One of the great things about attending conferences is getting the opportunity to come back and share what we learned with other teachers. Today I was asked to present at the Social Studies contact meeting, and I shared many of the things I learned at VSTE. First, I created my presentation using the new Google sites, so they could be inspired by the new layout, like I was. I showed them the cool, creative ways to use Google maps in their Social Studies lessons, which I learned from one of the VSTE presenters. Carol Simopoulos, the director of Elementary Social Studies, also asked me to share some of the resources available through the Library of Congress (LOC). If you haven’t been there in a while, you may want to check it out. It has an incredible collection of primary resources that are clearly organized and easily searchable. You can find historical maps, early children’s books, vintage news broadcasts, and more. Finally, I shared a few links to webtools that students enjoy using for Social Studies projects. StoryboardThat is great for creating comics about people and events in history. Padlet provides an online “bulletin board” for quickly sharing projects. Kahoot is a fun way to assess student understanding, and WeVideo is an easy-to-use movie editing resource. Let me know if you’d like some help using some of these ideas in your classroom!

One of the great things about attending conferences is getting the opportunity to come back and share what we learned with other teachers. Today I was asked to present at the Social Studies contact meeting, and I shared many of the things I learned at VSTE. First, I created my presentation using the new Google sites, so they could be inspired by the new layout, like I was. I showed them the cool, creative ways to use Google maps in their Social Studies lessons, which I learned from one of the VSTE presenters. Carol Simopoulos, the director of Elementary Social Studies, also asked me to share some of the resources available through the Library of Congress (LOC). If you haven’t been there in a while, you may want to check it out. It has an incredible collection of primary resources that are clearly organized and easily searchable. You can find historical maps, early children’s books, vintage news broadcasts, and more. Finally, I shared a few links to webtools that students enjoy using for Social Studies projects. StoryboardThat is great for creating comics about people and events in history. Padlet provides an online “bulletin board” for quickly sharing projects. Kahoot is a fun way to assess student understanding, and WeVideo is an easy-to-use movie editing resource. Let me know if you’d like some help using some of these ideas in your classroom!