Texas Council for the Social Studies
txcss.org
Hotel Room Update
If you are not able to book a room at the Omni conference hotel, please try these nearby options. The rates will vary, but they are close to the Omni and may have rooms available.
Registration
Online registration for the conference continues. For more information and registration, click here
Conference Sessions
TCSS President and Pasadena ISD teacher Susan Locklear has been named the winner of the Mary Jon and J.P. Bryan Leadership in Education Award by the Texas State Historical Association which honors an outstanding history teacher each year in Texas.
Susan, a who teaches World Cultures and a class on the Holocaust at Parkview Intermediate, received the award at the TSHA’s 116th Annual Meeting in Denton.
TCSS congratulates Susan on this outstanding and much deserved honor.
Park View’s Locklear Honored by State Historical Group
On Sunday, May 6, 2012, H-E-B announced the statewide winners in the 2012 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards.
Among the winners announced during the Awards Celebration held in Houston at the InterContinental Hotel, was TCSS President-Elect Bev Smith who received a Lifetime Achievement Award. This annual award is presented to two outstanding teachers with at least 20 years of experience.
In a recent newspaper feature, Lovejoy ISD Ted Moore said “Bev has the gift of being able to hold students to high levels of expectation for educational achievement and at the same time build relationships with all kids that are second to none. She is an outstanding teacher.”
TCSS congratulates Bev on this award and her many years of outstanding service to students and teachers.
by Susan Locklear, TCSS President
What can TCSS do for you? As the 2012 president of TCSS, I am dedicating my time this year to listening and responding to your answers to that question.
When I first became a social studies teacher, I was confident that I knew my subject and was prepared to guide and mold young minds. I felt that my university courses had equipped me with everything I needed to know.
Ok, so maybe I was a little too confident. But I had a mentor at my first school, Tish Eubanks, a TCSS veteran, who quickly introduced me to TCSS and our local Southeast Council. I asked the question, “What can TCSS do for me?” I attended my first conference and I was hooked! Soon we were hosting the Galveston conference and I decided that TCSS offered the support I was looking for.
As social studies educators in Texas, we have been challenged these past few years with a myriad of initiatives, including new TEKS, and now the STAAR tests. Novice teachers as well as veterans can always use new lesson plans and creative activities; ELL, G/T, and technology support; educator websites; and facts about new places and current events. You can find all of that in The Social Studies Texan, our TCSS publication. And when you attend your first TCSS conference, you will walk away with loads of ideas, information, support, and a feeling that you have something to contribute to social studies and your colleagues back home.
So, if there is something that you need from your state social studies organization, please let us know. We have a committed and dedicated Executive Committee and Board whose members are working to help you and the students of Texas to be successful. Let us hear from you.
What can TCSS do for you?
The Texan, the academic publication of the Texas Council for the Social Studies, is soliciting lesson plans and articles to share with social studies teachers.
There are many good lesson plans being written and used in our Texas schools and we need to share these for the benefit of all. With the challenges of new TEKS and the STAAR tests, we can all use additional tools in our toolbox.
And…you would be published in a well-known and respected academic magazine (add that to your resume!).
We especially need lesson plans that prepare students for the STAAR test and/or include new TEKS. For more information please see our publication guidelines.
Submissions should be sent through this Email Link. Please put “The Texan” in the subject line of your message and attach a brief author profile and summary of lesson plan or article.
We have 2 themes for the next issue, “Frontiers to STAAR and Beyond” and ”Miles and Miles of Texas.” Articles can be on topics concerning those 2 themes, or can be of a general interest to social studies teachers. Anything to do with any kind of frontier (past, current, future), or lesson plans to prepare students for STAAR.
Quality social studies lessons on any topic are always welcome. Keep in mind lessons that include ELL and G/T modifications and extensions.
Article length can be anywhere from 1,000 words to 3500 words because we always need some short and some longer pieces. Book reviews are usually about 700-900 words.
The upcoming deadlines for submissions are February 1, June 1, and October 1.
Would love to hear from you with a submission for the next issue!
NCSS President Presenting the Award to TCSS President Kathy Uhlich
Affiliated councils of National Council for the Social Studies that have met seven of the following eight criteria will be recognized as Gold Star Councils:
The TCSS Delegation to NCSS
Interested in serving on a TCSS committee? Please submit a 2012 TCSS COMMITTEE REQUEST FORM.
Hats off the Capital Area CSS for an outstanding Fall Conference in Austin! Janie Maldonado and her Committee had everything ready and waiting for us. We tried some new things – Leadership Breakfast rather than a Luncheon, Boxed Lunch rather than a “sit down” meal, ice cream for a mid-afternoon snack, and coffee and muffins to take and go to your first session on Saturday morning.
The many sessions, as well as the events at the LBJ Library and the Capital Building, provided so many learning opportunities for teachers. Passing by, one young teacher was heard to say, “Oh my gosh, I have never learned so much in my life. This is fantastic.”
The Conference Committee made our cozy conference inviting and fun – a great learning and networking opportunity.
Thanks to all that worked to make the 2011 Fall Conference a success. It was fantastic.
Kathy Uhlich
TCSS President
Registration for the annual TCSS fall conference is now open.
We recommend registering early as some tours and events have strict capacity limits.
For the most current information and registration options click here
TCSS Annual Conference 2011
October 21-23, 2011
Doubletree Hotel Austin
Social Studies in the News