Spring and Summer Professional Development Opportunities

Information about spring and summer professional development opportunities are rolling in.

The Rock and Roll Forever Foundation has an April 12 deadline for teachers who wish to apply for its Summer Institute, to be held July 8–12 in New York City. A travel stipend and accommodations will be provided for participants from outside the New York area. All teachers selected for the Institute will be sponsored by the foundation, and will have the opportunity to participate in guided explorations of the forthcoming Rock and Roll: An American Story curriculum. Teachers from any discipline may apply, but the Foundation is particularly interested in hearing from teachers of social studies, US History, English/Language Arts and Music. Visit http://rockandrollforever.org to apply and for more information.

I’ll be giving a workshop in Missoula, on Tuesday, April 16, 9:00-3:00, “Literacy in Social Studies: A Common Core Approach.” Our focus will be analyzing sources about homesteading and allotment as we look at best practices for using primary sources in 6-12 classrooms and meeting common core standards for literacy in social studies. To register or for more information, call 406-880-5885 by Wednesday, April 10, or email ckuschel@hotmail.com. I’ll be giving much the same workshop in Miles City, on Friday, June 21. Stay tuned for more details.

NCCE will be offering two “Exploring Teaching with Primary Sources” workshops this summer. The introductory workshop will be held in Missoula, July 25-26. The Advanced training will be held Helena, July 22-24, and will include a day focused on primary source material and lesson plans available through the Montana Historical Society. If this interests you, consider registering early—the website says attendees will be notified May 14 of acceptance. Find more information here.

The Indian Education Department at the Office of Public Instruction has gathered a list of 2013 spring and summer IEFA professional development opportunities, which you can find listed on their website under "Hot Topics".

Some highlights include:

• April 11-13, Montana Indian Education Association (MIEA) meeting, Billings
• May 16, Art of Storytelling: Plains Indian Perspective, Missoula
• June 3-10, the CCSS & IEFA Open Institute, Billings
• June 17-20, Project Archaeology Rosebud Battlefield Educator Workshop, Sheridan, WY and Rosebud Battlefield
• June 17-21 Common Sense with the Common Core: An Integrated Implementation Model for Teachers, Billings (with corresponding Day 2 dates of Aug. 5-9)
• June 24-28, Common Sense with the Common Core: An Integrated Implementation Model for Teachers, Missoula (with corresponding Day 2 dates of Aug. 12-16)
• June 26-28, the International Conference of Traditional Native Games, Pablo
• July 21-27 Worlds Apart But Not Strangers: Holocaust Education and Indian Education for All, Missoula (Application deadline April 30)

Find details (including detailed descriptions, information about cost, graduate credit opportunities, and registration information) through the IEFA/OPI website.