Agenda

8:45 AM Welcome
Patricia Shelton

8:50 AM Civic Learning Council Flame of Democracy Award
Jamie Lisagor, President, Civic Learning Council and Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman

9:00 AM Keynote: Using Inquiry-Based Teaching to Promote Justice and Combat Inequity
Kathleen Swan, Professor, University of Kentucky

Through the Inquiry Design Model (IDM), Dr. Swan will show how teachers can pose expansive questions that allow students to wrestle with problems of injustice and inequity.

Followed by discussion with Walter Parker, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky and Verónica N. Vélez, Associate Professor, Secondary Education and Education & Social Justice, Western Washington University

Pre-read articles:

Making Inquiry Possible: A Film Project on Building a Culture of Inquiry
Kathleen Swan, Ryan Crowley, S.G. Grant, John Lee, Gerry Swan, Callaway Stivers, and Gates Sweeney

When all Students Return to Class, Elementary Schools Must Protect Instructional Time for Science and Social Studies
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Reinventing the High School Government Course: Rigor, Simulations, and Learning from Text
Walter C. Parker, University of Washington, Seattle and Jane C. Lo, Florida State University

10:00 AM Using Project-Based Learning to Promote Student Agency and Equity in the Classroom
Brooke Brown, Hannah Tofte, Donnetta Elsasser and moderator Jerry Price
In this session Brooke Brown, the 2021 Washington State Teacher of the Year, will be joined by Hannah Tofte, Donnetta Elsasser and moderator Jerry Price from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to talk about how teachers can use Project-Based Learning and other instructional methods to help teachers promote equity in the classroom. This conversation will help teachers focus on building equity in the classroom by using the curriculum as a vehicle to help students develop the skills necessary to not only see themselves in schools, but become active participants in civic life.

Pre-read article:

Turn & Talk / Zaretta Hammond on Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching
Zanetta Hammond

11:00 AM How Can Teachers Use the New Washington State Standards to Improve Instruction?
Nancy Lenihan and Jerry Price
In 2019, OSPI released a new version of the Washington State Social Studies Learning Standards for use in classrooms across the state. Written by members of the Social Studies Cadre, these new standards provide a manageable framework for teachers of all grade levels to incorporate social studies work in nearly every area of the curriculum. WSCSS President and 4th Grade Teacher Nancy Lenihan will be joined by Jerry Price as they talk about how teachers can use these new standards to advocate for increased social studies instruction in schools.  

Pre-read articles:

Washington K–12 Social Studies Learning Standards
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History

SPECIAL SESSION for pre-service and first year teachers:

12:00 PM Make the Most of Your Student Teaching and Find that First Social Studies Job
Mary Ellis and Bradley Liebrecht
In a special session for pre-service teachers, join Mary Ellis, 6th grade STEM teacher/New Teacher Mentor Coordinator and 8th grade social studies teacher Bradley Liebrecht from the West Valley School District as they share their tips and tricks to help pre-service teachers navigate their student teaching experience; find that first job; and all the other things teachers need to know about teaching that aren’t often included in orientation.

Pre-read video:

Student Teaching Practices by Seth Panattoni
Student teacher advice for pre-service teachers presented to the 2021 WSCSS conference.

5 Tips to Help Student Teachers Stay Positive
Bekah Landfair