Spring break is near! Although Texas can't seem to decide what the weather should be from one day to the next, she can't stop spring break!

Thank you for all your hard work thus far this year. You are doing wonderful things!

As always, I am here to help you in any way that might make your path smoother and workload lighter. Please don't hesitate to reach out any time!

~Chelsea

@ChelseaHowells9

chelsea.howells@esc9.net

The deadline to apply to be an LRE Ambassador has been extended to March 21st!

Accommodations, meals, resources, and a travel stipend are included in this opportunity!

Congratulations to Robert Wilkinson of Barwise Middle School in Wichita Falls ISD AND Ashley Penney of McNiel Middle School in Wichita Falls ISD! Both were accepted to attend the Sphere Summit: The Foundations of Civic Culture in Washington D.C. in July. This includes a full scholarship covering accommodations, meals, materials, resources, and a travel stipend.

If you are interested in applying to attend the summit, please visit https://www.cato.org/sphere/about-sphere for more information!

If you have something exciting to share, whether it be in your classroom or something awesome going on in your social studies department, please email me to be featured in the next newsletter!

chelsea.howells@esc9.net

Dear social studies educators,

As you may know, the State Board of Education (SBOE) is in the process of revising the kindergarten-grade 12 social studies TEKS. As part of the review process, the SBOE convenes work groups to make recommendations for revisions to the TEKS. TEA collects applications from educators, parents, and community members who are interested in serving on work groups.

The Kinder-7th TEKS work group is next on the list!

Should you wish to participate, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Initial work groups will begin convening as early as this month. The application is available at https://tea.texas.gov/academics/curriculum-standards/teks-review/2021-2022-social-studies-teks-review.

Questions related to the application for the social studies TEKS review and revision process can be directed to teks@tea.texas.gov.

Students have taken notes for ages. Is note-taking still helpful? Here's how we can get more out of student note-taking.

Source: https://ditchthattextbook.com/note-taking/

Ep. 9 Women's History Month

Join the team as they recognize Women’s History Month. Learn about the origin, contributions of historical figures, and C-SPAN Classroom resources to use with students.

Listen here

Ep. 8 President' Day

With Presidents' Day being recognized in February, join the team as they talk about the history of this day, and share C-SPAN resources that can be used in the classroom.

Listen here

Ep. 7 Black History Month

Tune in to this episode as the Classroom team shares C-SPAN resources that can be used with students throughout February as they recognize Black History Month.

Listen here

TCEA has collected a wealth of resources for Texas History teachers to use in class!

Click here to access free digital resources for Texas History.

I attended a session at the TXCSS conference that showcased the updates Studies Weekly has been making to their materials. For those who use these materials, I hope this information will be beneficial!

Below are some of the resources they are sharing out:

• https://bit.ly/NEWTX (hub for all resources)
• Link to their conference presentation
• Click Here to preview samples of the new Texas materials
• Texas support site for new materials (specific for Texas teachers only)

Preview the “new” Texas materials:

https://app.studiesweekly.com/online/

• Username: newtxteacher
• Password: earlyaccess

credit: Jessica Torres, Region 12 @owl_b_torresedu

Deadline April 1st

Nominate your outstanding 4th-8th graders for summer 2022 Lone Star Leadership Academy camps! Participants join delegations of other distinguished students from across Texas for a week of fun, learning, leadership development, and visits to significant Texas destinations. All facilitators are Texas educators. Nominees must be in 4th-8th grade, maintain an 85 or higher grade average, demonstrate leadership ability, and be involved in school/community activities. Each nominee receives a personalized certificate stating they were nominated based on demonstrated academic and leadership ability.

Nominate students online at: http://educationinaction.org/nominate-leaders.
Nominate 10 or more students to receive this year's mascot plushy, Billy the Bison!

All summer camp facilitators are Texas teachers. Apply here!

Applications are open for Sphere Summit: Teaching Civic Culture Together summer 2022! Sphere Summit, a full‐​scholarship professional development program for grades 5–12 educators, returns as a fully in‐​person experience in Washington, DC, and will run July 10–14 and July 24–28. More information can be found at this website.

Message from TXCSS:

Thank you to our amazing #TXCSS2021 Presenters! We received overwhelmingly positive responses to the conference survey regarding the presenters and the sessions. It just reinforced what we already knew… TXCSS has a wealth of people committed to sharing their passion with our community.

In that regard, we encourage you to join us in #ForgingtheFuture at #TXCSS2022 in Denton, October 14-19, and sharing the awesomeness you use in your classrooms with your students. Please consider submitting a session proposal using the links below. We have a NEW deadline this year! In order to help you get budget approval before this year ends, we are moving the proposal deadline to April 15, 2022. Presenters with accepted proposals will be notified by email no later than May 15, 2022.

Presenter Form: https://forms.gle/ewEkQGTCJas9CYS89

Poster Session Form: https://forms.gle/EhDEDH6ALp8FtcyA7

Questions? Email presenters@txcss.net

We look forward to another year of innovative, empowering sessions!

TXCSS Conference Committee

Check them out below:

2021-2022

Secondary Edition

January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August-September 2021

Elementary Edition

January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August-September 2021

Social Studies Specialist

Region 9 ESC

#GCT #iCivicsEducator #MIE #GridGuide #EdPuzzleCoach

Email: chelsea.howells@esc9.net
Website: https://www.esc9.net/393857_4
Location: 301 Texas 11 Loop, Wichita Falls, TX, USA
Phone: 940-397-8106
Twitter: @ChelseaHowells9