Monday, Feb. 22nd, 2021

Women's History

100 Years after Winning the Right to Vote:  Where are the Women?

Dr. Carole Bucy

Professor of History, Vol State Community College

On August 18, this past year, the  100th anniversary of the ratification of the woman suffrage amendment was celebrated in grand style in all parts of the state  in spite of the limitations of the COVID epidemic.  Tennessee was in the national spotlight that day as bells rang across the state at Noon.  Women’s history has made great progress over  the past 25 years, yet  it  often remains illusive in social studies materials, particularly at the local and state level.  In her talk, Dr. Carole Bucy will make the case for adding women to every facet of all social studies curricula.  She will provide examples throughout Tennessee history of women who have been right there all along whose daily work and achievements have not been discovered or recognized as worthy of inclusion in the narrative of history.

Learning Women’s Suffrage through Children’s Picture Books: A Free Text Set Resource for Elementary Grade Social Studies Teachers

Susan Groenke

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Katherine Shultz

Knox County Schools

Lisa Oakley

East Tennessee Historical Society

Amanda Carson

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

In this 50-minute presentation, learn about a traveling text set of 8 children’s picture books created by the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature at the University of Tennessee--in partnership with the Friends of the Knox County Public Library, the East Tennessee History Center, and Knox County Schools--that promotes student learning about the women’s suffrage movement. Women’s suffrage is a Tennessee elementary social studies standard, but the state textbook doesn’t provide much information about individual, lesser-known women who were integral to the movement—women like Tennessean Febb Burn, considered the “mother who saved suffrage.” The text set includes multiple hard copies of 8 children’s books about women central to the movement and extensive, standards-based curriculum guides (for each book) ready for teacher use. Attend this session and learn more about the books and suggested activities, as well as how you can make this timely, important, and free resource available at your school.

Julia Watts

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Cammie Lawton

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Deborah Wooten

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Amplifying Herstory in Middle School Social Studies: Resources for 6-8

Suzanne Shovlin

Shelby County Schools

Brian Davis,

Shelby County Schools

Presentation will discuss challenges posed by the middle school standards and share ideas (and ready to use resources) for incorporating women’s history into the content for grades 6-8.

Women’s Suffrage and Beyond: The Quest for Power and Voice

Erika Henderson,

Facing History and Ourselves

In this workshop, educators will Analyze the major goals, struggles, and achievements of the Women's suffrage movement; and Analyze the development of the women’s suffrage movement, including the ideals of Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth.

Tuesday, Feb. 23rd, 2021

Geography

Mapping Behind the Movement: Geographies of the African American Freedom Struggle

Dr. Derek Alderman

Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee Knoxville

Responding to growing calls to address civil rights and ant-racism in Geography classrooms, Dr. Alderman explores the seldom discussed but important role of counter-mapping within the African American Freedom Struggle.  Black resistant cartographies stretch what constitutes a map, who is a map-maker, the political work performed by maps, and in turn how and why we should teach maps.

Sherri Collie

Collinwood Middle School

Jenny Shorten

Evangelical Christian School

Alyssa Calton

East Hardin Elementary School

Come and join Mrs. T (Tennessee) and Mrs. G (Geography) on a journey through Tennessee. Mrs. T and Mrs. G will provide you with ready made mini lesson plans on Tennessee Geography which will be perfect for all levels especially elementary. A virtual library will provide teachers with books to help teach geography, tolerance, and acceptance. Our world is changing and we need to be prepared to help our students to grow, to learn, to be good citizens, and to be kind. 

Historic Maps in the Middle School Classroom

Brain Smith,

Jefferson Middle School - Oak Ridge, TN

Developing a geographic awareness at the middle level using ancient, medieval, and Renaissance era maps.

Tackling the AP Exam Unit by Unit

Michael Robinson,

Houston High School - Germantown Municipal School District

This will be the first year students will take the new version of the AP exam where more of the multiple choice questions will include maps, graphs, and charts. This session will provide teachers with practice exam questions and mini lessons using maps, graphs, and charts for each of the seven AP Units . All questions are based on the AP 2020 Practice Exam.

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Wednesday, Feb. 24th, 2021

Black History

Using Inquiry to Teach About Race in the Social Studies

Dr. Prentice Chandler

Dean, Eriksson College of Education, Austin Peay State University

This presentation examines the ways that inquiry frameworks can be used with critical race theory (CRT) to teach about race within social studies.

Beyond February

Dawnavyn James

Parkade Elementary School- Columbia, MO

Do you only talk about Black histories during February? Let’s change that! Join educator Dawnavyn James as she shares a variety of activities, books and other tools that she has used to build a Black history program in her classrooms. In this presentation, attendees will explore different ways to get Black histories into the elementary classroom. With the use of books, activities, and other tools, educators will see how  Black History goes far beyond February. Attendees will leave with a toolbox full of books, activities, and resources they can use in their classroom as soon as tomorrow.

African American Cultural Humanities (AC) - US History with a Flare

Vicki Shields,

M.A.T.H. Measurable Achievement through the Humanities

Incorporate art and music into your US History curriculum. This lively and engaging workshop will be hands-on with current and in-depth content that increases academic achievement through engagement. The focus will be on teaching the Civil Rights Movement.

Democratizing the Historical Narrative with Primary Sources

Kira Duke,

Middle Tennessee State University

Stacey Graham,

Middle Tennessee State University

Too often the historical narrative presented to students of U.S. history focuses primarily on the voices of powerful men who have dominated our political landscape. Close-reading activities and resource guides from Teaching with Primary Sources-MTSU seek to democratize that narrative through the inclusion of individuals and communities less often seen in our textbooks. Close-reading activities explore the words of people such as Benjamin Banneker, Ida B. Wells, and Eugene Debs, just to name a few. Resource guides inspired by our “I Didn’t Learn That” Facebook post explore stories from a rich array of communities across the country.

Thursday, Feb. 25th, 2021

World History

STRONGMAN: THE RISE OF FIVE DICTATORS AND THE FALL OF DEMOCRACY

Kenneth C. Davis

New York Times Best Selling Author

What makes a country fall to a dictator? How do authoritarian leaders— strongmen capable of killing millions— amass their power? And what can we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again in a modern democracy? In this talk, author Kenneth C. Davis will investigate the rise of five of the most ruthless dictators in modern history—  Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddam Hussein. While exploring these strongmen’s lives and the historical periods that shaped the leaders they became, Davis will illuminate common features in the “autocrat’s playbook,” including propaganda, scapegoating enemies, extolling nationalism, and cultivating unquestioning loyalty among young people. Davis will make the case that democracy does not die in darkness. Rather it is sometimes decapitated off in broad daylight, with crowds cheering as the dangerous creep of authoritarianism takes place and freedoms are erased.

Start with Tolerance: Understanding the Stages of Genocide

Sara Cohan

The Genocide Education Project

Genocide education is often absent from social studies curriculum even though its presence is essential. We will review effective methods for teaching about genocide using the Armenian case as an example.

Utilizing Reflective Inquiry in the Social Studies Classroom to Promote Higher Level thinking

Eddie Thompson,

University of Tennessee, Martin

John Grant,

University of Tennessee, Martin

As we look into the social studies classroom, we often see instruction that is earmarked with the memorization of dates, times and places.  Although this is the basis of our Social Studies curriculum, we must always utilize other tools to be able to help our students synthesize this information and to be able to apply this knowledge.  Utilizing Reflective Inquiry in the Social Studies Classroom will not only help students to enjoy the social studies classroom, but will also help promote higher level thinking and application.  This presentation will not only talk about Reflective Inquiry, but will also provide tools and templates for teachers to be able to work Reflective Inquiry into their classrooms.

The Mongols, A Global Empire

Dylan Edmondson,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The COVID 19 pandemic has demonstrated the power of the forces of globalization. This presentation examines the impacts of Mongol conquests and rule on Eurasia through the context of globalization. Participants will be directed to primary source documents, including visual sources, and a document analysis strategy that they may use to make powerful connections between historical materials and global processes that impact students’ lives today. Topics for analysis include the spread of people, ideas, commodities, and germs.

Friday, Feb. 26th, 2021

Indigenous History

Becoming a Native Knowledge 360° Educator

Renee Gokey

Student & Teacher Services Coordinator

​Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

This talk will share critical concepts and essential understandings when teaching about Native Peoples.  Explore more complete content and resources that can support teachers where they already are in the curriculum.  Engage with pedagogy and NK360 resources that will support teachers in transforming their teaching and learning about Native Americans

Decolonizing the First Feast: Lessons on Thanksgiving

Susy Remillard

Cape Cod Lighthouse Public Charter School,- Harwich, MA

The Thanksgiving story presents opportunities for teachers to break down myths and stereotypes about indigenous peoples and build greater accuracy into one of the foundational stories of our country. This session will focus on two lessons related to myth busting that can be delivered in both synchronous and asynchronous environments, with a focus on decolonizing methods of instruction as well as content and skills. Participants will be offered an overview of a larger unit created to help students write their own Thanksgiving history using the tools of poetry. 

Resisting Removal: The Struggle Between the Cherokee Nation and the United States 

Kelly Wilkerson,

Tennessee State Library and Archives

Primary sources available at the Tennessee State Library & Archives reveal the struggle between the Cherokee Nation and the federal government over land in the southeastern United States during the early 19th century. Join us for this session as we explore these historic documents and additional resources available from the Library & Archives to help you teach this topic in your classroom. 

Teaching the American Indian Movement (AIM)

Dr. Rachel Talbert,

George Washington University

Many textbooks and standards don’t discuss Indigenous activism as part of American History courses, yet the contributions of AIM and other Indigenous movements historically and in modern times are important for students to learn about. This session will provide resources and content for teachers who are looking to bring this content into their classrooms.

Saturday, Feb. 27th, 2021

The State of TCSS

Joshua Kenna

TCSS President

Let's Discuss it!

Ashley Johnson

Jasper Middle School- Marion County Schools

Attendees will learn how to propose discussion questions within Google Classroom. The presenter will show an example of how a discussion post works in her class.

The African American Vote and Tennessee Law: 1880-1970

Bill Carey

Tennessee History for Kids

During the 1880s, more than a dozen former enslaved people were elected to the Tennessee State House. By 1890, however, state laws had been changed to make it practically impossible for African Americans to be elected to public office in Tennessee. What changed? In this fascinating presentation, Tennessee History for Kids founder Bill Carey points out there were several different types of laws that changed which resulted in the General Assembly being “all white” from 1890 until 1960. (Many history textbooks claim that the poll tax was the main change, when it really wasn’t.)

Labor Unions and Their Importance in Today’s USA

Sue Ogg & Jackie Pope,

Tennessee Education Association

From Mother Jones to Ford and NEA, labor unions have been key in providing safety, fair pay and benefits for workers. We will discuss the history of the labor movement in the US, controversy surrounding unions and why they are important today.

Getting Interactive With Geography

Dorothy Conway,

Shelby County Schools-Belle Forest Community School

Attendees will participate in digital geography activities that can be implemented in elementary geography lessons.

This is America Too: Teaching the History of Latinx Americans

Brandon O'Neill

Fulton High School-Knox County School

This session will introduce attendees to a new Latinx History course developed in the past year and being taught for the first time at Fulton. It examines U.S. history from the perspective of Latinx Americans, a perspective largely missing from current U.S. History standards and curriculum. Participants will gain access to content standards, lesson plans, primary source material, and activities that can be immediately utilized in the classroom. It has never been more important to examine U.S. history through multiple perspectives. It is far past time we examined it from a Latinx perspective as well.

Student Engagement for $200: How Appearing on Jeopardy! Made Me a Better Teacher

Eric Huff

Erskine Charter

As a young teacher, I struggled to engage my students. That all changed after I appeared on “Jeopardy!” My experience competing on the show unexpectedly taught me an important lesson about how to engage my students. I learned what gets students excited about learning and developed a teaching strategy based on that. In this session, I’ll share my experiences and model the "3-2-1" strategy that I developed.

Bringing to Life the Story in History

Hannah Sher

National Medal of Honor Heritage Center

Explore ways to engage students in the stories of individuals to develop a deeper understanding of the perspectives, experiences, and significance of history. From storytelling strategies to partnering with Living Historians, discover how to bring history to life, even virtually! Attendees will receive more information about the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga and free Living History Virtual Classes.

Reaching New Digital Heights with the Tennessee State Library & Archives!

Casey Gymrek & Janis Perry,

Tennessee State Library & Archives

Join us for a rapid-fire session as we explore the brand-new and exciting digital offerings for you and your students from the Tennessee State Library & Archives. Educators will walk away with over 10 digital breakouts, virtual story times, new DocsBoxes, ready-made online standards-based activities, and so much more. This session will present materials for multiple historical eras, grade levels, and standards.

Advocate for Social Studies Like Our Democracy Depends on It, Because It Does!

Stefanie Wager

NCSS President

Purposeful advocacy for social studies is more important now, than ever. In this session, Stefanie will provide an overview of the new NCSS Advocacy Toolkit and share specific strategies to get you started on formally and informally advocating for our discipline.

Fighting Fake News While Immersed in Online Learning

John Lando Carter

Middle Tennessee State University

With schools immersed in online learning, the need to fight fake news with the right tools is paramount. In this workshop, participants will explore ready-to-use tips and strategies to help students—and themselves—navigate the ever-increasing presence and power of misinformation and disinformation found online. This session will focus on what teachers can utilize from Sam Wineburg’s newly launched website Civic Online Reasoning and his latest book Why Learn History (When It’s on Your Phone). The culminating strategy of this workshop is called lateral reading, which is the ultimate armor with which to fight fake news.

In the Shadow of an Empire: Ancient Israel

Dori Gerber

Institute for Curriculum Services

Using archaeology, ancient texts, and current research, we will explore the society of ancient Israel in the context of ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Focusing on the daily life, religion, and law of ancient Israel, participants will be able to develop a fuller picture of the Israelites' role in the ancient world and the development of Judaism as we know it today.

Helping Student Prepare for the AP History DBQ

Lou Gallo,

West High School-Knox County Schools

Join Lou Gallo as he provides some tips and insights that will help your students to improve their ability to analyze documents and write the DBQ on any of the AP European and/or US history exams.   Please bring any questions that you have about the courses as Lou has been teaching APEH since 1996 and APUSH since 2007 and is a College Board endorsed consultant for both courses. 

Michael Jordan

Jessica Hulten

Megan Chabalowski

Jimmy Price

Andy Blair

Jeff Sellers

Heather McGuire

How Did We Get Here from There? Current Events in History

Summer Carter,

Social Studies School Service

Weaving current topics into your curriculum narrative will help you recapture learning and make up for lost time by increasing student engagement, keeping history relevant, and deepening comprehension. History provides the perfect theater for analyzing causality and patterns over time. In this workshop, we will explore how to make a historical theme, like Women’s Suffrage, relevant by modeling a current events template that you can take away to build your own lesson for distance or F2F learning. Plus, access to free Current Events lessons.

Civics? ...But I teach World History!

Erica Kelley

Orchard Knob Middle School - Hamilton County Schools

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Courtney Flowers

Head Middle Magnet School - Metro Nashville Public Schools

As world history teachers, it may seem difficult to find explicit civics connections in our standards and curriculum. This session is facilitated by two middle school world history teachers who were chosen by the state to write civics units based on current Tennessee standards. We will focus on how to help students make deep connections between world history themes, civic engagement, and American democracy within the confines of a world history curriculum. Session participants can look forward to multiple lesson and activity ideas based on a wide range of text-based documents, assessments, and available online resources that work both virtually and in-person.

Exploring Geography with National Geographic

Jessica Everitt,

Hardin Valley Elementary School

This session will provide participants with an overview of various National Geographic resources that can help incorporate geography into the classroom.  If you are interested in bringing geography to life with National Geographic, be sure to come to this session.

Illustrating the Crossroads of History and Human Geography with GIS

David Leventhal

Tennessee Connections Academy

In an environment of limited connection, social distancing, and uncharted pedagogical practice, how can educators effectively demonstrate the crossroads of historical trends, acculturation, diffusion, and globalization amidst the unyielding movement of time and space? The answer is literally at our fingertips. This presentation will show how, when used effectively, geographic information systems alongside the wealth of shared primary multimedia information on the Internet has the potential to elicit experiential learning in a variety of social studies classes. An ArcGIS story map detailing the tragedy of the Irish Potato Famine serves as an example of this potential.

How to use Primary Sources in the Classroom

Greg Farmer,

Gallopade International

For learners of all ages, focusing on details is a great way to introduce the basics of primary source analysis. Through observation, students can draw conclusions about the subject, time, place, and purpose of a variety of primary sources. Primary sources can help students understand people, places, and events throughout history. This session will focus on how to teach Primary sources in the classroom. There will also be handouts and an explanation at the end about how Primary Sources are integrated with Gallopade Social Studies Curriculum for Tennessee.

Preparing for the AP Human Geography Exam Using the Course and Exam Description

Ken Keller,

School Name

Join Ken Keller in demystifying the five task verbs needed to score higher on the APHG exam in May. Teachers should come with questions as Ken also discusses his best practices in teaching APHG over the lifetime of the course.

Enough About Burn: Centering Women in the "Perfect 36" Narrative

Joshua Tipton,

Lincoln Memorial University

The story of the “Perfect 36” and the role of Tennessee in the ratification of the 19th Amendment presents a powerful opportunity for teachers to guide students in discussions of power and privilege, representation, and social justice. This complex and captivating history, however, is frequently constricted to curriculum that minimizes the resilient and radical efforts of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and often de-centers women. Seventy-two years of struggle encapsulated into “catch all” standards of generic terms and too much emphasis on legislators such as Harry Burn limit student understanding of the impact of women activists and connections to the present.

Hip-Hop to Foster Literacy Skills and Culturally Sustaining Practices

Matthew A. Hensley,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Google My Maps for Middle School Social Studies.

Brian Smith,

Jefferson Middle School - Oak Ridge, TN

Use Google Mapping Technologies to develop Social Studies Skills and Practices.  An example will be shared for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade social studies. Google’s web-based mapping tools lets you easily create and explore stories and places around the world. You can create a map of any subject of your choosing, zooming in to show the places where events took place, and easily integrating the story’s text, photos and videos. Your map can be used with Google Earth, immersing them in relevant places through Google Earth’s imagery and the custom content you provide.

Economic Data: A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

Jackie Morgan,

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta - Nashville Branch

Maria Edin King,

Council for Economic and Free Enterprise Education - MTSU

Engage with a framework designed for implementing hip-hop music into Social Studies classrooms, while supporting the wider objective of leveraging music to foster disciplinary literacy skills and culturally sustaining practices.

Using Primary Source Documents to Ignite Social Studies Learning

Clinton Smith, Michael Spaulding, Stanton Watson, Eddie Thompson, & John Grant

University of Tennessee, Martin

Often the concepts that are taught in the Social Studies classrooms are relegated to "out of date" concepts due to a disconnect with the context of the document. The presentation will show how utilizing primary source documents will not only enhance the learning in the social studies classroom, but can also work in promoting "cross-curricular" learning.

During this session we will explore current economic data, share classroom resources and activities, and have a discussion about strategies working in your classrooms.

Teaching Elementary Social Studies with Primary Sources

Rebekah Reed,

Hamilton County Schools

As Social Studies teachers we all know how important it is to use primary sources in our classrooms, but how can we make them more accessible for our younger historians? This session will give you resources, strategies, and examples of how to bring primary sources into your own elementary social studies classroom allowing even the youngest historian to gain a deeper understanding of historical content. Participants will leave the session with tools they can immediately implement in their own classroom and with the knowledge that their students will get a glimpse into the past beyond what a textbook can provide.