Michael Simspon and his staff have done it again! This is outstanding news for NCSS—our publications are useful and award-winning!

We have received the good news from the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) that NCSS won two of AEP’s “best of the year” awards for periodicals in 2008. This is the first time that we have received two number 1 awards from AEP in the same year.  read more »

Rand McNally Educational Publishing releases a newsletter, The Rand McNally Globe, every month. The globe is full of great teaching ideas and current geography related news articles. I hope this will be helpful in your classrooms. Click on the link to see this month’s newsletter then click on the tab to subscribe to future newsletters. http://links.mkt2460.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MTY4NjAyNAS2&r=MzIyODI0NTg4NgS2&j=MTUzMzM0MDUwS0&mt=1&rt=0  read more »

The U.S. Census Bureau and Scholastic recently collaborated on an exciting 2010 Census in Schools initiative to heighten awareness about the importance of the Census among students and their families. Starting in August 2009, all schools will receive, “2010 Census: It’s About Us,” kits which will include free lesson plans, worksheets, and classroom resources for K-12 educators. The lessons will feature fun, skill-building activities in map literacy, graphing, reading, writing, and civic responsibility. Schools will also receive free printed maps and Quick-Start lesson guides.  read more »

NCSS is proud to present four professional development workshops for the summer of 2009 . These workshops feature in-depth, hands-on information that will strengthen your classroom teaching. Literacy Strategies to Unlock Social Studies Content What are the important literacy strategies for the secondary social studies classroom? What are the organizational patterns of text structure that can help unlock social studies content? What impact do these strategies and patterns have on the planning, delivery, and assessment of social studies content?  read more »

The Marlin Fitzwater Center announces the third annual “The Presidency and The Press: A National Conference for High School Media,” to be offered July 25-31, 2009.  read more »

Defining Freedom  read more »

Abby Kelly Foster Charter Public School Teaching American History Grant Citizenship, Property, Identity, and Representation: the Historical Journey of Southern New England’s Native Peoples

SUMMER INSTITUTE 2009

The focus of this weeklong summer institute is on Indian/White relations in Nineteenth Century America.

Dates: July 13 – 17, 2009 Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Place: American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA  read more »

Be a Copy Cat  read more »

Last month I wrote about Self-Efficacy which is our belief in our ability to achieve what we set out to accomplish.  I wrote about how it is the biggest part of achievement, and that we acquire a sense of self-efficacy in four ways: personal experience, observation of others, a positive mental attitude, and from the encouragement of others.  This month I’d like to expand on how observing other people achieve motivates us to accomplish more.

THE UN-COMFORT ZONE with Robert Wilson

The Main Ingredient  read more »

In 1907, during a major league baseball game, second base was stolen 13 times by the winning team.  The catcher for the losing team, Branch Rickey, was unable to pick off even a single runner.  That record stands to this day.  It also spelled the end of Rickey’s career as a baseball player after just two short seasons.  With nothing else to do, he went to college and law school.