professional organizations: social studies organizations

For social studies teachers, there are two primary professional organizations, one national orgnization and one state level organization.

The national organization for social studies teachers is the National Council for the Social Studies, NCSS. NCSS sponsors an annual conference every year, as well as a range of summer professional development workshops. NCSS has a great collection of classroom lessons, activities, and articles, found at the NCSS Teachers' Library. NCSS publishes several journals dedicated to social studies education, including Social Studies and the Young Learner for elementary teachers, Middle Level Learning for middle school teachers, and Social Education for high school teachers. NCSS also publishes lists of notable social studies trade books for children each year, highlighting the best social studies books for students K-8. Members receive a subscription to one of the journals, as well as the newsletter, published 8 times a year. This only scratches the surface of what the organization offers - take a look!

The state level organization is the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies, MCSS. MCSS, the local chapter of NCSS.  One of the highlights of this organization are their workshops and professional development opportunities. Coming up next week is an NCSS-sponsored workshop, "Strengthening Your Social Studies Instruction" being held here in Minnesota. 

There are a couple other organizations to consider: the National Council for Geographic Education, for those of you who might teach geography, and the National Council for History Education, for those that focus on history courses. There is also a newer, smaller organization for civics teachers, the National Alliance for Civic Education.

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