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| Maggie Hatling |
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| Nikel Bussolati |
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| Pamela Henderson |
Three local teachers just spent a week participating
in a program at the Library of Congress.
Maggie Hatling of Paisley IB Magnet School, and Nikel
Bussolati and Pamela Henderson of Reynolds High School were chosen from a pool
of more than 400 applicants to participate in the Library of Congress Teaching
with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institute for the week of July 28 to Aug.
1.
“We are finally back on North Carolina soil after
having a fantastic week in D.C.,” Henderson said. “It was an amazing
opportunity to learn how to best utilize primary sources within our classrooms,
and we only wish that more teachers had the chance to experience this caliber
of professional development.
“We look forward, with great anticipation, the
opportunity to employ what we learned during our time at the Library of
Congress within our classrooms. There is no doubt that our students will
benefit immensely from our training.”
“The week at
the Library of Congress was an amazing time to collaborate with teachers from
around the United States and learn new strategies to help in my classroom,”
Hatling said. “I am excited to take my new knowledge back to my classroom and
colleagues.”
Each year, the Library of Congress provides the
opportunity for K-12 educators to attend one of its five teacher institutes in
Washington, D.C.
During the five-day program, participants work with
Library education specialists and subject-matter experts to learn effective
practices for using primary sources in the classroom, while exploring some of
the millions of digitized historical artifacts and documents available on the
Library’s website.
This session focused on items in the collections that
support teaching and learning about civil rights struggles throughout American
history, highlighting those that led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act, the subject of a Library of Congress exhibition to open in September.
Educators attending the teacher institutes develop
primary-source-based teaching strategies that they can take back to their
school districts, apply in the classroom and share with colleagues. Teaching
with primary sources is a powerful way to help students ask engaged, probing
questions, develop critical-thinking skills, and gain knowledge.
All educators can access classroom materials, teaching
tools and strategies for teaching with primary sources from the Library’s site
for teachers at www.loc.gov/teachers/.
Applicants to the Teaching with Primary Sources Summer
Teacher Institutes reflect the diversity of the world of K-12 education.
Participants in a teacher institute session typically include school library
media specialists and school administrators, in addition to classroom teachers.
Those selected come from many different states, representing large metropolitan
school districts and smaller, rural school districts. The expertise provided by
the Library of Congress during the institutes can benefit every level of K-12
education.
Primary sources are the raw materials of history —
original documents and objects that were created at the time under study. They
are different from secondary sources—accounts or interpretations of events
created by someone without firsthand experience. Students working with primary
sources become engaged learners while building critical-thinking skills and
constructing new knowledge. Teachers working in the Library's collections will
explore the largest online collection of historical artifacts with access to
millions of unique primary sources for use in instruction.
The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal
cultural institution. The Library serves the public, scholars, members of
Congress and their staffs. Many of the Library’s resources and treasures may
also be accessed through the Library’s website at www.loc.gov.
