Professional Development Webinars
Visit the National Archives without leaving your school or home! Our interactive webinars for educators feature historical documents, images, maps, posters, and other primary sources — as well as resources and strategies for bringing primary sources into your classroom. All webinars are free of charge.
Advance registration required. Questions? Please contact us at distancelearning@nara.gov.
Live captioning is available by request. Please include a request for live captioning services in your registration for the event and submit your registration at least two weeks in advance of the webinar.
By Request
DocsTeach Webinars By Request
Register and select your preferred dates
Connect your school or district with the National Archives for a custom webinar exploring DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives.
- Minimum of 10 participants
- Maximum of 99 individual connections per webinar
- Available by request Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-6:00 PM ET
- Program duration is flexible — we recommend 20-60 minutes, depending on the preferred content
- Please submit requests at least one month in advance of desired date
- All requests subject to availability
Prior to the webinar, a National Archives educator will work with you in advance to determine what the webinar will cover. Topics may include:
- An introduction to DocsTeach
- Finding primary sources for the classroom
- Creating DocsTeach activities
- And more depending on your preferences!
Questions? Contact DistanceLearning@nara.gov
Upcoming Webinars
The 2020 Presidential Primary Sources Project Program Series
January – March 2020
The National Archives and our Presidential Libraries will offer programs as part of this annual series, alongside educators from the National Park Service, the Internet2 community, and cultural and historic organizations nationwide. These free, standards-aligned, 45-minute interactive videoconferencing programs are aimed at students in grades 4-12. In addition to the interactive video component, each program will also be live-streamed and recorded for on-demand viewing for free.
Find the 2020 schedule and register for sessions on the Internet2 website.
- Presidential Powers with Documents from the National Archives, Thursday, January 16, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET
- Herbert Hoover and the Bonus March: Presidential Blunder or Necessary Action?, February 27, 11 a.m. and 2.p.m. ET
- Records of an Era: The Roosevelts 1933-1945, March 5, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET
- Truman and the 1948 Election, March 24, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET
The Making of Indian Treaties
Wednesday, February 19, 2020, 7 p.m. ET
Join us for an overview of the National Archives' treaties digitization project, including related educational materials and resources, and classroom application related to these important documents and their history.
This webinar is part of our Native American professional development series. Each program features new resources for locating and using Federal records related to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Introduction to DocsTeach
Monday, March 2, 2020, 7 p.m. ET
Join us for an introduction to DocsTeach.org, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. Discover how to find primary sources for teaching history and civics topics. Explore the 12 different document-based activity tools and learn how, with a free DocsTeach account, you can create your own activities or modify existing activities to share with your students. This webinar is suitable for all educators.
Teaching the Progressive Era with the Records of Congress
Thursday, April 23, 2020, 7 p.m. ET
Join the Center for Legislative Archives for a webinar featuring resources for teaching the Progressive Era with the records of Congress. Discover primary sources, classroom lesson plans, and DocsTeach activities for teaching Progressive Era issues. Consider the role and responsibilities of Congress in the Progressive Era while exploring techniques for analyzing photographs, charts, and maps. This webinar is suitable for high school educators.
Teaching the Big Picture: Incorporating Photographs into Lesson Plans about Native Communities
Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 7 p.m. ET
Join us and discover how to incorporate photographs from the National Archives into your lessons about American Indian communities. We will explore how to locate photographs in our holdings, the process of analyzing and interpreting primary source documents, and ways to contextualize the history depicted in the images.
This webinar is part of our Native American professional development series. Each program features new resources for locating and using Federal records related to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Professional Development for Educators YouTube Channel
View previously recorded webinars and National History Day Workshops featuring primary sources and teaching strategies.
Recently added:
- Petitions, Protest, and Persuasion: Women's Voices in the Records of the National Archives
- Teaching with the Records of Congress
- Teaching the Constitution with Political Cartoons
- WWI Resources for the Classroom: The Remembering WWI App and DocsTeach.org
- Remembering Vietnam: the Road to War-Webinar for Educators
- Remembering Vietnam: The Road Through War-Webinar for Educators
National History Day Workshops
Learn about resources for projects and primary source research from the National Archives and our partner organizations, the theme and categories, using primary and secondary sources effectively, and teaching tools for NHD.
Request a program today!
Register online using the registration link for the particular program you are interested in above. If you prefer, fill out and return our PDF form to distancelearning@nara.gov.