Mississippi's American History Scholars:
Partnerships, Lesson Planning, and
Professional Development

1. Partnerships within districts outside of Hattiesburg and Forrest County will consist of one eighth grade and one eleventh grade teacher. (In a few cases, ninth grade Mississippi Studies teachers may be partnered with either an eleventh or eighth grade teacher.)
   
   • In-district partners will collaborate on a one-day lesson plan for the program Web site, which will be up and running in Spring 2003.
   • In-district partners will also present one professional development session within their district each year. These presentations could range from an after-school meeting with their departments to a county-wide inservice.
   • In-district partners will also collaborate on a five-day unit during the summer institutes.
     
2. In Hattiesburg and Forrest County, teachers should decide upon their in-district partnerships and inform Mrs. Rodriguez by December 1, 2002. Teachers may work in groups of three or four if they wish, but each group MUST include both high school AND middle school/junior high teachers. The program directors will be delighted to assist you in setting up your groups.
   
3. Partnerships outside of districts will consist of the following:
   
   • Quitman and Lauderdale Counties
   • Hattiesburg and Forrest County
   • Pascagoula and Perry Counties
   • Madison and Holmes Counties
   • Lafayette County and Water Valley
   • McComb and Columbia

   Each year, out-of-district partners will make one significant contribution to disseminating what they have learned in the program. This could include, among other things:

   • a joint contribution to the program Web site (lesson plans, annotated bibliographies)
   • joint presentations within a school or district;
   • joint presentations at a professional conference;
   • joint presentations to student teachers or history education majors in their region;
   • Out-of-district partnerships will consist of either two or four participants.
     
4. Professional development sessions will be evaluated by the presenters themselves; the program will provide you with a short, easy-to-use rubric which we will ask you to turn in to document your contribution to the program.
5. Reflective journals should be completed after each colloquium. Program directors will not read these, but you will need them at the end of summer institutes to evaluate the program.
6. Lesson plans should follow the program rubric. Eventually, you will be able to simply email these to us once the Web site is up.
7. The Web site will serve as a lesson plan bank and resource for not only our teachers, but eventually teachers across the region.
8. Exit interviews will be conducted with teams of teachers during the summer institute; their purpose will be to assess the value of the program to the participants. You’ll need to refer to your journals as you review the year’s programs.
9. History Day will eventually be an integral part of the program. Next fall, we will ask you to have you students complete a project (paper, table-top exhibit, video or powerpoint presentation, or performance) which examines some aspect of U.S. History. This spring, you will be introduced to the program through handouts and teacher resources.
10. There may be an occasion when you must miss a colloquium; PLEASE let us know as early as possible.