Textbook Updates and Social Studies Adoption

Good afternoon - & Happy July 31st!

How well I remember the busy nature of this time of year! Thinking of all of you as you work tirelessly to have school ready to open for your teachers & students! Our warehouse is working in a similar fashion - 7 days a week this time of year to get books out to you. We just got in that high school Cengage many of you have been waiting on - & we're awaiting some backorders that some of you may need with certain grade levels of Savvas elementary math. The hard-back secondary Savvas science books will come in soon - though the digital should be activated. And finally, McGraw-Hill math kits (we've been waiting on the last part of that...) will go out soon as well. There are other orders, too, but these are ones which affect a few of you.

Here are some important updates regarding social studies adoptions for the coming year as well as start of school info:

  1. PW Website Blog You're reading it right now - thanks for visiting! Check out the Patrick's Updates category to see previously shared information.
  2. Caravan Sates are SET! We have set Social Studies Caravan dates & locations. You'll notice that we've pushed as many as possible to before New Year's, in an effort to have it occur earlier in the timeline of your own local processes. Put these dates on your calendar & begin planning now! Speaking of...
  3. Reserving SLOTS for Caravan: We are doing registration for caravan a little differently this year. In mid-August, I'll email you a google form & ask you to reserve SLOTS (or seats) for the elementary & secondary caravans for your district. So be thinking about that. You won't have to know specific names or even who's on the committee yet, but be thinking about how many committee members you want to send each day. Be sure to include participating district leadership along with committee members in that number. And - while you're encouraged to participate in YOUR inservice region, you are free to reserve seats in another region, if those dates better meet your needs. MORE TO COME in mid-August!
  4. Training: I am offering a 90 min zoom session on the textbook adoption process 3 times in September (check out the flyer here for details). I picked 3 different days of the week with very different times in the hopes that at least one might work for any who desired to attend. I'll cover the legalities as well as best practices - & will emphasize the importance of following a time line so that you're done by your March Board meeting, ready to order! This is ideal for newer curriculum directors, textbook coordinators, social studies specialists, or administrative assistants. There's no registration or anything....just click on the zoom & show up! Put the best date for you on your calendar - & share the flyers with anyone in your district who might could benefit.
  5. New Folks? I update my distribution list DAILY, it seems - folks are really coming & going! If you know of a change in your district that has occurred or that will occur...or if there's someone you would like me to add to this list, please drop me a line. And - though I'm doing the online zoom training, I'm still happy to come & sit down with any of you who are new in August & September - & I may reach out to some of you to set something up. Processes like these look different in different systems - particularly between large & small districts - & I'm happy to talk that through with you. I find that it's easy to tie in other district initiatives & leadership opportunities into this process - & that could benefit your system in multiple ways beyond the selection of instructional materials.

Hang in there... check that list off one thing at a time... And - at least there's a cold front coming!

Take care,

Patrick