MCSS Annual Conference 2026

2026 Conference Sessions

Session A - 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Primary Sources to teach the Revolution with Liam Riordan

Liam Riordan is a historian specializing in the American Revolution and the conference theme "Social Studies is Revolutionary" is central to this workshop. It will use a short packet of pre-circulated primary sources as a way to collaboratively develop plans to teach the American Revolution, especially the Declaration of Independence.  The packet includes a 10-page PDF with a data visualization and text-based primary sources that invite students to learn about and discuss the American Revolution and Declaration of Independence and can be used as the basis for a guided discussion to collaboratively develop plans to teach the Revolution in the many years of 250th commemoration from 2025 to 2041.

Using Your Voice: Teaching Civics with Local Primary Sources with Joanna Torow

Teachers are invited to practice using Maine-based primary source sets in the classroom. Maine Shared History, a collaborative effort of the Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum provides educators with free packets of local images, artifacts, documents, and sound recordings. Our newest set of materials “Using Your Voice” explores how Maine citizens have used their voice to improve the world around them. This session will include an introduction to the materials, a simulated classroom experience, and time to work with colleagues.

Democracy Lab – Revolutionizing Civics Instruction in Maine with Geoffrey Wingard

Our ability to participate in our own governance was and remains revolutionary. This presentation frames contemporary civic action in this historical context as it introduces ways that teachers can bring civics into their practice across grade levels and across disciplinary boundaries. In this session teachers will be introduced to the Democracy Lab, the Maine DOE's new do-it-yourself civics guide for schools and teachers. They will participate in some of the suggested Democracy Lab activities and work with peers to brainstorm how civics can fit into their schools, classrooms, and particular student populations.

Session B - 10:50-11:50 a.m.

Half the Story: Rethinking Revolution in History Class with Sarah Campbell

This workshop will show educators how to expand the teaching of revolutions by integrating women’s perspectives into political, economic, and social change across U.S. and world history. Participants will explore inquiry-based questions such as “Was it revolutionary for everyone?” through lessons like “Were women ‘revolutionary’ in the coming of the American Revolution?” “Was the American Revolution revolutionary for women?” “How did women challenge slavery before and after the Revolution?” and extend that thinking to broader topics such as “Did the Industrial Revolution change women’s work?” “Did labor organizations block women’s involvement?” “How did the pill transform women’s economic lives?” and “Do female politicians improve conditions for women?”—highlighting how women shaped, experienced, and challenged change across history, economics, and government. The session will be hands-on, as participants examine specific lesson plans from the Remedial Herstory Project and engage with the inquiry model used to structure them.

Teaching the Humanities with National History Day with John Taylor, Nicole Rancourt, Harper Batsford, and Liam Riordan

National History Day (NHD) is considered revolutionary not just because of the projects students create, but because of how it fundamentally disrupts the traditional "memorize and repeat" model of history education. It focuses on on active learning, develops critical thinking skills, and allows students to excel in multimodal literacy. Participants will leave this session with a deeper understanding of National History Day in Maine and its effectiveness in teaching the humanities. We'll review the program's structure and share research and project creation strategies for students. We will also touch on how NHD can be integrated into existing curricula and across content areas. There will be a hands-on exercise focused on teaching the research process that can be taken back to the classroom.

How Solutionary Projects Improve Student Engagement, Agency, and Skills! with Julie Meltzer

The world our students will inherit includes a host of social, economic, environmental and technological challenges. It is our responsibility to teach in ways that show students how they can develop agency, optimism and the problem-solving skills they will need to address problems they care about. This is a revolutionary stance -- but is necessary if we are truly preparing students to be future-ready. Social studies is the ultimate interdisciplinary content area. It is one of the most important places to teach students how to conduct deep inquiry and how to take meaningful action. This is civic action instruction at its best -- and we think all students deserve to practice this multiple times throughout their experience as a student in K-12. This session will begin by introducing the Institute for Humane Education's Solutionary Framework, a free four-phase roadmap for designing and facilitating community action projects, through a short video showcasing Maine teachers and students. We will take a quick tour through each phase of the framework and co-presenters (Maine teachers) will share what they did with their students for each phase. We will have a short panel discussion where presenting teachers will answer questions about what the projects looked like, students' reactions, advice for others doing community action projects, and what they would do differently next time. We will conclude by sharing free tools and resources available on the IHE website for teachers to use and information about upcoming opportunities for teacher professional development.

Session C - 12:50-1:50 p.m.

Wabanaki Land Treaties, 1775-1833 with Micah Pawling

This presentation encourages teachers to use "Indigenous Treaties" and their corresponding council minutes as a way to better understand Wabanaki perspectives in the past. It explores the various levels of political tension between Native leaders and state officials and the techniques Wabanaki diplomats used to assert their own objectives in the treaty negotiations. Last, the talk will provide insights about locating Wabanaki land treaties from 1775 to 1833 for teachers. If time permits, the speaker will also provide some Wabanaki history sources beyond this specific topic that could be helpful to teachers.

Instructional Strategies to Make Content Stick with Susanna Sharp

This workshop models instructional practices that position students as active thinkers, questioners, and participants in their own learning—mirroring the very democratic ideals at the heart of social studies. Just as the Semiquincentennial invites us to reflect on the founding principles of the United States and the ongoing evolution of its democracy, this session emphasizes teaching approaches that empower students to analyze, question, and engage with content in meaningful ways. The workshop not only transforms classroom practice but also reinforces the broader purpose of social studies - preparing students to engage thoughtfully and responsibly in shaping the future - and equips Maine educators with practical, high-impact instructional strategies designed to deepen content understanding and boost student engagement. Participants will explore a collection of before-, during-, and after-reading strategies that integrate movement, thinking routines, vocabulary development, and purposeful opportunities for students to learn from mistakes.  The session is structured as a hands-on learning experience: participants will actively engage in modeled activities just as their students would—collaborating, reflecting, and generating evidence of learning in real time. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use strategies, adaptable templates, and practical tools that can be immediately implemented to increase student voice, deepen comprehension, and create more dynamic, student-centered classrooms.

Revolutionary Thinking: Using Hexagonal Thinking and Retro Report to understand the significance of the Panama Canal with Shane Gower

Participants will engage in a published lesson plan created by the author for Retro Report (https://retroreport.org/subjects/civics-and-government/how-a-1964-student-protest-reshaped-the-fight-over-the-panama-canal/) an award-winning organization that offers videos, interactives, and lesson plans to all teachers FREE of charge. Retro Report is a non-partisan, non-profit organization for educators. This presentation will include some role-playing by the participants as if they were students, and some listening and watching a short video, as well as some discussion about application in classes. The lesson is specifically about how US policy with regard to Latin America has evolved going back to the construction of the Panama Canal with an emphasis on the Canal Zone incident in 1964 that changed US policy in the region. This lesson models a modern, student-centered approach to teaching history by moving beyond simple storytelling. It explores multiple perspectives, power dynamics, and the impact of student activism. Using hexagonal thinking, students build connections between ideas, encouraging collaboration, critical thinking, and analysis over memorization. The lesson aligns with skill-based learning, decolonization studies, and global citizenship education. It is inquiry-based, adaptable for different grades and abilities, interdisciplinary, and supports individualized learning.