Labels: Memorial Day, Personal, Washington D.C.

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We arrived in our nation’s capital very late last evening, but we were still able to visit the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials (along with a gazillion school children). We also spent some time in Union Station for a late dinner and a look see.

Today we ventured out to Arlington National Cemetary and the U.S. Capitol building. Tomorrow we will motor over to the Naval Academy in Annapolis to witness a special young lady marry a recent graduate (today) of the academy in the chapel on the Naval Academy grounds. Tonight we are having dinner with the young lady’s two brothers. Both young men are currently serving their country. I’ve written about them before.

Pictures? Oh my, do I have pictures! Unfortunately, the connection in my hotel isn’t cooperating with my computer as well as I would like for it to, so we might just have to wait until next week for visuals….but why am I saying this? You already know I’m going to tell you all about all of the interesting things I’ve done and seen. That’s how I roll around here, isn’t it?

In the meantime until I get to post more visit the education carnival to see what is going on in the education blogosphere. The carnival is currently posted over at Teacher in a Strange Land.

Also…..many, many thanks to all of the folks who voted for History Is Elementary in the category of education/homeschooling for Best of the Blogs. If you haven’t voted or would like to vote again you can vote once each day between now and the 26th. You can vote here.

Labels: Personal, Washington D.C.

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Today is travel day as we head north to Washington D.C./Annapolis. In my never ending quest to be supermom and superteacher, I multi-task as much as possible. I always try to do more than one thing…..get the laundry going while I load the dishwasher and make beds or grade papers while I run the copier outside my door preparing handouts for the next day’s lessons.

It is the very rare occaision where I just sit and do nothing, so a car ride of several hours is a very daunting process. Here are 13 things I’ve thought about doing while we travel in random order:

1. go over my summer goals…..what do I want to accomplish by July 31st?

2. brainstorm weak areas in my American History units and come up with solutions.

3. conversate with Dear Hubby and Dear Daughter

4. look at the world passing me by….try not to miss the huge peach in Gaffney, South Carolina. For those not in the know if it didn’t have a huge leaf attached to it I swear you would think it’s a huge rear end.

5. listen to music…..not the radio…CDs all the way

6. read aloud our revised church bylaws to Dear Hubby and discuss…..we need to be "in the know"

7. help Dear Hubby prepare a meeting agenda

8. notice all the interesting names of places along the way and bore Dear Daughter with the history of each area we pass through just to frustrate her. :) Her ninth great-grandfather fought during the American Revolution at Kings Mountain and Cowpens so that's a story good for at least an hour of travel time.....

9. stay alert and help Dear Hubby with his driving….he might not see that car with its brakes on, you know?

10. sleep…..but then I couldn’t help Dear Hubby drive and I’m simply compelled to do that.

11. Listen to Dear Daughter giggle as she uses Dear Hubby’s lap top to check her email, etc. as we go down the road and receive text messages on her phone. Isn’t technology wonderful?

12. Discuss all of the “must sees” in Washington D.C. we want to get to considering we have one day there.

13. Get on the rode NOW per Dear Hubby as he does not want to hit D.C. during afternoon rush hour. Oops! Gotta go.

Don’t forget to vote for me in the education/homeschooling category over at the Best of Blogs. You can vote once each day through the 26th. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to vote.

Happy Thursday!
Visit the 13 hub here to see more 13 lists from various bloggers.

Labels: Personal, Thursday Thirteen, Travel

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I’m headin’ out today for a long Memorial Day weekend. Can you guess where I’m going? Yes, our nation’s capital city, Washington D.C.!

I believe our capital city is another ingredient into the mix that makes America great. What about you?

Actually I’m heading to Annapolis to the Naval Academy to witness the marriage of a very special young lady. She is marrying a graduate of the Naval Academy on Saturday in the chapel on the Academy grounds. While we are that close we will be exploring Washington D.C. on the fly as well as attempting to track down a statue I wrote about here. I just have to get a picture of it.

I hope to be able to update each day while I’m gone to let you see where I’ve explored that day.

So, tell me…..if you had one day in D.C. where you go and why?

Happy Wednesday,and don’t forget to vote for me over at the Best of Blogs. You can vote once each day through the 26th. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to vote.

Visit the Wordless Wednesday hub here.

Labels: America: A Great Nation, Personal, Washington D.C., Wordless Wednesday

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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 (vote using the link below in green) had named History Is Elementary as one of their nominated best blogs in the category of Education and Homeschooling.

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. :)

Apparently you can vote via a PollMonkey widget at a separate post that was created after the link I give above. You are allowed to vote once per day between now and May 26th from what I could gather at the site. Once you use the PollMonkey widget it deactivates it for your computer and shows you a tally of votes until 24 hours passes. Then you can vote again. Here’s the link:

Click here to vote for History Is Elementary for best education blog.

Labels: Blogging, Recognition

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Excuse the following trite beginning….I simply couldn’t help myself.

May…it is the worst of times….it is the best of times.

The month of May can be classified as the worst of times because testing has been over for at least three weeks. Students pretty much shut down after the final answer has been bubbled, answer sheets have been checked for stray pencil marks, and the standardized “gold” has been packed up and delivered to those high upon that ivory and jewel encrusted tower for analysis and much manipulation.

The month of May can be classified as the worst of times because by the time the ninth month of school rolls around students, teachers, and administrators have been about as tolerant with one another as they possibly can. The colleage or student that rubs you the wrong way seems to try to do so just that much harder once May rolls around. It gets harder and harder to sit on your hands and keep your mouth spouting positives when what you’d really like to do is cross every bridge and torch it into oblivion as you go.

The month of May is also that happy time when parents you have called, have written, have emailed continously all year to please, please engage in a conversation with you regarding their child finally shows up at your classroom door to- to- to- to NOT discuss why their child has been tardy 25 times, NOT discuss why their child has been absent 30 days, NOT discuss why their child has only turned in half of the assignments in each subject each term of the year, NOT discuss why their child has exhibited violent outbursts towards students and figures of authority on the average of at least once daily, NOT discuss your concerns regarding their child’s habit of writing essays that focus on violence and even murder, NOT discuss why their child seems to be so depressed at times, so anxious at times, so insecure at times.

No, that would too easy. Instead May is that happy time of the year when the hard to reach, never have shown their face type of parent shows up and wants to conversate with you after school for two hours telling you their life story extolling a life style that could only exist in someone’s imagination because it’s all too incredible to believe. Stories involving the botched abortion that resulted in the child sitting in your room, the never ending list of significant others parading through the child’s life, and the stints in jail that permeate their child’s life suddenly make you all too aware of why the student acts as they do. The parent doesn’t tell you these things to shock you, but rather they tell you these things to show that any and everything else might be to blame, but they are not.

You realize, after attempting to steer the conversation back to the child’s school performance without little success, the parent isn’t there to help their child. They want you to enable them by simply listening, and then saying it’s ok, but it’s not ok because you’d be fired for telling them what you really think.

On the other hand…

May is the best of times because for many students if you tune in your brain just right and use your best observation skills you can truly see growth in each and every child even the ones like I described above. All children grow in some way during the school year. For example, my dear sweet helper who cried so much at the beginning of the year and followed me around like a little lost puppy…now she is more confident, has stopped following me, and tears? I haven’t seen them in at least two months. My young man who couldn’t seem to finish an assignment unless an adult sat next to him is completing more and more things on his own. One student who has a form of Autism will now sit with the group instead of hanging out on the periphery. My sweet young lady who was literally thrown out of her home and onto the lawn one cold, blustery morning along with her mother and sister (a pox on her father) has smiled more in the last month because her mom finally secured a place for them in a shelter. Thankfully as I move about the room the conversations I hear are the true conversations of a learning community…one where students are sharing information and resourses, one where I hear the phrase, “This is how I did the assignment. What do you think?” more and more and more. Instead of hearing demanding phrases like “Give it to me now.” I hear “Can you show me?”, “Can you tell me?” and “please” fills the air more than “shut-up.”

May is the best of times because I hear, “Gee I can’t wait for summer!” mixed in with “I’m going to miss everyone.” Students get on each others nerves, but many have bonded, they have become secure with one another, and they realize many of those bonds are about to be severed. Our time together is precious over the next few days. I realize it. The students realize it, and we strive to make the most of our moments even with the frustration that May can bring.

Still….we long for summer and announce the new tally at the beginning of each day.

On Monday we will begin the day with a chorus of NINE MORE DAYS!

Labels: End of the Year

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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.

Labels: history, Thursday Thirteen, Trivia

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