ENGAGE: Teaching the Social Studies Podcast

Justin Glodowski dives into the power of competition in the classroom as a strategy to boost student engagement and active participation. Justin shares how he makes learning fun and interactive by incorporating competitive elements in everyday activities, from breakout rooms to quiz challenges and review games. He explains his approach to incentivizing students with unique prizes, including creative rewards like sandboxes and leaderboard standings. Justin describes how he fosters competition through classroom-wide quizzes, role-play debates, and prediction challenges—like forecasting election results—giving students a real-world connection to classroom material. He also shares his “gamified” approach for review season in AP Gov, where students compete for prizes, track their progress on a leaderboard, and see their achievements displayed alongside those of past classes.

Justin shares tips and strategies for teaching social studies in an interactive way during an election year. He discusses classroom environment changes, strategies for approaching the election, making the election more fun to follow for different high school age groups, and strategies for approaching AP US Government and Politics in an election year as well.

In our third installment on civics education, we dive deep into the structures of government and the policy-making process. Join Justin as he shares innovative classroom activities, including simulations of Congress, creative visual representations of government types, and mini moot court cases. Discover effective strategies to engage students in understanding federalism, the legislative process, the Electoral College, and the powers of the presidency. First Episode on Civic Education Second Episodr on Civic Education Mock Congress Template Sample Bill from Mock Congress Sample Bill from Mock Congress 2 Electoral College Discussion Street Law Website Mini Moot Court Case Instructions WITH Cases!

Delve into the intricacies of Holocaust education with Justin on this episode of Engage. With invaluable resources and innovative teaching methods, this episode equips educators with the tools to engage students deeply in understanding the Holocaust's profound impact and enduring lessons. Teaching about pre-Holocaust genocide/atrocities from the Herero to the Holodomor Holocaust and Human Behavior by Facing History Echoes and Reflections Lessons Plans and Resources Holocaust Education Resource Center https://teachholocaust.org/ Dimensions in Testimony USHMM Timeline Activity USHMM

Today’s topic focuses, once again, on civics with a discussion of how Justin approaches teaching civil liberties, civil rights, and citizenship in his classroom. Resources described in the video can be found below. If you missed the last episode on Navigating Civic Education, find it here for Apple listeners or here for everyone else. Street Law Court Case Descriptions Landmark Cases Justin’s Civil Liberties/Rights Slides Freedom of Religion from Retro Report Campaign Finance and Citizens United from Retro Report NY Times v. US/Freedom of Press from Retro Report Ida B. Wells and the fight for federal anti-lynching laws from Retro Report Sign Up for the Amazing Retro Report Newsletter Iron Chef Civil Rights Template Iron Chef Civil Rights Example Women’s Rights Movement Lesson Plan

In the first episode of a series on Civics education, Justin discusses his work on the WI Civics Scope and Sequence (specifically with the HS scope and sequence) and breaks down ideas for approaching the teaching of the Foundations of Democracy and Democratic Decision Making. Great connections to AP US Government and Politics but also useful ideas and strategies for any government/civics course. WI Civics Scope and Sequence Rule of Law Lesson Plan from Street Law Justin Breaks down the Declaration of Independence Preamble Song Street Law’s Landmark Court Case Briefs https://landmarkcases.org/

Justin teaches a Genocide and Human Rights class at his school and, in this podcast, describes how he approaches teaching the definition of Genocide and how he utilizes teaching of the genocide of the Herero and Nama people, the Armenian Genocide, and the Holodomor to approach that topic. Future episodes in this series on Genocide Education will include Justin's teaching about human rights, the Holocaust, Cold War era genocides, and genocide today. RESOURCES 10 Stages of Genocide Armenian Genocide Resources Aurora's Sunrise by PBS Red Famine Holodomor Images (for introductory inquiry analysis) Some Great Additional Resources from Echoes and Reflections