Tipping points
WSCSS Spring Conference in Chelan, washington
March 11-12-13
Friday, March 11
Sponsored by the Washington State Council for Social Studies, co-sponsored by the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington
1PM Welcome from Wendy Ewbank (Program Coordinator) and John Hines (WSCSS President and Chelan Facilities Coordinator). Description of afternoon sessions by their presenters!
Session One 1:30-2:30PM
Stehekan A Theresa Jordan, Washington State University: The Greatest Change of All: Systematic Agriculture and its Consequences - The switch from hunting and gathering to systematic agriculture had profound consequences upon the environment and the social and political organization of human beings. Understanding the connection between “civilization” and the environment can help our students understand that the issues of social conflict and sustainability have ancient roots.
Stehekan B Alexandra Baker: Exploring Global Competence: Developing Critical Thinking Skills for the 21st Century - It has been said of our era that we are drowning in information but starved for knowledge. How do we teach are students to navigate in this world? Developing global competence prepares students to navigate through college to career and civic life in an interconnected world. In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore teacher and student materials that examine issues from multiple perspectives using the habits of critical thinkers (assessing arguments, adjusting opinions, supporting beliefs, seeking solutions) to uncover interconnections and work toward developing sustainable personal and structural solutions. Includes free lessons from Facing the Future’s teacher’s guide Exploring Global Issues for grades 9-12!
East Room Molly Berger, Educational Service District: Building Student Questioning Skills - Inquiry requires students to ask questions, but how do we teach them to do this? Participate in abbreviated versions of two strategies to build student questioning skills. Both "Question Formulation Technique" and "Building from What You Know" help students ask questions and understand the nature of questioning.
River Room Phil Neff, Center for Human Rights and Center for Global Studies, Jackson School of International Studies: The Unfinished Sentences Testimony Archive: Teaching the Salvadoran Civil War using Oral Histories - Created by the UW Center for Human Rights and partners in El Salvador, the Unfinished Sentences Testimony Archive is a website of oral histories from the Salvadoran Civil War. This talk will explore features of the archive and solicit feedback from teachers.
Park Room Callie Birklid: Using Active Reading Strategies and Metacognition to help Students Engage with Tipping Points in History - Using primary sources is a good way to support students’ critical thinking around tipping points in history. Using active reading strategies and metacognition will help students to be able to independently engage with more complex text. This secession will explore the use of these strategies and skills in social studies.
Session TWO 2:45 – 3:45PM
Stehekan A Pam Whalley, Center for Economic and Financial Education at Western Washington University, Economics of the 2016 Presidential Election - As citizens, students need to understand the economic policies and issues that are an integral part of the election process. This presentation will explore an instructional unit that focuses on the economic role of government, economic data, the roles of fiscal policy, and the candidates’ stances on economic issues.
Stehekan B Paula Holmes-Eber, Middle East Center, Jackson School of International Studies, Understanding the Middle East Today - Paula will present an overview of the region (geographic, religious, ethnic, linguistic diversity) and then place current conflicts and news (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Egypt, etc.) in the context of this diversity. She will also contrast popular areas in the news with the many stable and functioning countries across the region.
East Room Nancy Lenihan and Karen Morley Smith: You Decide: Range Finding of Student Papers - The Elementary, You Decide (OSPI Developed Civic Assessments or CBA), for Grades 4 or 5 has been revised. We are asking a group of people to score student papers that were written for the You Decide task. Be prepared to come and score student papers and share your reasoning about the scoring. This will allow student papers to be on the OSPI assessment site for teachers to use.
River Room Danika Hendrickson - Facing the Future, Western WA University: A Turning Point for Alternative Energy? - Join Facing the Future in an exploration of the social, economic, and environmental factors that influence the adoption of alternative energy and new technologies. Using systems-thinking, FTF curriculum, and a PNW biofuels case study, participants will explore some barriers that impact the success/production of biofuels at a commercial scale.
Park Room Amy Johnson and Patti Brown: Let Freedom Ring…Allow Students to Become Detectives in K-8 Classrooms - Participants will be shown how to navigate various digital sites such as the Library of Congress and how to use primary source resource sets with technology in their classrooms. They will be shown inquiry strategies that integrate the C3 and Four Dimensions Framework using digital resource sets from The Library of Congress, American Memory and other sites. Participants will walk away with various new strategies to implement 'performance tasks" in their own classrooms so students will “have the freedom to investigate responsibly" and dig deep into social studies content.
Session THREE 4:00 - 5:00PM
Stehekan A Merissa Reed and Ted Chen: Teaching American history through the lens of critical race theory - Ferguson, Missouri, Oklahoma, Trey Von Martin, and the Black Lives Matter movement have drawn nationwide attention to issues of race and racism. Have we reached a tipping point? How to we respond best to this as teachers of American history? Critical Race Theory promotes the education of students of history that challenges the dominant narrative. By teaching a narrative that helps students see and navigate the world (incl. embedded privilege), they are empowered to seek change and justice.
Stehekan B Margit McGuire, Seattle University, The Presidential Election Storypath: Fostering Authentic Engagement in the Presidential Election – The Storypath approach uses narrative to create settings, characters, and plot to organize a presidential election campaign. Students take on the role of campaign workers to elect a president. Drawing on the actual US Presidential Election, students immerse themselves in the process. The curriculum will be complementary to all participants.
East Room Tese Wintz Neighbor, guide author and Newspapers in Education, sponsored by the Asia Centers at the Jackson School of International Studies: Global Asia: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow - Asia will comprise over half of world economic output by the time your students are in their 30’s. Walk through NIE lessons with Tese, including travel itineraries to 18th century India and dinner with Mao Zedong. You will leave with her 30-page teaching guide on Asia and inspiration!
River Room Trish Henry: C3 Framework and the WSCSS website: Lesson Plans - Join a growing network of social studies educators who are sharing lessons and resources throughout Washington. Learn how lessons and resources are being collected and shared via the WSCSS website. Explore instructional technology tools including online games and simulations that will enhance teaching and learning in your classroom. Participants will investigate free resources selected by teachers for teachers in each of the social studies content areas and learn more about how the C3 Framework promotes inquiry in the social studies classroom. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop or other device as this is a hands-on session.
Park Room Mary Anne Christy: Teaching Historical Writing Skills Explicitly - How can I break up and scaffold all the skills that go into writing for a social studies class? How can I assess all the practice writing students need to do to become proficient? How do I make Common Core expectations viable in my classroom? In this presentation, we will look at some different strategies for scaffolding historical writing. We’ll pull apart national and state standards and discuss what really makes good historical writing and thinking. We’ll explore some of the best practices presented by NCSS teachers all over the country. After looking at samples, lesson plans, rubrics and outside resources, we’ll share ideas in a facilitated group brainstorm. Bring your best writing assessments, rubrics and ideas. And leave ready to use some new ones in class on Monday!
Friday Evening
5:15PM Newcomers Social Hour and Welcome: Please join us in welcoming our first year Attendees
6:30PM Dinner
7PM Keynote - KC Golden, Senior Policy Advisor at Climate Solutions in Seattle and Board Chair of 350.org
Reaching the Tipping Point We have entered an era of climate consequences: global warming is already taking a large and growing toll on human and natural communities, as oceans acidify, weather becomes more extreme, forest fires intensify, and water and food shortages loom. Will the growing awareness of climate impacts trigger a more focused and energized turn toward solutions? Can we engineer a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy? Can we overcome the sense of fatalism about climate and our ability to respond collectively at scale? There’s only one way to find out!
8:30 Trivia and Pub Night with Ed Puchalla & Mercer Island colleagues: Come join the fourth (now annual) WSCSS pub quiz in the East/West room. Form a team (maximum 5 participants), decide on a team name, pay the $10 entry fee, and answer questions to try to win the entire kitty . . . It'll be good fun! Meet in the classroom just outside the pub upstairs and BYOB.
Saturday, March 12
8AM Breakfast
8:30 Session descriptions, board member introductions, exhibitor introductions
Session FOUR 9:00 – 10:00AM
Stehekan A Rochelle Gandour-Rood, Program Supervisor, Environmental and Sustainability Education at OSPI: Environmental and Sustainability Education Standards - Environmental phenomena often influence human activity, and human decisions often impact the environment. Washington State Environmental and Sustainability Education Standards (ESE) support learning in Civics, Economics, Geography, History, and Social Studies Skills. In this interactive session, participants will try a few activities, discuss content connections, and explore ESE resource documents.
Stehekan B Donnetta Elsasser: The Instructional Six Pack - Sometimes you need a cold one. But this one is hot! Six Social Studies Cadre members share insanely practical strategies for inquiry based, C3 aligned classroom activities. This could be a tipping point in your teaching of history. If you’ve got the time, we’ve got the session.
East Room Mary Jo Harvey (Othello HS) and Sue Bergman (Todd Beamer High School): Project-Based Learning in Your Government Class - Students learn civics by doing civics, inquiring into current issues through reading, discussion, and then taking informed action to practice citizenship and to make a difference. Participants receive free access to Common Core-aligned web resources to get their students on the fast track to civic engagement.
River Room Tese Wintz Neighbor, NCTA seminar leader, East Asia Resource Center, Jackson School of International Studies: What makes 400 Million Chinese Millennials Tick? - China is experiencing the most rapid socioeconomic transformation in the history of civilization. What are the important historical, social and economic factors shaping the outlook of Chinese youth? Explore the challenges and opportunities confronting Chinese in their 20’s and 30’s and walk out with 30 pages of excellent resources.
Park Room Meera Patankar and Charlotte Blessing: Deepening our Sense of Place in the Northwest Region: A Case Study of Lakeside School’s New Cultural and Service Immersion Program - Lakeside Middle School in Seattle launched a new Culture and Service Immersion Program in the fall of 2015, connecting students in Seattle with 6 Pacific Northwest communities (the Makah, Quinault and Elwha Klallam reservations, Broetje Orchards, On the Lamb Farm and the Vernonia, OR timber town.) Participants will learn about the program implementation and curricular integration into the fabric of our school. We will then discuss the impact of experiential service learning experiences on student engagement and global citizenship.
Session Five 10:15 – 11:15
Stehekan A Raymond Jonas, University of Washington: Domination and Betrayal: World War One and the Modern World - The Great War signaled the terminal crisis of the European old regime–a crisis more than a century in the making. This presentation explores the rivalries that underpinned the Great War and the bleak geopolitical thinking that informed them. It considers the political culture that obliterated tolerance for difference, finding the foundations of power in nation and race. Finally, it weighs the responsibilities of the powerful from the perspective of the young men they had persuaded to fight.
Stehekan B Tara Gray and Patty Shelton: Social Studies Lessons Redesigned for the Inquiry Arc – Patty, curriculum Developer in the Bellevue School District, and Tara, Elementary Principal, will model the process of taking social studies lessons to create authentic learning experiences that integrate standards from Common Core, C3 and the 21st Century Skills. With the Inquiry Arch Model as the frame, participants will see the redesign of history lessons. To conclude, Tara will describe how these revisions show proficiency for TPEP evaluations.
East Room Ryan Hauck, World Affairs Council Global Classroom: From Past to Present: Reflecting on Turkish History and Culture Through the Lens of Teacher Travel - This session provides an engaging look into Turkish history, culture, and contemporary politics through the lens of teachers who have recently traveled to Turkey with the Turkish Cultural Foundation. From Istanbul to Ephesus, teachers will reflect on their transformative experience and share curriculum they have written to bring Turkey alive in their classroom. With Turkey's current geopolitical significance in the world, teachers will share relevant ideas to bring this complex country into your classroom. In addition, teachers will highlight the importance of teacher travel and its potential to impact your teaching.
River Room Linda Cuadra, Southeast Asia Center, Jackson School of International Studies: Tipping Over: Climate Change in Southeast Asia and the US - Global warming has passed its tipping point. Preventing bigger climate change problems must include reducing the energy we all use. Sounds easy – but what would you give up? We will learn about energy use, fossil fuel consumption, different types of alternative energy, and play a game.
Park Room Amy Merkley & Jodi Jackson: Connecting Classrooms Through Debate - There were the Lincoln-Douglass Debates and now there are the Merkley-Jackson Debates! Come to our session to learn how to connect classrooms through debate. We will go over everything from the preparations in our individual classrooms to the main event hosted by our very own librarian. Find out whose class won the debate!