Standing Up For What You Believe In

I haven't written on this blog in so long that I guess it would take an issue like this that would compel me to write again.  Those of you that know me well know that I do not take often publicly take sides on any issue.  I think it comes from the fact that I do not like public conflict and that being a history/government teacher I have gotten very use to play devil's advocate, issue informer, etc.  and not taking sides to avoid forming a bias in my students. I state this for those that do not know this about me because I want to make a point that I am only speaking out because I think it's important.

I had heard some about the Bears Ears Monument in the news, but I hadn't thought too much of it.  What else is new in Utah?...Someone considering a national monument....not a new thing. It wasn't resolved, it seemed there were compromises on the table etc.  Then yesterday I saw this post from an old floormate at BYU who lives in Montcello---near the proposed monument. Here are Christa Boswell's own words:

Friends, I need your help. Some of you have come to visit us here in Monticello, and you know that we live in a little paradise on the edge of a pristine National Forest, surrounded by BLM land. We live on the border of the reservation and this public land is full of sacred sites to these tribes. This is our land. This is where we cut the wood to heat our home, this is where we hunt, this is where we bring our children to understand and care for the earth. And this is all in jeopardy. Obama, along with fiercely dishonest and deep-pocketed environmental groups, are trying to use the Antiquities Act to turn 1.9 million acres of San Juan County into a proposed Bears Ears National Monument. There are so many reasons why this is wrong. 1.9 million acres is so far outside the bounds of what the Antiquities Act allows, as borders that "shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected." (Sec 2, Antiquities Act). Utah already has the third greatest amount of acreage under National Monument Status. If this monument is passed, it will destroy our community. Look at what happened to Escalante after the Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument was designated. It will completely restrict access for gathering food and fuel, and hundreds if not thousands of miles of roads will be closed. It will become a fee area, and increased tourism will bring more traffic to these sacred sites, which will then fall prey to increased vandalism such as we are seeing at other National Parks and Monuments. The locals DO NOT want this monument. The local tribes DO NOT want this monument. We are protesting our hearts out, but there aren't enough of us. There are only 15,000 of us in San Juan County, and our voices are being silenced. Take a look at this graphic and the sheer size of this proposed monument. And then look at this image that my dear friend Brooke Pehrson has created of our beloved Abajo Mountains. Please sign this petition. Please share with your friends and ask them to sign this petition. Please educate yourself on this issue, and contact your representatives to let them know that you do NOT support this monument. The federal government does not need to designate this land. It is beautiful, it is well-loved and cared for, and it is essential to our community. NO Bears Ears National Monument!

So I did what she suggested.....I did some research.

I found a video from AYL--At Your Leisure, a local wilderness/outdoor program.  They did a lot of interviews that showed everyone's opinion on the issue.  I really wanted to find out the other side--it seems like their biggest issues are the environment and protecting burial grounds more than the current BLM status does.

Then I found this video on Facebook from Senator Mike Lee's page.  This was a call-in town hall meeting that he did.  Someone from the Grand Staircase-Esclante called in  and explained what had happened to them when it was made a national monument.  The other thing that surprised me from that video was that according to the Senator, no local elected officials supported the Bears Ears Monument.

I went looking for Representative Bishop's compromise information so that I understood that as well--I really wonder where that will go. It might solve it somewhat--not sure with the information that I can find on the local news station websites.

I got to thinking about where I live--in the Uintah Basin---there is a portion of the Ute tribe here and people that would consider themselves locals that don't live here, just like in San Juan.  This would cause a lot of tension here if people really didn't want a national monument here.  Now, I don't see a monument designation happening at the present--but it would divide this community, just as it has San Juan.

This is why I decided to go ahead and make a decision.  I stand with San Juan locals.  People who do not live there should not decide what happens.  The protections in place already are plenty, and this is a large amount of land for the federal government to take more control of.  It also does feel like a losing cause--so as a result I signed the petition with the hope that it will show the White House that people do not support this.  President Obama holds the ultimate decision--so it seems to make the most sense. I encourage you to do the same!

Sign the petition here 

the picture Christa referred to

Veteran's Day Lesson Plan

So with today being Veterans Day--I am doing a lesson plan with the soldiers today, last Friday, and this coming Wednesday (the days I have class).  I found a couple of things to do with the class...I wanted it to be a mini-lesson type of feel because we are in the middle of units right now.  So we are reading:

Picture courtesy of barnesandnoble.com

I love this book because even though it is a children's story and high schoolers might go eh....but they seem to enjoy the sweetness of the story and I like that it doesn't feel like it was written for 6 year olds and it doesn't talk down to them.

We also watched a couple of videos.  Today's CNN Student News was very appropriate I thought and teenage related.  And ABC News from last Thursday was good...but I didn't watch the follow-up on Friday yet so I can't recommend that one. But I loved how both of these videos focus on not only the sacrifice of the veterans but their families--and that is what I really wanted to hit home for my kids.

What did you do today with your students?

September 11th

Today has been one of those days where I feel really old.  Teaching the last three years at Cedar Ridge Academy, around this time, I could say, "9-11, where were you?" I would actually get stories.  Today in my sophomore class...I got crickets.  Some of them figured out they were like 3! Well yeah that makes sense...15-12=3 but seriously!! I am not one of those history teachers that says, "Well I was alive and I remember..." because I am NOT old enough!  Sigh...oh well I guess I am.

But I thought that I would share what we did in class today.  I didn't want to do a lot, because it feels like for these students sometimes it is a dead horse--they often want to do their "choice your topic" research paper on this/bin Laden/terrorism etc.  It fascinates them I think.  So I wanted to do something a little bit different. The site 911day.org does a service project to coincide with the day.  This year's pledge is to do a good deed.  So I challenged my students today to do a good deed for someone between now and next week's class when they will report.

To go with this challenge I found this website: http://www.tributewtc.org/programs/toolkit.html which has eight different videos about people that have different perspectives on the event.  I chose the 2nd, 4th, and 6th to show in class with the different perspectives. There is a great video from the 911day.org site here so you can show a video of people remembering where they were when 9-11 happened and what good deeds they are going to do.

Teach History With Literature

Students walk into an eleventh grade history classroom in an American high school.  Today they are learning about the Declaration of Independence, and how the US won independence from Britain. The teacher instructs for ninety minutes, using the history textbook and the Declaration of Independence as a document-based study.  Afterwards, some of the students walk down the hall to their English class.  In English they are studying the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. However, this instruction is completely separate from their related studies in their earlier class.  A few students make connections on their own, but most are just trying to get through the long passages and don’t even realize the significant relationship.  These students are missing the connections that a concurrent study of literature and history would allow for—learning in context. History should be learned through this concurrent study by using traditional readings and literature to gain greater understanding of the events of the past.

Traditionally, history is taught through textbooks and the writings of scholars.  These scholars and writers use newspapers, speeches, and other fact based primary sources to compile a clear picture of what actually happened.  This big picture allows for the reader to make judgments about the people involved and to ask questions as to their motivations. These texts are usually written in an objective manner, which allows the reader to not be influenced by the writer’s personal views.   By reading a third person narrative, the reader gains knowledge of the event.

Reading a piece of literature based on historical events also allows for learning. These pieces of literature can come in historical-based fiction and first person narratives.  Historical-based fiction often requires the author to research the historical events to create the setting for the characters that they will create. While the characters are not actual people, when based in a historically accurate scene, the characters create an idea of what it was like to be living in that time period.  First person narratives are usually written in the form of autobiographies, memoirs, etc. These narratives serve as a view to what it was really like to live there.  By reading these different types of literature, the student can learn more about the historical event, because the reader experiences the event—almost first hand.  As we read a story, we put our own view into the story, which creates a text-to-person relationship.  These text-to-person relationships allow for learning to be more permanent in a student’s mind.  First person narratives also allow for anecdotes, while third-person historical narratives do not.  These anecdotes allow for a student to remember the events with more clarity.  These stories give life to the history, because we can picture what happened a long time ago even though it may be foreign to us.  With these connections, a student can learn from a first person narrative or a historical fiction novel.

However, just learning from a history textbook or just learning from a piece of literature leaves holes in the knowledge of the subject.  These two genres need to be used together to create a complete package. Learning from a history textbook gives historical context to the literature.  If one reads The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, (a historical fiction novel about the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War) and has never heard of Gettysburg, he/she might be lost. However, if the student reads The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command by Edwin Coddington, he/she now has a context to read a great piece of literature in.  Overall, the student now has a very clear picture of what happened at Gettysburg and a wealth of knowledge of the events that transpired there.

In addition, reading first person narratives along with scholarly based narratives, allows for the facts to have a backing. Scholarly based narratives, while often making attempts at unbiased writing, cannot help but to be influenced.  Sometimes, the government might even have a say in what records are erased or kept.  A first person narrative, though biased in its own right, serves as a witness.  No one can completely disagree with someone’s experiences.  By writing down memories, a permanent record is created that cannot be erased later on down the road when a dictator wants to “rewrite history” to fit what they need. As a result, first person and scholarly based narratives together create a great framework for the truth.

Overall, the students at American high schools should not be learning about the Declaration of Independence in one class and then turn around to learn about the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin in a different class without at least a mention of the other class.  Greater understanding and knowledge can be achieved by reading historical literature and scholarly-based writing.

Five Favorite Front-Page Features with Cedar Ridge Academy

Today in my U.S. History and Government class at Cedar Ridge Academy Therapeutic Boarding School we were able to go over some current events that have affected the world around us. We focused on three main stories: the Zimmerman juror speaking out, Ariel Castro's trial, and the Manning/Snowden situation. We get to have great discussions, watch videos, and the students write great opinions as to what they think the situation should be/change to.  Click here to see what they wrote today, and go below for the videos that we watched courtesy of ABC News and NBC News.

Zimmerman Case:

Zimmerman Juror Speaks Out
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/george-zimmerman-juror-stands-decision-19777201?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19778064

Travyon's Mother Speaks Out
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/juror-b29-interview-ignites-emotion-travyon-martins-mother-19787910?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19720024

Ariel Castro Case:

Castro Pleads Guilty
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/cleveland-kidnapper-ariel-castro-spend-life-bars-19787899?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19720024

This video discusses Ariel Castro's final day in court

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Snowden/Manning and Espionage:

Bradley Manning's Conviction:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/bradley-manning-guilty-aiding-americas-enemies-charge-19821294?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19821973

More Leaks from Snowden
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/nsa-secrets-revealed-19832057?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19766051

Edward Snowden is out of the airport...

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Current Event Friday

So today is a serious packing day so I am writing quickly and late.  I just wanted to point out one article today that I found interesting....the letter from the attorney general to the Russian government saying that Snowden will not receive the death penalty if sent back to the United States.  What is most interesting to me about this too is that the lawyer for Snowden's father points out that the letter assumes guilt before a trial has been held.  As silly as it sounds, he has a point.  As US citizens we are innocent until proven guilty, and we deserve a fair trial whether we have publicly shared military/intelligence secrets or not.  Thank you Bill of Rights.  Check out the AP article here:  http://www.ksl.com/?sid=26163764&nid=127&title=no-death-penalty-for-snowden-if-convicted-us-says&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-19

Five Favorite Front-Page Features

So...today isn't going to be exactly five different news stories....just five (maybe more) different things all about the same thing. Today in my US History/Government class, we talked about the Edward Snowden/hacking thing.  Time Magazine did a great article this week about him and past hackers, and it really seems to be becoming an historical and political issue--great for my class.  So I started off with these video clips to give them the background.

These first two are in the same broadcast, back to back,and occurred that first day the media starts talking about the phone monitoring and the Internet monitoring.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/52126041

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/52126065

This next clip is probably the day after the other two because we are learning that this wasn't on purpose and the government is having to acknowledge that there was a leak.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/hunting-nsa-leaker-19351792?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=19352311

Then I showed this clip that reveals Snowden and who he is.  

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/edward-snowden-claims-nsa-leaker-19362889

Finally, I showed this clip to give them a bit of an idea of what PRISM is and to transition into the Time Magazine article.

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2472288673001_2145377,00.html 

This article is on: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2145506,00.html 

I loved this class because we had a great discussion and didn't even get through the whole article. They are really curious, and offer opinions which is the whole reason why I talk about current events in the first place.  We are going to finish it up next week, and I think it will be great.

The cover of this week's Time

Movie Review: Inside North Korea

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-North-Korea/dp/B004HFKPOK

So I was thinking about something to review today and I wanted to share what we have been doing in class recently.  So not only is this a great movie review but it is also a great lesson plan idea for when you want an easy day.  This movie is done by National Geographic.  This follows Lisa Ling into North Korea as she films a documentary about a Nepal eye surgeon. He is going to heal 1,000 people of cataracts.  While they are there, they can film the culture around them.

So why do I like showing it in class? It is a great visual for the students of what North Korea is like.  They have trouble understanding the US tension with them and concern we have about the nuclear threats until they see this video.  They also have trouble understanding the truce between North and South and the DMZ.  If you don't show anything else from this movie except the clip of them at the DMZ then that would be worth it.  You can really understand what it is like there.

http://torrentbutler.eu/51376-national-geographic-inside-north-korea

Concerns to have as a teacher: So as always, every good teacher should preview the movie/clip they are showing in their class because you know your students best! But the biggest concern that I have had every time I show this video is creating a prejudice against the people of North Korea.  I emphasize with the students that we don't know how much choice the people of North Korea have so they might not really "hate" us.  I also emphasize difference of culture and though we view them as "strange"/"odd", they might find us strange and odd too. So we talk about accepting diversity when we watch this movie.

Another thing to keep in mind too is that this movie is now dated.  It was created before the death of Kim Jong Il, and his son is now the third dictator of the country--Kim Jong Un.  (Not to be confused with Kim Il Sung the original dictator) Getting this straight in your head and student's is also really helpful for when watching.

While Watching: I usually have a set of nine questions that I wrote for my students to answer.  They get a lot out of just watching and asking questions so sometimes I have them just respond to the film at different points too with questions and statements.  It is about an hour long so great for a classroom but usually we end up watching in about an hour and a half because I pause and clarify things, answer questions, and ask questions.

Oh p.s. I first just showed this to my US History classes because of the Korean War in US History class.  However, I recently showed it in all of classes with the World History spin with communism, Government spin of foreign policy, and World Geography spin of the theme place/region.  Overall,  it is a great way to connect current events with history too.

Day 26: Critical Thinking v. Analytical Thinking

So today's prompt is actually a lot of what I have done on this blog before

Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.

So totally stole this from the article!

Because I do a lot with my LessonCloud about teaching....lesson plans, education policy etc.  You know where I find most of my articles that I read about is actually Twitter.  A lot of people retweet articles or tweet their own articles that they have written.  The key to a good article to tweet?  A good title! (Feel free to follow me on Twitter here)

This article is called Teaching Students to Dig Deeper (very catchy I think).  It actually turns out to be a blog post about this guy's book....which he actually convinces me that I should maybe look into buying it. He talks about how a lot of people mix up critical thinking with analytical thinking or give them the exact same definition. This article asserts that in order to "dig deep" or thinking critically....students have to do analyze it first.  Once they understand their subject then they can think critically about it.

My question for my fellow teachers...which is why this guy wants you to read his book...is how do you give students the opportunity to follow these steps?  What real-world scenarios can we give them that they can solve and think critically about?

P.S. I really should update my tabs!

S is for Social Studies

I currently teach English and Social Studies at my school...but my number on love is Social Studies.  I feel that it is really important for students to understand the world around them.  World Geography starts them off with a great foundation--you need to know where everything is!  World History continues this foundation by allowing us to explore how civilizations started/ended/interacted.  United States History gives us more information about the country that we live in, how our country came to be, and what still influences our present.  Government class gives us the ins and outs of how our government system works, other country's systems, how we participate, and what rights we have as citizens.  

I always tell my students that it doesn't matter if you remember all the dates of every little thing...what matters is that you get the big picture and know the important stuff! My biggest goal is that if Jay Leno comes up to them on "Jaywalk" they know the answers!  We are teaching people with productive citizens...and that is my main goal.

I am often asked, "What is your favorite part about Social Studies?"  My passion is US History and Government.  I love learning more about our country...it gives us a sense of identity.  I love the stories of the people who came before and set up the country that we lived in.  They learned a lot through mistakes--whether they did anything with them is for us to learn too!  

Did you enjoy Social Studies classes in school or did you absolutely hate it?

J is for Joel, like Billy Joel

Time to share another lesson plan idea! Though I can't take full credit it for it....I stole and combined.    With April being National Poetry Month, I have been trying to bring poetry into not just my English classes more but also my Social Studies classes as well. What a perfect way to do that than with a song like We Didn't Start the Fire.  How many history teachers love the fact that it is a whole list of historical events (even if they might not be really historically significant in everyone's mind).

This week, in U.S. History and Government we started a project that asks the students to figure out what all of the events/people are in the song.  In preparing this lesson I learned that Billy Joel actually wanted to be a history teacher at one point and was shocked when someone told him that nothing happened in the 1950s. So he wrote a song (If you believe Wikipedia that is).  I also learned while preparing this is that he actually does it in order by year through the 1950s and 60s. A great place for the lyrics is here because it has the years listed.  If you watch the music video that Joel made it is really kind of random and the kids won't fully appreciate the song...so I actually show this historical based video.

So what did we actually do? I passed out the lyrics with a bit of an introduction and we watched the video.  Then as influenced by this facts list I split the students into groups and split the lyrics into sections.  Each group researched what each person/event was.  Later on we will write our own lyrics to the song for present day as influenced by this site.

I was a little bit worried about what the kids would say...it is an old song and maybe not readily appreciated.  But they actually thought it was pretty cool and enjoyed the scavenger hunt idea of it.  And they actually asked if they could come up with their own and were pleased that eventually we would.
 

From the actual video...thank you to http://www.metrolyrics.com/we-didnt-start-the-fire-lyrics-billy-joel.html 

F is for Five Favorite Front-Page Features

So though it is a Saturday this seemed like a great day to do Five Favorite Front-Page Features.  For my A to Z Challenge visitors/new visitors...this is a weekly post that I do on Fridays that talks about the five top news posts...in my opinion.  I usually give a bit of commentary to show why I think that it is an impact on our lives/history.  I also do this from the mindset of a Social Studies teacher and try to include links from a variety of sources for fellow teachers to steal to help their students understand the impacts of these events.

5. Even though this is probably really a publicity stunt, it allows students to go over the Sequestration again which was really a history making type of thing.  President Obama will give 5% of his salary back....my question is how much is that really and where does that money go now? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/us/politics/to-highlight-pain-of-budget-cuts-obama-to-return-of-part-of-pay.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130404&_r=0

4. Nelson Mandela hospitalized..while not super news, he is old and hospital visits are to be expected..it can be a great tie-in to who Mandela is and how he has affected history especially in South Africa http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/06/world/africa/south-africa-mandela/?hpt=hp_zite1_featured 

3. Roger Ebert died...a def affect on history. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/film-critic-roger-ebert-dies-age-70-18884278?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=18835803 

2. I have noticed that today's students care more than my generation did about how the economy is doing...I think it comes from becoming more aware of the recession.  When I mentioned the stock market rising and setting new records a few weeks ago it started a great discussion about recession v. Great Depressiona nd what stocks are etc.  So seeing how a jobs report affects everything is a great lead in too http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/jobs-growth-hits-slowest-pace-nine-months-1B9229443

1. North Korea and U.S. tensions are still going and who knows when/where it will end....this is a great thing to make sure that students know.  Found a CNN resource that allows students to explore where their questions are http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/world/north-korea/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 

Saw on Facebook...and I thought it was hilarious!

Five Favorite Front-Page Features #10

Thank you http://www.teachenglishtoday.org/index.php
/2011/11/putting-the-daily-newspaper-to-work/ 
for the picture

So....on Monday and Wednesday next week I will be talking about current events in my Social Studies classes at Cedar Ridge Academy. I will be covering all of these topics in class with videos and articles.  Fellow teachers can feel free to steal!!

5. Real-Life Fillibuster--Rand Paul made history by talking for 13 hours.  See CNN Student News--which is a great source for anything current event.  http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/07/studentnews/sn-transcript-fri/index.html 

4. White House Tours Cancelled--I will be talking to my students about the sequestration and using this as an example.  For me this was just a little bit much....we could cut something else seriously. Like that dinner the President and Republicans went to? For info about sequestration go to article here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/politics/cnn-explains-sequestration and the CNN clip here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/studentnews/sn-transcript-fri/index.html

3. Hugo Chavez dies--This might change a lot about our relationship with Venezuela..or it might not..or it might change oil prices....or it might change the region.  Either way students need to know what is going on.  Watch http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/05/studentnews/sn-transcript-wed/index.html for the original annoucement and this one http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/studentnews/sn-transcript-thu/index.html which goes into the oil idea in Venezuela

2. TSA changes knife requirements--This one CNN Student News isn't actually messing with so I am going to show an ABC video http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/tsa-pocket-knives-airlines-rules-18661602?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=18603342

1. North Korea sanctions--Great time to talk about the U.N. and how it works...we'll see if these sanctions work.  http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/07/studentnews/sn-transcript-fri/index.html 

March UCSS Conference

Teaching at Cedar Ridge Academy in Roosevelt, Utah, I sometimes feel out of the loop a lot from the Wasatch front--I teach in my departments alone and then there is the rural aspect.  It takes a lot more planning to get us involved.  I think we do a good job of taking advantage of things though as our Facebook page and blog page show. (P.S. Go like our Facebook page please---it helps us be more searchable).  So I plan on attending this conference every six months.  UCSS stands for Utah Council for Social Studies teachers, which I am a proud member of.  (P.S. Follow them here on Facebook and on their blog).

Biggest reasons to go to a conference (at least for me) are #1. the interaction with fellow teachers and #2. ideas for my classroom. So I went to three different session--one that focused on U.S. History, another that focused on World Geography/World History/Government/U.S. History, and another that focused on World History/Government.  That was the great thing about the sessions that I went to this time--I teach everything...so being able to deal with everything was great.

My favorite all-time session was with the teachers from Diamond Fork Junior High.  They have worked with their department and made huge strides in cohesive teaching across the grades.  I loved what they do with story-telling and teaching concepts like the 5 Themes of Geography, three branches of government, and types of government.  This idea of story-telling brings me to the close second: Dr. Crowe and Dr. Nokes--they talked about teaching history in context and with novels.  This really sparked my ideas to write historical fiction more that teachers can teach in their classroom as Dr. Crowe has done.  The close third with my favorite sessions was with Dr. Brown--she is a smart smart women.  I saw her last time so she didn't get the favorite spot because she was really favorite last time.  I love her Russia stories and her clear way of explaining the difference between communism, socialism, and Stalin's version of socialism (fondly known as Stalinism).

If you ever get a chance to go to a UCSS conference...totally do it!!!

The official logo of UCSS

Five Favorite Front-Page Features #8

5. Kansas City fire...kills 1 and injures 15.  The interesting thing about this one is that because I have enough friends in the Kansas City area on Facebook--that I heard about this via statuses before I saw it on the news.  http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/50880153#50880153 

4. Danica Patrick... I am not a NASCAR follower...but I love it when women break barriers.  Congrats on being the first women to win pole position at Daytona.  Who cares if she doesn't win?
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/danica-patrick-wins-pole-position-daytona-500-18533203?tab=9482930&section=1206853&playlist=18533374 

3. "Blade Runner" Bail Hearing...I have a feeling this will become just like the Italy case with Amanda Knox---nobody knows who did what and it drags out FOREVER!
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/blade-runner-murder-charges-oscar-pistorius-bail-18571230

2. Sequestering the Budget...The automatic spending cuts apparently go into effect on March 1st.  I don't talk about which way that I lean with any political issue...its the teacher in me...and the fact that I don't like debating with people very much.  But what is bugging me about all of this is that the media is making the government into a bad guy....and we probably don't have all the information.  I don't know, maybe I'm just crazy but it would be helpful if we could all work together so that it doesn't affect so much of daily life (if you listen to one side) or affect so much of the deficit (if you listen to the other).
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/politics/cnn-explains-sequestration 

1. Snowstorm hits the Midwest...and then we get the first days of above 32 degrees out here.  Got to love the weirdness of the end of winter.  The "cool" thing about this video is that 141-Mason-64 are all about 5 minutes from my house.  Grateful that my family is safe...  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/22/winter-snow-storm-midwest/1938249/ 

If that is the correct side of the freeway..I have been stuck
there before for 2 hours too...due to an accident

The Bain of My Existence this Week...Grading

Ugh! I bet some teachers feel like this...but some times all I feel like is that I grade, grade, grade.  I knew that this is a frequent problem....especially for English teachers.  I knew this to the point that it was often a discussion with my fellow pre-service teachers in college.  The biggest thing that I got out of that was the fact that don't assign too much because you have to grade it...and don't assign something you don't want to grade.  However, my job is super unique in the fact that I don't assign the amount and I don't assign the work either.  With our online system the questions are randomly given to the student and the students work at their own pace.  So sometimes I feel like this....

From: http://macleodcartoons.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

Or like this....

From: http://www.philosophyandlaw.com/2012/12/grading-student-papers-insanity.html

Bottom line: Exhausted and tired...so this is a fast post.  Off to grade!

Five Favorite Front-Page Features #7

Yep its Friday again...thank goodness!! It has been a crazy week...but I still have figured out the five news stories that I will share with you today. I decided to have all the links today be videos and they are from a variety of sources....so that teachers can use them in their classrooms if they so choose. As always--preview the videos you show in your classroom.

5. Pope resigns...Big surprise to everyone...including me. I haven't talked much on this blog about my religious beliefs, but I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Similar to the Catholics, our president of the Church leads everyone in the Church.  He travels everywhere, just as the pope has--and he is significantly older than the pope.  It prompts me to be thankful for the beliefs that I have. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/11/pope-benedict-xvi-resigns-age

4. State of Union...It would be sad if I didn't mention this at least once.  I have watched many a State of the Union whether I support the current president's policies or not.  President Obama delivers a speech well so his have not been as boring as some others.  A huge laundry list....but still very well written. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140940n 

3. Misinformation from the Media...There has been a manhunt going on in Los Angeles for an ex-cop this week--I started hearing during the State of the Union that they had found him and killed him.  Then I start watching the press conference with the LA police spokesperson who basically chides the media for reporting that because nobody had confirmed that the guy was in there because the fire was still hot. Just shows how sometimes this 24-7 news cycle gets people in trouble. Wish I could find the video of the conference but here is a decent summary http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/chris-dorner-dead_n_2649763.html 

2. Carnival Cruise Ship...Wow....nobody wants to go on a cruise any more!  They said on the news today that it will probably take 2 months to repair the ship..but a lot longer than that for the Carnival reputation to be restored.  Seriously! Prediction in the next 6-12 months, the story will be that people are going less on cruises.  http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/nightmare-sea-carnival-cruise-liner-nears-port-18506777 

1. Meteorite/Asteroid visits yesterday and today---Really cool images from Russia...though not cool for those that got hurt.  I am glad that it didn't kill anyone.  Also, the asteroid that passed 17,000 miles away was cool to see pictures of too.  Love the astronomy lessons on the news! http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16966984-catch-asteroid-2012-da14s-flyby-on-video-and-watch-it-fade-out-online?lite 

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/01/09/potentially-dangerous-asteroid-apophis-bigger-than-thought-see-it-online/

Teaching History Requires that Students Relate

I recently read an article from Education Week from the perspective of a history teacher that works with some sort of diploma recovery/adult-education program. As a result, these students have definitely never caught the spark of history that we all have.  The article talks about how the teacher relates what she and her student is talking about to relevant issues of the day.  I also love how she answers his questions without saying that there is not time to do so.

That is one of the things that I love about where I teach.  Because the regular curriculum that the students have covers everything, I know that they will eventually get there.  So, we can spend time on what the kids are interested in learning about, and what I am learning about.

Even though this is an English story from today---I think it still applies. We are currently starting a poetry unit, and we were going through some common poetry terms. I set it up with the kids that some of them might know them and they might not know others.  It opened up everyone up for questions, and I love it when I am scrambling to think of the answers to the questions that they ask.  They love it when I pull up Google on the projector and we go looking for the answer.  That is the type of inquiry that I love!

Thankfully we don't use chalk anymore!

Teaching Students about Filibuster

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to teach my students about the filibuster.  One thing that I have learned about U.S. History and Government students is that they are very curious about a filibuster.  What exactly is it?  Really they have to stand the whole time? What if they have to go to the bathroom?  The record is over 24 hours?!  How did he manage that?!

Picture from: http://www.tvrage.com/The_West_Wing/episodes/215378 

So, after going over a few background things and making sure students know about the Senate and a cloture etc.  We watch clips from one of my favorite West Wing episodes!  The Stackhouse Filibsuter from Episode 2 is great because it shows how a filibuster is done and how it ends.  The students really strive off of the visual.  I fast-forward through the non-essential plot parts, because as all good TV has more than one story line going through.  So, I highly recommend that as how to teach filibuster.  Here is a quick clip to give you a taste: