James K. Polk: From Sea to Shining Sea

With this being Geography Awareness Week and with next week being Thanksgiving it might be appropriate to take a look at the presidency of James K. Polk. He was the first president to govern our nation from sea to shining sea and was the first president to host a Thanksgiving dinner in the White House.

Polk was the first ‘dark horse’ elected to the office of president. He had been the governor of Tennessee, had served in Congress, and was considered to be a good ‘Jacksonian’. In fact, one nickname given to Polk was ‘Little Hickory’ since he was a great friend of Andrew Jackson.

At one point Polk made the following observation regarding the office of president, “No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure.”

Find out how Polk created an America from sea to shining to sea by reading the rest of this post here at American Presidents Blog.

So Help Me God this 'So Help Me God' Thing Won't Go Away

One of the first posts that I published on this site that gained some notice was George, We Hardly Knew Ye. In the post I relate several myths and non-myths regarding our first president. A myth that has apparently gained mythological proportions is whether or not our first president said the words ‘so help me God’ at the end of the oath.

The saga continued as I was contacted by a reader named Casandra. Further information prompted me to post So Help Me God and nearly a month later Mythbusting 'So Help Me God'.

The great Mr. Bell over at Boston, 1775 (I love his site!) also has had some interest in this issue as well as others who participated in a discussion group at H-net.org. You can see Mr. Bell’s post here and follow his link to the discussion group.

As I previously posted back in the spring my class emailed the Library of Congress regarding their research on this issue. Very little information was obtained from the LOC which was sort of surprising. Recently I obtained a digital copy of an email from Dr. Juretta Jordan Heckscher, an official with the Library of Congress, to the aforementioned discussion group. Here it is:

To H-OIEAHC

Re: Presidential oath "so help me God" This is in reply to Barbara Clark Smith's very interesting inquiry aboutSmithsonian NMAH curators' attempts to find out when and by whom the phrase "sohelp me, God" was added the presidential oath of office prescribed by the Constitution. Reference specialists on the Library of Congress's Digital Reference Team have done some research on this topic. In particular, my colleague Kenneth Drexler reports the following information: "The question was whether or not there is primary-source evidence thatWashington said 'so help me, God' in 1789. The short answer is that I could find no evidence that he did. [Also,] according to a Washington Post article from [January 20,] 2001,'Whether Washington actually added "So help me God" to the oath is not supported by any eyewitness accounts, according to Philander D. Chase, editor of the Papers of George Washington project at the University of Virginia. "He may have said those words," Chase said.' During my research I did obtain a copy of a letter by Tobias Lear to GeorgeAugustine Washington dated May 3, 1789 in which he described the inauguration. I got the letter from Duke University. The letter makes no mention of 'so help me, God.'"

Recently a source advised me concerning an inaugural exhibit at the Mt. Vernon Estate and Gardens. George Washington’s oath of office is printed in front of the inaugural exhibit and it notes ‘So help me God’ appended to Washington’s oath. Another card with an asterisk in smaller sized print read, “Scholars debate whether Washington added these final words to the oath as set forth by the Constitution. Most modern-day Presidents include these words and think they are following in Washington’s footsteps.” My source has it on pretty good authority that someone high up in the organization insisted on the vagueness of the wording instead of correctly noting there is no proof. This same person also decided to keep the myth intact that George Washington turned down a chance to be king as well.

I guess some myths are just too hard to let go.

I believe after looking at various sources that have been provided to me I feel fairly secure in the knowledge that there is to date no proof George Washington uttered the words ‘So Help Me God.’ We can safely chalk the issue up on the myth side of the tally board…..for now that is……history has a habit of coming back and biting us in the fanny as new things are found. I won’t hold my breath, and I’m certainly not going to keep looking for a needle in haystack.

Perhaps this can be my final word on the matter.

Should I take an oath to that effect?

Timberwolf Up! My Salute to the Veterans of the 104th and a Very Special Uncle

This post is probably my longest yet. Yes, I know…..many of my posts are rather wordy. I even thought about cutting this one down a bit or even making it two posts instead of one. I decided I wouldn’t. To delete any part of it would be a disservice to the men of the 104th and to my Uncle Robert. I don’t think Uncle Robert’s story can be told without without sharing details about the Timberwolves and their brave contribution to our victory over the Nazis.

I remember my Uncle Robert as a quiet, sweet soul. For many years I spent at least one week….sometimes two…. every year at his house. I remember a regimented man who maintained a schedule of getting up, going to work, dinner, a little television, his Bible, and then off to bed. I never heard him raise his voice even though I know he was a firm yet loving disciplinarian with his children. There was just something about Uncle Robert that made you want to please him. You never wanted to let him down by allowing him see you talk in church or by doing anything else you knew he would disapprove of. I remember early on summer mornings I would wake up in his home and lay there and listen as I heard the hushed tones of Uncle Robert and Aunt Claudine while they shared a quick breakfast together before he was off to work. Their private time together made me feel safe and secure.

As I was growing up I knew he was in the Army during World War II but until the last few years I didn’t know to what extent he served. Through his children I learned as I was growing up a little about Uncle Robert’s service. He made sure his children knew that World War II was necessary and that soldiers had fought to keep America free. He told them interesting stories about the war and his participation in it. Some of the stories were good, many were sad, but all were heroic.

The West family sent four sons off to war at the same time though their paths never crossed while they were in Europe. Uncle Robert was a Staff Sergeant in G Company, 104th Division, 414th Infantry, of the United States Army that landed in Cherbourg, France on September 7, 1944. They were the first American division to arrive on French soil without having first stopped in England. The 104th travelled to Europe via the USS Lejeune, the USS George Washington, the SS Ocean Mail, and the USAT Cristobal.

Once on European shores it is possible Uncle Robert along with other members of the 104th participated in the ‘Red Ball Express’, a circular 24-hour-a-day truck supply route from the invasion beaches to the front which had been in operation for some time before their arrival. My research indicates the 104th filled a support role for a few days before taking up defensive positions in the vicinity of Wuustwezel, Belguim on October 23, 1944.

The 104th was to relieve the British 49th Division and join the First British Corps, First Canadian Army. They were the first regiment of the American Army to relieve an allied unit on the Western Front, as well as the first American Regiment to fight under the control of an Allied Army.

Fellow soldier, Bob Bilinsky recollects that “G Company moved onto a dirt lane and then into an open area which seemed to stretch forever towards what we assumed to be the German positions.” As the Scottish soldiers they were to replace hopped happily out of their foxholes the soldiers of G Company were to take their place. Bilinsky recounts many of the Americans were “amazed at the complete disdain [the Scotts] seemed to have for the fact they presented an easy target for Germans gunfire! Suddenly it happened! The silence was shattered! Not by gunfire but by the loud strains of the Scottish bagpiper as the unit marched away in a swaying but perfect cadence to the pulsating beat of the music.” Bilinsky advised that “more than a few of us smiled” and “perhaps members of G Company owe that bagpiper a ‘Thank You’ for helping [them] lose just a little of the nervous edge [they] had built up on [their] first assignment for front line duty.” I can just imagine how my uncle (a mere country boy from the North Georgia foothills) must have jumped as the Scottish bagpipes began their initial whining. I’m sure; however, he was ready to cheer along with the other men of G Company as the cadence became a dual anthem of the Scots’ relief at leaving the foxhole and one of breaking the tension of an untested pack of wolves.

The Timberwolves soon had no reason to doubt their abilities.Once in Holland Uncle Robert and the men of the 104th began a series of 195 days of continuous combat with the Battle of the Dikes through Holland. My uncle told his children tales about crawling on his stomach, probing the ground inch by inch with a knife in order to search for landmines. At one point during battle, he was seperated from his company for three days and survived by scrounging what food he could wherever he could find it; but just before MIA papers were to be sent home, he was reunited with his group.

Once they were finished with Holland the Timberwolves began a march through Germany savagely attacking the enemy. Relief was given to the First Division and they joined up with the U.S. Seventh Corps, First U.S. Army near Aachen, Germany in November.

The Timberwolves gained a reputation of an unflinching and ceaseless barrage of night attacks that terrified the Germans. Stolberg was taken as well as Eschweiler on November 21st. As they crossed the Siegfried line and Inde River near Inden in early December, 1944, a German radio broadcast reported ‘the most terrible and ferocious battle in the history of all wars.’ Many Germans called the fighting of the 104th ‘unfair’. The December 6th issue of Stars and Stripes stated, “Inden---there we stuck it out for four days under the heaviest artillery concentration ever experienced by American troops [approximately sixty shells a minute].” On December 9, 1944 the Army Times stated, “Correspondents predict that the coming battle of the Roer will see the bloodiest fight yet experienced on the Western Front.”

I’m fairly certain that Uncle Robert received his Bronze Star for his actions along the Roer River area because the date it was awarded coincides with the 104th’s location at that time. The citation states, “for heroic achievement in connection with military operations in Germany on December 12, 1944 when, during a heavy enemy counter attack, he directed the fire of his weapons until the attack was repulsed and the enemy was driven off with heavy losses.”

He also received a Purple Heart for being wounded in battle. A bomb hit close by him, and a large piece of flat metal hit his leg. He was told that if it had hit edgeways, it would have cut off his leg. His knee swelled so badly that he couldn’t get his pant leg on. He was sent to a medical unit where he remained for four weeks, but then was sent back to the front line.

That’s what Timberwolves did. They didn’t give up. They were tough. Nothing in Hell can stop the Timberwolves was their battle cry, and they proved it day after day as they slogged through Europe.

It is no surprise the Timberwolves had a larger than life reputation. Their training in Oregon and other places comprised mostly of night attacks….something the Germans did not like to do. They trained in the rain and mud in order to overrun the enemy at night and mop up operations during the day. Uncle Robert would have been highly trained in night sounds so that split second decisions could be made regarding identification of the sound and reaction. Twenty-five mile night marches were common practices during training. “Battles were town by town and river by river,” said Harold Kennedy, a Timberwolf soldier. Another soldier remarked, “We surprised [the Germans] so many times.”

Timberwolf commander, Terry Allen, called the spirit of Timberwolf training as ‘Get smart and get tough’. He called their battle tactics ‘continuous pressure and aggressive night attacks.’

Lucherberg was held by the Timberwolves from enemy counterattacks and all strongholds west of the Roer River were captured by December 23rd. For the next two months through February 23, 1945 the 104th defended the area they had won around Duren and Merken. They also saw action taking Huchem-Stammeln, Birkesdorf, and North Duren. By March they were entering Cologne. Afterwards they crossed the Rhine at Hoffef on March 22, 1945.

An offensive began against the Ruhr Pocket which was an area where over 300,000 Germans were surrounded, and finally a 375-mile sweep into the Mulde River brought them to the heart of Germany. Timberwolf Tracks (page 346) states, “Since 25 March the (104th) Division had advanced 375 miles, had captured 19,152 prisoners, had played a vital role in trapping the 335,000 German troops in the Ruhr pocket, and another 65,000 Nazis in the Harz Mountains.” Yes, the 104th was taking care of business and living up to the expections of their leaders.

They finally met up with the Red Army at Pretzsch on April 26, 1945. When they lost contact with the enemy on May 5 the brave men of the 104th Division had completed 195 consecutive days of combat.

Uncle Robert and his fellow soldiers fought ate, slept in mud, snow, and hail. They watched buddies fall by the wayside. My uncle often told his children about seeing comrades throw down their weapons and stand in the line of fire as a way of committing suicide even though he begged them to get down. He became a Christian during his early tour of Europe and his family believes it was his relationship with God that kept him strong and able to withstand the horrible experiences he had to endure. Many of his memories were painful for him. I even remember my own mother telling me not to bring up the war, a favorite subject of mine, to Uncle Robert. If he wanted to talk about it he would do it on his own. I’m glad that he spoke of it with his children. Uncle Robert always stated you didn’t need to dwell on the bad times too much, but should always look to the future with God’s help.

One of the stories that was nearest and dearest to Uncle Robert’s heart was the one about a young private who was a very good soldier but when he learned he was to be sent on one particularly dangerous mission he begged Uncle Robert not to send him. Uncle Robert was the Staff Sergeant which meant he had control over the assignments. Can you imagine the pain he must have felt knowing he was sending men out to die? That has to have an effect on you as it happens over and over and over for 195 days without a break. The young private cried and begged desperately not to be sent. He said to my uncle, “I know if I go in today, I will not come out alive. If I go, I know I will die today.” For some reason that we will never know, that young soldier was more afraid on that day than any other. Uncle Robert had the authority to send someone else, but instead put his own name on the mission list.

Uncle Robert went in the young private’s place.

Many years later tears would form in Uncle Robert’s eyes as he told his children about the young soldier. Unfortunately the passage of time had clouded his mind and he could not remember the young soldier’s name. At some point the family decided to try and find the soldier. There had been a a letter near the end of the war that was sent to my uncle’s mother stating that Uncle Robert had saved the private’s life, but it had long since been misplaced. Contact was made with many of the members of G Company asking if anyone remembered the story, but not a soul did. Uncle Robert could recall lots of names, but the name of the private with whom he shared such a personal bond was lost.

One afternoon in 1997, Uncle Robert was telling war tales again. He repeated the story about the young private. Suddenly he said, “His name was ……,” he said calmly. Everyone looked at each other in disbelief. As easily as the boy’s name had slipped from Uncle Robert’s mind many years ago, it had just as easily slipped back in.

That very afternoon in the mailbox was a new G Company newsletter. My aunt anxiously opened it and began reading all the latest news from the men to my uncle. At the end of the letter was a simple note from the wife of the young private informing Company G members that he had passed away, “after having gone through some hard times with cancer.”

You cannot go through an experience like that with someone and not have a bond with them. Uncle Robert never saw the private again after the war, but he knew the private credited him with saving his life. Uncle Robert’s daughter, Rena, likes to think that all of that time Uncle Robert thought about the private the Lord was actually using her father’s thoughts and prayers to to help the private through his battle with cancer. It was NOT just a coincidence that Uncle Robert remembered the private’s name on the very day he discovered the private had died of cancer. The private was finally at peace and Uncle Robert was too….since he remembered the name that had long evaded him.

It would seem that even though it took a lifetime…..the private finally repaid his debt to my uncle.

Uncle Robert is gone now. His family keeps his memory and his military service alive by sending in information to the local paper and submitting items for the church bulletin. Many of the personal details in this piece are taken from a piece of writing my cousins wrote. I want to thank my Aunt Claudine and her children---Tony, Gail, and Rena for allowing me to share Uncle Robert’s story.

Many people including the remaining Timberwolves themselves attempt to keep the brave service to their county out in the forefront with books and websites. The main site for the Timberwolves can be found here. A book called Timberwolves: The Story of the 104th can be ordered here.

A picture of G Company can be found here along with a handwritten note indicating the placement of each man. If the notes are correct Uncle Robert is in the picture to the right and counting from right to left he is the sixth soldier in the second row. The private who Uncle Robert replaced in battle is also in the picture according to the handwritten notes.

Exploring Family Ties

Many of the students we come in contact each day have revolving family members. Those that come and go are blood related and some hang about simply by circumstances that seem to change with each new moon. Quirky family situations are not lost on today’s student. I believe that is why many of my new charges enjoy hearing this quirky tale.

Once upon a time a man and woman were henpecked by a non-family member to back a scheme to obtain power and wealth. The man and woman kept putting the non-family member off because they were embroiled in a struggle with a group of squatters who had taken up residence on their land. After a few years the man and woman were able to provide the necessary financial backing to the non-family member and the scheme was put into motion.

Soon the man and woman entered into an agreement with a neighbor across the way regarding their youngest daughter. She would marry the neighbor’s oldest son. Unfortunately the young man died leaving the daughter distraught and in a difficult situation. Thankfully the young man’s brother stepped in and married the daughter instead. Everyone though he was probably a better match anyway.

The non-family member and his scheme finally began to pay off. The man and woman began to grow quite wealthy with power and property. They were glad they had finally listened to the non-family member.

Though their daughter seemed happily married, the young man became disenchanted with his bride when she failed to produce a male heir. A little girl had been born, but any other children had been still born or died soon after being born. Tragedy strikes when the daughter is set aside by the young man for a much younger girl. Unfortunately her mother and father were both dead at this time and no one else came to her aide with enough force to help her.

The young man causes quite a scene in his attempts to divorce the young girl, but she would not agree to it. Members of their church family and town began to take sides. Finally the young man simply declares he’s divorced and marries another woman. Many people are appalled at the young man’s audacity. He announces he doesn’t care what people think. Unfortunately the second wife also has a problem producing a male heir and gives the young man another daughter. The second wife also runs afoul of the law, ends up in jail, and loses her life. The young man eventually grows to be an old man and marries many more times.

Eventually the young man’s daughters who have different mother’s take their turn running the family business. The daughter of the wife who was simply set aside takes her turn first since she was the eldest. She failed in her running of the family business miserably even though she had a like-minded partner with her husband and first cousin who just happened to be also be the great-grandson of the original man and women this story started with.

Advance in time a bit……..the second daughter (her mother’s head was cut off) has now taken over her father’s family business due to the first daughter’s death. She is a very powerful woman. Many men would like to marry her. She has her pick from several candidates. Even her half-sister’s widow wants to marry her.

Is this a plot outline for the latest reality show? A script from Desperate Housewives?
A southern family tree (see my maternal line line here)?

No, this is a tangled web of royal family connections that play an integral part in the early settlement of North America.

If you haven’t already guessed my story involves Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The non-family member doing the henpecking is Christopher Columbus. The squatters refer to the eventual ouster of Muslims from Spain….a period called the Spanish Reconquista. Ferdinand and Isabella’s youngest daughter, Catherine of Aragon, travels to England and marries Authur Tudor, however, he dies soon after the marriage. Arthur’s brother, Henry, steps up to the plate and marries Catherine. Things are great until Catherine seems unable to produce a male heir. Henry and Catherine’s daughter is Mary. Henry turns his back on the Pope in order to be rid of Catherine so he can marry Anne Boleyn. Unfortunately Anne also has a problem producing a male heir (Henry would have never considered it was his problem) and Henry soon was rid of her as well. Henry and Anne’s only living child was Elizabeth. Once Henry goes on to the great beyond his daughter Mary takes the throne. She marries Philip II of Spain, great-grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella. When Mary dies her widow then tries to court her half-sister Elizabeth for a time.

Sure, I could simply have kids read the text where it discusses the Protestant Reformation, Queen Elizabeth I, and the Spanish Armada (fairly heady subjects for a nine year old, don’t you think?). I could ignore those topics and also ignore the backstory since it isn’t part of the standards for fourth grade.

I could, but I don’t. I feel that by sharing the family connections between the ruling families of England and Spain I build prior knowledge, increase interest, and create a foundation of understanding behind the driving force behind many royal decisions. The kids begin to conjecture on their own why Philip II launched the Armada. Perhaps he was mad because Elizabeth had turned him down? Perhaps he was mad because he had lost any hope of England becoming a Catholic nation again? Perhaps he was a little peeved that Elizabeth began allowing her “Sea Dogs” to attack the treasure laden ships enroute from New Spain?

Kids become animated and react to my story at each little twist and turn. It sure beats simply ignoring details because they aren't in the state curriculum, reading the text, and answering the lesson questions.

Update: Tudor History has posted a great link regarding two men who were beheaded during the reign of Elizabeth I simply because they were Catholics. Using facial reconstruction procedures we can now see what the men looked like. See the whole article from Tudor History and their link to the British news story here. This fits into my follow up discussion with my classes today as we dicussed the reigns of Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. One student correctly advised, “Gee, they just kept flip-flopping between being Protestant and Catholic.”

Long happy sigh…….someone was listening and even better…they inferred.:)

Have You Tried the Anticipation Appetizer?

In my unit titled The Age of Exploration students discover the events that resulted in European settlement of the Americas. To set the stage for settlement I back up the content a bit and discuss The Silk Road, Marco Polo and how the Renaissance led to new scientific discoveries such as the astrolabe, compass, and caravel that aided explorers in their travels. None of this is possible without the student’s undivided attention and their personal motivation to participate in the activities I have planned.

One method to engage each and every students is to plan an anticipatory set. This is a fancy way of describing different techniques to relate the topics at hand with a student’s prior knowledge and life experiences. This very important portion of a unit also organizes the content by focusing on major concepts to be learned.

I begin my anticipatory set by telling students how as a child I used to love to go visiting family and friends with my parents. While the adults visited I would excuse myself to go to the restroom. I would usually end up roaming about the home looking in cabinets, peering in closets, and peeking under beds. After admitting my guilty pleasure I ask students if they have ever done any snooping as well. Usually half of the class raises their hands. I tell them that even though it’s rude to do this, and my parents would have been mortified if they had known, it is common for us all to have curiosity about an unknown place. My admission appeals to my intuitive-feeling learners since that are naturally curious. They are probably the ones who raise their hands. My sensing-feeling learners would also enjoy my story since they are sensitive to the feelings of others. Intrapersonal and interpersonal learners would also feel comfortable during this activity. This portion of my anticipatory set creates a comfortable mood as I admit to doing something as a child they have all done at one time or another.

I then ask students to brainstorm in groups regarding other reasons why people would explore the unknown and what types of unknowns are there that can be explored. After an appropriate amount of time we gather together again and I write group responses on the board in the form of a concept web that has the word exploration at the center, reasons to explore to the left, and unknown things to explore to the right. Students usually decide that people explore because we all have curiosity about the unknown, we gain new knowledge, and might discover new resources. They generally come up with unknown areas to explore such as space, the rainforest, and under the oceans. All learners would enjoy this group activity as it provides interaction with others, some personal reflection, facts, and there is a purpose in the activity. Students can use this activity to link a time period in the past with current explorations going on today. The Age of Exploration is ongoing.

I then pose a new problem for the groups. I give each group a world map, and tell them to try and agree among themselves on a favorite food. Everyone must agree that the group choice is a favorite food choice of theirs. Each map shows continents in the eastern hemisphere and, each map has one of the following countries highlighted: Spain, England, France, or Portugal. I tell each group that they live in the country that is highlighted on their group map. I tell each group that their favorite food only comes from one place and that is China. Students draw a straight line from their country to China. Students who are spatial and logical-mathematical will take to this activity. Verbal linguistic and interpersonal students will also be successful.

Finally, I tell students to notice that on their route to China to obtain their favorite food they pass through other countries. One day one or two of these other countries decide they are tired of people going through their land to get their favorite foods. The route is closed. What are students going to do? I ask students to solve their problem. They need to find a new route. Generally students choose new routes through Africa, around Africa, or north across northern Europe and Asia. A group or two choose to travel west as well towards North America. I post their maps and as we progress through the unit I refer back to the routes students suggested. This activity gets students thinking about Europe in relation to Asia. It also gives them an opportunity to discover their feelings regarding being shut out from something they want. sensing-thinking learners will enjoy this activity as it is practical for them. They have personal purpose to obtain a new route. Intuitive-feeling learners will like this activity since it appeals to their need to be imaginative.

I show students various spices poured out on a platter as well as squares of silk cloth. They smell the spices, feel the cloth, and I explain how the spices are used today as well as how people in the 1400s used them. I ask students about salt. Have they ever tasted mashed potatos or grits (it’s a southern thing) without salt? I tell students that these spices and the silk cloth have a lot to do with the Age of Exploration. I explain to students they are going to be learning about a closed route to Asia and, they will discover what people will do to get their favorite things.

All of these activities provide a base for me to begin the unit. Students are given opportunities to recall prior knowledge and are given scaffolding they can hang on to and refer back to as I discuss new content throughout the unit.

Anticipatory sets are aptly named since they do just that……they set the anticipation level in the classroom serving as a learning appetizer from wee ones to our most mature learners.

It's the Birthday M'am!

For over four decades a very special person and I have shared many of the same things. We shared the same mother and father , the same house, and many of the same joyful times and heart wrenching tragedies that are common to us all.

I grew up thinking my sissy could do anything, and she can. This is a picture of her with our mother taken at one of her baby showers once upon a time.

My sister can build the best play house with nothing but swept dirt, outlines of pinestraw and twigs and don’t forget the hole dug into the earth a bit that will serve as your handy dandy refrigerator. Who needs Bob Barker and his Amana?

My sister can make the best fake Cinderella crown ever out of cardboard from the back of a school writing tablet and aluminum foil. I wowed the entire third grade on Halloween that year. Not only did I wear my crown Dear Sister figured out how to get my thick hair into a bun. I was a radiant eight year old Cindy-relly!

My sister can tell the scariest tales about a big toe running around the woods on our grandfather’s property. In fact I was so scared I wouldn’t spend the night in my grandfather’s house unless Dear Sister was with me. Our grandfather had cut his big toe off when he was younger with an ax. The tale of Pa Land’s big toe wandering about “the place” was handed down from cousin to cousin to scare the pants off us little ‘uns. Dear Sister was simply doing her part to keep the family history alive.

My sister has a direct line to Santa’s sleigh. She knew he had been to our house whether it was four, five, or six in the morning, and made sure I knew it the minute the coast was clear. Mom and Dad were always very appreciative.

My sister is the best training wheels taker-offer and bike holder-upper there ever was when you are first learning how to ride like a big girl.

My sister can kill a rat using only a sheet and blanket, can yours? We used to go to the country on the weekends. Apparently a little visitor had made its way into the bed we shared. When we figured out “that something fuzzy” wasn’t her and it wasn’t me Dear Sister flung the covers back and sent the poor creature flying. A loud thud met our ears in the pitch black. Dear Sister turned on the light and we found the poor, broken body of the mouse behind an arrangement of dried flowers in the corner. For someone as small as she is Dear Sister is a real scrapper!

My sister can remain calm under extreme pressure. We grew up with a lumberyard for a back yard. When it came time for Dear Sister to learn how to drive she was allowed to drive in and out among the bundles of plywood and two by fours to practice for her driving test. I was placed in the passenger seat to make sure she kept her speed down to a minimum. I mean where was the harm……no cars….we were in a lumberyard after hours, right? At one point I got a little upset with Dear Sister. I have long since forgotten the reason, but I found it necessary to exit the car while it was still moving. I simply opened the door and rolled on across the pavement as Dear Sister didn’t miss a beat. She just kept on driving leaving me to pick myself up and limp on back home. Thinking back on it now it’s a wonder I didn’t roll the wrong way and end up dead.

My sister knows how to feed all kinds of animals. It was her job to feed all the animals we amassed over the years from dogs, cats, ducks, bunnies, a pony, a donkey, a cow, and chinchillas. Yes, at one point we really had chinchillas.

My sister is quite a businesswoman. Everything she touches is sucessful. She’not happy unless she has a million things going on at once. I’ve decided her metabolism is on warp speed while mine is more slow motion.

My sister is the Quick Draw McGraw of cell phone usage. Currently she maintains three that ring constantly…..and I think I make a million different decisions a day.

My sister takes the role of “oldest” seriously. She’s delivered the play-by-play of all of the gut wrenching events in our lives: “Dad’s been in a car wreck.”, “Mom’s had a stroke. She’ll have some lasting effects.”, “The Judge signed the Final Judgement. Mom and Dad are divorced.”, and most recently “I’m holding Mom’s hand. She’s gone.”

As you can see she has spent the last 44 years taking care of me, entertaining me, and watching out for me, and yes, taking the brunt of many of the harder times in our lives.

Today is Dear Sister’s 50th birthday……….she doesn’t look it. Actually, I look like the older one. I encouraged her to do something special for her birthday reminding her that she’s the birthday girl.

“Oh no,” she was quick to correct me. “I’m not the birthday girl. I’m the birthday M’AM!.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY M’AM from your little sister and everyone else that loves you, admires you, and is in awe of you.

We number in the hundreds!

2006 Cliopatria Award Nominations

Nominations are open during November for the 2006 Cliopatria Awards.

Jonathan Dresner over at Cliopatria states: these awards recognize the best history writing in the blogosphere. There will be awards in six categories:

Best Group Blog
Best Individual Blog
Best New Blog
Best Post
Best Series of Posts
Best Writing

You can follow the links to nominate your favorites.

Bloggers, blogs and posts may be nominated in multiple categories. Individuals may nominate any number of specific blogs, bloggers or posts, even in a single category, as long as the nominations include all the necessary information (names, titles, URLs, etc).

Nominations will be open through November; judges will make the final determinations in December. The winners will be announced at the American Historical Association Annual Meeting in early January 2007; winners will be listed on HNN and earn the right to display the Cliopatria Awards Logo on their blog.

Last year's winners can be seen here

So make sure your get out Tuesday and fulfill your civic responsibility by voting and make sure during November your fulfill your blogosphere responsibility and complete a nomination for a favorite history blog in one, two, or all of the categories. While I’m already certain as to which politicians I will vote for Tuesday, I plan on giving my Cliopatria nominations serious thought over the next few days.

Only in Georgia

I find this really interesting.

Have you ever seen an ex-Democratic governor star in a political ad for a Republican governor? Watch this and be amazed.



I love Georgia politics!

Chronology, Chronology...My Kingdom for a Little Chronology

I apologize. I really shouldn’t have posted a blast at teaching thematically without taking an honest look at the whole teaching with themes versus chronological teaching question. Obviously educators have differing opinions that can create quite a firestorm. I saw this recently when I attended a meeting for social studies teachers in my district. See my original post here.

Dennis Fermoyle inquired as to the themes that were presented at our meeting. I have since discovered they were taken directly from the National Council for the Social Studies. The themes provided to my fellow teachers and I were:

*culture
*time, continuity, and change
*people, places, and environments
*individual development and identify
*individuals, groups, and institutions
*power, authority, and governance
*production, distribution, and consumption
*science, technology, and socieity
*global connections
*civic ideals and practices

You can see the themes and explantions at the NCSS website here.

Remember….it was our job to come up with a more condensed version of the themes that would be student friendly for children from Pre-K through 12th grade.

After three hours of torture my 49 colleagues and I arrived at a condensed list of eight themes that were basically the same but worded a little different here and there. We then found out the state would probably come up with themes on their own, so perhaps we had just wasted the morning. Education.....the efficient profession.

Unfortunately I left the meeting thinking I had a copy of the thematic nuggest we fought so hard for but, apparently I either left the meeting without it, or my copy is lost in the dark and dank recesses of my vehicle.

So, if the mandate comes down anyway and we have to teach thematically what could be the possible justification for the practice? How can I feel good about complying? I did some looking around for pro statements concerning thematic teaching and have posted them in bold along with my reaction.

Themes allow for a less textbook centered approach. I understand that. Textbook reading and answering the questions at the end of the lesson can be very boring. I think of it as a necessary evil, however. At some point sometime a student IS going to have to open the book, read the lesson, and answer some questions. My students are just learning how to do this. Some textbook use is necessary, but no teacher should simply rely on the text for the be all and end all of instruction. Standards drive instruction not the text. Gee, that’s scary…..you hear something enough and you start spouting it, but it is true.

Themes allow for instructors and students to view history through a particular viewpoint rather than the normal causes, events, and effects. By the time students reach the upper grades and the college survey courses they have enough of a background and experience in order to see the big picture. My nine year olds certainly cannot see (without a large amount of jumping forward and constantly spiraling back from me) the web of connections that each layer of history creates. To simply teach "war", "civil rights", or "individuality and identity" as some of my colleagues were fearing we would be providing interesting conversations for some students who know the content, but what about those who don’t grasp content so quickly? To teach in this way would leave some students at the kiddie table.

Themes give students personal connections. In literature, themes are used to enhance understanding and personal connections to text. One of the things we constantly tell language arts students as they read is to connect to the text. Has this happened to you? What do you already know about this? What meaning does this have for you? I follow the same practice with social studies attempting to show students the continuity of events and emotional reactions to the changing world around us. We can connect students personally to history without teaching a unit on war, a unit on women, a unit on global connections, etc. We can do it by showing connections, more connections, and even more connections.

Themes can become the bottom line message we want students to internalize. I agree, but the internalization should be a process over time not bashing the kid over the head year after year with theme, theme, theme. It just adds one more set of data they need to memorize. There is room to teach chronologically yet constantly show students how events can be classified into certain areas of commonality.

Themes allow for a creative flow and flexibility. You are not tied down to a sequenced, roll-call list of events. I’ll concede this, however, I feel it works best when students already have a background regarding the historical events being discussed. Hopping here and there would leave too many gaps and let’s face it….too many teachers at my level are not adept enough and the state boards do not provide enough information regarding what is tested in order to string together a coherent tangle of events for students to adequately master by playing hopscotch through the standards.

I teach chronologically and it is possible to have creative flow and flexibility as well. For example, I begin teaching American government at the beginning of the year when we examine regions and Native Americans. Ever hear of the Iroquois League? What about the Mayflower Compact or the Connecticut Fundamental Orders? Connect these concepts of government at a later date to the Albany Plan of Union including Ben Franklin’s political cartoon of the snake cut into thirteen pieces (little boys love this) and over time (there’s that chronological thing again) you are teaching thematically.

I’ve heard teachers talk about how boring it is to begin the year teaching about the Incans, Mayans and the Aztecs. I don’t see how you can discuss Spanish settlement without it. These were great cultures….not simply people living in the dirt. Many people forget about the civil war the Incans were participating in when the Spanish arrived. This civil war made their culture weaker and was one of the advantages the Spanish had. What a missed opportunity if students are not allowed to spiral back and remember the effects of the Incan civil war when our own American Civil War is discussed. Spiraling back gives the perfect opportunity for students to understand the concept of “divided we fall” and “preserving the Union”.

On the downside teaching by themes can become the overriding content topic, rather than a vehicle for addressing underlying concepts. This is what scares me the most about a push to teach thematically. I see too many educators who are not well versed in historical matters. They follow the course that social studies is the time for cutesey activities such as dressing as Pilgrims at Thanksgiving and reading a play that features the all important dinner. They then check off the standard that states, “The student will identify reasons why the Pilgrims travelled to the New World and will explain problems they encountered” which signifies that students have mastered it. I remember planning thematically in college to satisfy some requirement of some sort and once our units were presented that’s what they were…..a series of fun, cute activitities without no real meat on our turkey leg.

The implementation of themes should not be window dressing in a curriculum guide. Contrived methods to meet a mandate result in transparent actions that even nine year old students pick up on. This can be compared with the practice of requiring teachers to have a word wall in their rooms. If the teacher isn’t really using it and only has it there to meet a requirement by the powers that be even the most uninterested student realizes it as a gimmick.
So, can elementaryhistoryteacher live with thematic teaching if it comes down the pike?

Yes, I can live with my own interpretation of it…..and there in lies the rub. Hundreds of teachers each having their own interpretation…some excellent, some mediocre, and some deplorable…some understanding the vague guidelines that will be handed down and some won’t.

An Update on My Special Soldiers

Hubby Dear and I along with Daughter Dear were so delighted a few days ago when two of my special soldiers stopped by to visit. After several months away in Iraq, Adam and Jess were home for a few days and managed to squeeze us in. I first wrote about them here and included pictures of their second oath of service taken in one of Saddam’s palaces.

They had been in the states already for several days visiting parents, grandparents, and taking a few days off to lay around on the beach in Hawaii. I certainly don’t blame them at all.

However, can you imagine being in one of the most dangerous places on earth, finally getting home, and then find yourself smack dab in the middle of an earthquake? While they weren’t at the most intense spot they did feel the quake quite intently. A different kind of adventure they said…like they hadn’t already been on one.

It was simply lovely to finally get to meet Jess since I didn’t get to attend the wedding. It was out of state and at the time my mother was not doing so well. Well, Adam did quite well for himself. Not only is she breathtakingly beautiful, she is also very articulate as well.

Adam and his younger brother, Seth, spent many days and nights at our house getting into all sorts of things with our Dear Son during their middle and high school years. They are the brothers Dear Son and Daughter Dear never had. As they left I hugged them both and told Jess what I always tell Adam, Seth, and their sister when we leave each other, “No matter what, no matter how old you are, if you need a place to be our door is always open.”

While we hope the happy couple is through with Iraq, little brother Seth has recently arrived in the Triangle of Death.



If you don’t already have a dear soldier to pray for please feel free to adopt mine. Seth is in a dangerous place with twenty-first century weapons aimed at an enemy with thirteenth century mentalities. The war we are waging is between parallel worlds millions of miles apart literally and figuratively, and my special solders are a part of it.

All of our special soldiers need our support whether we agree about why they are there or not.

Hurry Up and Wait, Part Two

As I’ve mentioned at this site before prior to becoming a teacher I dilly-dallied in the legal profession as a bona fide paralegal. I went to work each day, completed a must-be-done-today slate of activities, usually provided myself with a lovely lunch out in a real restaurant, regaled in stimulating conversation about tort reform, case law, and current events before journeying home to cook my family’s dinner and completing some type of at home project such as rearranging furniture or planting flowers. I felt important. I felt what I did mattered and was appreciated. The work I did was streamlined and efficient.

Now I teach.

It consumes my thoughts, my days, my nights, my weekends, and even my summers. It doesn’t appear that I can turn it off as easily as I could my legal work. I worry about students, I ponder over different strategies, I wonder why and what if much more than I should, and obsess over teaching so much I even have this website where I write about it. I now play some strange game of reinventing the wheel or justifying my actions for everything I do. I run the race to complete my work in a streamlined and efficient manner, but I never seem to reach the finish line.

Yesterday I began part one this post here where I explained a bit about my weekend traveling back and forth to be with Father Dear who had hip replacement surgery on the 27th. I detailed the hurry up and wait type of mentality that goes along with hospital visits. You hurry, hurry to get there to be with your loved one and then wait, wait, and wait some more to be supportive, helpful, and simply there if needed.

The day before Father Dear’s surgery I attended the social studies meeting along with approximately 49 other social studies teachers from across the county ranging from Pre-K through 12th grade. Georgia is rolling out new standards soon so I see the need to meet to set up a curriculum guide that will assist new and veteran teachers make more sense of the changes in their teaching area. The fourth and fifth grade teachers at my table are taking our task very seriously as we want a product we can sign our names to and, we know that it will be something we can use as well.

What doesn’t make sense is the hurry up and wait mentality of these sorts of meetings. I hurry up to get to the meeting so I don’t have everyone looking at me as I walk in late. I find I’m one of the first ones there. The meeting was supposed to start at 8:30 instead of 8:00. I wish I had gotten that memo…..kind of surprising since my email box at school greets me with at least 25 emails each morning.

As the minutes ticked by I found myself sitting, visiting with those around me, and sitting some more. The start time for the meeting ticked on by. We still sat. Last month when we met for two days we started late on those days as well. This time those in charge rushed about conferring over a computer screen, making quick trips to the parking lot, or basically moving boxes of unidentified stuff from one side of the room to another. Come to find out the paperwork different grade level groups needed to complete their sections of the curriculum guide had not been brought to the meeting. Hmmmm….Also the cords needed for the lap tops we would use to type up our sections of the curriculum guide were in South Georgia in someone’s trunk. Hmmmm…….and then a bombshell was dropped.

Nice Curriculum Lady referred to some forms that had been placed on our tables. One set appeared to be a list of social studies themes. She didn’t inform us which group but did advise the themes came from one of the national social studies groups. Then Nice Curriculum Lady began to tell us about a meeting that county folks like her had attended led by state officials. Apparently they were told the state would like for teachers to begin teaching thematically instead of chronologically with the implementation of the new standards. The room got very quiet, very fast.

Nice Curriculum Lady kept talking, but many in the room had stopped listening. We were too busy looking at each across the tops of our glasses, rolling our eyes, or choking on our biscuits. You could tell who in the room is close to retirement because they were saying under their breaths, “Well, if this is what it’s coming to I’m out of here.” I noticed one veteran teacher across the room push here papers back to the middle of the table and announce to those around her, “Well, I’m done….”

Yes, it looked like I was at the brink of rebellion.

Several people were asking Nice Curriculum Lady questions and, she quickly saw she had lost many of us in the room. She repeated some of what we had missed. Yes, state officials wanted social studies taught by themes, however, she and many of the county officials at the meeting balked enough for the state officials to finally agree to no requirement for thematic instruction, however, the units listed in the curriculum guides must have themes listed with them. In other words we must add themes to the wording of our units as window dressing to meet someone’s need in a tall downtown building to justify their ridiculous salary.

Nice Curriculum Lady dropped the next bombshell. Not only would we add themes as window dressing (my words…not hers) to our curriculum units we would need to come up with our own themes as a county system. This was met with lots of question marks…..mine included.

Ok, let’s get this right……the state wants conformity so they come up with a new set of standards, however, each system can set up their own curriculum guides and their own scope and sequence regarding when the units are taught. Additionally every county or system will arrive at their own interpretation of themes and add them as window dressing to each unit. Many at my table stated the obvious…..where’s the conformity in that?

We had a set of themes on our tables. A set of uniform, plug ‘em in where they go themes yet we were being asked to arrive at our own system themes. Many in the group asked, “We have them right here….why are we reinventing them?” No real answer was given. You see, that solution would be too easy. Too economical. Too perfect. Too streamlined and efficient.

The next three hours was spent attempting to get 50 teachers to agree on a set of themes that looked like the national ones yet were paired down to seven or eight instead of ten and were in words that students could understand. I’m sure I don’t have to state the obvious here….words a first grader would understand and words an average twelth grader would understand are vastly different. Angry words and accusations flew between high and middle, between high and primary grades, and between teachers and country officials.

Part of the problem was that many in the room didn’t see the need to do what we were doing. As it was discussed more and more it finally came out that the state would probably come out and issue their own themes at a later date. The room erupted in a firestorm frenzy after that.

As I finally trekked home at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon I couldn’t help but think my whole day had been a waste. It had been a waste for many in the room. All of us had been away from our students (in case someone has forgotten that’s the main reason why we teach) to participate in a fiasco of government waste to the max. It made me feel ill. It made me feel used. It made me feel sorry for John Q. Public whose tax dollars paid for a substitute for each of us to argue all morning regarding a set of themes that didn’t need arguing over.

I participated gladly in the hurry up and wait mentality to be at the hospital with my Dad. I played the hospital’s game because it’s what you do. You support your family member by waiting, waiting, waiting. You support your family member by sitting there to make sure they receive good care. You support your family member by simply being there. Yes, I care. Yes, I want to help. Yes, I want to show my love and appreciation to someone who has supported me, loved me, and provided well for me over the years. You do what you need to do because it makes sense.

On the other hand I am angry about participating in the hurry up and wait mentality of my other family….the school system. I see no need to waste my time, my student’s time, or the tax payer’s money discussing themes. Why do we keep reinventing the wheel? Why do we follow blindly without speaking up and out loudly? Why are we wasting our valuable time to arrive at a set of themes the state will come out with anyway? Why are we adding them to a fill-in box on each unit in the curriculum guide simply to satisfy somebody somewhere?

In this instance is it hurry up and wait? No, it’s more like hurry up and waste, and waste, and waste…..

Hurry Up and Wait, Part One

I spent Thursday and Friday away from my classroom. Originally the plan was for me to attend a social studies curriculum committee meeting on both days. Then Dear Father called and informed me his doctor had scheduled a hip replacement surgery on Friday, the 27th. Well, there was absolutely no way on earth anyone was going to put my Dear Father asleep without me being there first.

So the last three days have been very exhusting and can be described only as hurry up and wait type of days. You know, those types of days when you have somewhere you need to be and must be there by a certain time. Once you arrive breathless and tense because you hurried so you discover that the day will consist of waiting, waiting, and more waiting.

One of the hardest things to do is to wait. I’m not a very patient person. I like to be in control. Surgery is one of those areas I can’t be in contol of so I waited, waited, and waited some more in the waiting room of the small town hospital where every member of both sides of my family have been at some time or another for the last 50 years or so. I got there soon after Dear Father and Lovely Step-Mother had arrived. Sweet Step-sister and Energetic Step-Sister-In-Law were already buzzing around preparing Dear Father for surgery. How fortunate we all are that they both are nurses in the surgical department. It seemed to helped Dear Father’s feelings.

Zipping ahead in the story Father Dear came through ok though Young, Smart Doctor informed us that Dear Father has the largest bones he had ever seen and, he had to use the largest hip joint he had. I joked with my sister (that's how we handle worry) that they weren't lying to me when Mom and Dad used to say to me, "You're not overweight; you're just big boned." I must have gotten my big bones from Father Dear. Well, it sounds good anyway.......

Lovely Step-Mom, Dear Sister, and I along with Sweet Step-Sister's husband and Dear Father's pastor and his wife made small talk in the waiting room. Folks came in and spoke to various members of our group. I would lean over as the person would walk away and say, "Now who was that?" At one point one of the fellow waiting room waitees was identified as having the same last name as Dear Father. He was there for his wife. Another couple was identified as having the same last name as Dear Departed Mother's maiden name. They were waiting on their daughter. We are all cousins in some form or fashion I'm sure.

That's what I like about a small town. Life there is very safe and secure even though the area is growing by leaps and bounds. You never know how or when you will end up with family, but you'll be with family no matter what.

Dear Father slept on and off all day after he finally reached his room that burst at the seams with his children, step-children, friends, and step-grandkids. At one point the nurses were trying to figure out who all the people were milling about in their hallway. I had the job of informing them that there were husbands, wives, and kids who hadn’t shown up yet. “Oh my gosh,” she said in a surprised, wide-eyed way, “There’s more?” We quickly assured her we would come in shifts after the first day.

Day two was also another hurry up and wait day. Hurry up and drive the hour and a half to the small town where both my mom and dad grew up. Then wait, wait, wait sitting by Father Dear’s side in case I’m needed. My main job was to be there so Lovely Step-Mom could go eat lunch if she wanted to. Father Dear was more alert, but I feel his recovery will be a bit slow.

Stay tuned for part two where I detail the hurry up and wait mentality behind the social studies committee meeting I attended on Thursday. Here's a hint of the fiasco.........teaching thematically versus chronologically. Yikes! It can only be compared to what herding cats must be like.

Stay tuned.

Pop Culture Continues to Trip a President

I’m always amazed at what my students discuss with one another regarding their television viewing habits. I’m on constant alert to quash discussions regarding various reality television shows comingled with talk of Sponge Bob.

One young television viewer came in the other day and said, “Hey Elementaryhistoryteacher, did we really have a president who used to fall down all the time?”

I was caught off guard. This is not unusual since I generally have four or five kids talking to me at the same time and another two or three others poking me or calling my name repeatedly.

I responded to my televion viewer by saying, “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Well, I was watching the Comedy Channel last night and I saw this show called….” He was searching for the title. The kids standing around began to pepper him with titles of shows. Apparently my students are well versed with the line up on the Comedy Channel.

Mr. Overexposed to Television made another attempt, “A show called ummmmm, ummmm, something, something live. He turned to the other kids and continued, “It was so funny. Everyone was calling him Mr. President and he kept falling all over the place. Then the guy stood up and said Live from New York It’s Saturday Night. Saturday Night Live!…..that’s it!”

“Oh yeah,” I say. “That’s an old show. It started back when I was in high school.”

“Golly,” one sweet cherub states, “that’s really an old show.” I ignore the comment and simply smile.

Another student speaks up, “Saturday Night Live still comes on. I watch it sometimes. They have this neat cartoon that shows gay superheroes.”

I think to myself that I remember a time when kids thought the word gay meant to be happy and cheerful. Remember? Wasn’t it the Flinstones who had a “gay, old time?

The student expounds further, “…and they have a car that looks just like a…..”

“Alrighty then,” I quickly interject. “Let’s get on with what we need to do today. Turn to page…..”

No, I will NOT be the lead story on the five o’clock news today.

In case you are not aware the characters my student was speaking of have a car that resembles the male body part.

Of course the president Mr. Overexposed to Television was referring to was none other than Gerald Ford.

Poor Gerald Ford…forever saddled with the ‘clumsey guy’ lable.

So maybe my fellow educators and I need to prop poor Gerry up to the kidlets because most of what they internalize about him is what pop culture feeds them.

Want to know more? Visit American Presidents here to learn more about President Ford.

Famous Explorer Cortes Spends the Day in Elementaryhistoryteacher's Classroom

Would you be willing to wear short “pumpkin’ pants, tights, and knee high boot to motive kids? Mr. Schinella did, and the interest level regarding how people lived in the 1500s greatly increased.

Not only did he wear a period costume all day at school he taught the majority of the lesson and worked one-on-one with many of the kids. Here are some great pics of Mr. Schinella in his “tights”.



The focus of his lesson was the Renaissance period and how advances in technology gave birth to sailors having the ability to sail much further and for longer periods of time. Mr. Schinella is pointing to the powerpoint of mine he used throughout the lesson to show additional images to students. You can make out a portrain of Prince Henry there but not the text.

I like using various slides as we introduce material. Students saw real images of Prince Henry’s school of navigation in Portugal which trained many of the Portuguese sailors and enabled them to have the knowledge they needed in order to sail around Africa and later to reach the coast of India. These were the first real stand-out events in the Age of Exploration.

A Conundrum For You

Well, I’ve been back from the beach for a few days. I don’t know which is harder….the torture right before a break or the turmoil when you return from a break. I think Chinese water torture is easier in both cases.

I have a ‘things to do list’ which is longer than my left leg, and things are being added right and left as we speak. I’ll get to everything eventually, but it may take me some time. I have many more things to share about the beach and my trip, however, I think I’ve rubbed your nose into my paradise enough for now, and I bet you are ready for History Is Elementary to get back to the business of being about history and teaching so without any further beach talk here we go…..

These days everyone’s family tree is a little confusing due to the increase in divorce, remarriages, and cohabitation. I wouldn’t want to be a genealogist in one hundred years or so trying to decypher family lines. Activities and projects which revolve around the family unit can mean a teacher is treading into dangerous waters. A few years ago I thought it would be a really great activity to have a group of language arts students interview family members and obtain the receipes for special dishes that family members always want to have at family gatherings. You know, Aunt Mary’s Creamed Corn, Uncle Jim Bob’s spare rib sauce and so on. We were going to take the two or three receipes from each class member and students were going to write out the recipes and illustrate the pages. All of the pages were going to be bound into one booklet, mass produced, and shared with the entire class.

Sounds like an interesting activity right? Our first experience with history is learning our own family history. I was trying to jump start that a bit and get some conversations going at home.

I only had two kids to bring in recipes. Most never brought anything and I had five parents who wrote nasty notes wanting to know why I was prying into their families or informing me they don’t associate with family members.

Needless to say the subject of family can get a little touchy.

Southerners are always getting dumped on regarding our family trees. I’ll admit it…some family trees down here in the nether regions of the country are confusing. Hell, some family trees don’t even fork.

I have a confession to make. My maternal tree does fork, however, that sucker is inundated with the thickest, largest kudzu vine you ever did see. (If you don’t know what kudzu is click here.)

Many days ago I began thinking about Mom’s family. I hopped into bed with pen and paper and began diagramming all of the connections.

Hubby groaned. “Oh no, you’re not going to write about that, are you?”

“Now, now,” I soothed. “It’s not like Granma and Granpa were actually related.”

“Wasn’t your grandmother your grandfather’s wife and aunt at the same time?” Hubby asked.

“Well,……yeah. Technically,” I answered.

“Wasn’t your mother’s father also her grand uncle?”

Gee, I was amazed Hubby remembered all of this. “Yeah,” I answered, but….”

Hubby continued as if he was the District Attorney grilling me on the stand, gr“Wasn’t your grandmother’s father-in-law also her brother-in-law?”

As my family pride began to sag a bit I said, “Yes, that’s all true, but you’re making it sound like we all have three heads, one eye in the middle of our foreheads, and we’re cross-eyed to boot.”

Hubby raised his hand to shush me, “Wait,” he said, “I’m on a roll.” He peered over at my diagram and examined it for a minute.

Finally he said, “Your great-grandfather was also your great grand uncle.” He lay back on the pillow smiling and all full of himself.

“Hmmmmmm….Is there such a thing?” I countered. “Is there a distinction of grand uncle? But yes, I guess if you want to go that far you could say that my great grandfather was also my great grand uncle.”

I was getting exasperated at this point as I said, “Look, what’s your point? It’s my family tree. I thought I would share this information to introduce the topic of overlapping presidential administrations for a post over at American Presidents.”

“Oh. Well….Never mind then. That might be an interesting way to approach it.”

And it just might be an interesting way to approach the subject, but first see if you can untangle my family’s kudzu vine. I’ve even posted my family connections in green to make it easier for you to see all the twists and turns.

These family connections, as suspect as they may be, are all true. We are not deformed, and no laws have been broken so how about it?

Give my puzzle a whirl…

What makes these family connections completely innocent?

Maintaining My Claim

As the picture confirms I’m still maining my claim on the beach. Day two and I am settled into my lounge with umbrella, Coke (a good Southern girl never goes anywhere without the elixir of life), cell phone, and plenty of paper and pens.

All is right with the world…..

The beach is busy this morning---not with people but with the business of being a beach. Small, greyish-white crab-like creatures scurry here and there diving into holes in the sand before my poor “graded too many papers in my lifetime” eyes can focus in on them clearly. I mimic their actions as I scurry from spot to spot camera phone open attempting to snap a picture. I hope Daughter Dear isn’t watching her crazy mother from the balcony of the condo. I finally give up leaving the minute creatures their solitude.

The birds, large and small, are soaring overhead or walking the beach nibbling this and that. Their little heads bob in and out as they walk along as if they are saying, “We’re eating this and that, this and that, this and that, this and that.” What is it that they see in the sand that I don’t?

It’s right before noon….the sun is still a bit to the left. As my gaze pans from east to west I see a long column of condo buildings as far as the eye can see running parallel to the white ribbon of beach and the blue-green of the water. Along with a long stretch of condos to the east is the Alabama-Florida state line or Floribama as the locals call it.

Directly in front of me looking out towards the horizon I see an expanse of what appears to be huge silver sequins winking and twinkling at me as the sun catches each little ripple of the water. Various kinds of boats dot the horizon here and there.



To the west the water reverts back to the blue-green, semi-transparent depths. Empty lots complete this end of Perdido Key and are dotted here and there with sea oats stretching down towards the jetty.



Occaisional trios of pelicans soar by on the prowl for tasty morsels.

If I remain patient, vigilent, and by fixing my gaze on one section of water at a time I am rewarded with the occaisional water ballet that mini-schools of small, silvery fish perform as they come in close to shore turning this way and that. The sun shines through the waves as they curl one last time to reveal brown seaweed churning in the water. A small boat motors across and as it reaches me a wave curls. For a split second I’m able to see a large fish swimming inside the wave parallel to the boat. It’s just a dark shadow but it’s a three to four foot long shadow. Is that a triangle-shape fin sticking up along the top edge of the creature? Hmmmm….I wonder if the mighty fishermen realize their prize catch is only a few feet from their deck. I think of Dear Husband. He’s been out since 5:30 a.m. on a charter boat with twenty other manly men from our church. I hope he’s having a good day and the fishing/seasick gods are being benevolent to everyone aboard.

The waves are pounding today----much larger than yesterday---more distinct clouds and a steady, steady wind. I have to fight my favorite writing tool….the spiral notebook….to keep it steady as I perch it along the handrail of my lounge.

The birds see something in the water. They are literally belly flopping into the surf diving straight down like Kamikazee pilots except they are able to crash into the water and careen right back up in the wild blue yonder proudly munching on their catch.

A large…..wrong word……a giantic bird has landed in front of me. I freeze. He....she turns around and looks my way. I mean I think he/she is looking at me. How can you tell since the eyes on the side of the head? I begin to think about my exit strategy if gigantic bird begins to come my way. This took some thinking since my “I’m not overweight just undertall” body does not always move quickly in the most graceful manner. Two groups of people walk by. You would think gigantic bird would get nervous and fly off. He/she just kept gazing out at the sea totally ignoring me and the folks passing him by. Finally he/she begins to flap and transports his/her body from the left of me to the right of me where he/she continued his/her sentry duty over the water. This continued for about five minutes before he/she finally just walked on down the beach. Just another tourist…..at least speedos weren’t involved.



As the afternoon wore on I watched the sun slowly slide on down the other side of the sky. The huge silver sequins that winked and twinkled at me earlier are also moving further and further to the west. Occaisionally a fish flips up out of the water for an instant and slides back in. I began to see gangs of dolphins swimming towards the jetty. They gave me my own personal floor show as they literally jump in and out of the water as they sail by. Wow, who needs Sea World?

Star Trek begins with these words, “Space….the final frontier.” I beg to differ with Captain Kirk. Here I sit on a fine line between the edge of a continent and a great abyss. Space is fine. I get it the need for space missions but I think even with all of our technology we have lost the determination needed for that next great discovery or accomplishment. The Cold War fueled our desire to win the space race and now it’s over and our desire has cooled. We also don’t seem to have that same collective drive or spirit as it were to have a major accomplishment. What has been the greatest space news lately? Some yahoos (and not even a full compliment of yahoos) decide Pluto isn’t a planet. It’s disheartening.

The oceans are where it’s at. This is where we should focus our attention. I sit here and look at the edge of a world we are aware of but yet we still know so little.

Deep thoughts…….

….and another day ends

…. and I still maintain my claim.

I Conquer This Beach in the Name of Elementaryhistoryteacher!

The beaches along the Florida and Alabama Gulf coast are lovingly referred to as the Redneck Riviera. It’s true---you see more cars with Georgia tags in Panama City Beach than you do on an Atlanta interstate. Dear Hubby is on a fishing trip up the beach with the men from church while Daughter Dear and I are ensconced in a condo somewhere between Pensacola and Mobile Bay. It’s my first time here and I want to come back. It’s simply lovely.

It’s fall ya’ll, but summer is apparently still tugging away at folk’s hearts. It would appear that my compatriots here on the beach are all Southerners----our accent gives it away, you know. We’re a mixed bunch from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. We’ve all been true to our Southern selves as we have smiled politely, said our how do you dos and where ya froms before retreating quietly to our own plots of sand. We’ve all claimed our small little colonies. Individuals and groups, large and small, huddle around their rented chairs and umbrellas with assorted coolers, bags, books, buckets, shovels, nets, and other beach accoutrements.

I’m reminded of the European explorers who arrived at shores like these sans condominium and came ashore bringing their supplies staking claim to land in the name of the king or queen back home, eager to explore their new land, and oblivious to the fact it belonged to others. We Southerners have done much the same this morning on our plot of sand as we planted our coolers in an effort to make the statement, “Here I am….this is MY space.” The explorers who came to the shores of North and South America were all different and they came for different reasons. I can’t help but sit here as I observe my fellow Southerners and make a few comparisons between them and various groups that came to the New World.

Two women, two kids, and whiney girl are nearby. Whiney is about six or seven----a butterball of a girl that I suspect whines simply to be whining. The repetitive music of the waves is broken every two to three minutes by a whine that resembles the beginning of a good cry but never quite develops beyond the opening notes. She whined because another girl was playing too close to her spot in the sand. She whined to go in the water, she whined to go back to the beach, and she whined to go up to the pool. Three hours of her whining and I was quite ready to slap her. Just to be sure I wasn’t being too hard on whiney girl I asked Daughter Dear to observe for a few minutes.

Daughter Dear said, “Damn, she is whiney!”

“Shhhhhhh…….,” I said. No, I didn’t correct her for the expletive. There are times when damn is the appropriate response even if you are just thirteen. I just thought she said it a little too loud.

Whiney girl reminds me of the Portuguese who began the whole exploration thing anyway. Oh, what whiners they could be! Rather than sticking it out and angered at what they saw as an over abundance of Spanish flags flying in North and South America the Portuguese whined to the Pope in hopes they could be given more rights to explore additional land. This resulted in the Line of Demarcation of 1493 and is the basic reason why Portuguese is spoken in Brazil and not in more of the South American continent. Not satisfied they whined some more and a second Line of Demarcation was set in 1494.

Some family groups come out en masse….grandmas, grandpas, mom, dad, kids, assorted aunts, uncles, and cousins. They invade quickly and suddenly. They are loud, overbearing, and irritating. They vanish just as quickly as they drift away to explore more, do a little fishing, throw a football, or collect some shells leaving their stuff behind in their wake. They remind me of the Spanish who made such a presence in North America for a long time, but began to drift away as more and more of the English ended up on our shores. The Spanish bit by bit slowly sank away to bide their time in Mexico and South America.

Quiet man and woman on one side of me and ultra quiet no-sun-at-all woman on the other side of me are good neighbors. All three of us remind me of the many thousands of Europeans who came later after the initial explorers. They simply wanted to live their lives as they wished, beholden to no man. Quiet man and woman with their novels, me with my pen and paper, and no-sun-at-all woman with her crossword simply want to be. Yes, we are the stuff that will make this beach great!

A couple of spots around are all set up for folks but not a single solitary person has visited the claim, and I’ve diligently camped on my spot all day. I guess these folks could be compared to the French…..wanting a presence in the New World so much but too busy elsewhere to really make a lasting go of it. Yes, I remember the fur traders and I’m painfully aware of New Orleans across Mobile Bay from where I am sitting, but face it, they just really didn’t have what it takes to make it for the most part.

So here I sit…the sun is now to my right and it is slowly descending towards the water. Bit by bit my fellow Southerners are disappearing. Even Daughter Dear has gone in. Like my English forebears I still sit. They had a rough time of it in the beginning. Several attempts at colonization failed and there were starving times, yet they kept trying, and they remained.

I’m not leaving my colony on the beach. I’ve waited a year to be here, experienced a very sad life-changing summer and wind-blown, sun-baked, hippie beach guy will have to pry my cold, dead fingers from my rented lounge as I intend to see the sun set. I intend to be the last Southerner on this beach today. That sort of attitude is what won the exploration race and forged a great nation.

By the way…….I was the last Southerner on the beach!

Dr. Peabody and the Wayback Machine

When I was a much younger girl I loved to watch the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. The section that held my attention the longest was the Wayback Machine segment of the show where Sherman and Dr. Peabody always visited some distant time. In those minute minutes I learned about the early Romans, ancient Greeks, fables, myths, and other bits of history that I could recall later during an actual lesson or as I read a book.

Earlier this summer I wrote about a lesson I attempt to give early in the year where students are taught that the very ground we walk on has a history as well. It is all around us if you just take the time to stop, look, and listen. If you missed the post you can view it here.

Another site I like to use when planning lessons is the Atlanta Time Machine. This site has hundreds of old picture postcards of Atlanta, pictures of Atlanta street scenes, even specific buildings and houses as they appeared 30, 40, even 50 years ago along with an image of how the property looks today.

Back during the summer Hubby and I tooled around on the site for an entire evening looking at places we used to go to as children such as Johnny Reb’s Restaurant, Lester Maddox’s Pickrick, Pilgreen’s, and Hartsfield (the airport). With the exception of the airport (a much, much larger version now) none of those places exist today. I’m actually glad Johnny Reb’s doesn’t. It was a horrible name for a restaurant. They actually had carpet on the walls instead of wallpaper. We always sat where some kid before us had gotten mashed potatoes on the wall. Yuck!

At any rate…..take a jaunt on the Atlanta Time Machine. Sherman and Dr. Peabody won’t be there but you may enjoy it just the same. I believe there are some links from that site to other cities.

Elementaryhistoryteacher is finally off to the beach tomorrow so posting may be sparse. We are taking the laptop but unsure if we will be able to use it.

Have a great Fall weekend!

Yet Another Carnival

The most recent carnival of education is hosted by Andrew Pass at The Current Events in Education. If you haven’t already stopped by go find out what’s new in the education section of the blogosphere

Didn't You Know? Old Is The New New

I received a lovely surprise this evening. My recent post regarding James Buchanan was included in the most recent edition of the History Carnival. If you haven’t ridden the rides at the History Carnival then you simply aren’t living.

A huge thank you to the person who must be thanked (you know who you are) for forwarding my post to this edition’s host Old Is The New New.

Go forth and enjoy!

Yet Another School Tragedy

My heart aches for the Amish people.

I see in the Amish the original promise of this great country of ours…a land that serves as a haven for the persecuted, the down-trodden and simple folk who just want to live according to their religious beliefs. Aren’t those the very reasons why so many of our ancestors arrived on these shores?

Though they do put up with being made into a side-show from time to time as we venture into Amish country to observe them in their daily lives the Amish continue to maintain their beliefs, their traditions, and their simplicity in a world that has gone stark raving mad.

It’s amazing to me that the Amish have been able to live for so long maintaining their strict, simple lifestyle amidst a technology laden world. They don’t try to push themselves on anyone. They don’t tell us how evil and wrong we are. They simply want to lead their lives. We should treasure these people, honor these people, and protect their right to live as they choose. Religious freedom is the one ingredient the majority of the thirteen original colonies were founded on.

Even in the midst of this terrible, terrible tragedy we see a group of people remain steadfast to their religious teachings expressing forgiveness to the terrible, terrible demon that invaded their school building yesterday. The few that have spoken on camera or whose comments have been relayed to us via a reporter express forgiveness, express God’s love for all people, and express that even this terrible tragedy was God’s plan.

Could we “English” as they refer to us act in the same manner?

Absolutely Amazing American Heroes

If you are like my husband and I you get numerous emails each week that are forwarded from one person to another to another to another. Many times those kinds of things don’t keep your attention long, and they are often bits and pieces of other forwarded pieces you have already received. We normally delete them because you can’t save everything, you know.

My husband received these pictures in an email titled Amazing Truck and whoever sent it was so correct. Now I don’t normally get into these types of things, but take a look at these pictures. The artwork is so amazing.

See how many historical figures or events you can make out pictured inside and out and even under the body of this truck. I’m still counting……

Enjoy!





















Wow! I was right, wasn’t I? So how many events or historic people did you find?

Native American Projects

Well, my first project has been assigned. It’s a simple affair focusing on Native American regions and how regional resources influenced their food, shelter, and clothing.

Each student has been assigned a region and Native American group that just happens to be mentioned in our old textbooks. Now I wonder how that happened?

Before our old textbooks were removed from the building I managed to save a class set. I plan to target research for students from the old textbooks from time and time. As of last Friday every student had been given an opportunity to take an old textbook home to complete their research. Students were told they could use media center books and the Internet as well.

I also presented a poster to students to show them what I’m looking for. It would not have been fair for me to actually complete a poster on one of the assigned regions because I would have been doing some lucky student’s work for them. I chose a U.S. region instead. Here’s my classroom example:



I used Bar-B-Q and grits as part of choices for foods to get a chuckle from the kids.

I asked students to judge my poster based on the grading rubric I gave them. I asked students, “Would I receive an A once it as graded? Is there any requirement I failed to meet?”

The rubric states students must do the following in order to receive a grade from 90 to 100.
*project must cover the assigned topic
*information must be presented on poster board
*information cannot be printed from the Internet and glued to posterboard
*information should be evenly spaced on posterboard
*labels must be handwritten or can be typed using a word processing program
*pictures must be drawn by the student
*pictures cannot be printed from the Internet or copied from a book
*pictures should be outlined in black and utilize more than one color
*information is given regarding how the assigned tribe meets their basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing
*sources for food, shelter, and clothing include pictures and labels
*a physical map is colored and labeled indicating where the assigned region is located
*one or two sentences are provided giving information about the climate and physical description of the region

Most students agreed I could have done a better job labeling my resources. “Great,” I said, “Then you will remember to do that, won’t you?”

Projects are due October 13th. I anxious to see what they come up with.