Breakout #2

 Jon Bassett 

Gary Shiffman

People in the past had to make difficult decisions, and many of the decisions they faced have strong echoes today. In this workshop, attendees will practice 4QM techniques for guiding student judgments on historical issues with direct application in the present. Our goal is not agreement, but the understanding of different points of view that grows out of responsible civic discourse on Question Four: What do we think about that? 

Renee Blackmond

Nothing gives us a better window into the minds of other people than a skillful examination of the meaningful artifacts those people created. In this workshop, attendees will practice 4QM techniques to get their students to wrestle successfully with primary sources as they build and defend an answer to Question Two: What were they thinking? 

Patience LeBlanc

Join Law-Related Education (LRE) in this interactive session designed to provide fresh perspectives for creating a dynamic, engaging classroom environment. In this session, we'll explore how integrating visual, verbal, and digital techniques can enhance student engagement, leading to deeper, more thoughtful learning.

Through hands-on activities and expert-led discussions, we’ll examine strategies that empower educators to teach essential civic principles while encouraging students to think critically, debate respectfully, and collaborate meaningfully. Participants will discover how to implement innovative tools such as silent debates, hexagonal thinking, concept poetry, and bracketology to promote active learning and engagement.

Forrest Harding

Do you know the importance of continuous review but struggle to develop a simple and practical plan?  This session aims to give participants a simple and systematic structure that can be easily implemented and pay huge dividends to student performance.  

Dr. Cristina Devereaux Ramirez 

This presentation will introduce teachers to a new book about the history of El Paso - A Story of Stories: The Texas Border Barrio Life and Writings of Doña Ramona González - and one of its citizens born in the early 1900s, who later became a published Chicana writer. A Story of Stories can be used in the Social Studies classrooms to teach students about cultural heritage and their connection to the region, the importance of documenting family history, and how to start writing their own historical essays. This presentation will also introduce teachers to the use of archives - such as the Portal to Texas History -into their classrooms. The book of A Story of Stories is an exciting new perspective of El Paso barrio history that focuses on the people of barrio Chihuahuita, a Texas historical site, and the area of Missouri Street close to downtown, and the people who lived there (1906-1960).

Fabiola Villa 

and

Camila Ruelas

Artificial Intelligence tools are transforming education, but their effectiveness hinges on the quality of the prompts we provide. In this engaging session, K-12 social studies educators will discover strategies to craft precise and purposeful prompts that yield accurate and actionable outputs from AI tools. Learn how to integrate AI effectively into your classroom to enrich student learning, foster critical thinking, and streamline lesson planning. Join us to unlock the potential of AI by mastering the art of communication with these powerful technologies. 

Dean Stansel

The standard indicators of the Economic Freedom of the World and Economic Freedom of North America have led to the research for this module. This is a comprehensive approach that will employ data, maps, and graphics that are sure to engage students. Measuring economic freedom has become a driving force to understand and forecast success in economies. The more economically free societies are, the wealthier, healthier, and more successful they become. This unit explains how institutions, economics, geography, and the rule of law play major roles in well-being and dignified human flourishing. Topics covered will be PFL, Supply and Demand, Business Organizations and Market Structures.