Teaching in Turbulent Times is the Saturday Morning Keynote Topic for FCSS!

Hey, social studies folks! The time is fast approaching for the FCSS annual conference! PLEASE join us in late October (28-30) for what will be a great couple of days of sessions. We have made arrangements with some excellent folks to ensure that Sunday will be devoted at least in part to making sure the needs and desires of Advanced Placement folks are met! And I DO have some more exciting news to share about sessions and speakers and events, but I want to make sure that news about the keynote speaker for Saturday morning is out.

We all know that it can be difficult to teach social studies in a climate that does not often allow for deep discussion and discovery and where inquiry sometimes becomes a dirty word. Our keynote speaker for Saturday is coming to talk to us about that. Dr. Murali Balaji is the  Director of Education and Curriculum Reform for the Hindu American Foundation. In his role, Balaji works on empowering educators in culturally competent pedagogical approaches. He also serves as an advisor to numerous organizations around the country in promoting religious literacy and civic engagement. A Fulbright Specialist and former award-winning journalist, he has taught at Temple University, Penn State University, and Lincoln University, where he served as Chair of the Department of Mass Communications, overseeing assessment and curriculum building efforts. A longtime advocate of minority issues, Dr. Balaji is the author of several books, including The Professor and The Pupil (2007), and the co-editor of the seminal anthologies Desi Rap (2008) and Global Masculinities and Manhood (2011). A native of the Philadelphia area, Balaji earned his B.A. in journalism from the University of Minnesota and his doctorate in Mass Communication from Penn State.

drMuralibalaji

 

Dr. Balaji will be talking about ‘Teaching in Turbulent Times: Navigating through the New Normal in Public Education’. I have had the distinct pleasure of attending Dr. Balaji’s sessions at conferences in North Carolina and nationally, and he is an engaging, witty, and insightful speaker on issues relating to public education, controversial topics, and the getting kids (and teachers!) to think critically and intellectually.

We are excited he is able to join us Saturday morning, and I look forward to his keynote!


Integrating Civics across the Curriculum and Into Reading!

One of the most difficult tasks for a social studies teacher to do is to effectively integrate our content into alignment with the expectations of state reading standards. Here in Florida, we use the ‘Language Arts Florida Standards‘ (or LAFS), which are a modified version of ELA Common Core.  Over at Citrus Ridge, Polk County’s new K-8 Civics Academy, Ms. Heather Paden, who works as a special education and reading teacher for grades 6,7, and 8, has worked to provide her fellows, and their students, with support in reaching the civic mission of the school while still meeting the expectations of the LAFS benchmarks.

Using the short readings that are available through ‘Achieve 3000‘, Ms. Paden has developed guiding PowerPoints that help the students think through the reading using a civics lens. These activities prompt students to develop their civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions while also working to ensure growth in their reading, writing, and speaking proficiency.

For example, one of the weekly reading tasks involves using a reading from ‘Achieve 3000’ that concerns the plight of refugees who are fleeing oppression in Myanmar. In this reading, with features Angelina Jolie discussing her visit to a long-term refugee camp in Thailand, students are exposed (at least on a surface level) to what it might be like to be forced to live without a true home to call your own. Throughout the reading, vocabulary terms are hyperlinked to better ease students to an understanding.

In the accompanying PowerPoint, NO PLACE TO CALL HOME 9-6, Ms. Paden provides students with an overview question that will drive their thinking with this reading throughout the week. In this case, that question is ‘How can we help others whom are homeless?’. She then introduces students to terms and concepts, particularly ones that can be related to the discipline of civics, through a variety of reading and writing strategies.

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For me, the acronym activity is particularly powerful and capable of provoking deeper thought. As the example here suggests, students can connect their background knowledge and their reading to civic dispositions through this model.
acronym activity

After working on reading strategies with the students, such as locating key details, she asks students to make a prediction (an important skill that is relevant both for ELA and for Social Studies!) that is rich in civic meaning:

predict

This question is capable of prompting a great deal of discussion, and serves to really get students to think about consequences and how actions of governments may impact the individual.

Using both graphics and text, Ms. Paden then works on building student background knowledge and their personal vocabularies to facilitate reading.

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Finally, she finishes up on at least three days with a ‘Civics Connection’, ensuring that she connects to the underlying purpose of this wonderful civics academy at Citrus Ridge: integrating civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions wherever and whenever possible.

wrap up no place like home

These questions dive deep into the well of civic dispositions, having students consider ways in which they can facilitate change while connecting their classwork to their own lived experience!

Kudos to Ms. Paden for the work she has done and for her efforts on behalf of the students and teachers of Citrus Ridge. It is only with the hard work of teachers like her that the mission of Citrus Ridge, the creation of a strong generation of Florida citizens, will be realized.

If you or your school are doing excellent work in civic education, please shoot me an email or leave a comment. We would love to hear from you!


Launching a New Mock Election Platform in Florida

As we get closer to the general election in November, teachers are asking how they might approach the election with their students. One method, of course, is through a mock election, and the Lou Frey Institute (parent organization of the FJCC) has partnered with the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections and the Florida Association of Social Studies Supervisors to launch a new mock election platform. The message below has been sent to folks across the state of Florida by the executive director of the Lou Frey Institute, Dr. Doug Dobson.

As you may know, LFI/FJCC has hosted a statewide online Mock Election for Florida students in each election cycle since 2008. To support those Mock Elections, we have used our own web-based voting platform, known as the Florida Student Mock Election, and have worked closely with the Florida Association of Social Studies Supervisors to involve teachers. Our collective goal has been to provide a voting education opportunity for as many students as possible. From 2008 through 2014, we provided Florida’s Mock Election vote totals to the National Student/Parent Mock Election (NSPME) so that they could be counted in their national totals. We also included their curricular materials among those that we made available to Florida teachers.

A little over a year ago, the Supervisors of Elections (SoEs) provided the Institute with a significant opportunity to form a long-term, statewide partnership; one that has the prospect of engaging larger numbers of students in Mock Elections and simultaneously strengthening voter education relationships between schools and SoEs. A significant number of SoEs had previous experience with a web-based voting platform known as DoubleClick Democracy, supported by KidsVoting USA. As we formed a partnership, they asked that we mothball our voting platform, establish a formal agreement with KidsVoting USA and offer DoubleClick Democracy to schools and SoEs throughout the state. We have done this. Since NSPME and KidsVoting do not generally collaborate, we terminated our informal relationship with NSPME.

At the moment, we, the Florida Association of Social Studies Supervisors and the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections are moving forward to enroll schools in every region of the state. We are also forging new relationships between SoEs and schools. We are all optimistic that we will see increased student participation in the 2016 Florida Student Mock Election along with continuing school-based voter education programs. You can review our plan at http://floridacitizen.org/resources/florida-student-mock-election.
I hope that you will support our collaborative efforts by encouraging schools throughout the state to participate in The Florida Student Mock Election.

Questions about the new mock election that will be launching shortly can be directed to me or to Dr. Dobson. We are excited about this new partnership and platform, and hope that you and your teachers and students will consider taking part!


SOURCES at UCF Annual Conference Call for Proposals

 

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I have had the great pleasure of attending the past two SOURCES conferences, and our Dr. Terri Fine and Dr. Michael Berson have presented there. I encourage you to consider attending this fantastic one day conference!

SOURCES Annual Conference
http://www.sourcesconference.com
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida
Saturday, January 14, 2017

The Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the University of Central Florida (TPS-UCF) is pleased to announce a call for proposals to present at the SOURCES Annual Conference at the University of Central Florida to be held on January 14, 2017.  The SOURCES Annual Conference Program Committee welcomes proposals that focus on presenting 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;
•    Accessing teaching tools and primary sources from 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 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/lesson that helps students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills and construct knowledge.

Inclusion in the SOURCES Annual Conference program is a selective process, so please be specific in your descriptions.  It is important that you provide clear and descriptive language to assist the reviewers in their task.  Professional attire is required for all presenters, and all sessions will last one hour.  Proposals must be submitted by midnight on September 30, 2016, by using the following submission form: http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cLPHuj9feYKb0yN.  If you submit a proposal, you will be notified, by the end of November, as to the committee’s decision regarding your proposal.  If you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact Dr. Scott Waring (swaring@ucf.edu).


New Electoral College Video from FJCC!

One of our goals going into the new school year is to work on creating a series of student friendly civics videos, including ones for each of the benchmarks. Indeed, we have someone working right now on a new video for Benchmark SS.7.C.1.6, which addresses the Preamble. There will be opportunities for us, however, to include additional civics-oriented content rich videos and this new one is our first! This video explores what the Electoral College is, how it impacts elections, and the relationship between the Electoral College and the popular vote.
We hope that you find this video useful, and please feel free to send me feedback or leave a comment!


Hey Elementary Teachers! We have civics resources!

Over the past few years, at the request of teachers and in an effort to address ongoing issues with social studies at the elementary level, the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship has worked to create resources for K-5 elementary teachers. Under the visionary work of our curriculum director. Ms. Valerie McVey, and in collaboration with teachers from across the state of Florida, we have three main tools for you to consider.

modulesOur K-5 Modules are extended lessons plans that are aligned with the Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies, as well as with the Language Arts Florida Standards (LAFS). If you are not a Florida teacher, you can adapt these lessons for use in your own classroom simply by reviewing the alignment to your own state standards, keeping in mind that the LAFS benchmarks are essentially a redraft of Common Core as well. These modules involve a great deal of work with text and text skills while exploring an essential question around a civics topic.

Civics Correlation GuideThe Civics Correlation Guide to Current K-5 Reading Series is intended for Florida teachers and uses all of the current Reading series that have been adopted in Florida from Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt, Pearson, Studies Weekly, and McGraw-Hill. You can search by benchmark and/or publisher, and you can see just how strong the correlations are. If you are not from Florida, I encourage you to review Florida’s elementary civics benchmarks here to see if you can use this resource in your own classroom.

civics in a snap

Civics in a Snap! For when you have just enough time to help your kids learn about being good citizens!

Civics in a Snap is our newest resource, developed in the summer of 2015 in collaboration with elementary teachers from Dade and Pinellas Counties here in Florida. The intent of these lessons, which are also aligned with language arts standards, is to provide teachers with quick 15 to 20 minute lessons aligned with Florida’s elementary civics benchmarks. Our hope and belief is that every teacher can find 15 minutes in a week to teach kids what it means to be a citizen!

So, how do you access all this awesome stuff? Well, our good friend from Bay, Alana Simmons, was kind enough to create this overview, and we want to share this with you. Simply follow the directions below to complete your free registration and explore to your heart’s content! You can access the sign up page here! 

accessing resources

Questions about any of our resources, materials, or civics in Florida and beyond can be directed to Steve Masyada here at the FJCC!


Two short primary source lessons about suffrage for women!

Following a historic night in which a woman for the first time accepted the nomination of a major political party for President of the United States (NOTE: FJCC TAKES NO POSITION ON CANDIDATES), I just want to share with you two relevant lessons we have in our new Students Investigating Primary Sources series. One is targeting US History and the other targets US Government and are aligned to Florida benchmarks (though you can adapt them for your use!); both use a very interesting resource.

womens suffrage lesson

The letter included in each short lesson argues against the 19th Amendment from the perspective of women, and students are asked to really interrogate the document, or portions of the document, in different ways within each course.

Please keep in mind that these are NOT intended to be deep explorations of issues, government, or historical topics; rather, these are essentially mini-lessons that introduce students to both a primary source and a historical or government-related topic within a 15-25 minute time frame. It’s a chance, essentially, to let them build their understanding and use of primary sources and relevant skills around them. And these two lessons are perfect, I think, during this historic election season!

You can find the lesson centered around US History benchmarks here, and the lesson centered around US Government benchmarks here.

And if you are interested in how American women have fought long for the right to vote, visit the National Women’s History Museum! 


A New Video Overview of What the FJCC Offers

 

One of the long term goals of the FJCC is to provide short, quality videos that teachers can use with their students. While we are quite proud of our content videos that feature Dr. Fine, more student-friendly videos that go beyond simply the talking head approach would, we believe, be useful for both teachers and students. We are happy to say that we are making some progress in this area. Our first video provides you with an overview of the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and what sorts of tools and resources we have to offer. Please share it with your friends!


Florida Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference!

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Have you registered yet for the FCSS Annual Conference in October? If not, why not? They are expecting some excellent sessions this year, including some from the excellent folks at the Fed and from our own old friend from the National Archives, Dr. Charlie Flanagan. You know you all love Charlie! As this is an adoption year, you can also expect that there will be a great many vendors who will have a great deal of swag to share with teachers who take an interest in their booths. And we here at the FJCC will of course be there, and we are planning on having a booth so that we can meet folks we haven’t met before and to share some of the exciting new projects we have on the agenda! So come on, join us at the FCSS Annual Conference in October and find out what your colleagues across the state are doing, what new tools and resources exist, and how you can better help your students become the great citizens we know they can be!

You can register for the conference here!


Public Feedback on ESSA Legislation and Funding

Good morning, friends in civics! In this post, you will find an alert from our state Education Commissioner, Pam Stewart. She is asking for public input on the Every Student Succeeds Act. I encourage you, as engaged and active and concerned citizens, to take some time and provide the FLDOE with the feedback it is seeking. If you are interested in social studies education, now is the chance to make your voice heard in this state!

I am writing to let you know that the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) is now accepting public input on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and that I would greatly appreciate your engagement in this very important dialogue. Through July 22, 2016, all members of the public will be able to submit comments on each component of the law, and we will consider this feedback as we develop Florida’s draft state plan. To access the public input form, please visit http://www.fldoe.org/academics/essa.stml.

For ease, we have divided the feedback form into specific sections named in the law (#1-7), each title named in the law (#8) and U.S. Department of Education draft regulations (#9). You are welcome to provide input on as many of these as you would like, but you are not required to respond to all. Likewise, it is not mandatory to answer every question on a specific topic.

Challenging State Academic Standards
Academic Assessments
State Assessment Grants
Statewide Accountability System
School Improvement
School Support and Improvement Activities
Direct Student Services
General Comments by Title of the Act (Titles I-VIII)
U.S. DOE Draft Regulations on Accountability, State Plans and Data Reporting

It is important to note that, as we continue through this process, there will be additional opportunities for stakeholders to offer suggestions. Once FDOE develops Florida’s draft state plan, we will again ask you and all of our state’s education stakeholders to provide feedback before the state plan is submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.

The Florida Department of Education is sharing this news with all of our stakeholder groups, and we encourage you to do the same. Attached is a flyer that can be printed for or emailed to your local constituents and a badge for use on social media.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email ESSA@fldoe.org and a member of the FDOE team will get back with you. We thank you for your time and thoughtful input.

Sincerely,
Pam Stewart