The first time I encountered inquiry I was immediately hooked. As a novice teacher, I knew that I wanted my curriculum to be relevant, responsive, and sustaining, and I knew I wanted to attend to those resource pedagogies through asking questions. I knew that I needed to plan my course backwards, starting with big ideas, […]
I learned about the Inquiry Design Model and C3 Framework as a first-year teacher. At that time, I was working with MaryBeth Yerdon and she brought up the IDM, C3 Teachers, and the C3 Framework at a department meeting. MaryBeth learned about inquiry the previous year at a district-wide professional development. Her enthusiasm about inquiry […]
Teachers often struggle, with good reason, to locate culturally appropriate and historically accurate teaching materials about American Indians. Textbooks, popular media, and prepackaged curricular materials typically offer minimal coverage and a single perspective on complex American Indian histories and cultures. These resources often relegate American Indians to the distant past and fail to illustrate the […]
November’s annual Native American Heritage Month and the national holiday of Thanksgiving are times when many educators across the country turn their focus to lessons about Native peoples. At the National Museum of the American Indian, we receive many requests during November from teachers and parents looking for advice and resources to help them teach […]
In the Summer of 2015 I facilitated a two week workshop with 8 high school social studies teachers on performance based assessments (PBA). This curriculum project provided the opportunity, and context, to formally introduce the C3 Framework and IDM to Fairfax County Public Schools. The team was comprised of 8 teachers who represented the […]
By Amanda Buchalski With night comes darkness, unknowing where each foot step will lead. Eventually however, as night continues, the sun will begin to shine again, bringing with it light, clarity and a sense of comfort. One might say it also represents the teaching experience, growing from a beginning teacher to that of a veteran. […]
Recently, a department chair at one of our 25 high schools here in Fairfax County, Virginia asked me if there will be a project this summer to create additional C3 inquiries for VA standards of learning. The question made me smile as it suggested that teachers were using the 13 modules that have been created […]
Now that summer is here, the pressures of the school year are alleviated, at least partially. I can finally tackle my to-read pile! Though as a sufferer of tsundoku—a Japanese word meaning I have a problem with buying books that stack up, but not reading them—the stack of books will likely remain pretty high. One […]
During the National Council for Social Studies’ Annual Conference in Washington, DC, the C3 team held two meetings at the National Museum of the American Indian. Here, we met with strategic partners to discuss the C3 Hubs and the C3 Exchange, respectively. This is an important next step for C3 Teachers. We are not only […]
Last fall the TPS Eastern Region program offered an online Professional Development Course for teachers, librarians, and educators from museums and nonprofit organizations, Designing C3 Inquiries with Library of Congress Political Cartoons. We have been teaching similar PD courses with a different content focus since 2011. This year yielded the best ever participant inquiries and […]