Secrets to Success for Social Studies Teachers

Provides novice, preservice, and experienced teachers with guidelines for best practices, social studies standards, and the most practical elements of pedagogy, plus invaluable advice from veteran educators.

Ellen Kottler, Ed.S., has been a teacher for over 30 years in public and private schools, alternative schools, adult education programs, and universities. She has worked in inner-city schools as well as in suburban and rural set­tings. She was a curriculum specialist in charge of secondary social studies and law-related education for one of the country's largest school districts. Ellen is the author or coauthor of several books for educators, including Secrets for Secondary School Teachers: How to Succeed in Your First Year, On Being a Teacher, Secrets for Beginning Elementary School Teachers, Counseling Skills for Teachers, English Language Learners in Your Classroom: Strategies That Work, Secrets to Success for Science Teachers, and Students Who Drive You Crazy: Succeeding with Resistant, Unmotivated, and Otherwise Difficult Young People. She teaches secondary education and supervises intern teachers at California State University, Fullerton.

Foreword by Jeff Passe
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Introduction
1. Design Your Classroom to Create Communities of Learners
2. Understand Standards to Develop Your Curriculum
3. Make Your Instruction Meaningful to Empower Learners
4. Align Assessments With Objectives to Strengthen Outcomes
5. Connect the Learning to Reach Students- Lives
6. Develop Literacy to Build Social Studies Skills
7. Plan With Students in Mind to Prepare Your Teaching
8. Collaborate With Colleagues to Expand Opportunities
9. Incorporate Resources to Make Social Studies Real
10. Integrate Technology to Enrich Learning
11. Seek Powerful Activities to Engage Learners
12. Reflect on Your Practices to Prepare for the Future
Resource A. Social Studies Textbook Evaluation Tool
Resource B. Sample Social Studies Concepts by Level
Resource C. Detailed Lesson Plan Guide
Resource D. Abbreviated Lesson Plan Tool
Resource E. Social Studies Curriculum Evaluation Tool
Readings and References
Index