All posts by Kori Green

About Kori Green

I teach 8th grade social studies at El Dorado Middle School in El Dorado, KS. I enjoy U.S. history, dabble in British history, and love incorporating technology in the classroom.

David Cordell: Judy Cromwell Excellence in Teaching Award, Secondary Level.

best practice, Gilder-Lehrman, historical thinking, stanford history education group
David Cordell
KCSS Secondary Excellence in Teaching award winner David Cordell.

The Kansas Council for the Social Studies Excellence in Teaching Award is named in honor of Judy Cromwell, a social studies teacher in the Topeka area for over 38 years.  Intended to reward and encourage high quality instruction in the social studies for educators who are currently teaching social studies at least half-time and have three years teaching experience, KCSS selects one winner in each at the elementary and secondary levels.

David Cordell is this year’s secondary winner. He currently works at Leawood Middle School as an 8th grade social studies teacher.  David loves to tell his students, “that social studies is the best subject to study because it is constantly changing,” and hopes that his “passion for teaching social studies will inspire students to become active citizens in our society.”

His principal describes Mr. Cordell as “an effective and efficient teacher that challenges students academically while supporting their needs as individual learners.  His classroom is a positive learning environment where he has developed rapport with students while still having high expectations.”  David has also been a presenter at the National Council for the Social Studies conference the past two years and serves as a member of the state social studies standards and assessment committee.

So we asked David to share how he uses historical argument in his classes: Continue reading David Cordell: Judy Cromwell Excellence in Teaching Award, Secondary Level. →

Get Out the Vote With Dole!

best practice, C3 Framework, civics, government, primary sources, resources, strategies

pastedImageThis week’s contributor is Julie Bergene: Julie Bergene is the public education coordinator at the Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence. She leads K-12 and family education programs, including on-site, outreach, and online initiatives. Previously, she was an educator at natural history museums and holds a teaching license for secondary biology.

You can catch Julie at the Kansas Social Studies Conference next week: Get Out The Vote – Historically Speaking                                                                Monday. Monday October 29, 2018 1:00pm – 1:50pm
MU 250 B: Black and Gold Room ESU Memorial Union 2nd Floor

unnamedWant more access to great primary sources? Seeking to engage your students with voting and debates especially in this election season? Itching to try a new digital breakout game? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you need to attend the session “Get out the vote – historically speaking,” next Monday at 1 pm at the Kansas State Social Studies conference.

Hello, my name is Julie Bergene and I am the Public Education Coordinator at the Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence. From the great primary sources of the Dole Archives, I will be simulating a document discovery workshop that you can do with your students or I can also come to your school for a free outreach program!

In my conference session, I will present a really interesting look at two constituent letters from Kansans in 1969 (before the 26th Amendment). They give viewpoints of two opposing sides of the right to vote at age 18. By the end of the exercise I hope the students appreciate how interesting primary sources are, understand the difficult decisions that our elected officials have to make on a daily basis, and display how important our public rights are in a democracy. Experience this for yourself in a hands-on demonstration on Monday afternoon. These interactive activities fulfill state standards and can be related to the C3 framework.

Also, I will be presenting a new digital breakout activity based on the Dole Archives. Similar to an escape room but all online, this 45-minute activity gives a great introduction to Senator Bob Dole and his career, while interacting with our online resources like digitized documents. This would be a great pre-assessment tool as you utilize the online Dole Archives primary sources or before your free outreach visit!

I would love to discuss with you how to utilize these free resources and more from the Dole Institute. I look forward to working with you and your students! See you at the conference!

 

Saving Kiribati and the Kansas Social Studies conference. Two great things that go great together

conference, engaging, historical thinking, strategies, ,

Still on the fence about the 2018 Kansas Social Studies Conference? Not sure about meeting and listening to Joel Breakstone from the Stanford History Education Group share ways to engage kids in online civic literacy? Thinking about whether or not asking Don Gifford from KSDE questions about the new and improved state standards and assessments? Perhaps the free food and drinks at Sunday’s evening reception just hasn’t been enough to jumpstart your registration process.

Maybe all you need is the chance to listen to a couple of the many awesome presenters who’ll be sharing their best stuff at the conference.

Casey Krouse and Dylan Owings from Pleasant Ridge Middle School in Overland Park are asking their students to think about and solve authentic problems – like the problem facing the Pacific island country of Kiribati. Rising ocean levels are erasing areas of land and could soon engulf the entire nation. Their students are attacking the problem by using Design Thinking.

During their conference presentation on Monday, October 29, 2018 at 10:30am, Casey and Dylan will share their lessons and instructional designs. So. Are you looking for a new way to address climate change in the classroom?  Curious about the Design process? In their hands-on lessons, students work through Stanford’s Design Thinking Process to develop empathy for Pacific Islanders affected by sea level rise and engage in real world problem solving. Come learn more about how you can adapt their lessons to your classroom.

Learn more about rising sea levels on Kiribati by viewing this CBS News overview. Then head over to the Kansas Social Studies conference site and get that registration started!

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2018 GLI Teacher of the Year & conference presenter Thomas Fulbright asks: Why does what happened in 1890 still matter?

conference

IMG_0167There are over 45 sessions, breakouts, workshops, and keynotes at the 2018 Kansas Social Studies conference. Most of those will be led by teachers doing awesome stuff in the classroom. And there are at least four former state history teachers of the year doing presentations.

That’s not counting the current 2018 Gilder-Lehrman Kansas History Teacher of the Year Thomas Fulbright. Thomas will be sharing some of his teacher of the year secrets on Monday morning at the Kansas Conference.

During his session titled Why What Happened in 1882 Still Matters, Thomas will be highlighting how his US history students use an analysis of past government policy debates to create advice for current policy makers debating similar contemporary policies.

Get a teaser from an earlier Doing Social Studies post and then make plans to attend his session on Monday, October 29, 9:30-10:20am in MU 250D of the ESU Memorial Union.