Professional development: How can I learn more?

You’ve worked your way through this North Carolina Educators’ Guide to the American Memory project at the Library of Congress. You have browsed and searched the American Memory content, read the articles, boned up on primary sources, learned all about file formats, and used the online activities in your classroom. It’s been great, but you want more.

Virtual and distance workshops

The Learning Page’s professional development page provides links to a variety of materials for trainers as well as individuals seeking learning opportunities. These materials and workshops provide an introduction to the American Memory collections, ideas for using the collections in the classroom, and suggestions for effective use of the multimedia resources in the American Memory collections.

Videoconference programs appropriate for teachers, librarians, media specialists, and university faculty are free and may be scheduled Monday through Friday during regular working hours (Eastern Time). Topics vary, but the core workshops provide search strategies, demonstrate the use of tools and viewers, define the scope of collections, and model instructional approaches that you can try in your classroom. Reservation requests are made online.

Trainers and self-motivated teachers will find the Self-Serve page offers many resources to meet their professional development needs. Workshops designed for face-to-face delivery by a trainer include a facilitator framework as well as exercises with detailed directions, so a lead teacher or media specialist can quickly build an appropriate workshop for the teachers at their school. Some of these workshop activities can be adapted for use with students. For example, in Finding the Invisible: Folklore in Sense of Place, participants examine folklore to make history come alive and to connect to community and to the past. Activities such as developing a Seasonal Round Calendar or classifying and categorizing images to develop a sense of place are easily modified for students K-8. Other workshops, like Students as Historians are actually designed for use with students; once they have been modeled in a training setting, teacher-participants can use the same activities to replicate the experience in the classroom.

Teaching with Primary Sources program

The Teaching with Primary Sources program, TPS, uses a consortium of service providers to offer workshops, seminars, graduate courses, distance learning courses, and mentoring to teachers of all disciplines. The content spans from introductory levels, with participants still working to define primary sources and browse digital collections, through for-credit courses, mentor training, and publication opportunities. Funding is provided to the TPS Consortium members, so with the exception of for-credit courses, all are free to the teacher participant. If you are interested, keep an eye on the calendar of events or contact the partners in North Carolina.

Visit the Library of Congress

Interested in unique historical and cultural treasures? Taking a trip to the nation’s capitol? Be sure to plan to visit the Library of Congress while you are there!

In April of 2008, the Library launched The Library of Congress Experience, an immersive exhibition that includes interactive kiosks, multimedia displays and programs — all free and open to the public. More information and online exhibits to complement this experience is available at the myLOC.gov website.

The Library of Congress also offers hands-on workshops for teachers on site. Each workshop description includes prerequisite skills, so you should be able to find one that meets not just your interests but your skill level as well. For more information, email edoutreach@loc.gov.