August 7, 2014
By Carly Muetterties
C3Teachers.org is an initiative to empower teachers as they use the innovative C3 Framework in their classrooms. The C3 takes a new approach to educational reform. It includes a comprehensive collection of 72 indicators that describe the knowledge and skills students should develop in school, but the C3 doesn’t stop there. It aims to promote inquiry and represents a shift in how social studies education should be seen and how it is taught.
I’m happy to announce that I have been named managing editor of C3 Teachers.org. As managing editor, I want to promote the C3 vision of inquiry in social studies. I believe very strongly in the theory and potential of inquiry, and I think the C3’s unique Inquiry Arc and the 72 indicators are very useful in helping teachers understand how to use inquiry in their classroom.
Of course, there has been lots of discussion about educational standards lately and the C3 Framework has been part of that discussion. I think this is a good for education and good for our democracy. Knowing about and being invested in our education system is a civic duty. We need an active community of people invested in promoting innovation in education and social studies should be involved. C3teachers.org has an important role to play in that process. Our goal at C3Teachers.org is to support a collaborative network of teachers to think deeply about social studies education and consider how inquiry can make what we do in the classroom better.
I see my new roll in the C3teachers.org as a challenge. I hope to foster a dynamic dialogue with you about how we can support students as they prepare for college, careers, and civic life. I want to challenge everyone (myself included) to reassess our role as citizens. The C3 Framework encourages students to do the same thing by taking informed civic action, and it helps to have a community of educators likewise committed.
I want to help build up a community of educators united to move social studies Forward!
I also want to challenge myself. I want to share my journey as a teacher who is trying to use the C3– the good, the bad, and the ugly. The thought of this journey is both fear-inducing and exciting, but I think I’m up for the challenge. I hope that my experiences, my successes, and my failures, will encourage others to do the same. In that effort, I’ll be starting a new blog series at start of the new school year soon where I will chronicle my experience with the C3. Look for more on that soon.
OK, so enough about me, the real question is what can you do?
First, help me get the word out! Share or like this post. We’re on Twitter at https://twitter.com/C3Teachers, so follow us and repost our tweets. You can also like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/c3teachers
Make sure to visit C3Teachers.org to keep track of work – https://c3teachers.org/
Tell others about C3 Teachers. They can join here – https://c3teachers.org/join/
Send me resources, articles, or your experiences to share. You can reach me at carly.muetterties@fayette.kyschools.us
And, contact us at (me personally or our C3T email at c3teachers@gmail.com) if you are interested in blogging and joining the C3 Teacher Leader team.
You can read our blogs here – https://c3teachers.org/c3tblogs/ and read about our C3 Teacher Leaders at https://c3teachers.org/c3t/
I would like to thank you all for giving me this opportunity. I look forward to growing and learning with all of you!