April 9, 2025
Middle School is My Passion
What happens when middle schoolers become historical investigators instead of passive fact-memorizers? Rosa Heintz reveals the powerful transformation occurring in social studies classrooms across Tennessee's Hamilton County Schools.
Website: Spotlight 4 Success
00:00 - Introduction to Rosa Hentz
01:28 - Trends in Middle School Social Studies
03:32 - Rosa's Educational Journey
04:18 - American Book Company Resources
06:12 - Leadership and Professional Development
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Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company.
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I am Devin Pintosi, your host.
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We are here at the Tennessee Council of Social Studies in Gatlinburg, tennessee.
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We are here with our special guest, rosa Hentz, who is the 9-12, no 6 through 8 coordinator, the middle school coordinator in Hamilton County.
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Welcome, rosa, thank you.
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So it's so great that you're here with us today.
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What kind of things are you doing here with the 6 through 8 side of the house in social studies here at TCSS?
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Okay, well, we're really excited to be here.
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We actually brought with us five teachers from Hamilton County Schools as presenters, so I think earlier they might have said they were bullied into presenting, but they weren't.
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We actually challenged our teacher leaders in our Social Studies Leadership Council.
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We said you guys are doing such great things.
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We want to get the word out about what's happening great in Hamilton County Schools.
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And so we challenged them and they rose to the occasion and every single one of them have had outstanding presentations where people have stayed behind to ask questions and they are fired up.
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They're talking about coming back next year and they're excited to go back to their schools and talk about all the energy around quality social studies instruction.
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Oh, that is so wonderful.
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And what kinds of things are you seeing in terms of the trends out there in middle school social studies?
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The trends are all around inquiry, so it's all about asking one really strong, compelling question and then putting good quality resources in front of students primary and secondary documents that provide multiple perspectives about things that have taken place in history, and so that allows students to be the thinkers.
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They're doing the reading, they're doing the writing and they're discussing really deep concepts in history, and they're capable of doing it.
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How do we help them and support students in how we plan for instruction?
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So that's the big trend.
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So inquiry is where it's at in social studies right now.
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Okay, that's wonderful.
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That's good to know that that's where things are going, so we can all align our curriculums accordingly.
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So I understand.
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You've seen our ABC books before.
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I have.
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Actually.
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So this is my 24th year in education and I have used the ABC books and they have come a long way over the years.
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So when I started, they were black and white and I love to see they're in color now, and I see an emphasis on using primary and secondary sources, so there are direct quotes from important people in history, there's full color pictures, paintings, cave drawings whatever is connected to the content and then the fact that you have online materials available to teachers is really great too.
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Oh, that's wonderful, Rosa, and so tell us a little bit about your journey, your educational journey.
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I understand you're currently in the role of the middle school lead Content lead, yes, content lead for social studies, and before that, previously, you were in the classroom.
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I was, so I'm again 24th year in education.
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I've taught every subject.
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Thank you.
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I've taught every subject, k through 11.
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But the majority of my career has been in social studies and no matter where I go or where I've taught, I always come back to the realm of social studies and I always come back to middle school.
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So I always tell people that, like, middle school is my passion and social studies is my jam.
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So I'm in the absolute best job that I could be in to be able to support quality history education and work with such great teachers.
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That is wonderful, rosa, and what made you choose teaching as your vocation?
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At American Book Company in Woodstock, georgia, we are committed to your students' success.
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As you can see behind me, we have our workbooks and we have online testing and e-books that go on fancy iPads over here, for instance.
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They're all designed to help your students succeed and have higher test scores on their high-stakes assessments.
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Give us a call 888-264-5877, or find us on the web, abck12.com and you can receive a free trial or a free preview book of your choice.
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Hope to hear from you soon.
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Bye-bye.
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So the truth about this is I just wanted to be a regular person.
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When I was in high school, my parents were like, what does that mean?
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And I was like you know, get up, go to work.
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You know, have a job.
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And in my senior year I did the math.
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I worked a part-time job and I thought, hmm, regular people make minimum wage, at least in the town that I lived in, and I wanted to live on my own and I thought I better go to college.
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I wanted to live on my own and I thought I better go to college.
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So what would I be good at?
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And I had a teacher in my senior year.
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She said I'm old, I'm tired, I've been teaching for 36 years.
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We need new blood.
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And so literally one conversation made me decide to apply to go to college in January of my senior year.
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As a student, I was a good student.
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I just didn't have a plan for the future.
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So it was important that teachers talk about the profession.
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And she loved the profession, but she just knew, like I can't leave until there's somebody that can replace me.
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That's quality.
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So wonderful.
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Yeah, so I went to school to be an educator, so my degree is in history, but I of course, did the coursework to be a school teacher and have just continued to grow from there.
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Oh yeah, now here you are, mentoring the mentors.
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Right, that's amazing.
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And so tell us a little bit.
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You know you've seen a lot of changes in social studies over the years, and so do you have anything?
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Before we do that, tell us a little bit about your studies.
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You've been doing some new studies.
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You did graduate studies.
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Yes, so my graduate studies are in instructional leadership and it is about how can we help to work with our teachers that are in the classroom so there are more teachers than there are administrators.
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Who is the closest to the students?
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It's the teachers, and so how can we use quality leadership strategies to get our teachers and to bring out the best in their practice so that students are getting the depth of knowledge that they need?
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in social studies, just like your teachers were doing here at this conference.
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Right absolutely.
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That's so awesome.
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Do you have anything else you'd like to share with the TCSS community?
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So I would say, if you are not already a member of TCSS, you definitely want to join, because it's a great opportunity to be part of a state content-based professional organization.
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We want to be treated as professionals and so we have to stay on top of our game.
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So where's the place to come to get the best, most innovative strategies and the newest information in social studies and different perspectives?
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It's to come to your state association conference.
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So I would say, if you are already a member, think about how you can elevate the work that you're doing and the work of TCSS.
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We'd love to have you all come out and present.
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So think about what's great in your practice, whether it's a strategy or a task that you put in front of your students, and we'd love for you to apply to present at TCSS next year.
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I plan to see you.
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Wonderful, rosa.
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Well, thank you so much.
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It was great seeing you here today, nice to be here, and I wish you all the best on the next year in terms of everything that you're learning and applying there.
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Once again, rosa Hentz, with Hamilton County Schools, thank you so much, thank you.
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