Greetings from the depths of craziness . . . .

I know . . . I know. It's been forever since I've blogged anything of particularly interest.

This time of the school year is overwhelming. Trying to teach the rest of the World History curriculum by June. State Testing that messes up teaching all that curriculum since it means that we have three hour delays and students that really don't want to be doing anything after taking a three hour exam every day. SPED meetings to make sure our students are where they need to be for next school year. End of year stuff like proms, senior week activities, getting final exams ready, correcting and grading, etc. Parents and guidance counselors that are NOW all of a sudden concerned that their kid will not be passing my ELECTIVE to graduate from high school even though I had called home, sent emails, commented on progress and report cards, and met with the parents months ago. They all seem to think the "let's just hand over my kid a high school diploma" fairy will magically give them their high school diploma. It just doesn't work that way in my class. The funny part: at my school, students only need three credits of History (World history - 9th grade, US History Part I - 10th grade, and US History Part II - 11th grade). The fact that they need an elective to graduate is a little insulting to me. The kid NEEDS to do work to pass. End of story.

And, I have something going on every weekend from now until the end of June for my personal life stuff on top of it.

My head is spinning just thinking about all the craziness. I just need to remind myself that I can make it to June 22nd and life will slow down.

Good news for my summer plans. I was accepted into a five-day summer institute on local history again (I did the institute last summer). I will receive a $1000 stipend, free books, 3 graduate credits, and 30 PDP's (for free). There is a ton of reading and prep involved before and after the institute but it is so worth it. I had put my name in for teaching summer school but decided that I needed a break from teaching. The pay isn't that great compared to the Institute. I also signed up for a week long workshop at Harvard University on the Impact of Oil around the World through an Historical perspective. Should be interesting.

I know that I said I would post some pictures from my trip to North Carolina over April break. I had an amazing time! We (my colleague and I) checked out almost all of the UNC universities and even a few private colleges. The schools there are much cheaper than they are up here in New England so I don't know what decision my colleague and her daughter will make regarding the big college decision. I didn't take any photos of the schools. I guess I was having a duh moment. All of the campuses were beautiful! All the pictures below are of the historical places we checked out on our "Thelma and Louise" road trip (minus driving the rental car off a cliff and no Brad Pitt). :-)

Knock yourselves out! :=)

Alamance Battleground - outside of Burlington, NC.

Presidents of North Carolina - statue in front of Capital building in Raleigh, NC.

Fort Raleigh - England's first New World settlements from 1584 to 1590.

Replica of Wright Brothers first airplane - Wright Brothers Memorial.

Memorial at Wright Brothers National Historic Site.

Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941

No . . . I didn't forget about Pearl Harbor Day.

"A day that will live in infamy." These words would be spoken by Franklin D. Roosevelt about the historical event that would bring the United States into World War II.

I always think about the men and women that died on that day. And, the men and women that would die in World War II for my freedom.

To hear FDR's speech, check out the link here (scan to the bottom of the page and click on the media that best suits your computer).

To read/learn more about Pearl Harbor, I would suggest the following resources:
*National Park Service (Attention teachers: they have some great oral histories to use in the classroom with your students - even an oral history from a Japanese pilot and his interpretation of the attack).
*National Geographic - They have a great interactive map of the event.
*ERIC - Remembering Pearl Harbor Lesson Plan - you can download the teaching document in a PDF file. Some decent teaching activities.
*Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence - Some great teaching resources from the Library of Congress and National Archives.

Remember Pearl Harbor . . . . .

Boris Yeltsin 1931-2007

We don't appreciate what we have until it's gone. Freedom is like that. It's like air. When you have it, you don't notice it.
Boris Yeltsin, 1995

RIP Boris . . . . . . .

Happy Birthday to Abe Lincoln!

Growing up in "The Land of Lincoln" (IL), Honest Abe's b-day was acknowledged as a state holiday. Unfortunately today, his b-day is lumped in with G. Washington and everyone know calls it President's Day.

Lincoln has always been a president that I've looked up to for his beliefs and character. He led our country during one of it's most difficult and trying times. I've always been fascinated with him as a person. I own and have read quite a few books about Mr. Lincoln.

We have been hearing some mentioning of Abe lately in the news. The connection: IL State Senator Barack Obama. As of Saturday, Obama announced his candidacy for president. You can read the article here.

To learn more about our 16th President, you can check out the following web sites:
http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html
http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/alhome.html

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday

Happy Birthday to one of the most courageous men of our time. He fought for the rights of others and for humankind.

A Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1964, he risked his life for civil rights. I sometimes wonder if my students really understand and get the significance of what this amazing man accomplished in our history.

If you are looking for some reading on MLK, Stanford University has some nice documents.

MLK's "I Have A Dream Speech" is one of the most inspirational speeches in our history. Read it here.

"We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back."

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."