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OER Conference for Social Studies After Party // 2023

Kathy Hays

Thanks so much to everyone for your participation in the 2023 OER Conference for Social Studies. From the first session with Yohuru Williams on teaching uncomfortable history to the final session on teaching graphic histories with Trevor Getz, the day was certainly engaging and informative!

What will you take from these discussions to share with your colleagues as you prepare or the upcoming school year? 

Post your comments below and let’s keep the conversations going!

Top Replies

  • +12

    Dr Yohuru Williams, your presentation is epic!   I would love to plaster my classroom walls with all the slides of your presentation. 

  • +12

    I think a great mini project would be "Conversations across time" where you give students a chance to have an historical dialogue between figures using primary sources.  Dr. Williams kept referencing…

  • +9

    In facilitating discussion in classrooms, I have developed a protocol that I use to try and balance participation in the discourse, and to support my students in staying on topic. I go over this in the…

Parents

  • My department is a little hesitant to teach with primary sources - and I think that this idea of teaching by proxy and commenting by proximity is such a cool way to expose historical trends over time and be a guide rather than the well of knowledge and learning. I want to share the way Dr. Williams set it up intentionally with the end goal in mind, using several different examples (AND SOURCES!!) from multiple time periods to show the same trend over time. Goals. just Goals.

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  • My department is a little hesitant to teach with primary sources - and I think that this idea of teaching by proxy and commenting by proximity is such a cool way to expose historical trends over time and be a guide rather than the well of knowledge and learning. I want to share the way Dr. Williams set it up intentionally with the end goal in mind, using several different examples (AND SOURCES!!) from multiple time periods to show the same trend over time. Goals. just Goals.

Children
  • in reply to Amanda Johnson

    It has taken me a while to figure out the best way to use primary sources and I think a thematic approach might be the way...this isn't random quotes or paragraph-long DBQ's that students need to spend 30-plus minutes on...

  • in reply to Amanda Johnson

     Dr. Williams points rolled right in with what Dr. Reisman spoke about.  One of the key take-aways is that a lot of times teachers are afraid of what teaching with primary sources brings- a lot of questions and discussions, and teachers not having the answers.  I for one have experienced this, but the more I try to incorporate primary sources and discussions in my class the more I'm comfortable with the unknown results.  Just because I can't control or predict the results or the ways kids think or speak, doesn't mean there is no value in it.  What are you thinking about regarding how to get your team to use more primary sources?  I'm curious because I have new teammates this year and I don't know how they feel about using primary sources.  

  • in reply to Bryan Dibble

    I think people like to feel well-informed & comfortable, so if you have the resources and can teach your new members how to use them and WHY it's great for you all to use them, it seems like an opportunity for your dept. to have an awakening of sorts! If you are excited, they can get excited, too. Plus, the new teammates might welcome the help - I know I relied heavily on people in the SS dept last year when I began to switch over to history full-time from ELA, and I appreciated the collaboration so much.

  • in reply to Jennifer Gwartney

     

    A few years ago we had a team member who didn't collaborate at all.  That was a rough situation.  Last year, we had really great collaboration, and then two of my pals moved away (they had good reasons so I'm not MAD about it or anything...) But brining on new teachers, and one being a very new teacher, we are worried they won't take the extra time to really delve into BHP the way we have over the last few years.  I don't want to shove something down someone's throat, but how would you NOT want to eat sleep and breath BHP???  I'm very much hoping we're not going to have to convince anyone to do the right thing ;)

  • in reply to Bryan Dibble

     , I have to agree with   that YOUR enthusiasm will go a long way with a new teammate. Plus, all the great resources you have curated will make it easy for a new person to want to get involved, not feel pressured.

    I'm eager to see more posts from you during this upcoming year to hear how things are coming along.