Highlights

Friday

NCSS Documentary Series

10:15AM-6:30PM, GRB Convention Center Room 350DEF

The NCSS Documentary Series presents four provocative and compelling documentary collections from some of the country’s most respected documentary production companies. Each film includes a panel discussion with representatives of the film, plus teaching materials. Stay for one film or for the whole day!

10:15AM Collected Short Documentaries from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting connects students with reporters And critical global issues through its Global Gateway program. Short documentaries combined with print and radio pieces and in-class visits engage students in complex, seemingly distant issues such as global struggles to secure water, the role discrimination plays in the spread of HIV/AIDS, the plight of Iraqi refugees, and rehabilitation of child soldiers. The Center will unveil the Pulitzer Gateway, its newly developed interactive education portal that incorporates documentaries, photography, articles, lesson plans (developed in collaboration with Brown University’s Choices program), online student-journalist discussions and student-generated material in a dynamic easy-to-use platform. Over 40 short documentaries tied to larger reporting projects provide windows on a wide range of global issues and are available for classroom use.

• Jon Sawyer, Pulitzer Center executive director whose journalism career spans more than 30 years and special-project assignments in five dozen countries, provides the context for global awareness initiatives and the overview of cross-media international reporting projects and documentaries.
• Kristen Collins, a Parkway West High School (Missouri) teacher, brings her experiences in presenting four Pulitzer Center Global Gateway programs to her students, discusses available resources and offers implementation strategies.
• Nathalie Applewhite, Pulitzer Center associate director instrumental in Global Gateway’s creation and a filmmaker herself, explores the social And technical tools available to teachers and students to raise the level of global awareness.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an innovator in international nonprofit journalism. It goes beyond the headlines and sponsors in-depth independent coverage of under-reported issues around the globe. The Pulitzer Center supports the journalists and partners with major media outlets to ensure publication or broadcast. The Center promotes additional debate on the issues covered through the use of multiple media platforms, interactive web-based technology and its Global Gateway educational outreach program. To learn more, visit:www.pulitzercenter.org

1:15 PM Iron Ladies of Liberia
With unprecedented access, this intimate documentary goes behind the scenes with Africa’s first freely elected female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia. The film explores the challenges facing the new president and the extraordinary women surrounding her as they develop and implement policy to rebuild their ravaged country and prevent a descent back into civil war. Iron Ladies is one of several films featured in the VOTE Democracy! CLASSROOM series developed by the Independent Television Service. The films and lessons engage students in discussions about democracy around the world, elections, gender and media literacy. Shortened modules and curricula are available at www.pbs.org/independentlens/classroom/votedemocracy.html

Watch a preview at http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/ironladies/index.html.

3:30 PM Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans presents a portrait of arguably the oldest African American neighborhood in the U.S. which was also the birthplace of the black civil rights struggle in the South and the home of jazz. Its important and unique, little known past adds a revealing new dimension to black history from slavery to the problems of racial inequality. It also brings us up to today’s post-Katrina New Orleans. A film by Dawn Logsdon and Lolis Eric Lolie. For more information, go to: www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0213

 

NCSS Teachers of the Year Awards Reception

6:15-7:30PM Hilton Americas-Houston Room 335A-C
Come out and celebrate excellence! Join us for a special evening as we honor the best and brightest in social studies education! Our annual Teacher of the Year Awards recognize outstanding classroom teachers who educate effective citizens

President’s Reception

7:30-8:45PM Hilton Americas-Houston Grand Ballroom Foyer (4th Floor)
Catch up with old friends and meet new ones in the beautiful Grand Ballroom foyer of the Hilton Americas-Houston, overlooking the skyline of downtown Houston. We will have entertainment and light refreshments to add to the festivities. Sponsored by American Institute for History Education and Pearson.

The Nystrom Welcome Dance

8:45-11:30PM Hilton Americas-Houston Grand Ballroom A-C
Once again our friends at Nystrom will host this perennial favorite. Whirl the night away to great music and terrific company at the annual Welcome Dance featuring live entertainment in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Americas-Houston.

Saturday

Breakfast with Firoozeh Dumas

8:00-9:30AM Hilton Americas-Houston Room 340AB
Join best-selling author Firoozeh Dumas for an informal and intimate meet-the-author breakfast prior to her keynote address. This is a ticketed event.

Students Doing Social Studies

8:00-10:15AM, 10:30AM-2:45PM, 2:45-5:00PM GRB Convention Center Room 350DEF
Several Houston-area student groups will present their award-winning projects in civics, history, geography, and technology. Watch the students, talk with their teachers, and learn how to implement these projects in your classroom. Sponsored by Teachers’ Curriculum Institute.

NCSS Communities Poster Session

11:45AM-12:45PM GRB Convention Center Foyer near Room 330
NCSS Communities are groups of NCSS members formed around a similar interest, subject, or job area and vehicles for NCSS members to discuss current topics, seek advice, share their knowledge and connect with other members with similar interests. Plan to explore NCSS’s many communities by meeting with their leaders and learning about their activities during this special session of poster presentations.

By joining one or more communities, you have opportunities to network with members who share your interests and concerns and have a greater say in NCSS governance. Communities maintain an online presence on the NCSS website, allowing members to interact and conduct business year-round. Communities also hold business meetings and conduct sessions at the annual conference.

NCSS Awards Reception

5:30-7:30PM Hilton Americas-Houston Room 335A-C
Join us for the presentation of this year’s NCSS awards! Enjoy a wonderful evening of entertainment and refreshments as we honor the exceptional contributions of your colleagues in social studies education.

We Shall Remain

7:30-9:00PM GRB Convention Center Ballroom BC
From the award-winning PBS series American Experience comes We Shall Remain, a provocative, multi-media project that establishes Native history as an essential part of U.S. history that represents the most ambitious primetime television series and media project on Native history ever produced. At the heart of the project is a five-part television series that shows how Native peoples adapted and fought back—from the Wampanoags of New England in the 1600s who used their alliance with the English to weaken rival tribes, to the bold new leaders of the 1970s who harnessed the momentum of the civil rights movement to forge a pan-Indian identity. We Shall Remain represents an unprecedented collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers, as well as the involvement of Native advisors and scholars at all levels of the project. Educational resources include a teacher's guide with lesson plans, activities, and discussion questions. For more information, go to www.pbs.org/weshallremain