What did I learn?

I’ve had the chance to present twice at the TIE conference here in Colorado. I know all the buzz is about NECC, its big names and huge number of sessions. But the TIE conference is an incredible place to be! It is perhaps the most teacher-friendly event I have ever attended. They really work to [...]

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Books as Hooks and the Library of Congress

I’m at the TIE Conference in Copper Mountain and am sitting in with Gail Petri from the Library of Congress as she shares ideas about using fiction books to hook kids on primary sources. Some cool stuff so far. Basic overview of the the LOC site, some basic activities to introduce students looking at photographs.
I [...]

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Tip of the Week – The Gallery

I spent some time with a group of teachers last week talking about how best to integrate primary sources into social studies instruction. We were all are in agreement that using primary sources is a good thing and had some nice conversations about what that use should look like.
One of the results of the conversation [...]

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Can you ever have too many primary sources?

The answer is . . . no.
There is always room for Jello. You can’t ever eat just one. And you can never have too many primary sources.
I spent the day working with a group of K-12 social studies teachers; took part in some great conversations and overheard others. Among other things, the group is working [...]

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The valedictorian is not the smartest kid in school

The valedictorian is not the smartest kid in school, she’s just the one who’s the best at playing the game of school.
I had the chance to work with a crowd of teachers together with Allison Zmuda earlier this week and I was fascinated by her opening address to the group. She talked about the importance [...]

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