National Council for Social Studies Conference - Preview

I’ve taken some time to process the conference I went to last week and I think I’ve gotten my thoughts in order. First off, it was an incredible experience. I cannot stress enough how, well, professionally developing the conference was. Before I lose anyone’s attention, a word to my professional readers:

GO TO YOUR NATIONAL CONFERENCES!!!!

Really, it’s unlikely that your district will approach you and say, “Hey there, why don’t you go to the national conference?” Go to them and try to get a per diem. Take vacation days and pay out of pocket if you have to, but get there. If it is at all within my power, I will never be missing a conference. Both because of what I experienced as well as how much I wasn’t able to see. Every hour was packed with a couple dozen different topic sessions. I can’t really describe the range of the topics, they were so broad. For a taste, here are the topics from the first hour of the first day of the conference:

Pre-K/Elementary:
-Exploring Built Environments through Children’s Literature
-Crossing the Border: Powerful and Meaningful Teaching about Mexico
-Reaching Struggling Readers through Series Nonfiction
-Teaching U.S. History to the Dyslexic Student
-Making Room for Social Studies in the Elementary Classroom
-Differentiating Social Studies Curriculum for All Learners
-Survivor Jamestown! An Interactive White-Board Unit
-Putting Back the ‘Science’ into the Social Science Curriculum

Middle Level:
-Using Classroom Blogs to Foster Effective Student Discussion
-Developing Civic Literacy with Second-Language Learners
-Assessment Techniques for Novice Middle School Social Studies Teachers
-COEXIST An International Perspective on Peace Building and Interreligious Understanding
-Seek the Source: Integrating Document Based Investigations
-Vocabulary Strategies for Success in Social Studies with All Students
-Using Effective Before-, During-, and After- Reading Strategies
-Examining Child Labor through Children’s Lit and Primary Sources
-A Moroccan Specialty: Pigeon Pie, Camel Rides, and Mosques

Secondary:
-Translating Research into Practice
-Inspire Me! Professional Development Opportunities from the National Archives
-Pathways to Home Ownership—Financial Literacy in High School Students
-Crossing Borders, Building Bridges, Shifting Power on the Plains
-Brothers and Sisters: Making Connections between the Abrahamic Faiths
-Student-Created Scrapbooks of the Civil War
-Primary Sources and Document Based Activities: Online and in the Classroom
-Primary Sources and the Presidency
-Using Visual Primary Sources
-Crossing National Borders: Locating U.S. History in Migration History
-Lessons from the Cold War
-Teaching Genocide and Human Rights for the 21st Century
-So Many Learning Needs—How Do I Address Them All?

Mindblowing, eh? And there were about nine sessions a day. For two days. And then workshops on Sunday morning before the final keynote speaker. And poster presentations in the foyer. And an exhibit hall packed with programs and organizations presenting their materials. I’m sure you can understand how exhausted I was upon returning. Exhausted, inspired, and hungry for more.

In order to break this up a bit, and present in manageable chunks, I’m going to withhold the daily recaps on a 24-hour basis. Day One is below, and that was only two intensive sessions, so the many-hour-long sessions will take a little longer to write. Check back tomorrow for Day Two, Wednesday for Day Three, and Thursday for Day Four. Friday before I fly to Florida, I'll try to go through all the exhibit materials I received and post about ones I'm especially interested in. I'll update about the CPHS consultant position while down south. It's going to be a busy blog week!