History Is Elementary

The Best of Blogs or the Post Where I Ask You to Go Vote for Me

2008-05-20T15:17:00.000-04:00

This is a sticky post that will remain here at the top for a few days. Scroll down for my newest postings if you've already seen this.

Imagine my surprise and glee when I noticed that The Best of Blogs had named History Is Elementary as one of their nominated best blogs in the category of Education and Homeschooling.

If you would like to vote for me you can visit the announcement page here. I believe all that is required to vote is to leave a comment stating that in the category of education and homeschooling you vote for History Is Elementary.

I don’t say it much, but I do appreciate each and every visit, each and every email subscription, each and every link through Bloglines, etc., each and every comment, and of course……each and every lurker.

Check out the other nine nominees as well. I’m honored to be in their company and consider all of them to be great blog buddies. :)

An Easy Out...But an Interesting 13 Nonetheless

2008-05-14T23:18:00.002-04:00

The last few days have been a series of things that had to be done yesterday and lots of go-go-going. I have several projects that all seem to be converging and convening all on the same day --- reading that must be done, food that must be prepared, writing that must be done, an already burgeoning summer calendar that makes me want to stick my head in the sand, and gee…..my family might want a clean towel before the end of the week as well.

All of my teacher friends are all counting down to the last day of school just as urgently as their students. They all can tick off on their fingers an ever growing list of things that must be done before the final hooray closes out the year. Grades, awards, getting that new contract signed, next year’s grade and room assignment, report card comments, end of the year party preparation, packing if moving to a new room or school, turning in purchase order for next years supplies, meeting new team members if new teachers have been hired, field day preparations, brainstorming new and innovative methods to contain a group of kids a few days longer even through young bodies are are ready to burst at their summer seams, cleaning out files, taking down bulletin boards…..oh my gosh….the list is endless….an ever growing sinkhole of gotta do, gotta do, gotta do.

So forgive me as I resort to a method of posting that is an easy way out for any teacher of history when the entries on the to do list become a bit overwhelming……let’s focus on what happened on this day……..May 15th……in history. I’m sure you will find yourself saying as you read the list, “Oh, I didn’t know that….Oh, I forgot about that…..Huh?” Leave me a comment letting me know which item spurred you to do a quick Google gaggle to find out more.

Here are 13 events that occurred throughout history on May 15th.

1. In 1602, Cape Cod was discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold.

2. In 1862, the Department of Agriculture was created

3. In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Standard Oil Company, ruling it was in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

4. In 1916, U.S. Marines landed in Santo Domingo to quell civil disorder.

5. In 1918, regular airmail service between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, began under the direction of the Post Office Department, which later became the U.S. Postal Service.

6. In 1940, nylon stockings went on sale for the first time in the U.S.

7. In 1957, Britain dropped its first hydrogen bomb on Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean.

8. In 1964, the Smothers Brothers, Dick and Tom, gave their first concert in Carnegie Hall in New York City.

9. In 1970, U.S. President Nixon appointed America's first two female generals.

10. In 1972, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, MD while campaigning for the U.S. presidency. Wallace was paralyzed by the shot.

11. In 1975, the merchant ship U.S. Mayaguez was recaptured from Cambodia's Khmer Rouge.

12. In 2003, Texas Democrats boarded two buses and returned home after a self-imposed four-day exile in Oklahoma that temporarily succeeded in killing a redistricting plan they opposed.

13. In 2006, the Pentagon disclosed the names of everyone detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison since it opened four years earlier.

If you like this 13 list, you can find all of my 13 lists here.

If you would like to find other bloggers who 13 on Thursday you can find them here.

Carny Time in Georgia

2008-05-11T22:17:00.002-04:00

The Mother’s Day edition of the Georgia Carnival is up and running over at Georgia on My Mind. This carnival isn’t just for Georgians. Post include church growth, a post regarding the effects of not vaccinating children, a video regarding wine choices with bar-b-que including the word “quaffable”, captioned movies for the hearing impaired, and many other interesting posts from fantastic blogs.

Head on over, but watch for falling trees and other storm debris. Our Mother’s Day this year found the Atlanta area enduring another round of tornados, straight-line winds, and the oft repeated phrase, “It sounded just like a freight train.”

My family is ok, but many of my fellow Georgians are not. It was a bumpy morning around here from 2 a.m. until 5 a.m.

So, go to the carnival with me and let’s take our minds off storms and cleaning up. Good reads can always do the trick!

Washington: The Making of The American Capital

2008-05-09T23:44:00.006-04:00

The first and last time I visited Washington D.C. I was in the seventh grade. The trip served as a reward for participating as a member of the school patrol. Some of us had served alongside our school crossing guard, along the car rider lane, on our school bus, or many, like me, took up a post in the hallway or cycled in and out of the restrooms during our daily 15-20 minute tour of duty. Quite simply we told kids to stop rough-housing, to move along, and to slow----it---down. For the most part we were listened to and respected. Today….I’m sure a fight would break out because someone would think they were being disrespected.

The trip to our nation’s capital was amazing. What struck me the most was the awesome size of our nation’s marble monuments that symbolize our republic – the Supreme Court building, the Capitol, the National Archives, the Washington Monument – everywhere I looked I saw Greek and Roman facades and columns, and marble…..marble everywhere. The dazzling whiteness, the chisled columns, the carved pediments, imposing wide steps, the wide avenues, and statuary everywhere the eye looked…all designed to impress, inspire, and illustrate the greatness and power of the United States.

Pictures and video simply do not express the beauty, the grandeur, and the promise of power that seeps from every famed building, fountain, and park. Every year I attempt to do our nation’s capital justice by attempting to convey what is it like, but it’s hard. Many of my students have never even been to Atlanta, even though it is a mere 25 miles away and others, if they have gotten that far from home have only been through Atlanta, not “to” it. During all of my years of teaching I’ve only run across a handful of kids who have visited and toured Washington D.C.

Usually we discuss the creation and building of our nation’s capital soon after we have ended our look at the American Revolution and discovered how the Constitution was written. While I often feel inadequate relying on my feeble attempts to describe the nation’s city through images and my memories, I also feel our texts do a poor job as well.

If ever there was a spot in the curriculum road to go four-wheeling, it’s at this point. Texts rarely provide enough data to get across the powerful images Washington D.C. conveys and many of the most interesting details are often left out of the story.

For example, in the text published by Scott Foresman titled Building a Nation my students can learn that Congress argued for over 10 years regarding the site of our nation’s capital. They learn what the D.C. stands for. They learn the land is not far from Mt. Vernon, and in 1799 the capital was referred to as Washington D.C. rather than Federal City in honor of our first president. L’Enfant is described as the city’s designer, and Benjamin Banneker is identified as the an inventor, mathematician, astronomer, and the son of a freed slave. The text simply states that Banneker was asked to help with the project. More information is given about Banneker on another page in the textbook.

That’s it. If I was a teacher who just relied on a textbook to teach American History to students the above is all they would know. It’s not much.

Enter a new book by Fergus M. Bordewich titled Washington: The Making of The American Capital. This is the book to read if you like to know all the backstories to the larger story. This is the book to read if you like to add to your bag of tricks when teaching about a certain event or place. Bordewich provides rich detail regarding the why, the how, and the who behind the making of the U.S. capital we enjoy and should cherish today.

With over thirty pages of notes regarding references used in his research I’m confident that Mr. Bordewich is a reliable source for use by history teachers, history students, and lovers of history in general.

The thorough history Mr. Bordewich provides engaged me with every turn of the page, and I couldn’t help but mark certain things that spoke to me in some way, or things that I wanted to make sure I added to my teaching unit regarding Washington D.C.

Here are just a few of the items I marked:

*the site that exists today came about during a dinner between James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, but it was not the original choice. Bordewich goes into great detail regarding all of the events and all of the various involved parties prior to and after Jefferson’s dinner party.

*Bordewich explains in great detail why Major L’Enfant soon faded from the story, and how Andrew Ellicott became a rising star in the planning and building process.

*I found Bordewich’s section regarding the involvement of Benjamin Banneker to be one of the most well written and detail ridden accounts I’ve seen to date. In fact, I’m planning on figuring out how I can share these pages with students either by simply reading them aloud and stopping every so often to discuss main points, or by reading a more juvenile account of Mr. Banneker’s life and have students compare it to the account given in Bordewich’s book.

*The issue of slavery is dealt with heavily in the book as it should be. It was an issue in the final location choice, and it was an issue with the labor that built the city.

*And where did the money come from to pay for the land and the buildings? Again, Bordewich lays it all out…the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Oh, those backstories I love so much!

I’ve only related a smidge of the story Bordewich relates concerning the founding and building of our nation’s capital. It’s an entertaining read and I highly recommend it.

13 Things About the Zoot Suit Riots

2008-05-08T08:33:00.003-04:00

Here in my fair city of Atlanta there has been talk within the city council regarding young men and their underwear. Seems the young ones like to wear their pants hanging about their knees for some reason. I’m not particularly fond of the style myself. For one thing I simply don’t understand how someone can demand respect from me when they are attempting to walk towards me holding their pants up with one hand to keep them from puddling around their feet. It’s hilarious. Over the years though American youth have had their fads and fashion trends including the Flappers of the 20s and the Greasers of the 50s…….and then there were the Zoot Suits.

1. Zoot suits were popular among Hispanics, African Americans, and Italians during the 1930s and 1940s.

2. They were mainly worn for special occasions. The suit consisted of high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed pants paired with a long coat called a carlango that sported wide lapels and high padded shoulders. Sometimes a hat completed the look that contained a long feather. Sometimes a watch chain dangled from the belt to the knees and then looped back to a side pocket.

3. Just as many consider saggy pants to be a symbol of youth rebellion today the zoot suit was that same symbol in the 30s and 40s.

4. The zoot suit was first seen in the 1930s in New York at the height of the Harlem Jazz culture. Many referred to them as “drapes.”

5. In the summer of 1943 tensions were running high between Chicano youths and U.S. Servicemen stationed in Los Angeles

6. During their off duty periods and after they had been out for a night of drinking sailors and soldiers had to walk through Chicano neighborhoods in order to return to their bases.

7. Some of the interactions moved beyond name calling and erupted in brawls and robberies.

8. It didn’t help that the LA Police Department was also attempting to clean up street corners in Chicano neighborhoods where young men loitered and many participated in illegal street gambling.

9. Prior to the riots in October 1942, a young man was killed during a fracas between two rival Chicano gangs. Over 600 young men were arrested, however, convictions were later overturned.

10. Things escalated between U.S. servicemen and zoot suiters when the servicemen attacked and beat up a Chicano group stating the zoot suiters had stabbed one of their own.

11. Attacks and retaliation attacks continued in May, 1943. As U.S. Servicemen headed out to “get back at” the Chicanos those wearing zoot suits were easy to identify and they bore the brunt of the attacks. While many zoot suiters were arrested and processed throught the LA justice system the servicemen were handed over to the military police and were often let go.

12. As the days passed historical records show that thousands of servicemen joined the attacks. African Americans were involved as well as they took the side of the Chicano community providing vehicles and weapons to fight against the servicemen.

13. An eyewitness account helps to give an image of the attacks: Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up every zoot suiter they could find. Pushing its way into the important motion picture theaters, the mob ordered the management to turn on the house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out of their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked off their seats, pushed into the streets and beaten with a sadistic frenzy.

After several days the military intervened. Local press printed stories lauding the servicemen stating their attacks had rid the community of hoodlums and miscreants. Luckily the military designated downtown LA offlimits to servicemen in the future. Very few charges were leveled at the servicemen and the charges that were made quickly went away. When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out against the riots stating that long term racial discrimination against Hispanics led to the problems she was accused of attempting to create more racial discord.

….and we thing these types of things only happen today.

Visit the main page for Thurday Thirteen here

Carnivals Abound

2008-05-07T16:58:00.003-04:00

The May edition of the History Carnival has posted over at Bay Radical while last week’s edition of the Education Carnival can be found at What It's Like on the Inside, and this week’s edition is posted over at Bellringers. Enjoy!

In case you aren't sure what a blog carnival is....the best way I know how to describe it is a carnival is a blog post with lots of links to other blogs all posting on a similar subject. It's a regular online magazine of sorts that posts on a weekly (education carnival) or monthly (history carnival) basis.

Check them out, but don't get eat too much cotton candy!

America: A Great Nation

2008-05-07T10:14:00.002-04:00

Keeping with the theme…America---a Great Nation----this is an image of the U.S. Senate. When you analyze the three branches of government and how Congress was formed via the Great Compromise it looks and sounds pretty good, but is the U.S. Congress an ingredient that makes the United States a great nation?

Visit the Wordless Wednesday hub here.

Historical Triage

2008-05-06T15:22:00.003-04:00

If you are a history teacher then you probably already know what I mean by historical triage. The history of America, the history of the world, the history of Georgia, and even the history of a button can be a very vast area to cover. We simply can’t do it all in the amount of time we are given. Sometimes, however, I wish I had more time to share everything I would like to with students.

That is often impossible, however, because as the teacher I’m given a set of standards with the directive of making sure those items are taught. If I deviate from “the plan” then students aren’t prepared for the next set of standards for higher grade levels, and they aren’t prepared for the state assessment. However, as a passionate history teacher I know that more information can help students see a bigger picture, more information can help students connect to information already learned, and more information can help motivate students to dig further. It is quite a conundrum though. Out of all of the possible tibits of “extra” history, which ones do I attempt to include and which ones do I sacrifice for another day, another time, or even for another teacher to cover? It’s all a matter of triage.

For example, in the fifth grade one teaching standard states, the student will describe the importance of key people, events, and developments between 1950-1975. Now that standard covers twenty-five years of history jam packed with people, events, and developments. How do I know what Georgia considers important?

Luckily elements are given with each standard to serve as a guidebook when planning lessons, so that I know how specific I should get. Element (a.) states the student should be able to discuss the importance of the Vietnam War, and (b.) the student should know something about Justice Thurgood Marshall. This leads me to the conclusion that President Johnson will need to be introduced to students along with his two-front war….the war in Vietnam and the domestic war against racial inequality, poverty, and many other social ills more commonly known as The Great Society simply because President Johnson greatly increased our involvement in Vietnam and he also appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Sadly, this could mean much of the interesting life of LBJ could be triaged and left on my planning room floor. I believe sharing President Johnson’s social programs with students is key to understanding the entire decade of the sixties and on towards present day. A look at the Great Society also ties in with previous studies such as the War Between the States, Reconstruction, the resurrgence of the Ku Klux Klan, etc., but I have to be reasonable. I cannot cover everything.

One way I attempt to share more of LBJ with my students is with a discovery activity I have devised. After a few days spent in the jungles of Vietnam I turn students’ attention to the Johnson’s domestic programs and his wish to improve American society. We discuss how the Great Society was an effort to eliminate poverty, reverse racial injustice, improve education, clean up urban blight, and protect the environment. We discuss how Johnson had an incredible amount of money flooding into Asia as well as gushing into Great Society programs.

One morning students arrive to see a question I’ve written on the board in large letters, “What would make President Johnson so passionate about improving American society?”

With that question in mind, students move into groups armed with copies of one particular resource covering President Johnson’s early life. The resources stop at the point he became a politician. Every group member has their own copy, but each group has a different source. Students are instructed to keep the question on the board in mind, and I ask them to read and analyze the source. Their job is to pull out facts about Johnson that might possible answer the question on the board. For some class groups we might spend a moment or two breaking down the question to make sure students are clear regarding what they are looking for.

I love activities like this because I am allowing the student to discover the information. They love to tell me something I might not know, and as the year progresses they become very competitive with one another in an attempt to learn something new. After a few minutes we gather again, and I ask each group to share one thing they learned. As they share I begin to make a master list on the board underneath our focus question.

One group tells me the Johnson family lived in a very small home with no electricity and no plumbing. Many are amazed by this and I tell them that even as close as fifty years ago there were homes in our own community that still had outhouses. Another group shares that the Johnson’s father was a state legislator, but the family was poor as the father tried to make a living as a farmer and a cattle speculator. Someone on the other side of the room begins to wave their arm frantically. I call on Mr. Wavy Hand and he excitedly shares, “It wasn’t just his father who was a lawmaker. His grandfather was too!”

I say, “Hmmmm…..” as I begin to write that fact on the board and call on the next group. In a rush one young lady advises President Johnson was born in 1908 and his father’s name was Sam Ealy Johnson. His mother’s name was Rebekah Baines Johnson.”

Several students emit a chorus of “Ohhhhhhh!” as they now know where the “Baines” came from in President Johnson’s name. I notice one group seems to be about ready to bust with their tidbit from Johnson’s early life. I go ahead and call on them to show us how intelligent they are. Very Loud Young Man lets out a sigh of relief and states, “I thought someone else would tell you before we could.”

I say, “What? What it is?”

A girl in the group says, “Oh, EHT. This is just soooooo good. You’re going to like this.”

I put my hand on my hip and sigh as I say, “Well……..”

Very Loud Young Man finally explodes by saying, “Johnson grew up near Johnson City, Texas. Johnson City was named for his ancestors who helped settle the area. One of them was named James Polk Johnson. He went to Texas after the War Between the States and….HE WAS FROM GEORGIA!.”

There are several “ohs” and “ahs” around the room including my own, “Really? That’s so neat. Let’s put a star by that fact because if you are like me we will want to know more about Mr. Johnson from Georgia.”

A voice from the back of the room mimics what I often say during class, “Yes, let’s save that for further research.” I smile. I don’t repeat things over and over merely because I like to hear my voice.

We continue on with the facts. As a group we discover President Johnson was talkative in school and was described as awkward. Several students related to this while others related to the fact that even though he probably lived very simply his classmates elected him as president of his eleventh grade class. Another group found a quotation of President Johnson’s where he said, “Poverty was so common we didn’t know it had a name.” We discuss the meaning of the President’s remark and moved on to more facts.

He had four siblings. Someone remarked his house was probably crowded. Another quipped, “Well, he didn’t have his own room. That’s for sure.”

Another group discovered Johnson’s mother’s grandfather had been George Washington Baines. He was a Baptist clergyman and was President of Baylor University. I let student groups discuss this for a minute after wondering outloud why the Johnson family was so poor if they have a university president in their background. Students arrive at all sorts of reasons such as crop failures. and maybe the rest of the family never had the same amount of education for some reason. Someone else remarked that perhaps President Johnson’s mother’s family was better off than his father’s.

We also discover Johnson worked his way through college at Southwest Texas State Teacher’s College. The next group, however, correct my factoid on the board by stating their resource said the college is known as Texas State University---San Marcos today.

Finally, we discovered that for one year before he left for Washington, President Johnson taught school. Oh my, he was a school teacher! He taught at the Welhausen School. His students were almost entirely Mexican and were from very simple circumstances.

Through this activity students learn that politicians are often passionate regarding certain issues because of their past experiences. Now that students understand President Johnson’s zeal in wanting Great Society programs, they are ready to examine and analyze the various components of the various social programs proposed during the late 60s.

This post also appears at American Presidents.

Pop Quiz: Why is Cinco de Mayo a Big Deal, or Is It?

2008-05-05T15:24:00.002-04:00

Ah, testing is over….Spring has sprung….and the fifth of May brings cries of Happy Cinco de Mayo, Elementaryhistoryteacher! Students discuss how their families will invade the nearest Mexican restaurant for special deals, free beer for the adults at some establishments, and lively music.

Whoa there…I like Mexican food, music, and an occasional beer as much as the next person, but exactly what are we celebrating?

It’s lunchtime and lots of people are moving about the campus, so I send out a group of kids with clipboards in hand and ask them to take an informal survey asking any adult in the hallway, media center, lunchroom, or main office why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. I send out another group to ask students at lunch the same question.

The two groups remaining in the classroom stay busy until our survey takers return. Fifteen minutes later the data is passed along to the groups that stayed in the room, and they get busy analyzing the answers.

What they discovered is that is doesn’t really matter whether the person is old or young, white, black, or Mexican…..no one in our survey group can really truly can state that they know why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. Some think they know, but they aren’t sure. A few adults stated they thought the day was set aside to celebrate Mexican independence like the Fourth of July. Others felt that the day must commemorate a great victory of some sort.

Wrong and wrong, sort of.

Cinco de Mayo is not a day of independence for Mexicans….It is September 16th. Cinco de Mayo is not a holiday recognized by the Mexican government. It is a regional holiday celebrated in the area of Puebla to commemorate the Battle of Puebla. It occurred in 1862 when the Mexican forces beat back French forces, but only for a bit. A year later Mexico was totally defeated by the French, and the Hapsburgs began to rule. The day began to be celebrated by Mexicans living in the United States to celebrate resistance to French rule in Mexico.

Should the fifth of May be such a big deal? This editiorial from the New York Times examines a little of the history and discusses why you might be ordering a Corona this afternoon or tonight.

Over the years Cinco de Mayo has become an informal holiday to recognize and appreciate Mexican culture here in the United States, and after our survey and research into the matter it was decided that learning more about a culture and celebrating it a bit isn’t such a bad thing, but perhaps we all need to know what we are celebrating before biting into that chalupa or asking for another Corona.

An Apple a Day....

2008-05-01T21:39:00.002-04:00

Several weeks ago I was approached by someone at The Apple….it’s a place where teachers meet and learn. Over there you will find education news, articles, lesson plans, an online forum, and much more.

Seems they wanted to include me as one of their featured writers. Of course I was honored, and I quickly accepted. You can find me along with The Apple’s other featured writers on this page.

Can’t find me? Just scroll down to the bottom until you see the name Lisa Cooper….yep, that’s me. This isn’t the first time I’ve come out behind the cartoon image with my real name, but it certainly won’t be the last.

From time to time you might find an article or two from History Is Elementary as you browse through their cataloged articles as well as many other great articles from other educators.

So, head on over to The Apple and get to know some folks who blog and some who don’t, and join in on the conversation because apples and teachers just go together, you know?

America: a Great Nation

2008-04-30T13:01:00.002-04:00

Of course there is no question that this is an image of an American operating room. Thinking of doctors and medical care in this country in general are they part of the ingredients that make the United States a great nation? What are the implications for mandated government controlled healthcare some presidential candidates are promoting?

You can see all of the images in my wordless series America a Great Nation here, and you can view the wordless offerings of other bloggers here.

Professional Development at Its Best

2008-04-29T17:36:00.002-04:00

Not too long ago I posted my response to a meme that was basically a self survey regarding priviledge. The post received a few comments and some bloggers linked to it with their own postings including Byrningbunny and Rebecca over at Freaky Frugalite.

In the post I mentioned Dr. Ruby K. Payne…..I said---

One of the best resources (books and tapes) that I have ever used to help me get my head around the implications of poverty and its effects on education is Dr. Ruby K. Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty . Not only is she a very entertaining speaker the exercises in her book and workbook gave me a totally different mindset regarding some of my students.

A few days later I was alerted by by a friend that Dr. Payne and her associates have a blog, and I was mentioned over there. The blog is called Aha! Process, Inc. It is a great resource for Payne’s materials and even videos. Patti Albright, a contributing author at the site happened to see my post regarding priviledge and posted her own article titled Privilege and the Paper World over at Aha! She states:

The game intrigued me because of my training with and subsequent passion for Ruby Payne’s work. Dr. Payne’s research reveals, among many other ideas that most schools in America operate from middle class norms. Students, starting in kindergarten, are immersed in the middle class “paper world” – they are inundated with field trip notes, report cards, test results, textbooks, library books, PTA notices, fundraiser catalogs, etc. Many of our students from generational poverty do not come from homes where books, magazines, and bank statements, abound. The paper world to which middle class America has become so accustomed does not exist for many children from poverty, and just this one aspect of not coming from a “privileged” background can be a huge stumbling block to success in today’s educational system.

I just love this whole blogging “thing” and the implications it has for education. I am constantly amazed at how things are passed along, linked to, refined and adopted. A blog post often begins through a conversation with self that quickly becomes a conversation with a few, and then side bar conversations begin at other sites.

Someone once asked me why I would want to spend my free time writing, reading, commenting, and linking…….I told them that it’s really very simple. Blogging in education is the ultimate in vertical teaming or a small group conducting collaborative research. You find a group of blogs that basically fit your niche and hang on with all your might because the conversation is constant, and the most important outcome is professional growth of the highest caliber.

Gone For the Weekend...

2008-04-24T15:02:00.000-04:00

Enjoy the archives and current postings here on the main page. I’m heading out a religious retreat…I’ll be without watch, cell phone, lap top, or motor car until Sunday.

You can also enjoy the latest edition of the education carnival, or head on over to American Presidents and read my latest offering regarding the time Andrew Jackson lost his head.....literally.

13 Things About the USS Constitution

2008-04-24T00:08:00.002-04:00

1. The Constitution was one of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 during the administration of George Washington.

2. The Constitution is indeed a national ship regarding her construction. The vessel is designed to be powerful enough to outfight any enemy warship approximately her same size, and yet fast enough to outsail a larger opponent. She is made from the lumber from over 2,000 trees from Maine to Georgia. The Constitution is also armed with cannons cast in Rhode Island, and fitted with copper fastenings provided by the famous Boston smith Paul Revere.

3. The vessel was finally launched after the third attempt. During the first attempt the ship stuck after moving only 27 feet. After two days they tried again only to have the vessel stick again after another 31 feet. In order to have a successful launch workers made the launchng ways steeper. Captain James Sever used a bottle of Madeira to finally launch the Constitution.

4. In 1796, the ship begins a long distinguished career defending the United States through the “Quasi-War” with the French in the West Indies. In the Mediterranean Sea the Constitution mounts five different attacks on Tripoli, served with much distinction during the War of 1812, and has shown her flag in many, many ports of call.

5. The ship is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world as it has remained part of the U.S. Navy since her launching day on October 21, 1797.

6. Today the Constitution can be visited in Charlestown at the historic Charlestown Navy Yard. Adjacent to the ship is the USS Constitution Museum which serves as the memory and educational voice of “Old Ironsides.” Family-friendly, hands-on exhibits share the stories of the vessel and those who shaped her history.

7. Back on January 18th the museum purchased at auction four paintings. One of the works of art included a depiction of the USS Constitution in battle with the British ship Guerriere on August 19, 1812 at the very moment the Constitution earned her nickname “Old Ironsides. The artist is George Ropes, Jr. of Salem, Massachusetts. Since it was completed in 1813, the painting is considered to be among the earliest image of this seminal battle.

8. The four paintings will be rotated on and off display beginning May 14 and will be available for use as aids in educational programs, reproduced on products made available in the museum’s gift shop, and will be central to the Museum’s battle theater presentation. You can see an image of all four paintings here.

9. Prior to becoming the property of the USS Constitution Museum the paintings belonged to the Woburn Public Library in Woburn, Massachusetts where they were being stored in a vault. The decision was made to sell the paintings at auction in order to fund an expansion and renovation of the library’s historic structure and because the paintings have no real connection to Woburn.

10. Paintings like these four new acquisitions were for the American citizens during the early 1800s akin to photographs or newspaper accounts of the day.

11. The historic fight with HMS Guerriere took place 600 miles east of Nova Scotia on August 19, 1812. At some point during the battle somone saw a British shot bounce off USS Constitution’s side, and shouts, “Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!” resulting in a nickname of “Old Ironsides” that exists even today.

12. Following the battle depicting in Ropes’ paintings the HMS Guerriere had to be sunk because it so badly damaged. The victory for the Americans was very great in that they had seen many defeats up to that point during the War of 1812.

13. Much later in her naval career word gets out that the Navy intends to “scrap” the Constitution. A student at the time, Oliver Wendell Holmes quickly writes and publishes a poem we remember today as Old Ironsides. Due to an inspector’s report and public outcry the Navy directs the refurbishment of the ship.

So, if you are in the vacinity of the Charlestown Navy Yard between May 14th of this year and November 14th head on over to the USS Constitution site and view unique images of history.

The website for the USS Constitution Museum website is here
Read many of my other 13 lists here.
Visit other blogs participating in Thursday 13 here.

America: A Great Nation

2008-04-22T22:17:00.004-04:00

The formal name for the Statue of Liberty is Liberty Enlightening the World. The most familiar lines from The New Colossus inscribed on a bronze plaque at the base of statue reads: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Does this statue symbolize what makes America great? Why or why not?

See my other images in this series here.

Visit other sites participating in Wordless Wednesday for various images.

Assessment Methods: Easy For You or Best For Them

2008-04-22T12:11:00.003-04:00

Do you remember watching the television show Make a Wish? For awhile, it was televised on Saturday, but I mainly remember seeing it if we played hooky from church on Sunday. The star of the show was Tom Chapin. One site reminds my cobwebbed covered mind that Chapin would introduce the topic of the show like this – “I think a snake is what I’ll be. Imagine all the possibilities.” After that there would be a sort of free association featuring stock footage, animation, and Chapin’s music and voiceover commentary. You can see the opening and closing for the show here.

The show was a great example of getting kids to be creative with their thoughts by thinking outside the box.

Well, Tom got older. I grew up, and got older myself. By 1976 the show had been cancelled and replaced with something else. Sadly, Tom’s brother, Harry, died far too soon as many seemed to do in the 70s and early 80s. Tom kept being creative, however, and his latest efforts can be seen here:

Tom’s explanation about the song and the full lyrics can be found here. Tom relates how he appreciates the job teachers do and states that anything that excites a student, opens their eyes, and hearts and minds is a positive that makes a child invest in school. He states that music, art, drama, and sports kept him involved in school and laments that many of these have been and are in the process of being cut in various districts across the United States due to standardized testing.

Chapin states, “Now we are teaching by rote again – where the test, and only the test, becomes the reason to teach and study.”

Finally, and I think my old Sunday morning friend, Tom, makes a very valid point when he states, “It’s no secret that American industry has outsourced most factory jobs to other countries to take advantage of cheaper labor costs. So why are we putting so much effort into a form of education in which there is no creativity? This is the time that our youth should be taught to think ”out of the box,” not be put into a tighter one!

Every year we use those all important test scores to make a judgement regarding where students are in their reading ability. Far too often I find the test score that determines the placement is a poor picture of what the child can actually do or not do – yet we are told repeatedly this is what we must measure by.

There are too many variables that can cause an incorrect view of a child’s ability based on one number – the child bubbles haphazadly because he/she is bored, the child just happens to luck up and choose the right answer, the child is sick, the child is thinking about going to mall or the playground, the child and his/her mother were kicked out of their home the night before, or the scores are undermined by certain formulas and other machinations by the state department of education that causes student to appear to be meeting grade level standards when they are actually performing far below standards.

All the above results in too many students placed in remedial reading programs or too many remedial kids NOT placed within the programs they need. After a period of several weeks to even months most kids eventually get to the right situation for them, but by then precious time has elapsed.

It just seems to me that instead of basing need for particular services on one test score it would better serve the child to maintain and use portfolios that contain student work samples from across the content areas. When samples are taken on an ongoing basis, when a school system has created a system wide procedure for the creation and mantenance of a portfolio, and when periodic reviews are completed of the samples by the grade level team it is almost always glaringly clear where the student resides academically. Problem areas leap out at you from particular content areas to strengths and weaknesses across the curriculum. From this information a game plan to tackle certain problems can be forumulated, and time is not wasted on areas where no help is needed.

But what do I know? I’m just the teacher – the teacher who is with the child every day observing him or her, making notes, strategizing with team members, setting goals with the child, and gathering input from parents.

Many of my colleagues are quick to state that portfolios are time consuming, and that they place too much burden on the backs of teachers, but I ask you to think about this...who are we there in the classroom to serve? Are we there to make things easier for us, or are we there to serve the best interest for each and every student?

Past, Present, Future: Augusta National

2008-04-18T09:42:00.006-04:00

This past weekend it was all about the Masters Tournament around here. I love to watch it, and my husband loves to live through it making each swing and putt with his favorite players. Since he wasn’t in attendance for this year’s action, I forgave him for pulling his Blackberry out to check the tournament results as we exited our church sanctuary following Sunday night’s service. Shhhh….dont’ tell! :)

You have to admit… golf is a game with great history, and the Masters Tournament has a history that can stand alone. It is said that when Georgia’s own favorite son, Bobby Jones, came across the piece of land that would become August National Club he said, “Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course upon it.”

Well, the land hadn’t just been laying there. Believe it or not it had a history before August National. Prior to Jones and his partners acquiring the land, it had served as an indigo plantation owned by Dennis Redmond. The building that serves as the Augusta National Clubhouse was built in 1854 to serve as the Redmond home, and is believed to be the first home in the South to be built of concrete. The walls are 18 inches thick, but following the Charleston earthquake in the late 1800s a few cracks were noted. The current clubhouse has had a few major additions, however, since the plantation days.

In 1857, the property was purchased by Belgian Baron Louis Mathieu Edouard Berckmans. Whew! That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Berckmans’ hobby was horticulture while his son, Prosper Julius Alphonse, dabbled in horticulture, but he was also an agronomist. Father and son began Fruitland Nurseries covering 365 acres. They imported many trees and plants from countries all over the world. This explains why there are so many varieties of trees and flowering plants on the property today. In fact, the row of 61 magnolias that line Magnolia Lane were planted prior to the Civil War. Many of the pine trees that spot the course are over 150 years old. The Masters Tournament is known for the beautiful azaleas that blanket the course which Prosper is credited with making them an extremely popular addition to gardens in the South.

While there are many aspects of the Augusta National course that have their own little stories to tell I’m going to focus today on two aspects of the course that involve the presidency of the United States----the Eisenhower cabin and the Eisenhower Pine. So, pack up your belongings and join me over at American Presidents where I’ll explain the rest of the story…..

13 Things I Found in the Digital Vault of the National Archives

2008-04-17T07:58:00.003-04:00

One of the best resources I have found for students to use is from The National Archives Website. When we think of the National Archives we immediately picture the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, etc., and we should because these very important documents are housed under the care of the National Archives.

BUT….they have sooooo much more, and you can see all of your choices if you visit their website and head down to the Digital Vaults. The Archives contain over 10 billion documents and images, and the Digital Vaults enable us to view online more than we could ever see in a lifetime.

The website can be used in a classroom with small groups. Many of my students use the site as jumping off point for independent research. They can also use the tagging feature to find related documents, and they can create a poster or short video.

Here are just some of the documents I uncovered this afternoon:

1. A very intricate family record a widow used to prove her relationship to her husband in order to receive his Revolutionary War pension.

2. A statement that was used to prove why a Vietnam era soldier should receive the National Medal of Honor dated May 12, 1968.

3. Photos of Japanese-American couples married during internment in the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor .

4. A World War II poster where Uncle Sam is warning people to be quiet and not speak about troop movements.

5. A photo showing switchboard operators working on a board connecting overseas calls during World War II.

6. A picture of Mamie Doud at 17 taken in 1913. She would one day be our nation’s First Lady as the wife of President Eisenhower.

7. A photo by Russell Lee depicting a Kentucky mining family living in company housing….they rented for $10 a month.

8. Another beautifully decorated Revolutionary claim from a widow for property her husband owned.

9. A 1954 aerial photo of Orlando, Florida prior to Walt Disney World.

10. A photo of Jim Thorpe, a Native American who many believe was the most talented athelete during the early 20th century.

11. Members of Troop C from Fort Grant, Arizona in 1881.

12. A 1956 request sent from Walt Disney on company stationary to then Vice President Richard Nixon requesting an interview.

13. A 1946 aerial view of Mount St. Helens.

So, go explore. You might find something amazing.

Have a great Thursday and check out other 13s here.

Image snagged from A Very Old Place

America: A Great Nation

2008-04-16T09:00:00.002-04:00

This is an image of a college campus somewhere in the United States.

Do our colleges make the U.S. a great nation? Should college be a goal for everyone? What do you say to critics who claim colleges are places that teach our young people to hate America with extreme ideas?

Other wordless entries can be found here

Are YOU Privileged?

2008-04-13T16:17:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago as I was visiting many of the teacher blogs I have on one of my blogrolls at History Is Elementary I saw The Privilege Meme over at Confessions From the Couch. I thought it was interesting.

Miss A explains this meme is to help examine privileges/social class. The meme comes from What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University.

If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright. To participate, copy and paste…then unbold my responses to make your own.

Bold the items that apply to you:

1. Father went to college

2. Father finished college

3. Mother went to college

4. Mother finished college

5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor

6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers. (same)

7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.

8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.

9. Were read children’s books by a parent.

10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18

11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 (art, piano)

12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.

13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18. (had one with Dad’s name)

14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs. (before I got married)

15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

16. Went to a private high school

17. Went to summer camp (flag corp)

18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18

19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels

20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18

21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them

22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house

24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home

25. You had your own room as a child

26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18

27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course (I don’t think they existed in the olden days)

28. Had your own TV in your room in high school

29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college

30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16

31. Went on a cruise with your family

32. Went on more than one cruise with your family

33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.

34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

I bolded 22 out of 34. I guess that would make me priviledged, however, I didn’t always feel that way as I went through school. I didn’t live in a subdivision like all of my friends. We didn’t drive the newest cars, and we ate fairly simply. The home I lived in sat in the middle of lumberyard where my father worked as the manager, and I had a railroad track running 500 feet in front of my house---a craftsman style bungalow built around 1929.

There were no hallways in my home that sat up on stacked bricks, and the heat came from a gas furnace with only one grate. Most cold mornings would find me huddled with my sister over the furnace as the hot air would blow up our flannel nightgowns. It was so warm, and we’d stand there giggling telling each other we were pregnant with our nightgowns all blowed out.

Privileged? I guess….according to the list and when placed side by side with others I guess I was, HOWEVER, doesn’t it really depend on your generation?

If my father played this little game he would leave many items unbolded yet his family during their heyday were very priviledged and had many things others didn’t. They had land holdings, they owned their home, they ate off their own land, and today he can do anything he wants. He made an extremely good living without a college education.

Looking at this from his generation’s point of view I guess the definition of privilege changes every so often as our society changes. I do this this sort of exercise is helpful to get an idea where people you deal with everyday might be coming from. These types of things can be a help when trying to deal with children from poverty backgrounds…..backgrounds that are very foreign to me.

One of the best resources (books and tapes) that I have ever used to help me get my head around the implications of poverty and its effects on education is Dr. Ruby K. Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Not only is she a very entertaining speaker the exercises in her book and workbook gave me a totally different mindset regarding some of my students.

If you've never experienced Ruby Payne I highly suggest you get your hands on some of her videos......The experiences she relates are simply a scream at times. Since most of us find ourselves in difficult situtuations most of the time it is helpful to have a giggle.

Is It Friday Yet?

2008-04-10T21:52:00.002-04:00

The newest edition of the Education Carnival can be found over at The Elementary Educator. As I’ve been known to say over and over and over….walk, walk, walk, DON’T run!

I noticed today that I had been challenged to participate in a meme over at Eoin Purcell's Blog called Book Meme Tagging. Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences
5. Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you.

So here goes…..the closest book I have next to me is in a brown envelope that was just delivered today. I have an advance copy of Washington....The Making of the American Capitol by Fergus M. Bordewich. I am looking forward to reading the book and reviewing it here at History Is Elementary in a few days.

Turning to page 123 the sixth, seventh and eighth sentences relate:

It was also at this time that Thornton learned of the design competition for the United States Capitol. He threw himself into the project, which brought him welcome distraction from the continuing mockery of his fellow island whites. The pungent smell of sugar being rendered into molasses and rum filled the humid air as, day and night, he worked at his sketches, oblivious to the thrum of rain on the giant bulletwood trees, and the thud of waves on the shore of nearby Sea Cow Bay.

The link I've provided for Thornton (above) takes you to two postings I've written concerning William Thornton.

I can’t wait to get into this book!

I’m tagging……Mrs. Mecomber, Polski3, Mister Teacher, MDawg, and Mrs. Bluebird

13 Presidential Also Rans

2008-04-09T21:06:00.001-04:00

Last week I posted 13 unusual names of men that have run for president. This week my focus is on men who ran for president, but they didn’t win making them an “also ran.”

As you will see some men have run for president numerous times and never achieved their goal. Even so, they all had distinguished careers in government serving in many different capacities. I’ve linked to biographies for each individual. Choose one or two and learn something new.

1. Eugene V. Debs ran 5 times….1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920

2. Aaron Burr ran 3 times…..1792, 1796, and 1800

3. George Clinton ran 3 times…1792, 1796, and 1808
He also ran for VP in 1804

4. Henry Clay ran 3 times…..1824, 1832, and 1844

5. William Jennings Bryan ran 3 times….1896, 1900, and 1908

6. James G. Birney ran 2 times…1840 and 1844

7. Thomas Pinkney ran 2 times…..1796 and 1804

8. Charles Pinkney ran 2 times…..1800 and 1808

9. Thomas Dewey ran 2 times…1944 and 1948

10. Adlai Stevenson ran for president 2 times…..1952 and 1956

11. Adlai E. Stevenson ran for vice president 2 times….1892 and 1900

12. Thomas E. Watson ran for president 1 time (1904), but he ran for vice president 1 time as well (1896).

13. Rufus King only ran for president 1 time (1816), but he ran for Vice President 2 times (1804 and 1808)

and a bonus one as well……

John C. Breckenridge only ran for president 1 time (1860), but he ran successfully for Vice President 1 time (1856)

Locate other bloggers participating in Thursday 13 here

America: a Great Nation

2008-04-08T23:40:00.002-04:00

How does this fit into my theme?

Find other wordless images here

Absolutely NO to Absolut

2008-04-07T19:07:00.004-04:00

This image has appeared in Absolut vodka ads south of the border. This article from the LA Times states:

The billboard and press campaign, created by advertising agency Teran\TBWA and now running in Mexico, is a colorful map depicting what the Americas might look like in an "Absolut" -- i.e., perfect -- world.

The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California.

Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo saw the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México ceded to the United States to become modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. (Texas actually split from Mexico several years earlier to form a breakaway republic, and was voluntarily annexed by the United States in 1846.)

The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S., which was not involved in the Absolut campaign.

Ucedo, who is from Argentina, said: “Mexicans talk about how the Americans stole their land, so this is their way of reclaiming it. It’s very relevant and the Mexicans will love the idea.”
But he said that were the campaign to run in the United States, it might fall flat.

Hmmmmmm…really? I wonder why?

Ucedo’s reasons why the campaign would fall flat, however, twists my bloomers a bit…..He says, “Many people aren’t going to understand it here. Americans in the East and the North or in the center of the county -- I don’t know if they know much about the history. “Probably Americans in Texas and California understand perfectly and I don’t know how they’d take it.”

While I agree that many Americans don’t know ALL of the details regarding their history…which I find sad, one thing most adults do know is the basic shape of our country on a map.

Absolut had to know this is more than just a cute little ad.

The ad's message has more than one intention, and I don’t really care if Absolut has apologized or not. The small caption published along with the map says that the ad was created for the Mexican audience only and was intended to recall “a time which the population of Mexico might feel was more ideal.”

What’s next? Will we soon be seeing ads intended for German citizens showing maps with concentration camps highlighted? Will Italians see ads showing the gradeur that was Rome by depicting Christians being torn apart by lions? What about an ad targeting Native Americans depicting North America in its natural state? In this type of context we can see how these types of things can be offensive to some.

While I agree that the examples I set out above are extreme compared to a mere image showing a map of past boundaries even a map that seems innocent enough can portray mixed messages in society. For example, think of the mixed messages if the Absolut company decided to run an ad campaign depicting a map showing the United States as it appeared in 1866 or 1867…..What types of reactions would that map garner?

Bad form, Absolut….bad form indeed.

Digging Holes

2008-04-05T12:50:00.003-04:00

I used to love to dig holes in my yard. Didn’t you? I made forts, playhouses, roads…..I lived in my imagination back then, and it is one major difference I often see between my childhood and many of the children I teach. They don't use their imaginations enough. They want every activity they engage in "told" to them or pre-prepared for them.

The boys described in the article referred to below are thankfully using their imaginations. In the process they have become associates of the imaginary Indiana Jones and the real Leakey family.

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. - What began as a project to build an imaginary fort turned into an archeological dig for a trio of Dacula middle schoolers. A couple of weeks ago, Austin Bannister, 12, and Tyler Moore, 13, were digging a makeshift barracks in a wooded nature preserve in their neighborhood when they encountered some rusted metal. They began to dig, enlisting Tyler's twin brother, Austin, to help, and soon they discovered……

Head on over to the article recently published in the Gwinnett Daily News.