| Social Studies – Preparing Students for College, Career and Civic Life |  |
- Students at Mont. school vote for candidates, issues in mock election
At Great Falls High School in Montana, students are encouraged to know much more than their choice of president this election season. During the school's mock elections, students are asked to vote on federal, state and local races as well as ballot measures. "There is confusion on the ballot issues," senior government teacher Gregg Dart said. "They'll say, 'What am I looking at and what does it mean?' They're learning to be careful in terms of the ballot initiatives." Great Falls Tribune (Mont.)
(10/30)
 
- Project teaches students the history of elections
Fifth-grade students in a Kansas social studies classroom are learning about the history of U.S. elections through the Kids Voting Project. Students learned about amendments to the U.S. Constitution dealing with voting and the history of universal suffrage, among other topics. The lessons will culminate on Election Day, when students are encouraged to accompany their parents or others to the polls. Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas)
(10/28)
 | Teach Holocaust History with Echoes and Reflections
Echoes and Reflections is the leader in Holocaust education, providing teacher training programs across the U.S. Earn professional development credit and explore classroom-ready materials― lessons include maps, photos, primary source documents, visual history testimony, and connections to standards. Find a program today!
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| Professional Development
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- Seattle to model teacher training after hospitals
Seattle Public Schools is partnering with several groups, including the city's teachers union, to launch a new program to train teachers. Under the program, to begin next summer, the city is expected to begin an apprenticeship program for teachers similar to those at hospitals. Teachers will be paired with mentors, and the program will focus on training teachers through on-the-job experience. The Seattle Times
(10/29)
- Teachers take over professional development in "unconference"
About 150 preschool-through-college educators from Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire attended an "unconference" held Saturday, in which teachers learned from each other. The first Edcamp Seacoast, held in New Hampshire and included no formal presentations or speakers, focused on topics such as technology, arts integration, bullying and teacher effectiveness. SeacoastOnline (Portsmouth, N.H.)(tiered subscription model)
(10/29)
| Technology in the Classroom
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- Teachers' role in helping craft schools' technology plans
 Teachers should ask school leaders about the vision for technology use in their schools, suggests Nicholas Provenzano, a high-school English teacher and technology-curriculum specialist in Michigan. If one is not provided or in the works, Provenzano writes that teachers then have a responsibility to ask other questions of school leaders about how a vision could be crafted and adhered to by the school. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education
(10/29)
- Overcoming challenges to adopting BYOD programs
Infrastructure and access are among the challenges that schools will face when implementing bring-your-own-device programs, according to education-technology directors interviewed in this article. In order to level the playing field for students without access to technology or at-home Internet, one district locates public Wi-Fi access points in the district for students and explores partnerships with companies to provide devices that students can check out at school. eSchool News(free registration)
(10/29)
| Social Studies & Civic Life
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- University project gathers oral histories of Vietnamese refugees
The tragic and triumphant tales of refugees who fled Vietnam during the war and in the years immediately afterward are being collected by researchers in the form of oral histories. The University of California at Irvine project is gathering and digitizing 300 stories from refugees as part of its Southeast Asian Archive and is one of several current oral history projects across the country that is focused on Vietnamese-Americans. The Washington Post/The Associated Press
(10/28)
- Middle-school project promotes civic involvement among students
Sixth-grade students at Westwood Middle School in Minnesota are assigned a civics-education project each fall that is designed to encourage them to become active in their community. "We want them to understand that as a citizen, you have a responsibility," sixth-grade teacher Bob Schneider said. The project, which can take up to two months to complete, has students engaged in activities such as performing service projects, attending meetings of the local school board or city council and writing letters to elected officials. ABCNewspapers.com (Coon Rapids, Minn.)
(10/25)
| NCSS Updates
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Demystifying the Electoral College: 12 Frequently Asked Questions
As the presidential election draws closer, Americans will witness a resurgence of references to the Electoral College in news reports. "Looking at the Law" in the September issue of Social Education hopes to demystify the Electoral College and refresh many social studies memories -- just in time for the next election -- with some frequently asked questions about electing the president of the U.S. Read this free article from the Social Education issue focusing on the 2012 elections.
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NCSS Annual Conference highlight: James W. Loewen
Acclaimed historian and best-selling author James W. Loewen is among the outstanding speakers at the upcoming NCSS Annual Conference, which will take place Nov. 16 to 18 in Seattle. Loewen engages audiences with intelligence and humor, honing in on a range of topics encompassing U.S. history, multicultural education, civil rights, race relations, voting rights, law and social science. Read more.
| SmartQuote
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 | Where there is no imagination there is no horror."
--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Scottish physician and writer
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NCSS SmartBrief Issues:
- Monday, October 29, 2012
- Friday, October 26, 2012
- Wednesday, October 24, 2012
- Monday, October 22, 2012
- Friday, October 19, 2012
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