Best Practices: Mix it Up! Learning through Icebreakers and Interactive Teaching

Description

This training will provide participants with new ideas to keep your students energized and anxious to learn more. Participants will learn how to spice up their classrooms while maintaining structure and a positive learning environment. Participants will engage in activities that will teach them how to turn a lecture into hands-on fun without losing any of the content.

Contact name
Castro, Jennifer (email)
Sponsoring Organization
Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education
Phone number
602-340-7366
Target Audience
5-12
Start Date
Cost
$125
Contact Title
Professional Development Manager
Duration
Eight and a half hours

People, Place, and Time Workshop

Description

This workshop also includes registration to attend the October 24th Arizona Council for the Social Studies Annual Fall Conference. Participants will also receive a curriculum kit to be shared within their district and an honorarium to assist with travel and food. Social studies or science curriculum coordinators and teachers in grades 6–12 interested in the cultural history of Arizona or the archaeological process, should consider attending this one-day People, Place, and Time training.

People, Place, and Time (PP&T) is an interdisciplinary curriculum for grades 6–12. The activities and lessons are inquiry-based, focusing on social studies, science, and language arts. The curriculum and accompanying materials are presented in a kit format and include the teacher's guide, two interactive "game boards," a video, and basic research sources. All of the activities have been aligned to the Arizona Department of Education Standards for the applicable subject areas. The curriculum contains two units of study—the Cultural Landscape and Cultural Resources Management (CRM) Archaeology. The time required to implement this unit will vary, depending on the classroom structure and depth of student research. The entire curriculum can be covered in one to two 9-week terms.

Unit 1 is the Cultural Landscape. In this unit, students explore the environmental niches of the Sonoran Desert, from the cactus-covered lowlands to the conifer-crested mountains, without ever leaving the classroom. They discover resources and experiment with the development of products from those resources. They envision life as the Hohokam peoples lived it 1,000 years ago—traveling, trading, and manufacturing the tools and foods necessary for survivalᾹin this harsh but bountiful environment. The Cultural Landscape unit may be taught as a standalone unit.

The second unit, CRM Archaeology, introduces students to the discovery of a past culture through scientific investigation. Students play the role of the entrepreneurs and archaeologists who create an archaeological consulting business, bid on a contract to do an archaeological study, and investigate a site. They use statistics to analyze the findings, synthesize the results, draw conclusions, and present their findings about the past. Students must complete the activities in the Cultural Landscape unit prior to beginning the CRM unit.

PP&T kits are distributed through regional training workshops and summer institutes. It is hoped that the remaining kits will be distributed during the ACSS workshops. One to two representatives from each district are encouraged to participate in this training. Training is open to all sixth through 12th grade teachers, but only one participant per district will become the "Keeper of the Kit." Keepers will make the kit available to educators within their district and make sure that the kit contents are intact.

The one-day workshop will include background information on the history of the project, an introduction to archaeology and to the cultural history of Arizona, hands-on experimentation with activities, and the development of a plan for use and distribution of the materials in each school district.

Contact name
Ellick, Carol J.
Sponsoring Organization
Arizona Council for the Social Studies; Arizona Department of Education
Phone number
1 505-892-5587
Start Date
Contact Title
Director, Outreach and Education, SRI Foundation
Duration
One day

People, Place, and Time Workshop

Description

This workshop also includes registration to attend the October 24th Arizona Council for the Social Studies Annual Fall Conference. Participants will also receive a curriculum kit to be shared within their district and an honorarium to assist with travel and food. Social studies or science curriculum coordinators and teachers in grades 6–12 interested in the cultural history of Arizona or the archaeological process, should consider attending this one-day People, Place, and Time training.

People, Place, and Time (PP&T) is an interdisciplinary curriculum for grades 6–12. The activities and lessons are inquiry-based, focusing on social studies, science, and language arts. The curriculum and accompanying materials are presented in a kit format and include the teacher's guide, two interactive "game boards," a video, and basic research sources. All of the activities have been aligned to the Arizona Department of Education Standards for the applicable subject areas. The curriculum contains two units of study—the Cultural Landscape and Cultural Resources Management (CRM) Archaeology. The time required to implement this unit will vary, depending on the classroom structure and depth of student research. The entire curriculum can be covered in one to two 9-week terms.

Unit 1 is the Cultural Landscape. In this unit, students explore the environmental niches of the Sonoran Desert, from the cactus-covered lowlands to the conifer-crested mountains, without ever leaving the classroom. They discover resources and experiment with the development of products from those resources. They envision life as the Hohokam peoples lived it 1,000 years ago—traveling, trading, and manufacturing the tools and foods necessary for survivalᾹin this harsh but bountiful environment. The Cultural Landscape unit may be taught as a standalone unit.

The second unit, CRM Archaeology, introduces students to the discovery of a past culture through scientific investigation. Students play the role of the entrepreneurs and archaeologists who create an archaeological consulting business, bid on a contract to do an archaeological study, and investigate a site. They use statistics to analyze the findings, synthesize the results, draw conclusions, and present their findings about the past. Students must complete the activities in the Cultural Landscape unit prior to beginning the CRM unit.

PP&T kits are distributed through regional training workshops and summer institutes. It is hoped that the remaining kits will be distributed during the ACSS workshops. One to two representatives from each district are encouraged to participate in this training. Training is open to all sixth through 12th grade teachers, but only one participant per district will become the "Keeper of the Kit." Keepers will make the kit available to educators within their district and make sure that the kit contents are intact.

The one-day workshop will include background information on the history of the project, an introduction to archaeology and to the cultural history of Arizona, hands-on experimentation with activities, and the development of a plan for use and distribution of the materials in each school district.

Contact name
Ellick, Carol J.
Sponsoring Organization
Arizona Council for the Social Studies; Arizona Department of Education
Phone number
1 505-892-5587
Target Audience
6-12
Start Date
Contact Title
Director, Outreach and Education, SRI Foundation
Duration
One day

Best Practices: Powerpoint at Its Best

Description

This training will provide participants with fun, interactive ways to use PowerPoint and other visual aids as educational tools. Participants will engage in activities that will encourage student participation and keep students attentive. The activities demonstrated in this training will cater to all styles of learning.

Contact name
Castro, Jennifer (email)
Sponsoring Organization
Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education
Phone number
602-340-7366
Target Audience
5-12
Start Date
Cost
$125
Contact Title
Professional Development Manager
Duration
Eight and a half hours

Arizona Tales Teacher Workshop: Using Literature to Teach Arizona History and Geography, K-8

Description

This workshop will go over 15 lesson plans covering the desert environment, Native American culture, Mexican culture, ranch life, World War II, and more. Supplementary literature books are included in the registration fee.

Contact name
Spargo-Guerrero, Emily
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
Arizona Historical Society
Phone number
1 520-617-1153
Target Audience
K-8
Start Date
Cost
$60 ($50 for Arizona Historical Society members)
Course Credit
Provides Continuing Education Credits.
Duration
Four hours

Florida Council for the Social Studies Teaching American History Award

Description

The purpose of this award is to recognize and celebrate a Florida teacher of history who encourages an appreciation and respect for history, involves students in the historical process, and evidences mastery of the subject matter.

Sponsoring Organization
Pearson Prentice Hall; Florida Council for the Social Studies
Eligibility Requirements

The applicant must currently be teaching history in a Florida elementary, middle, or high school. The winner must be available to attend both the annual conference and awards dinner.

Application Deadline
Award Amount
$500 cash prize, free annual conference registration, and publication of lesson plan in Trends and Issues.
Location
FL

Annual Florida Council for the Social Studies Conference

Description

This conference's theme is "Literate Citizens Vote!" The conference will feature more than 70 breakout sessions, several pre-conference workshops, and more than 40 exhibitors.

Sponsoring Organization
Florida Council for the Social Studies
Contact email
Location
St. Petersburg, FL
Contact name
Egolf, Ralph
Contact Title
Conference Coordinator
Phone number
1 727-822-0041
Start Date
End Date
Registration Deadline

Long Island Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference

Description

The theme for this conference is "Democracy, Diversity and the Social Studies Classroom." Topics covered will include "Analyzing Elections in American History," "Social Studies, History and the Elementary Classroom," "Teaching About Genocide and the Holocaust," "Technology in the Social Studies Classroom," "The Scoring Process on AP Examinations," "Literacy Strategies in Social Studies Classes," "Teaching about Foreign Policy and Presidential Decision Making," "Writing in the Social Studies," and others.

Sponsoring Organization
Long Island Council for the Social Studies
Location
Melville, NY
Start Date
Registration Deadline

White House Fellowships

Description

Founded in 1964, the White House Fellows program is America's most prestigious program for leadership and public service. White House Fellowships offer exceptional young men and women firsthand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. White House Fellows typically spend a year working as full-time, paid special assistants to senior White House Staff, the Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries and other top-ranking government officials. Fellows also participate in an education program consisting of roundtable discussions with renowned leaders from the private and public sectors, and trips to study U.S. policy in action both domestically and internationally. Fellowships are awarded on a strictly non-partisan basis.

Sponsoring Organization
The White House
Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have completed their undergraduate education and be working in their chosen professions. Employees of the federal government are not eligible unless they are career military personnel. There are no formal age restrictions. However, the fellowship program was created to give selected Americans the experience of government service early in their careers.

Application Deadline
Location
Washington, D.C.