlighting the impact of the Ad Council's more famous campaigns. The purpose here is to help students see how effective advertising not only convinces people to buy products, but also can convince people to change behavior for the common good.

The Ad Council works to address the most significant social issues of the day. With that purpose, the Ad Council offers a unique look into making sense of our social past by revealing important issues of the time. Advertisements offer students an opportunity to interpret an overlooked type of primary source of the past and establish connections to the present.