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Austin Independent School District - Bureau of Curriculum

SOCIAL STUDIES

High School

Curriculum > Social Studies > High School >

Calendar 0910 Dept. Chairs IPGs

STAFF

• Joe Ramirez, Supervisor:
  414-4690
• Susan Everett,
  North Elementary Specialist:
  414-9920
• Janie McClam,
  South Elementary Specialist:
  414-4410
• Janie Maldonado,
  Middle School Specialist:
  414-4223
• Jessica Jolliffe,
  Middle School Specialist:
  414-9514
• Terry Loessin,
  High School Specialist:
  414-9638
• Celeste Smith,
  High School Specialist:
  414-1274
• Lisa Ellis, Secretary:
  414-4361
• Arika Ramirez-Cuevas, Secretary:
  414-4231

Select:  [Student Notes] [Faculty Notes] [Previous Prof. Dev.] [Proposed TEKS Revisions]

 

What's New for High Schools?

City of Austin & Austin ISD Launch AUSTINCORPS

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, City Manager Marc Ott, Austin Independent School District Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and AISD Board of Trustees President Mark Williams announced today that the City and AISD will partner to launch AustinCorps, a new civic education and leadership development program for local high school students.

The city and school district leaders said the program will launch in September, at the start of the 2010-2011 school year, and will be offered as a year-long elective class to high school seniors. In its inaugural year, AustinCorps will be open to a total of 50 students at two schools, Crockett High School and Akins High School. Juniors at the two schools will be able to apply to participate in the 2010-2011 class beginning this week.

AustinCorps will combine classroom curriculum focused on local government with a hands-on experience at City Hall. In the fall, students will meet twice weekly with city policymakers and administrators to become familiar with the functions of city government. In the spring, students will complete a mentored internship with the city, and work in small groups to plan and execute community projects. Altogether, participants in the inaugural AustinCorps class will spend a total of 10,000 hours over nine months working at City Hall and in the community.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who proposed creating AustinCorps during his mayoral campaign last year, said the main objective is to promote community engagement among Austin students. "Our most valuable resource as a city is our young people," said Leffingwell. "If we can do more now to educate and engage Austin’s students in local government and civic life, the entire community will ultimately reap the reward."

Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said AustinCorps will help AISD students learn to appreciate the important role of local government. "The decisions made at City Hall are central to our daily lives in ways many of us don’t always appreciate," said Carstarphen. "AustinCorps will offer our students a rare chance to see local government in action up close, and I fully expect it to make a lifelong impact." [read more]

NEW GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

The State Board of Education adopted amendments to the Texas Administrative Code regarding new Graduation Requirements to be implemented beginning in the 2010-11 school year.

• What happened to concurrent enrollment courses?
  Are they no longer allowed to count toward graduation credit?
• What are the criteria that students must satisfy in order to opt into the Minimum High School Program (MHSP)?
• Are students who were already on the MHSP required to go back and satisfy one of the criteria?
• Are students on the MHSP still required to complete a health credit?

For answers to these and more questions about the new Graduation Requirements,

CLICK HERE.

- Download a quick reference GradReq Side-by-side Chart.pdf

NEW TEKS & EOC ASSESSMENTS

Also coming down the pike,
new state standards for Social Studies and a new high-stakes assessment!

• In what school year will we experience the required Professional Development that will provide Orientation on the newly adopted TEKS?
• In what school year will we be expected to follow the new Social Studies TEKS in our instructional planning?
• In what year will students take the new EOC (STAAR) for my subject area?

For answers to these and more questions about the new TEKS & EOC implementation,

CLICK HERE.

STUDENT NOTES

Congratulations to McCallum High School students Grant Thompson McClure and Diana Burgess named as recent winners in the 2010 McCormick Freedom Project's "Seen and Heard" contest.

Challenging the age-old adage “children should be seen and not heard,” the Freedom Museum encourages youth to claim their First Amendment rights and submit original works that express their unique views on contemporary social, political or economic issues. Entries from across the nation are accepted in the categories of editorial cartoons, film, photojournalism and Web design and are reviewed by a joint panel of museum staff and guest judges.

Grant's entry, "Student Achievement Gap," took 2nd place in the PhotoJournalism category.
Diana's entry, "Freedoms Worth Fighting For," took 3rd place in the Film category.

FACULTY NOTES

Two in AISD Receive Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award

Jim Furgeson

On Monday, February 1, 2010, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul joined Humanities Texas Executive Director Michael L. Gillette and Humanities Texas board member Venus F. Strawn to present Jim Furgeson with an Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award.

Mr. Furgeson's brother, U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson, was also present (shown between McCaul and Furgeson) as Representative McCaul presented Furgeson with an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol.

Jim Furgeson teaches U.S. history, constitutional law, and practical law at A. N. McCallum High School in Austin. Mike Garrison, principal of McCallum High School, said that Mr. Furgeson "attempts to engage and encourage the students to develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter, which, in turn, allows the students to develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world."

"I believe that learning is exciting," said Furgeson. "Learning changes a person. It is upsetting and unsettling. It forces a student to see himself or herself in a new way. It also requires involvement, but it causes growth and with growth comes a realization of new potential and abilities.”

Mr. Furgeson's students spend time competing in scholarship contests that require them to write essays covering concepts they learn in class. His students have won awards for their school and scholarships for themselves, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

Kyle Olson

Kyle Olson, World History and Advanced Placement Art History teacher at the International High School was presented the 2008-2009 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award in a ceremony November 23 in the Performing Arts Center of the Eastside Memorial Campus. The award was presented by Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett (photo, left) and Dr. Michael Gillette, executive director of Humanities Texas.

Reflecting the diverse community found at the International High campus, former and current students took part in the special ceremony recognizing the work of Olson. This student participation allowed for recognition of the unique work and successes of the I.H.S. campus itself. Shufi Bhuiyan, 10th grade student from Bangladesh, served as master of ceremonies; Kristian Cabrera, 10th grade student from Puerto Rico, sang the Star Spangled Banner; Heba Alwan from Iraq and Jane Amador from Honduras provided personal stories about Olson, and Sae Saito, 9th grade student from Japan, performed a classical piece on the piano in addition to providing keyboard accompaniment in the Eastside Memorial Jazz Band.

___________

Each year, Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, presents awards to exceptional teachers. The Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award recognizes exemplary contributions by humanities teachers in Texas elementary, middle, and high schools. Olson and the other teacher recipients will each receive a $5,000 cash award, and an additional $500 for their schools, to purchase humanities-based instructional materials. For more information about this or other Teacher Awards, click here.

 

MELINDA LEMKE A NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHER

Congratulations to Austin High teacher Melinda Lemke on acquiring her National Board Certification.  We asked Melinda to share reflections regarding this experience.

PHOTO: Melinda Lemke pauses on the Oregon Trail this summer while participating in a NEH-sponsored trip.  Lemke regularly pursues opportunities for professional growth.

“Completing National Board Certification was a long, introspective process that has brought my high school teaching career full circle. Most history teaches will say history was their favorite subject in high school; I used to be one of them. The National Board journey culminated, for me, in the realization that while history is something that both evokes great interest and that I’m good at, education itself has truly been my favorite subject. Educational opportunities continually challenge, empower and positively shape the human condition, a reality I learned early on from my parents, and that I try to model personally and professionally for my students everyday. National Board Certification has been an extremely rewarding process on many levels. The District cohort was very supportive and provided the great opportunity to collaborate with similarly dedicated and engaged teachers. I encourage any educator who seeks to instill drive, integrity and voice in all of their students, as well as a true love of education to embark on the journey.”

Melinda Lemke is in her eighth year of teaching and currently teaches Pre-A.P. World History and two Government electives at Stephen F. Austin High School. Originally from Niagara Falls, New York, Melinda completed her undergraduate work at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, earning a B.S.E.D., a B.A. in History and a Minor in Law. During college, she spent significant time abroad doing aid work in developing nations of Latin America, Africa and Asia. After college she taught high school English in South Korea via a J. William Fulbright Foreign Fellowship, and from 2002-2004, she completed her M.Ed. at the University of Texas at Austin through James Madison Memorial Fellowship. Part of a Teaching American History Grant, Melinda also has written U.S. History curriculum for the Region XIII Education Service Center, and is currently part of the district's World History I.P.G. writing team.

 

LASA's Maricruz Aguayo-Tabor Wins Milken Award

Maricruz Aguayo-Tabor, Social Studies Chair and teacher at Austin’s Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School, learned October 22nd of her selection as one of the 2009 Milken National Educator Award recipients. The Award, which comes with an unrestricted cash prize of $25,000, was presented during an assembly at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy on the LBJ High School Campus.

"Ms. Aguayo-Tabor embodies the qualities we look for in teachers, to inspire our students to achieve great things," said Superintendent Dr. Meria Carstarphen. "We are proud to have Ms. Aguayo-Tabor to be among our teaching ranks."

- Read full article in Austin American Statesman

 

International High School Teacher Ian Grayson
receiveS NOVA Award at 2009 TCSS Fall Conference

Congratulations Ian!

Nominated by the local Capital Area Council for the Social Studies, Ian was selected as the 2009 NOVA Award recipient by the Texas Council for the Social Studies. Ian was presented that award at the 2009 TCSS Conference in Dallas.

The TCSS NOVA Award is designated for teachers who have completed their first year as a classroom teacher and are currently teaching in their second or third year. This award, regardless of K-12 level is to honor the outstanding new teacher who contributes to the advancement of social studies education within the school and community.

Previous Professional Development Info. / Photos

2009-10 Theme:  

"Rules of Engagement: Motivating Students by Teaching What Matters"

SPRING 2010 District-Wide Staff Development

• VIEW PHOTOS

The program included presentations from Austin ISD social studies teachers, university scholars, curriculum publishers, and liaisons from local museums and community agencies. Teachers thumbed through selecting 2-morning sessions and 1-afternoon sessions to attend. For the final session of the day, teachers attended their specific content-area's meeting to review the proposed TEKS revisions and were provided an orientation to the district's new IPGa system.

Participants received six hours of professional development credit, including 3 hours of G/T credit.

Fall 2009 District-Wide Staff Development

• VIEW PHOTOS
  

Teachers thumbed through an impressive program, selecting 2-morning sessions to attend. The program included over 40 presentations from Austin ISD social studies teachers, university scholars, curriculum publishers, and liaisons from local museums and community agencies.

Participants received four hours of professional development credit.

2009-10
NEW TEACHER ACADEMY

Welcome New Teachers!

What an impressive group of new high school social studies teachers we have in Austin ISD this year. We really enjoyed getting to know each of you at our New Teacher Academy the week of August 10 - 14 at Akins High.

Our thanks to Cherry Whipple who accepted our invitation to be our master teacher this year and who modeled so well those "best practices" that are expectations in Austin ISD's social studies classrooms. Click here to locate the lesson Cherry modeled, 'Was Ancient Sumer a Civilization?'

Assisting our master teacher again this year were Ian Grayson, providing our ELL instructional support, and Jim Fulbright, providing Special Education instructional support - thank you both!

Below are several of the NTA presentation documents promised you. Let me know if you are looking for others and are unable to located them on our site.

Day 3:

• "A Closer Look at the Written, Taught, and Tested Curriculum".ppt
• AISD Social Studies: Strategies for Success.pdf
• Social Studies Best Practices.pdf
• ELPS : PLDs Accommodations.pdf
• Levels of Language Development.pdf

Day 5:

• AISD New Teacher Survival Guide.pdf

2008-09
Spring District-Wide Staff Development

SPRING '09

February 13, 2009
Location: Crockett High School

"Reaching All Students in Social Studies:
Academic Rigor without Rigor Mortis"

• VIEW PROGRAM CATALOG

Teachers thumbed through an impressive program, selecting 2-morning and 2-afternoon sessions to attend. The program included over 60 presentations from Austin ISD social studies teachers, university scholars, textbook publishers, and liaisons from local museums and community agencies. Participants received six hours of professional development credit, including a three-hour G/T component for attending.

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