C3 Teachers Blogs
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C3 Teachers is a collaborative effort made up of teachers and teacher educators focused on using inquiry to enhance social studies teaching and learning.
C3 Teachers Blogs
1y ago
“We inherit our history.” It was a phrase I often used to begin my year in the hopes of sparking student agency and making history relevant. But as an early teacher in social studies and ELA, misconceptions about the importance of authentically investigating history filled my brain. I knew I wanted my students to engage ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
1y ago
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 ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
1y ago
In classrooms, we use inquiries to deepen student understanding of content and to sharpen student skills towards making evidence-based arguments, asking important questions, and taking informed action. In the past, I’ve worked with teachers on adopting the language of inquiry, not only as they learn to create and deploy inquiries, but as general praxis. In ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
1y ago
I recently zoomed with Nick Stamoulacatos, Supervisor of Social Studies at Syracuse City School District and one of the writers on the article “Countering the Past of Least Resistance” in that latest Social Education. We talked about Syracuse City Schools inquiry initiative and the inquiry loop featured in the article. Can you give me a ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
1y ago
Image of New York State Archives and Museum in Albany, New York Making connections with cultural centers offers educators a measure of expertise outside their own content knowledge and pedagogical skill. Doing so also offers valuable resources that can be used to help bring history to life. These advantages suggest why connections with cultural centers ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
1y ago
The following interview with Kathy Swan, SG Grant, and John Lee by Rozella Clyde was previously published in the 2021 November/December edition of Social Education Q. What were your original goals when you began working on the C3 Framework? A. When we first started working on the C3 Framework 10 years ago, we were responding ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
1y ago
As I recently waited to pick up my child from school, I noticed a plaque that said the school was built in 1939 as part of the New Deal Works Progress Administration. I had walked by this sign several times and never noticed. Putting on my teacher hat, I thought about the many questions this ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
2y ago
As a social studies educator I have heard all the excuses as to why social studies is not a priority within our elementary school classrooms. “There isn’t enough time.” “We need to focus on reading and math skills.” “Social Studies isn’t tested so it really doesn’t matter.” These excuses are gut wrenching and disheartening, because ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
2y ago
When Inquiry Hits a Nerve I recently read Isabel Wilkerson’s bestselling book, Caste: The Origins of our Discontents. I found Wilkerson’s argument intellectually stimulating and began to think about how I could incorporate her book into social studies curriculum in central Kentucky. There are many challenges to incorporating modern scholarship into secondary social studies. Will ..read more
C3 Teachers Blogs
2y ago
Elementary classes have a lot of curricula competing for airtime. Reading, math, writing, and many other vital and worthy topics fill the day. During a packed day, how can social studies inquiry fit into the schedule? Moreover, students get worn down and weighed down with everything they are expected to learn from the disciplines. Sometimes ..read more