TPS-CO September 2007 Newsletter

• TPS/AAM Transition and Grant Extensions
• Upcoming Workshops
• District Collaboration
• CDROM (Compelling Digital Resource of the Month)
• Participant Interview-Martha Cress
• TPS Fellow Highlight-Donna Levine
• TPS Contact Information

TPS-Colorado Granted Regional Status

The Educational Outreach of the Library of Congress has invited Metropolitan State College of Denver to submit plans to act as a regional partner in a 15-month pilot program under the TPS program. Metro will expand the reach of the TPS program by creating and implementing a strategy for new partner recruitment, development and coordination within the Mountain/Plains Region.

TPS/AAM Transition and Grant Extensions

An Adventure of the American Mind-Colorado (AAM-CO) recently changed its name to Teaching with Primary Sources-Colorado (TPS-CO). The new name better describes the program that Metropolitan State College of Denver began in 2003. With the new name, the program will continue to train teachers to use primary source material from the Library of Congress for classroom studies.

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Upcoming Workshops

The fall 2007 Workshop Schedule is already online.
See http://aamcolorado.mscd.edu/schedulefall2007.htm to register for either Individual or on-Location Workshop Series. On-Location Workshops are available to schools or districts with a minimum of 15 participants.

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District Collaboration

DPS Collaboration: Montbello High School in conjunction with Teaching with Primary Sources Colorado and Denver Public Schools will be hosting a series of workshops to help educators learn how to access and incorporate the vast online resources of the Library of Congress into their classrooms.

• Three Saturdays at Montbello High School 7:30am – 3:30pm:
  • September 29th - Series I: Finding, Accessing, and Using Primary Sources
• October 6th - Series II: Teaching with Primary Sources
• October 13th -  Series III: Transforming Technology With Primary Sources

• All DPS educators welcome:
  • Pre-Approved PDU Credit by DPS
  • Graduate Credit Available (additional online work required)
  • $20 per hour stipend for DPS attendees (8 - 24 Contact Hours)

Clear Creek Collaboration: The Clear Creek school District in conjunction with Teaching with Primary Sources Colorado will host a single day workshop covering the fundamental aspects of using the Library of Congress website.

• Friday October 19th - Series I: Finding, Accessing, and Using Primary Sources

If applicable, you may register for either of these collaborative workshops or any other TPS-CO workshops online at: http://pavo.mscd.edu/~pdebruy1/moodle/.

If you think your district would benefit from similar collaborations, or would simply like additional information, please contact us using the information at the bottom of this newsletter.

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CDROM (Compelling Digital Resource of the Month)

The CD-ROM, as we commonly know it, is slowly becoming outdated. TPS-CO hopes to revive this fading acronym by introducing a new CDROM, the Compelling Digital Resource of the Month. Each month we will feature a new found Library of Congress treasure that embodies the inherent compelling nature of primary sources.

TPS-CO has intoduced the first CDROM for September, but now it's up to you. TPS-CO is now accepting CDROM submissions for subsequent months. If your submission is featured, you will receive recognition on our website and a full size laminated print of the CDROM.

Please email CDROM ideas to kendal@mscd.edu with "CDROM Submission" in the subject line and the url (web address) of the primary source along with a brief explaination of why you find the primary source compelling in the email body. You may also wish to include the specific month in which you'de like to see the resource featured. Those chosen to have their CDROM featured will be notified the last week of the month prior to the feature month.

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Participant Interview-Martha Cress

Martha Cress, a local school librarian, discovered TPS-CO, formally AAM-CO, in February when she attended Librarian Days on the Auraria Campus. She was impressed with the TPS website and liked the fact that the workshop was online and free. She learned to navigate the website and the value of the information available.  As part of the workshop, she was able to access the various formats of the digitized material.
Now that school has begun, Cress plans to promote the TPS-CO program with teachers at her school. She created a PowerPoint presentation with a video file to share with the staff. She plans to create more slide presentations to expand the research projects in the library for students. The use of Primary Sources strengthens classroom learning and enriches the units taught by the teachers.

Cress believes that Primary Sources gives students tangible examples of American history. The program helps them to gain a clearer vision of America’s values. Since many students at her school are from immigrant families, they do not understand the rich history of the country they now call home. All students need to develop an appreciation for America’s heritage.  

As a much-overlooked resource, teachers need to know how to use the tools to access what is available. The digitized collection can excite teachers and fascinate their students.  American history comes alive with Primary Sources.

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TPS Highlight-Donna Levene

Donna Levene, a local high school librarian and author, paired with an American history teacher, to spend a week at the Library of Congress in 1999 at the American Memory Fellows Institute. She and her companion learned to use the newly digitized American Memory Collections to teach American history to students. As a result, they prepared a history lesson on women’s suffrage that is on file (available online) for other teachers to use. Subsequently, Levene published the book American Musicians Making History that provides lessons for teaching U. S. history using the music primary sources in American Memory and on other web sites

Now, Levene is a consultant for Teaching with Primary Sources-Colorado. She leads seminars for teachers interested in bringing history lessons to students from the digitized sources at the Library of Congress. Levene is excited about showing teachers what is available. She thinks the workshops will spread and get down to the local level with the digitizing of local historical sources. (She is encouraged that the workshops are being given all across the state and that the training includes local digitized collections.)

Levene sees the benefit to teachers by opening a whole realm of digitized material that previously had only been available to historians and scholars. With the information gained from the workshops, teachers can show students what people were thinking and how they were living by accessing letters and artifacts in the Library of Congress collection.

Students benefit from the program. They learn to use inquiry rather than just reading a textbook and become participatory in the research. The lessons allow them to analyze information and utilize their thinking skills. TPS-Colorado brings out curiosity that a textbook cannot do. It gives the student ownership in his or her learning.

The collaboration between teachers and librarians as teams is an important aspect of the program. The teacher is the subject-matter-expert while the librarian has the research and technology expertise. Together they create lessons that other teachers can access and use in their classrooms.

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TPS-Colorado Fall 2007 Workshops are Coming Soon!
Contact TPS-Colorado at 303-352-4945 or mscd-tpscolorado@mscd.edu
for details about enrolling in TPS-Colorado Workshops. Please do not respond to this e-mail. Instead, use the contact information below.

Teaching With Primary Sources - Colorado
Metropolitan State College of Denver
PO Box 173362, Campus Box 35
Denver, CO 80217

Phone: 303-352-4945 • Fax: 303-352-4987
E-mail: mscd-tpscolorado@mscd.edu • Web: http://tpscolorado.mscd.edu