Category Archives: CUFA

Even MORE Upcoming FCSS Sessions!

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So this weekend is the start of the Florida Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference. Have you registered yet? Are you coming? We hope you are coming, because we have some awesome sessions lined up. You can learn more about the keynote speaker here, and you can go here and here to get get an overview of some of the sessions we have planned. So with that out of the way, let’s take another look at some of the quality sessions we have lined up for you this weekend.

Saturday Morning, Concurrent Session 1

Factors Relating to U.S. History End of Course Exam for African American Students Irenea Walker, University of Central Florida

If social studies teachers properly alter their pedagogical approaches, African American students can learn to appreciate learning about historical facts. This paper focuses upon creative lessons that focus on interactive activities to peak interest.

eoc-graphic

Engaging the 21st Century Learner Amanda Mudlock and Rich Sayers, Pearson

Build academic skills for 21st century students through inquiry-based learning by facilitating easy projects, civic discussions, and document-based questions. Teach students to take ownership of their ideas, work together, and communicate clearly. 

21st-cent-kid

Curating Your Collection: Promoting Content Area Literacy by Giving Student Tools
to Explore Social Studies Texts  Heather Cerra, Northwest Elementary School, Hillsborough County Public Schools

How can teachers spark student interest in informational and historical fiction texts related to social studies content? Using a unique framework, teachers can build student engagement and realize student growth in the areas of vocabulary and comprehension. (Elementary Session!)

hillsborough

Saturday Afternoon, Concurrent Session 2

The Great Travel Fair: A Cross-Curricular Unit of Study Amy Trujillo, Orange / Orlando Science Elementary School

Now in it’s fourth year, The Great Travel Fair combines ELA, Science, Social Studies, and Math in order for students to understand the regions of the United States through a balance of 21st century skills. 

interdisciplinary
Public History, Memory, and Survival: Producing History Through Student
Centered Technology  Joshua Stern, St. Johns Country Day School

Attendees will learn how to use iMovie to allow students to bring stories of Holocaust survival to life. Students become active public historians and create meaningful results by preserving and transmitting these vital personal histories.

imovie

Saturday Afternoon, Concurrent Session 3

St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement: Seamless Integration into your Classroom Blake Pridgen & Benjamin Rome, Flagler College

Utilizing the primary sources in Flagler College’s Civil Rights Library of St. Augustine (CRLSA: http://civilrights.flagler.edu), teachers will learn to effectively teach Florida’s involvement in the civil rights movement, grades 4-12.

crlsa

Sunday Morning, Concurrent Session 7

The State of the Assessment: Civics End-of-Course Assessment Stacy Skinner, Ed. D., Social Studies Coordinator, Test Development Center; Elise Beachy, Annette Boyd Pitts, Robert Brazofsky, Maureen Carter, Erin Conklin, Christy Disinger, George Masek, Stephen Masyada, Ph.D., Peggy Renihan, Chris Spinale, Jackie Viana

This annual conference message about the middle school Civics EOCA will provide an overview of implementation, a review of student performance data, and a discussion about test development with Florida educators involved in the process. (Note: A similiar session around the US History EOCA will be offered earlier in the morning.)

Demographic Breakdown

Achievement Level by Demographic Background

Context and Comparison: At the heart of AP World History Robert Strayer and Patrick Whelan, Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers

This session provides resources—both content and pedagogical—for effectively teaching contextualization and its companion skill of comparison. It addresses the much increased role of contextual thinking in the new exam format. 

apworldspongebob

 

This has been just taste of the possibilities. Please be sure to check out additional session descriptions at 2016-fcss-session-descriptions, and earlier posts on what is shaping up to be a great conference session here, here, here, and here on why you should attend! Hey, it will be worth it for the trick or treating alone!

You can register for FCSS online. It’s a great and affordable conference, and a chance to meet folks you can work with and learn from. Hope to see you here in Orlando. The hashtag for the conference, by the way, will be #FLCSS16. Join us!


More Upcoming FCSS Conference Sessions

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Don’t forget that the FCSS Conference comes soon! In our last post, we highlighted some interesting conference sessions that may be of interest to a wide variety of audiences. So how about we take a look at some more intriguing sessions!

Saturday Morning, Concurrent Session One

Making Connections in CIVICS with the Interactive Notebook, Patricia Kroeger, Destin Middle School,Okaloosa County Public Schools

Teachers will learn Interactive Notebook strategies that connect student learning to the benchmark essential questions, practice test-taking strategies, and connect currentevents to concepts of government.
Note: as a civics educator, this sounds fantastic. always looking for new ways to approach instruction!

interactives

 

Saturday Afternoon, Concurrent Session Two

Publishing in Social Studies Journals, Dr. Scott M. Waring, University of Central Florida

The presenter edits several social studies journals (Social Studies and the Young Learner, CITE –Social Studies, and Social Studies Research and Practice). He will discuss the process of publishing in various social studies journals.
Note: This is a great opportunity to learn how to provide service to the field!

ssyl sw cite
Saturday Afternoon, Concurrent Session 3

Preparing Teachers to Meet the Holocaust Mandate in Elementary Grades Ilene Allgood & Rachayita Shah, Florida Atlantic University, Maureen Carter, Palm Beach County Schools

A Genocide Studies Unit was developed for an undergraduate multicultural course, and studied for its effectiveness in preparing pre-service teachers to implement the State-mandated Holocaust curriculum in grades K-12th.

kids-holo

Two brothers sitting for a family portrait in the Kovno ghetto (one month before they were deported to the Majdanek extermination camp) from http://genocide.leadr.msu.edu/representing-the-children-of-the-holocaust/

 
Sunday Morning, Concurrent Session 5

What to Expect on January 20, 2017?      Terri Susan Fine, University of Central Florida/ Florida Joint Center for Citizenship

What happens during the first year of a new presidency? This session will address how the president uses the first 100 days of the new administration, organizing Congress, and connecting campaign promises to policy proposals.

wash-inaug

Oil painting of George Washington’s inauguration as the first President of the United States which took place on April 30, 1789. Encyclopedia Britannica, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington%27s_Inauguration.jpg


And of course please don’t forget the fantastic keynote we have lined up! Please be sure to register now! We look forward to seeing you in Orlando.

 


Why Attend the Florida Council for the Social Studies Conference in October?

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We know that as teachers, you have a great many draws on your attention, but I want to encourage you to consider attending the Florida Council for the Social Studies state conference. The theme, ‘Survival in a Changing World’, is incredibly relevant to our work as social studies teachers in a climate that is increasingly divisive and difficult, and many of the sessions at the conference on that upcoming fine October weekend will provide you with ways to survive in this changing world.

The Keynote Speaker on Saturday is Dr. Murali Balaji of the Hindu American Foundation. I personally have known Dr. Balaji for a number of years, and he is engaging and dynamic speaker. You can find out more about Dr. Bajali at our earlier post on his selection as the keynote. We also have some quality preconference sessions lined up to engage early arrivers! We are especially excited that we will be joined by both the DBQ Project and Dr. Charlie Flanagan of the National Archives for an excellent time!

precon

Another thing to think about, and this is VERY significant, is that this is an adoption year for social studies. You know what that means don’t you? It means that publishers will be all over the exhibit hall, and they will be VERY VERY VERY eager to make sure you sample their materials. There will, no doubt, be a great opportunity to get some free stuff and make some contacts!

Speaking of the exhibit hall, on Friday night, Nystrom (yes, the same folks who put on that great dance at NCSS!) will be sponsoring a ‘trick or treat’ event in the exhibit hall. Dress up as a civic or historic figure or concept and get some free swag from folks in the hall. Shoot, you don’t even have to dress up! Just take part in the fun!

Sunday will be a day focused on Advanced Placement and meeting the needs of our colleagues that are dealing with some huge changes to both APUSH and AP World History. There will also be sessions available for all disciplines and grade levels. Dr. Stacy Skinner will be providing valuable information regarding the Social Studies End-of-Course Assessments.

CUFA-FL, under the leadership of UCF’s own Dr. Scott Waring, will also be hosting a number of good sessions led by leading social studies scholars. Well worth your time !

There are so many other reasons to attend the conference. The schedule of events is below, and the matrix and program will be available soon.  Please consider joining us this fall, especially if you are a new or pre-service teacher, and network with colleagues, make new friends, learn some stuff, and, most importantly, have some well-deserved fun! Register today! 

scehedulefcss


NCSS-CUFA Call for Proposals

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The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA) invite proposals for scholarship to be presented at its Annual Meeting, which will be held on November 30-December 2, 2016 in Washington, D.C. The theme of this year’s conference is “Civic Learning and Cultural Inquiry in a Changing World”. CUFA’s program will include individual paper sessions, symposia, contemporary issue dialogues, invited speakers, as well as CUFA/NCSS co-sponsored Research in to Practice (RIP) sessions.
Accepted proposals will be linked to the presentations through the open conference system. Authors will have the option of uploading their completed papers to replace the proposal after the program is finalized.

Scope of Program
We invite you to submit original work related to social studies: 1. educational research (qualitative and quantitative), 2. theoretical perspectives, 3. teacher education and professional development, and 4. advocacy/outreach efforts. CUFA envisions the social studies as central to democratic citizenship education broadly defined and including the various disciplines of history, sociology, political science, geography, and political science. As such we encourage colleagues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives to submit their work.

Topics of Particular Relevance
Based on a membership survey conducted in the Fall of 2015, we encourage researchers to submit symposia, contemporary issues dialogue sessions, and paper proposals about the following topics:
Contemporary issues relevant to the conference theme of civic learning and cultural inquiry in a changing world.

  • Ways to engage in and promote social studies research that informs educational policy and practice.
  • Ways to cultivate a more just society through social studies education/teacher education activism and pedagogy.
  • Methods for disrupting gender norms in social studies education/social studies education research.
  • Building the capacity of social studies education/social studies education research to empower LGBTQ youth.
  • Ways in which social studies education/social studies education research can access cultural funds of knowledge and global understanding to promote powerful social studies teaching and learning for diverse student populations.

The complete call for proposals can also be found on the submission site: www.socialstudies.org/cufa2016. The submission deadline is Tuesday, March 1, 2016 by 11:59pm PST. No submissions will be accepted after that time and date.
If you are a Twitter user and would like to tweet about the conference, the official conference hashtag is #CUFA16
If you have any questions about the call, proposal submission process, or reviewer sign-up process, please contact Dr. Brook Blevins, program chair, at cufa2016@baylor.edu.


Social Studies and the Young Learner Interest Survey

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Our good friend Dr. Scott Waring, Program Coordinator and Associate Professor for the Social Science Education Program at the University of Central Florida, is the new editor for the National Council for the Social Studies’ journal focusing on the teaching of social studies in the Pre-K-6 classroom, Social Studies and the Young Learner.  The goal of Social Studies and the Young Learner (http://www.socialstudies.org/publications/ssyl) is to capture and enthuse Pre-K-6 teachers across the country by providing relevant and useful information about the teaching of social studies.  The teaching techniques presented are designed to stimulate the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills vital to classroom success.  SSYL is published quarterly: September/October; November/December; January/February; and March/April.
Dr. Waring has asked for help as he assumes editorship of the journal. If you have a few minutes, please complete this short survey that will allow him to plan future issues and give practitioners what they desire in SSYL.  Any guidance you can give on what you would like to see would be much appreciated!
If you wish to share with others, the link is also below!

Florida CUFA October Conference Call for Proposals!

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Good morning, friends in Civics and Social Studies. Dr. Scott Waring, who leads the new College and University Faculty Assembly branch of the Florida Council for the Social Studies, has asked me to share a call for proposals for the upcoming October conference. Please take the time to review the call, and if you are interested, you can click at the end of this sentence to download the FL-CUFA_Proposal_15. All proposals should be sent directly to Dr. Waring at swaring@ucf.edu. I encourage you to consider joining us in October!

Presentation Formats

Paper Presentations (50 minutes)

An individual paper presentation gives authors an opportunity to present abbreviated versions of their empirical or theoretical/conceptual scholarship. After the papers are presented, a discussant will offer commentary on key revelations, vexations, and themes raised by the papers, and a chairperson will moderate questions and responses by audience members. For the sake of effective presentation and discussion, individual papers should be limited to 3,000 words, excluding references. The typical structure for a session with two papers includes a brief introduction by the chairperson, 15 minutes for each author’s presentation, 10 minutes for the discussant’s commentary, and 10 minutes of audience participation.

Symposium Sessions (50 minutes)

A symposium offers presenters, discussants, and audience members the opportunity to explore a particular problem or theme from various perspectives. Organizers of symposium sessions typically establish the topic, identify and solicit participation from appropriate scholars, and assemble and submit a single proposal representing the collective work of participants. Symposium proposals should include no more than four participants. The organizer must obtain permission and input from each individual represented in a symposium proposal. Symposium proposals must specify a discussant for the session. All presenters in a symposium should submit to the discussant a paper or commentary addressing the central theme or questions under consideration; symposium papers should be limited to 3,000 words. The chair, presenters, and discussant will determine how time is to be allocated during symposiums.

Contemporary Issues Dialogue (50 minutes)

The contemporary issues dialogue format offers conference attendees an opportunity to explore contemporary issues or dilemmas in social education via a unique forum not represented by paper sessions and symposiums. Contemporary issues dialogues can include informal discussions, town hall meetings, roundtables, papers-in-progress, structured poster sessions, research planning and methodological activities, video presentations and performances, and book talks. Sessions that promote active participation and open dialogue among audience members are strongly encouraged. Proposal authors will determine how time is to be allocated during contemporary issues dialogues.

Research-Into-Practice Sessions (50 minutes)

Research-into-practice sessions offer FL-CUFA members the opportunity to discuss and demonstrate the implications of research for educational practice. Given their association with the regular FCSS Conference program, audience members typically are classroom teachers, teacher educators, supervisors, and school administrators. With that audience in mind, presentations should feature scholarly, yet accessible, discussions and activities of interest to practicing educators. Proposal authors will determine how time is to be allocated during research into practice sessions.

Submission Guidelines

Presenters must provide, in an email to the Program Chair, Scott Waring (swaring@ucf.edu), the following:

  1. The names of all presenters and corresponding affiliations
  2. Lead presenter’s mailing address, email, and phone number
  3. A PDF or Microsoft Word compatible document, as described below, that includes a narrative of 3,000 words or fewer, excluding title, abstract, and references.

Because proposals will be reviewed in a blind peer review process, please do not include the names or affiliations of authors and presenters in the proposal document and ensure that no identifying information is embedded in the proposal document as metadata.

The Program Chair reserves the right to reject without review any proposal that exceeds the 3,000-word limit. The Program Chair reserves the right to disqualify submissions in which authors’ identifying information is revealed.

The submission deadline is Monday, August 31, 2015 11:59 p.m. No submissions will be accepted after that date and time.

Individual Paper and Symposium Proposal Contents

Each proposal should include the following elements: a) the title; b) an abstract of 35 words or less; c) the purposes and/or objectives of the study; d) the theoretical framework or perspective; e) research design and/or methods of inquiry; f) findings or arguments and their warrants; g) the importance of the work’s contribution to scholarship; and h) references. To preserve the integrity of the blind peer review process, please do not include the names or affiliations of authors and presenters in the proposal document. The Program Chair reserves the right to disqualify submissions in which authors’ identifying information is revealed. The review criteria will incorporate the clarity, organization, and perceived scholarly significance of elements c) through g) above.

Contemporary Issues Dialogue and Research Into Practice (RIP) Proposal Contents

Contemporary Issues Dialogue and RIP session proposals should include the following elements, as appropriate: a) the title of ten words or less; b) an abstract of 35 words or less; c) the purposes and objectives of the session; d) theory and research in which the session is grounded; e) methods of presentation or modes of activity for the session; f) findings or arguments and their warrants; and g) references.

To preserve the integrity of the blind peer review process, please do not include the names or affiliations of authors and presenters in the proposal document. The Program Chair reserves the right to disqualify submissions in which authors’ identifying information is revealed. The review criteria will incorporate the clarity, organization, and perceived significance of elements c) through f) above.

Participation Requirements

It is expected that all authors or presenters represented in a proposal will register for the FCSS Annual Meeting and attend and participate in conference sessions. If an emergency or other unforeseen circumstance precludes a participant from attending, she or he should immediately contact the Program Chair, Scott Waring, at swaring@ucf.edu. To promote diversity among perspectives and participants, no presenter shall appear as author or co-author on more than two proposals, or as chair or discussant on more than two proposals.