The 2024 MFPE Educator Conference will be held in Bozeman, October 17-18 and the Montana Council for Social Studies is looking for presenters! (I bet other curriculum groups are looking for presenters as well.)
The deadline to submit an application to present at the is APRIL 30!
Will you help make the social studies strands as strong as they can possibly be by sharing your strategies, knowledge or best lessons? Click here to submit your proposal.
This month, we're recruiting a new cohort of high school teachers to join our Teacher Leaders in History program. This has had me thinking about best practices for teaching high school history and reminded me of a series of posts I read some years ago on Glenn Wiebe's amazing History Tech blog on interactive lecturing.
As you probably know even better than I, students often tune out during lectures. At the same time, lectures can be an incredibly efficient way to deliver content knowledge to students. What to do?
1. Consider "micro-lectures." Focus on a particular concept or skill to provide an overview or discuss complex cause and effect.
2. Consider the 10-2 strategy, which, according to Glenn, "has the instructor taking ten minutes for 'didactic' lecturing on specific facts and then providing two minutes for ... 'buzz sessions' – small group and whole-class discussions around a question or problem. You may have heard this as the Chunk and Chew strategy."
See more from Glenn on lecturing in this three-part series on interactive lecturing.
P.S. If you teach social studies in high school and want to help improve social studies education statewide, consider applying to join our Teacher Leaders in History Program. Application deadline is April 7.
Longtime readers know I'm ambivalent about designated months--Black History Month, Native American Heritage Month, Women's History Month--because I believe that we should incorporate these histories into our classrooms EVERY month. At the same time, it's not bad to use the opportunity of a designated month to reflect on how we're doing integrating everyone's history and shining a spotlight where we've come up short.
This is all to say that it wasn't until March was almost over that I realized it was Women's History Month, but I still think it's worthwhile sharing some of my favorite women's history lesson plans with you!
You can find links to all of our women's history lessons and resources here and if you are on Facebook, consider following the Montana Women's History Facebook page for stories about Montana women all year round.
I had a great time at the Indian Education for All Best Practices workshop in Billings a few weeks ago, seeing old friends and making new ones and learning about cool resources and opportunities. Back in the early 2000s, I often heard teachers say "I want to teach IEFA but I don't have the resources (or knowledge)." I don't hear that much anymore. And good thing, because there are so many incredible resources and learning opportunities available.
Dr. Anna East has put together a remote, asynchronous course, June 8-28, with six required one-hour meetings via Zoom with an all-star list of speakers: Native American Studies for Teachers. Participants can earn 3 UM graduate credits or 45 OPI renewal units. Cost is on a sliding scale ($25-$275 with an extra $155 to UM for folks wanting graduate credits.
The Olga Lengyel Institute (TOLI) is once again offering Worlds Apart But Not Strangers: Holocaust Education and Indian Education for All. Designed for middle and high school teachers, the seminar, which will held in Billings from July 22-27, 2024, will explore connections between Indian Education for All and Holocaust Education, examine the impact of government policies (both in Germany and the U.S.), and explore stereotypes and biases that influence interactions in local schools and communities today. Participation is free, including books, materials, lunches, and one dinner. OPI renewal units will be offered; participants can also earn 3 MSU-B graduate credits for $135. Low-cost on-campus housing is available.
OPI has created a new high school lesson plan, Ako Mic Mi (Feathers) – Blackfoot Mapmaker 1801. Created in 1801, the map describes a landscape of over 200,000 square miles, from Oregon to North Dakota and Alberta to central Montana. According to Dr. Shane Doyle, "the map identifies the major tributaries of the Missouri River, from the Milk River in the north and the Bighorn River in the south, and includes the location of prominent island mountain ranges..." It also notes "the estimated number of nights to travel between each river." A version of the map made its way into the hands of Lewis and Clark, who referred to it on their journey.
Billings School District has a phenomenal IEFA program and websites with lesson plans and recommended book lists, many of which are accessible to folks outside the district. Check out their high school IEFA math lessons, other high school lessons, and their middle school lessons. I also really like their recommended book lists. Here's the one for middle school and here's the one for high school (scroll down).
Speaking of reading lists, there were lots of great recommendations made during our most recent PD, Literature and Social Studies, most of which were IEFA-related. I pulled together this list of links for attendees, but thought some of you might also find it useful, so I'm sharing it here, rough as it is.
America’s Field Trip is a new contest that invites students across the country in grades 3–12 to be part of America’s 250th anniversary by sharing their perspectives on what America means to them and earning the opportunity to participate in unforgettable field trip experiences at some of the nation’s most iconic historic and cultural landmarks. Students may submit artwork, videos, or essays in response to the contest’s prompt: “What does America mean to you?” Students can apply here. The Contest begins at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on March 4, 2024 and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on May 17, 2024.
Awards:
Twenty-five first-place awardees from each grade level category will receive free travel and lodging for a 3-day, 2-night trip to a select historical or cultural site where they will experience one of the following:
Second-place awardees will receive a $500 cash award. The teacher associated with the top scoring student submissions in each grade level category will receive a $1,000 cash award.
Submission Guidelines and Official Rules
Judging Criteria
A diverse panel of judges consisting of current and former teachers will consider the submissions based on the following weighted criteria:
Want to stand out? Create something that feels special to you and has a personal touch. And remember, you don’t have to focus on our country’s past — you can talk about America’s future too. Finally, be creative and think outside the box!
Today at 4:00 p.m. we're meeting for our final PD on Literature and Social Studies.
Mike Jetty will be there with a dad joke and some recommendations for good IEFA-related books. Teacher Leader in History April Wills (grade 7, Bainville) will be talking about lessons she's developed for Mandy Smoker's graphic novel Thunderous, and Teacher Leader in History Johanna Trout (grade 4, Billings) will share the unit she's created for Shota and the Star Quilt. Other folks have promised to share how they teach Hattie Big Sky and Counting Coups.
I also plan to share a few resources to help teach Hattie Big Sky, a novel about a single woman homesteader near Wolf Point. The book touches on homesteading and World War I. Oddly, for its location, the book doesn't touch on allotment or Indian lands, but that doesn't mean you can't!
Here are a few resources to supplement a novel study of Hattie Big Sky:
I'm sure I will get lots of other great ideas from this PD. I hope to see you there. Register before noon to receive a link.
I'm heading to the Indian Education for All Best Practices Conference in Billings today, so I thought I'd share some links relating to IEFA.
Have you read anything particularly thought-provoking lately? Shoot me the link or, if you are on Facebook, consider posting it in the Teaching Montana History Facebook group.
The Montana Historical Society (MTHS) is soliciting applications from high school teachers interested in helping improve history education (and especially the teaching of Montana history) in their schools, districts, and regions by becoming Teacher Leaders in Montana History.
Successful applicants will demonstrate a commitment to history education; interest and experience in teaching Montana history, Western history, or Native American Studies; excellence in the classroom; experience in sharing best practices with their colleagues; and familiarity with the Montana Historical Society’s work and educational resources.
In addition to the criteria above, up to eight program fellows will be chosen to reflect Montana’s geographic and educational diversity, assuring representation from different regions and both small and large schools.
Those accepted as Teacher Leader Fellows will be brought to Helena for a two-day Teacher Leader in History Summit, to be held in Helena, July 10-12, 2024, at the conclusion of which they will be certified as Montana Historical Society Teacher Leaders in History.
Throughout 2024-2025, this select group of Teacher Leaders in History will join current Teacher Leader Fellows to:
In return, the Montana Historical Society will provide the following (valued at more than $500):
No more than eight teachers will be selected for this special program. Apply online here. Applications are due April 7. Awardees will be notified by April 28.
Questions? Contact Martha Kohl at mkohl@mt.gov or 406-444-4740.
