Newsletter
| Late Winter, 2000 | editor: Linda McKean Logan |
| In this Issue Dateline Columbus ...............page 1 National Board
Certified Teachers OCSS Conference Young Writers Contest Violence Prevention Announcements and Opportunities |
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National Board Certified Teachers Announced |
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| The Ohio Department of Education announced that 262 Ohio teachers have earned National Board Certification for 1999, bringing the current number of National Board Certified teachers in Ohio to 600. This ranks Ohio second in the nation, following North Carolina. "Good teachers make good schools, so I am pleased that Ohio is a national leader in the number of National Board Certified teachers," said Governor Bob Taft. "As we strive to raise the academic achievement of our students, I am encouraged by how many dedicated teachers have made the extra effort to become the best they can possibly be through National Board Certification." The National Board Certification process calls for applicants to complete an extensive series of rigorous performance-based assessments, including developing portfolios of student work, videotapes and other documentation. These test the applicant's knowledge of their content area and their ability to manage and measure student learning. Educators holding a baccalaureate degree and who have held a valid state teaching license for three years are eligible | to apply for the certification process. "These individuals, who voluntarily sought and achieved this high honor, have shown commitment and dedication to the teaching profession as a whole and where it counts most-in the classroom," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Tave Zelman. "Achieving high standards is important for both students and teachers." The National Board certificate is a credential attesting that the teacher has been assessed by his/her peers as one who is accomplished, makes sound judgements about student learning and acts effectively on those judgements. Certificates are issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, a non-profit, non-partisan organization created in 1987. Ohio provides a comprehensive support system with a number of incentives and rewards to Ohio teachers who seek and achieve National Board Certification. The state pays the $2,000 application fee for the first 400 qualified public school teachers who apply. In addition, all recipients earn continuing education credit toward the renewal of a teaching certificate and a potential $2,500 state-paid annual stipend for those who earn national certification. | |
Congratulations
the following OCSS members received National Certification
| Early Adolescence/Social Studies-History (EA/SSH) Mary C. Cassidy, Highland Local Schools; Jacqueline D. O'Connor, Elida Local Schools; Donna M. Nesbitt, Ohio Department of Education |
Adolescence and Young Adult/Social Studies-History Douglas W. Cooper, Wilmington City Schools; Richard A. Jones II, River Valley Local Schools; Ellen M. Prendergast-Friery, Revere Local Schools |
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Ohio Council for the Social Studies Annual
Conference
Fremont, Ohio
March 30-April 1, 2000
Honor the Past;
Envision the Future
We have before us an opportunity to participate in a conference which
addresses history and social studies issues at a unique point in time; not only
is it the end of a century, it is the end of a millennium. The conference theme:
Honor the Past; Envision the Future, has been carefully selected to emphasize
this unique point in time. We are also able to bring this conference to you from
a special place, the location of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library
and Memorial. True to our mission as a social studies organization, we will
integrate these resources into our program. Don't miss this opportunity to
interact with other social studies professionals and take back new ideas to
share with your classes and colleagues! We look forward to seeing you in
Fremont!
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Urban Sprawl - Young Writers Contest |
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| America's top TV shows could be taking on one of the nation's most visible population-related problems, thanks to some as yet undiscovered writing talent and a national contest from a green group that combines pop culture, education, and cash prizes. Zero Population Growth's (ZPG) 2000 Pop-TV Writing Contest invites high school students and college undergraduates to write a plot for an episode of a current television show featuring the subject of urban/suburban sprawl. "Sprawl is one of the biggest environmental problems facing most communities in America. It slowly destroys our neighborhoods and natural landscapes, creates pollution, strains resources and erodes the quality of our lives. We thought it would be interesting to see how television shows could deals with sprawl by offering the students the opportunity to display their creative talents," says ZPG's Population Education Director Pamela Wasserman. Sprawl is an everyday problem throughout the United States. Eleven million acres of farmland (or two New | Jerseys) have been lost to sprawl since 1980. Two billion hours are wasted in sprawl related gridlocked traffic every year. And when sprawl delays trucks, it adds $7.6 billion to the price of the goods consumers buy (or enough to buy every high school class in the land new computers with Internet access). Communities continue to work for "smart growth" solutions to this ever growing problem. The contest has three categories: 9-10 grades, 11-12 grades, and undergraduate students. Each category has a first prize of $1,000 and runner-up prizes of $500. Entries should be 1,500 words or less and should be received at ZPG's national office by February 15, 2000. Judging the entries will be an array of figures from the fields of education, population, and the arts. For more information, log onto: www.zpg.org/education/writingcontest or call 800/POP-1956. entries should be sent to: ZPG, 1400 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. |
Violence Prevention Ideas Sought |
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| President Clinton and Secretary of Education Riley are interested in your ideas and suggestions on how to prevent violence in our nation's schools. Suggestions must by submitted in writing and a special e-mail box has been established for this purpose at safekids@ed.gov | Those without e-mail access can fax their suggestions to 202/401-0689 or write to Safe Kids, Information Resource Center, US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, D.C. 20202-0498. The Safe and Drug Free Schools program will review all suggestions. |
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| K-8 Teachers At www.teachernet.com/ you will find lesson plans, Idea-A-Day Activities, a teacher database, and more! |
FOCUS Offers Travel FellowshipsA McColl Family Fellowship has been created for potential contributors to FOCUS, the magazine of the American Geographical Society. The Fellowship provides for a round-trip air ticket to the candidate's choice of any destination in the world. Other expenses must be covered by the author or other sources. The only obligation of the Fellows is to write an article based on the visit abroad that is suitable for publication in FOCUS and is submitted within six months of returning from the trip. As is true of all FOCUS authors, candidates must be geographers or others "who think like geographers and write like journalists." The first McColl Family Fellowship is to be awarded for the years 2000, with one fellowship to be offered each year. Selection is by a committee chosen by the American Geographic Society Council. The deadline for applications will be October of each year. For more information contact: McColl Family Fellowship Committee, The American Geographical Society, 120 Wall Street, Suite 100, New York, NY 10005. MOVING?Are you moving? Is your address current? Please inform us if you change your address! Name_____________________________ New Address_______________________ __________________________________ City____________________zip________ mail to: Linda McKean Logan, 3258 Scioto Farms Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026 or e-mail the information to llogan@gcfn.org |
Women's History CatalogThe free Women's History catalog is available from the national Women's History project. The catalog of multicultural materials offers posters, programs guides, reference books, CD-Roms, and short videos. For more information, call 707/836-6000 or e-mail nwhp@aol.com A variety of links to help with students' research can be found at the web site www.NWHP.org Population Issues Guide on the InternetPopulation has been identified as the critical issue of the 21st century by organizations as diverse as the US State Department, National Geographic, and the Sierra Club. Facing the Future: People and the Planet has released Version 5.0 of their guide to Population Issues for Students and Teachers and its curriculum guide of analysis, discussion questions, research assignments, and activities. The entire package is available at www.popinfo.org The information can be accessed online or downloaded from the site as PDF files for duplication. Contact FTF at PO Box 606, Lopez Island, WA 98261; or call 360/468-3888; or e-mail at admin@facingthe future.org Pen Pals SoughtWorld Pen Pals has been promoting international friendship and cultural understanding between young people since 1950. Students, grade 5 though college, wishing to make a friend overseas may request an application from World Pen Pals by enclosing a SASE to World Pen Pals, PO Box 337, Saugerties, NY 12477. Their home page is www.world-pen-pals.com |
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Vietnam WorkshopThe Greater Cleveland Council for the Social Studies and Laurel School will sponsor a one day workshop "Teaching Vietnam" on Saturday, March 4, 2000. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the U.S. departure from Vietnam, and this workshop will explore ways that teachers can better teach our students about the Vietnam War. One of the speakers will be Jim Lane, former OCSS president, who will discuss how rock and roll music can be used as a tool to teach about the Vietnam War. The keynote speaker will be Professor Robert Brigham of Vassar College. Robert Brigham is in the forefront of a new generation of scholars who are examining the Vietnam War. He is fluent in Vietnamese, and has done primary research in Vietnamese archives that recently been made available to scholars. He was one of the driving forces that led to an extraordinary series of conferences held in the late 1990's that brought together many of the surviving policy makers such as Robert MacNamara, U.S. Secretary of Defense for seven years during the war, as well as Nguyen Co Thach, former Foreign Minister of Vietnam and General Vo Nguyen Giap, who guided the North Vietnamese army during much of the war. These series of meetings explored missed opportunities from the post-World War period to the conclusion of the war in 1975 when peace might have been achieved. Professor Brigham is co-author with Robert MacNamara and James Blight of Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy. Professor Brigham will speak about his experience as a part of these meetings and discuss his observations of the meaning of the Vietnam tragedy. For more information, contact Tim Connell at 216/464-1441 |
First Hand Accounts of Cold WarThe Close Up Foundation, the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan citizenship education organization, has released a documentary video exploring one of the most controversial periods of the Cold War. Ordinary Americans: The Red Scare uses dramatic footage and first-person accounts of individuals who lost their jobs and reputations when they chose to exercise their First Amendment rights. Featured are issues surrounding the McCarthy hearings in the early years of the Cold War as well as stories of ordinary people who were suspected of being communists. Quotes from Winston Churchill, J. Edgar Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Alger Hiss, and Edward R. Murrow help illustrate the rising political tension that would rock the foundation of our democratic form of government. Politicians, government officials, and Hollywood directors were not the only victims of rampant skepticism and mistrust during this historic period. This video explores the personal accounts of everyday citizens, from writers and musicians to labor activists and dock workers, who were also caught in the hot spotlight of suspicion. Narrated by William Baldwin, Ordinary Americans: The Red Scare is 35 minutes in length. The video costs $79.95, plus shipping and handling, and includes a free teachers guide. To order, call Close Up at 800-765-3131. |
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Study Trip to Morocco
From June 22, - July 6, 2000, M. Eugene Gilliom will be leading a study trip to Morocco. The goal is to learn more about Morocco's long and colorful history and to study recent cultural, political, economic, social, and educational developments. The study tour will be limited to twenty qualified applicants with an interest in the social studies and global education. Elementary and secondary teachers and administrators, as well as faculty members with an interest in Morocco are welcome to apply.
From one to five quarter hours of graduate or undergraduate credit can be earned at Ohio State University.
The study tour highlights include visits to Rabat and the Royal Palace, the Kasbah of the Oudayas and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V as well as attending a lecture on "Moroccon Traditions and Islam"; in Meknes, participants will visit the Stables of Moulay Ismail and tour the Roman city of Volubilis; Fez to attend the lecture "Fez the Spiritual City of Morocco", tour the Medina and the Karaouine Mosque, eat lunch with a family in their home in the
Medina, and observe artisans at work, including wood carvers, copper engravers, rug weavers, and tanners. In Marrakesh, participants will tour the 16th century El Badi Palace, the Museum of Moroccan Art, and Djem-el-Fna Square. Many towns in the High and Middle Atlas Mountains are also on the itinerary also which will give participants a view of Morocco that is not available to tourists. Casablanca is also part of the trip with visits to the Church of our Lady of Lourdes, the united Nations Plaza and the Mosque of Hassan II.
The price of the tour will be $2,995 per person that includes roundtrip airfare from New York to Casablanca. A single room supplement costs an additional $595 and tuition at Ohio State University is not included.
For more information, contact M. Eugene Gilliom, Professor Emeritus, Social Studies and Global Education at Ohio State University. Phone (614)451-1518 or e-mail genegilliom@compuserve.com
The application deadline is April 21, but early application is recommended.
If you are interested in getting your social studies message to Ohio teachers, consider using our newsletter.
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Deadline for submissions for the next OCSS newsletter:
January 24, 2000
Linda McKean Logan, Newsletter Editor