NCSS-CUFA Call for Proposals

Posted on January 6, 2016 by stevemasy

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.

New Civics Certificate Program!

Posted on November 30, 2015 by stevemasy

Well, we here at the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship got some great news recently. Last year, I told you about our effort to create a civics certificate program for pre-service social studies teachers. Well, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the program here at UCF has been approved! While the program is, for budgetary, personnel, and university reasons, currently limited to University of Central Florida students, we hope in the future to create a graduate version of the program that we can offer to practicing teachers. We also hope to establish this certificate in other academic institutions across the state!
So what will this program involve? Well, the idea behind the certificate is that it will
provide the content, skills, and pedagogies needed to deliver instruction for 7th grade Civics in Florida. This would, we hope, improve the teacher’s ability to prepare their kids for the Civics EOCA at the end of the course (NOT the naturalization test, mind you!). It will also, we believe, support US Government instruction in high school, especially as there is some overlap across the benchmarks. It is open to UCF students who meet the following requirements:

3.0 GPA in major
Completion of POS 2041 (American National Government) with at least a C.
One page letter of intent: ‘Why does civics teaching matter?’
Admission (or pending admission) to Social Science Education BS program

The program sequence is focused on best preparing students for the course that they will hopefully teach, and it includes an internship component that focuses on local government. After all, what better practice can you get to teach civics than to actually see civics in action at the local level! The course sequence is provided below:

12 Credit Hours:

POS 4932: Teaching American Politics and Government
POS 3272: Civic Engagement
POS 4941: Internship in Florida Local Government
SSE 4932: Teaching Civics in Florida

We will be hosting an open house here at the Lou Frey Institute on Tuesday, 01 December at 5pm to talk more about this exciting new program! We hope to see you here. :)

Social Studies and the Young Learner Interest Survey

Posted on November 24, 2015 by stevemasy

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 SSY L. 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!

http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aXYqeCoqcwY3rOR

SOURCES Annual Conference

Posted on November 24, 2015 by stevemasy

Good morning, civics friends. This post is just a reminder that the SOURCES Annual Conference, put on by Dr. Scott Waring here at UCF, is coming soon, and it is worth your time and energy to attend. I went last year, and it was simply fantastic. If you are looking for excellent professional development on using primary sources in the classroom, this is what you are looking for. Information on the conference is below, and you can register here! The main conference page is here. Take a look at the overview below, and we hope to see you there!

SOURCES Annual Conference

University of Central Florida

Orlando, Florida

January 16, 2016

The Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the University of Central Florida (TPS-UCF) will be hosting the second annual SOURCES Annual Conference at the University of Central Florida on January 16, 2016. The SOURCES Annual Conference is a free opportunity available to any educators interested in the utilization and integration of primary sources into K-12 teaching. Presenters will focus on providing strategies for using primary sources to help K-12 students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills, and build content knowledge, specifically in one or more of the following ways:

Justifying conclusions about whether a source is primary or secondary depending upon the time or topic under study;
Describing examples of the benefits of teaching with primary sources;
Analyzing a primary source using Library of Congress tools;
Accssing teaching tools and primary sources from www.loc.gov/teachers;
Identifying key considerations for selecting primary sources for instructional use (for example, student needs and interests, teaching goals, etc.);
Accessing primary sources and teaching resources from www.loc.gov for instructional use;
Analyzing primary sources in different formats;
Analyzing a set of related primary sources in order to identify multiple perspectives;
Demonstrating how primary sources can support at least one teaching strategy (for example, literacy, inquiry-based learning, historical thinking, etc.); and
Presenting a primary source-based activity that helps students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills and construct knowledge.

Dr. Joel Breakstone, of Stanford University, will provide the Keynote Presentation, Beyond the Bubble: A New Generation of History Assessments. In this session, he will discuss about and present ways in which educators can use assessments designed by the Stanford History Education Group to incorporate Library of Congress documents. Participants will examine assessments and sample student responses. Additional session titles include the following:

Designating for Assignment: Using Baseball to Tell the Story of Race in America Socratic Circles and Primary Sources: Students Generate Essential Questions
Galaxy of Wonder
Education Resources from the Library of Congress focused on the Social Sciences & Literacy
How do I know If It’s Primary? Research Questions and Primary Sources
ESRI Story Maps and Integrating LOC Resources
Mapping the American Revolution
Primary Sources: Find Them, Choose Them, and Use Them Well
Sites of African-American Memory
Who Is Bias: the Media or Us?
A Professional Development and Curriculum Model for the Use of Historical Literacy
Magnifying How We See, Think, and Wonder: Fostering Critical Literacy Among Young Learners Using Library of Congress Primary Sources
Sourcing in a Flash!
Primary Sources: A Lens to View History
Bringing Fiction to Life Using Primary Sources
Playing with Primary Sources: Game-Based Learning with Resources from The Library of Congress
Engage English Learners and Other Diverse Learners with Primary Sources
Creating a Sound Argument Using Primary Sources
Teaching with Primary Sources: African American Sacred Music
Veterans History Project: Learning About US Conflicts Through the Eyes of a Veteran
Is North Up? : Exploring the Nature of Maps
Differentiation Using Primary Sources from the Library
Using Primary Sources for Digital DBQs and other Assessments to meet Literacy Standards.
Vetting or Developing Text Sets to Teach Rich Content

Registration is free and is now open for the SOURCES Annual Conference. Please visit the conference web site to register: http://www.sourcesconference.com/registration.html

Joint Center for Citizenship Webinar Interest Survey!

Posted on October 21, 2015 by stevemasy

Friends, we need your help so that we may in turn provide YOU with what you desire. One of the goals here at the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship is to provide teachers and the community with the professional development and resources they desire. In pursuit of this goal, we would like to begin a new and ongoing webinar series around topics of interest to the social studies and civics educator. In order to determine what sorts of webinars we will offer, we have created a quick survey that asks you to rank order topics and select days and times that work for you. Each webinar will range from 30 to 90 minutes, and all webinars will be permanently archived and available following the session. If none of the potential topics listed in the survey interest or are needed by you, PLEASE tell us what you would like!

You can help us out by completing the survey here!

Joint Center for Citizenship Webinar Interest Survey!

Posted on October 21, 2015 by stevemasy

You can help us out by completing the survey here!

Upcoming SOURCES Conference: Teaching with Primary Sources!

Posted on October 21, 2015 by stevemasy

Friends, it is time once again to alert you to a fantastic primary source driven conference that is held here at UCF. Dr. Scott Waring, Program Coordinator and Associate Professor for the Social Science Education Program at the University of Central Florida, is organizing his SOURCES conference, and I encourage you to register and attend. Registration is free, and having attended last year’s conference myself, well worth the time. Information on the conference and the registration link is provided below. I hope to see you there!

The Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the University of Central Florida (TPS-UCF) will be hosting the second annual SOURCES Annual Conference at the University of Central Florida on January 16, 2016. The SOURCES Annual Conference is a free opportunity available to any educators interested in the utilization and integration of primary sources into K-12 teaching. Presenters will focus on providing strategies for using primary sources to help K-12 students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills, and build content knowledge, specifically in one or more of the following ways:

Justifying conclusions about whether a source is primary or secondary depending upon the time or topic under study;

Describing examples of the benefits of teaching with primary sources;

Analyzing a primary source using Library of Congress tools;

Accssing teaching tools and primary sources from www.loc.gov/teachers;

Identifying key considerations for selecting primary sources for instructional use (for example, student needs and interests, teaching goals, etc.);

Accessing primary sources and teaching resources from www.loc.gov for instructional use;

Analyzing primary sources in different formats;

Analyzing a set of related primary sources in order to identify multiple perspectives;

Demonstrating how primary sources can support at least one teaching strategy (for example, literacy, inquiry-based learning, historical thinking, etc.); and

Presenting a primary source-based activity that helps students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills and construct knowledge.

Registration is free and is now open for the SOURCES Annual Conference. Please complete the information on the following linked page to register for the SOURCES Conference: http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_02M6I0hSrdTDGPb

Upcoming SOURCES Conference: Teaching with Primary Sources!

Posted on October 21, 2015 by stevemasy

The Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the University of Central Florida (TPS-UCF) will be hosting the second annual SOURCES Annual Conference at the University of Central Florida on January 16, 2016. The SOURCES Annual Conference is a free opportunity available to any educators interested in the utilization and integration of primary sources into K-12 teaching. Presenters will focus on providing strategies for using primary sources to help K-12 students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills, and build content knowledge, specifically in one or more of the following ways:

Justifying conclusions about whether a source is primary or secondary depending upon the time or topic under study;

Describing examples of the benefits of teaching with primary sources;

Analyzing a primary source using Library of Congress tools;

Accssing teaching tools and primary sources from www.loc.gov/teachers;

Identifying key considerations for selecting primary sources for instructional use (for example, student needs and interests, teaching goals, etc.);

Accessing primary sources and teaching resources from www.loc.gov for instructional use;

Analyzing primary sources in different formats;

Analyzing a set of related primary sources in order to identify multiple perspectives;

Demonstrating how primary sources can support at least one teaching strategy (for example, literacy, inquiry-based learning, historical thinking, etc.); and

Presenting a primary source-based activity that helps students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills and construct knowledge.

New Videos: Electing the President

Posted on September 8, 2015 by stevemasy

One of the important relationships that the Lou Frey Institute and the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship have developed is with the Florida State Association of Supervisor of Elections. Recently, our own Dr. Terri Fine sat down with Bill Cowles, the Supervisor of Elections of Orange County, and Dr. Aubrey Jewett, Associate Professor of Political Science at UCF to discuss the process of electing the president. The video is broken down into four segments, and you can click the embedded link in the descriptive text to download each video. Alternatively, you can simply visit the page to preview the videos.

Please keep in mind that here in Florida, our 7th grade civics course does not generally address federal elections and the Electoral College, so these would be more applicable for high school students in this state. These could certainly serve as a means to develop/refresh your own content knowledge however!

The first addresses the role of the census and reapportionment in determining the power and influence of a state within the Electoral College and in the selection of candidates.
The second video explores presidential preference primaries and state caucuses, and the role they play in selecting a party’s candidate.

The third video describes the national conventions. It really is an interesting discussion about how the conventions have become more of a fundraising opportunity and media event rather than the traditional selection of the candidate, the running mate, and the platform. As argued in the clip, it is in many ways a ‘staged event’ now, because many of the decisions that used to occur at the convention now occur well in advance. It’s often just ratifying these decisions! Download the video and check out the discussion!
The next video in the series discusses Election Day and how time zones and different state-level voting procedures could impact both the voter and the election of the president, as well as a reminder that we are actually not really voting for the president! And no discussion of elections would be complete with a consideration of the money involved.
The final video in the series looks at the Electoral College itself, always a controversial and misunderstood component of the American electoral system.

We hope that you find this resource useful. Visit the Orange County Supervisor of Elections page to view and download the videos.

Reminder: Here in Florida, our 7th grade civics course does not generally address federal elections and the Electoral College, so these would be more applicable for high school students in this state.

Civic Studies

An intellectual community of researchers and practitioners dedicated to building the emerging field of civic studies

Category Archives: Professional Development

Joint Center for Citizenship Webinar Interest Survey!

Joint Center for Citizenship Webinar Interest Survey!

Upcoming SOURCES Conference: Teaching with Primary Sources!

Upcoming SOURCES Conference: Teaching with Primary Sources!

New Videos: Electing the President