Social Studies

Context/Purpose: The Introduction to Ethnic Studies pilot is being introduced in the 2023-24 school year. Many people have been asking questions and wondering what the course will entail and how it might impact their classrooms in the future. While we cannot yet work on vertical alignment, the questions and ideas from this town hall can guide revisions to the course that will impact the full roll out in 2024-25.

Details: There will be two town halls held via zoom. One at lunch and one after school. Dates are still TBD but will likely be in November. 

Attendees will be able to ask questions, access sample material, and hear about the course overview. Additionally, they will be invited to brainstorm and discuss: 

• How might this be similar to or different from what we already do in the classroom?

• How might having students who have taken Ethnic Studies at FUHSD make things easier or more complicated in our classrooms/schools?

Who should attend? 

Anyone who wants to hear an overview of the course, who might have further questions, or might have some suggestions for the Ethnic Studies pilot team. While it might be more obviously relevant to teachers, these zoom sessions are open to anyone in any role who wants to learn more!

Facilitating Challenging Conversations in the Classroom 

Context/Purpose: Teachers from all five sites have expressed a desire to broach more complex and sometimes controversial topics in their classroom as a way to engage students in deeper critical thinking, develop their speaking skills, and learn from and about each other. However, there is often hesitation to bring up these topics in class discussions because we often struggle with finding the right language or approach to respond to tense or emotional exchanges between students. 

Details: This one day workshop with a follow up meeting and optional coaching will help teachers to practice language and build a toolbox of responses for addressing the moment when something unexpected or tense occurs and for following up later to repair student to student relationships and classroom community. Teachers will also learn framing, writing questions, and other moves to use before the discussion to set it up for success. Date for workshop tbd. 

Who should attend?

• Teachers who are interested in starting to engage students in discussions about complex, sensitive topics (e.g. human rights violations, race relations, religious conflicts, etc) but need tools to get started

• Teachers who already engage students in these discussions but need suggestions for solving common discussion problems (e.g. the same 3 students dominate the conversation, no one talks, everyone reads from their notes, no one disagrees out loud, etc)

High Interest History Series

Context/Purpose: Over the last few years, many Social Studies teams have been working to try to diversify content and/or include different voices in the curriculum. Part of the challenge of doing this work is that we often have very little background knowledge about some of these topics. In addition to this, Social Studies teachers have expressed a desire to find more opportunities to connect with teachers from other sites, but taking a whole release day is challenging. The proposed solution is the High-Interest History Series. It will be a series of 60-90 minute after school meetings where teachers can come learn about a specific, high-interest topic, talk to other teachers about how they might use it, and walk away with a resource to use in the classroom about that topic. 

Details: PLC leads and their members will be surveyed to determine topics that are most relevant to their courses. 3-4 sessions will be planned based on survey data and feedback from DLs. For example, multiple World History teams have asked about resources for Post-Colonial Africa.  

Dates are TBD. Snacks will be provided at these sessions. District Social Studies teachers will be invited to present or co-plan these sessions as well.