I spent last Friday at a workshop in Salina with a group of fifty dedicated teachers learning how to implement the new History, Government, and Social Studies standards in their districts. It was “training the trainers” as districts look at writing curriculum and implementing best practices, literacy expectations, standards and benchmarks.

Don Gifford, Education Program Consultant for History, Government, and Social Studies for the KSDE, began with a PowerPoint presentation on the new standards. I highly recommend you take a look and then share it with your fellow teachers. It is highly informative and has just the right amount of entertainment, a Jay Leno “Jaywalking” clip and, my favorite, the woman trying to ignore the nail in her head– change is hard and usually unwelcome. Find the link to the Powerpoint on the KSDE Social Studies page.

Beth Ratway, Senior Consultant at American Institutes for Research, spent the rest of the day sharing training modules from her Building the Bridge website. As stated on the website:

This site was created to facilitate professional development focused on the instructional shifts that Social Studies teachers will need to understand to effectively implement the Common Core Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts. Each Shift will be addressed through this professional development effort and links to examples and resources will be provided.

The modules will give you tons of great ways to get students “doing” history, government, geography, and economics. As we prepare to celebrate America’s 237th birthday next week, don’t forget to include a museum visit as part of your holiday tradition. Your support is necessary to keep these institutions alive and working to preserve and interpret our nation’s cultural history.