Breakout #4

Forrest Harding

Teachers dedicate valuable time and effort to teaching new concepts and skills. However, students often struggle to remember what they learned a few days earlier. The solution is spiraling, which involves a simple, structured, and strategic review. We will demonstrate how to implement a straightforward spiraling structure in the classroom. 

Erika Lowery

Mario Lucero

Vikki DeLoach

Michele Garcia

Participants will learn and practice an annotating strategy where readers interact with informational text by highlighting, underlining, circling, and writing notes.  

Allan Carey

Discover and evaluate America’s founding promises through inquiry, in-depth analysis, and viewpoint-diverse civil discourse. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this immersive session explores whether we as a nation are living up to its ideals. Participants will examine the Enlightenment ideas that inspired the Founders—such as natural rights, equality, and the consent of the governed—and compare those foundational concepts with how they are understood today.  

Obed Hernandez

Julietta Rojas

This session brings together two dynamic educators: Obed, an Instructional Technology Coordinator and self-proclaimed Ed Tech aficionado, and Julietta, a Social Studies guru who now integrates technology seamlessly into her dual credit classes. Together, they will showcase 10 powerful educational technology tools—including Canva, FigJam, Adobe Express, and an AI toolkit—to demonstrate how Social Studies teachers can transform everyday instruction. Participants will explore classroom-ready strategies that make history, geography, government, and economics come alive, while promoting inquiry, collaboration, and critical thinking. Attendees will leave with a curated digital resource guide, activity templates, and practical strategies they can implement the next day.

Alexa Proffitt, Ph.D. 

 In an increasingly complex world, students and teachers need opportunities to engage in meaningful, reflective conversations about the issues that shape their lives and communities. In this interactive session, Facing History and Ourselves will share research-backed strategies, ready-to-use tools, and curated resources that support social studies educators in fostering respectful dialogue around topics that matter. Together, we’ll examine how to build a supportive classroom culture that encourages student voice, critical thinking, and connection across differences. 

Holly Cobb

David Desrosiers

Attendees will be introduced to three lessons offered through the Tom Lea Institute. The Mexican Revolution curricula focuses on the art of Tom Lea and Jose Cisneros presenting the role of El Paso in the Mexican Revolution. The New Deal curricula presents the New Deal WPA program through the murals of Tom Lea. The World War II curricula presents the Pacific theater and Tom Lea's work as a war art correspondent.