By-Request Workshops
For each workshop title, choose your preferred delivery modality from the following menu:
Option A: You will receive a 1-2 hour consultation from the CLI team, after which you will be provided with the corresponding workshop materials (i.e., facilitator agenda, slide deck, participant anchor document, and associated resources) in order for you to self-facilitate the offering on your own, with your colleagues, or in your school/district.
Option B: Our team will lead the delivery of the offering live on Zoom to you and your colleagues, school, or district.
Option C: Our team will lead the delivery of the offering live in-person by traveling to your location.
A. Essential Skills for High-Quality Civics Teaching in Gr. K-12
Managing Difficult Classroom Conversations
Engaging in conversations about difficult topics helps students develop important civic skills and dispositions, but such conversations require skillful facilitation by the teacher. This workshop presents a planning framework and usable tools and strategies to extend your skill at preparing for and facilitating discussions of difficult topics in your classroom. The workshop includes examples and strategies from grades K-12 and time for you to reflect on how to apply your learning to your context,
B. Student-Engaged Civics Learning in Gr. 6-12
Project-based Civic Learning: Getting Started
Project-based civic learning opportunities offer young people a powerful opportunity for authentic civic participation. This workshop introduces you to a framework for planning and implementing projects that develop students’ civics knowledge, skills, and dispositions through real-world experiences. Join us to explore real project examples that illustrate the framework in action and consider how to refine the framework to fit your context.
Supporting Students to Take the Lead with Their Civics Projects
Successful civics projects are built on a foundation of teacher planning and support. Join us to explore tools to enhance student-led learning at three critical junctures in the project process: choosing a topic, planning and taking action, and assessing progress toward goals. You will reflect on how to adapt the strategies to your context and your learners’ needs, leaving with tools that you can put to use right away.
Facilitating Multiple Civics Projects Simultaneously
Allowing students to choose the topics for their civics projects can increase student engagement but also contribute to two common challenges for teachers: making student work time effective and efficient, and tracking the progress of multiple projects. Join us to explore strategies and usable tools that ease these common challenges. You will reflect on how to adapt the strategies to your context and your learners’ needs, leaving with tools that you can put to use right away.
Designing for Accessible and Inclusive Project-based Civic Learning
Each student brings unique assets to civic learning and also benefits from individualized support during project-based learning. Join us to deepen your understanding of how to plan and implement project-based civics learning that is relevant, accessible, and inclusive for all students. You will leave with concrete strategies that are particularly helpful for supporting meaningful project engagement for English learners and students with disabilities.
Beyond the Library: Research Skills that Support High-quality Civics Learning
Facilitating civics projects does not require you to be an expert on the issues your students choose to investigate. Instead, you will support students to develop their own expertise about their issues by helping them hone their research skills. Join us to explore strategies to help students identify credible sources and information, broaden their data sources and methods, and consider multiple stakeholders in their research.
Helping Students Connect with the Community to Deepen Civics Learning
For students completing civics projects, connecting with the community is essential for establishing the authentic, real-world context at the heart of project-based civics learning. Join us to explore strategies and resources to help all students cultivate meaningful community connections at various stages of the project process.
C. Building Community and Civic Skills in Gr. K-5
From Classroom to Community: Authentic Civic Participation in Grades K-5
Elementary students participate in meaningful civic interactions in their schools, homes, and neighborhoods every day. How can we promote students' social-emotional growth while we foster the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that help them be productive community members. with interest in civic behavior? This learning experience offers strategies for bringing civic learning to the forefront in everyday classroom interactions and for creating authentic opportunities for K-5 students to contribute to their classrooms, school, and community.
Using Daily Routines to Support Civic Learning in Grades K-5
Daily routines are an important part of elementary school life. They also present rich opportunities to foster young people’s civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Join us to learn how you can leverage common routines, like morning meeting and class decision-making, to enhance your students’ civic learning and their social-emotional growth.
Teaching Elementary Students to Have Effective Discussions
Engaging productively in discussion is an important social-emotional skill, essential in community life and civic participation. In this workshop you will practice multiple easy-to-use strategies that help students learn and internalize discussion skills and increase engagement and participation by all students.
Building a Classroom Culture that Welcomes Multiple Perspectives
In every classroom, children encounter people with experiences different from their own. In this workshop, designed for K-5 teachers, you will explore three important avenues for creating a classroom culture that values multiple perspectives: engaging in your own self-reflection, fostering students’ disposition to engage with different perspectives, and designing an inclusive physical space.
You will leave with tools for nurturing your students' inclination and ability to build community with others.