And so it goes: Kurt Vonnegut dead

April 12, 2007

Kurt Vonnegut, smiling

Kurt Vonnegut

How teachers should address World War II in high school history classes continues to vex me, and others, too, I suppose. First is the problem that we have more than six decades of history after the war to cover in history classes, a problem my teachers didn’t have, or ignored.

More difficult is the connecting of the war to later events. Tom Brokaw’s book, The Greatest Generation, argues a strong case that America is better because of the of work of the people who survived the war, especially the veterans. But often I’ve thought that a simple recounting of history cannot adequately cover the struggle with existence and its meaning that so changed the world after the war, especially for veterans who saw combat. Kids ask why we didn’t just negotiate with the communists to end the Cold War, and why the Marshall Plan could even exist. Why build tract homes, and get an education?

Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five provided some of the best answers to those questions, which is to say that the answers themselves lack clarity, and confuse. I wish students could read it just before we cover the Battle of the Bulge in a couple of classroom sessions, both to understand and empathize with the soldiers in the battle, and to understand how much that battle and the end of the war shaped events of the 1950s and Cold War.

Billy Pilgrim came unstuck in time, but was stuck forever with history, by history, remembering history in some cases even before it happened. Billy Pilgrim knew Santayana and Santayana’s ghost at the same time. Pilgrim, and Vonnegut, appeared to understand how hopeless life can be, but found reason to plod on anyway. There is hope at the bottom of Vonnegut’s work, or the hope that hope might be found just around the corner.

Vonnegut died yesterday.

The New York Times piece on Vonnegut informs and tells why people liked him personally. The Boston Globe’s article is shorter (I include it because the paper serves areas where he lived and worked). The Indianapolis Star story by Christopher Lloyd shines as a good example of home-town journalism, and may be the best one for use in high school classes. (My recollection is that all three links will die in a week, so go quickly!)

Note, November 24, 2012:  Interesting meditation on Vonnegut, on the anniversary of his birth, at the Automat; worth the read, you’ll see.

1 Comment | Cold War, History, Pedagogy, Teaching, Textbooks, War, World War II | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Technology and time: A riddle for a lesson-plan hook

April 7, 2007

William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes both died on April 23, 1616.  If that is so, how could it be also true that Cervantes’ funeral and burial were days earlier, even before Shakespeare died?

Is such a little mystery the sort of hook a teacher could use for a lesson plan on the influence of technology on the keeping of time and calendars?  More below the fold.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | History, Lesson plans, Teaching, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Notes from the Sub Terrain: Basketball class

March 27, 2007

Notes from the Sub Terrain is an occasional — okay, spasmodic — set of observations from a certified teacher working as a substitute.

Basketball class

The assignment said “upper level, basic biology.” But upon arriving at the school the Sub learned the teacher to be replaced was one of the basketball coaches. The school’s team had won in the state playoffs the previous night, and the coach was assigned to scout the next week’s opposition in a game on the other end of the state. Cool.

Oh — except for this: The first hour was basketball, in the gym. The Sub wasn’t dressed for it, the Sub doesn’t play much basketball, let alone coach it. Worse, the assignment had said nothing about a first hour – the bell had just rung, and The Sub was late. What room? “Green Gym.”

Where is the Green Gym? the Sub asked. “I have no clue,” the substitute coordinator said. There are several gyms, but they are not in exactly the same place. “I think it’s near the arena.”

Trudging to the attendance office, the Sub got crude directions. Only 10 minutes late so far.

Found the Green Gym. 22 students were dutifully engaged in four different games of basketball. Notes from the coach said the students should play “pick-up” games for the period.

As the Sub walked into the gym, two students from the full-court games broke off and ran over, volunteering to help with attendance, so no roll would need to be called. There were no absences. Attendance took a couple of minutes, and the students went back to their games.

Every few minutes one of the teams in one of the games would hit 21, or some other magic number, and the game would end. When two or more games ended, the students designated different teams and went at it again. After about 20 minutes someone yelled something about getting enough water, and the students took breaks individually to get a drink.

The Sub recognized many of the kids. They were, many of them, troublemakers in other classes. Here they made no trouble. Disputes about fouls were settled quickly and amicably, and the games went go on. Good shots, or good defensive plays got vocal approval from all quarters. Hot dogging got jeers: “Just play!”

For 70 minutes the games rolled quickly. Then, without prompting, one of the students rolled out a ball cart, put a couple of balls away and headed to the locker room. Within three minutes all the balls were on the cart, the cart went into a closet, the lights were turned out and the gymnasium was empty.

The Sub wants to know why all classes can’t be that way, with the students doing the work, willingly and happily, without complaint, without prompting or prodding, and finishing and cleaning up on time.

The Sub noted that most of the students did not shower, but instead masked themselves in clouds of Axe body spray, which the Sub thought unhygienic.

The Sub said he later learned that the class was the junior varsity basketball team, mostly. He said the discipline they showed was impressive.

The varsity team won their next playoff game, and headed to the state tournament. The Sub said that if they are as disciplined in the big things as the junior varsity players are in little things on the basketball floor, they will win the state championship.

How can we restructure other classes to get the benefits of student self-discipline? the Sub wonders. Why don’t the students make the connection that discipline makes them champions in one area, and strive for similar discipline in other areas?

Why don’t the teachers, coaches and administrators make the same connection?

2 Comments | Classroom size, Curricula, Education, Harry Wong, No Child Left Behind Act, Pedagogy, Public education, School discipline, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Practice history, then teach it

March 25, 2007

Practice makes perfect, the adage says.

Teachers who practice analysis of primary documents can better translate the study of primary documents to their classrooms, according to an article I found through the American History Association‘s online version of Perspectives magazine.

One of my concerns for teachers of social studies — economics, history and geography — is that “in-service” training most often revolves around issues not unique, and sometimes not germane, to social studies disciplines. District-sponsored courses generally involved new or different methods to do paperwork, sometimes new programs hoped to spur overall performance by students on tests. In Irving ISD, Texas, social studies coordinator Sherry Perkins frequently provided sessions specific to social studies issues, and they were wonderful even when they didn’t pertain directly to the courses we taught (someone who teaches economics only, for example, may not have a lot of use for history exercises on presidential elections; but such exercises may provide ideas for others more directly related to economics).

Courses that immerse teachers in the subject matter tend to provide big benefits in the classroom. Many teachers do not have majors in the areas they teach, even after certification as “highly qualified” under new federal guidelines. Consequently, there are areas of history, or economics, or geography, where teachers are not much better informed than the students. Think of when you have had to give a presentation on a topic — you tread lightly in those areas where your expertise is least.

Investigators Kelly Schrum of George Mason University, Eleanor Green of the Fauquier County (Virginia) Public Schools, and Sarah Whelan of the Loudon County (Virginia) Public Schools, found that teachers often used too many original sources in lessons, after attending summer training sessions in the sources.   Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments | Accuracy, Brain learning, Pedagogy, Research, Teaching, Textbooks | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

This Day in Mythstory

March 24, 2007

This site will challenge your hoax detectors — just enough facts to ring true, enough humor to make the parodies appealing and likely to be repeated as fact.  This Day in Mythstory is written by Chris Regan, a humor writer formerly with “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

When the professionals hoax up history, at least they do it in good faith.

(This site is probably funnier if you know which parts are accurate, and which are not.  Basically, the historical events cited are real, though the reasons given are suspect.  Each of these pieces might make a good warm-up to get students discussing what is accurate, and what is humor.)

Leave a Comment » | History, Hoaxes, Humor, Teaching, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Geography learning, on-line

March 22, 2007

Do your students have access to computers?

Test Your Geography Knowledge may seem a little elementary; alas — or maybe “hooray!” — it goes over exactly the sort of simple stuff I find too many high school students don’t have:  Basic political geography.   It beats Microsoft’s solitaire for in-class timewasting.  (This is a show-off site for a programmer and company, Lizard Point; look at other stuff at the site, and think of what you can do with it.)

That site has a link to Quiz School.  On-line quizzes, that you invent, that you can put into your classroom weblog — wonderful idea.  What can you do with this tool?  (It wouldn’t hurt you at all to post links to your quizzes here, would it?)

Back to geography:  You’ll also want to check out Sheppard Software, and the collection of geography games there.  The variety of games is quite outstanding — I even found one related to forestry.

Tip of the old scrub brush to SSBG’s blogroll.

1 Comment | Education, Education blogs, Geography - Political, On-line education, On-line learning, Teaching, Technology, Technology in the classroom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Time capsule shaped like a ’57 Plymouth

March 18, 2007

1957’s heat and dust must have affected the movers and shakers of Tulsa, Oklahoma. How else to explain their burying a perfectly good 1957 Plymouth Belvedere?

They buried it, though, as a time capsule, to be dug up by those very advanced people of the 21st century, in 2007, for the centennial of Oklahoma’s statehood in 1907. (Quick quiz: How many states joined the union in the 20th century? What is the longest period the U.S. has ever gone without adding new states?)

Good heavens! This is 2007!

1957 Plymouth - buried car.com photo

1957 Plymouth - buried car.com photo

So, as promised, Tulsa will dig up a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, in a ceremony on June 15, 2007. Get your tickets and can plan your trip to watch already.

Why a 1957 Plymouth?

The car was seen as a method of acquainting twenty-first century citizens with a suitable representation of 1957 civilization. According to event chairman Lewis Roberts Jr., the Plymouth was chosen because it was “an advanced product of American industrial ingenuity with the kind of lasting appeal that will still be in style 50 years from now.”

The contents of a women’s purse, including bobby pins, a bottle of tranquilizers, cigarettes and an unpaid parking ticket, were added to the glove compartment of the car shortly before burial.

Other items included in the time capsule were: Read the rest of this entry »

8 Comments | Archaeology, Cold War, Current History, Teaching, Technology, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Teacher and student history resources, from the Feds

March 13, 2007

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) is a great idea. Federal agencies are loaded with information useful to teachers and students, formerly available in print if one could find the appropriate phone number or get lucky with a mail sweepstakes. Now a lot of the information is compiled specifically for education, and the U.S. Department of Education has compiled a user-congenial site to help educators find the stuff.

FREE image from home page

Under “U.S. History and Topics” you may find a good deal of support for most social studies disciplines. The Women’s History Month focus highlights two topics from the Library of Congress and two from the National Endowment for the Humanities.   Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Classroom technology, Curricula, Economics, Education, Freedom of Information, Geography - Physical, Government, History, History video sources, Justice, Law, Lesson plans, Presidents, Public education, Teaching, Technology in the classroom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

District goofs, asks teachers to return “incentive” pay

March 10, 2007

That the program was not well thought out, untimely, and poorly understood, almost guaranteed that the Houston Independent School District’s ballyhooed incentive pay plan would get jeers.

But it gets worse. The District programmed the formula incorrectly. It has asked about a hundred teachers to return as much as $2,790, each. Could you make this stuff up?

Motivation? That’s not a game many educational institutions seem to know much about.

2 Comments | Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), No Child Left Behind Act, Public education, TAKS, Teacher Pay, Teaching, TEKS | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Excellence in the Classroom report gets cool reception from teachers

March 7, 2007

A business group advising Texas Gov. Rick Perry released their report, Excellence in the Classroom, earlier this month, in time to affect legislation in the hopper in Austin at the Texas Lege. The report gets attention simply because Sandy Kress is a part of the reporting team — Kress is a former chair of the Dallas Independent School District Board, and was advisor to President George W. Bush during the push for the No Child Left Behind Act.

On one hand, the report advocates modest spending boosts for “good” teachers. On the other hand, it’s ambiguous in its call for tougher classroom standards, and most of the recommendations that have any teeth will bite teachers in the classroom.

Teacher groups coolly greeted the report, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

The ideas in “Excellence in the Classroom” generally got a thumbs-down from area educators.

“The problem is, business councils expect kids to be just like parts,” said Larry Shaw, executive director of the United Educators Association of Texas. “If I’m a farmer and I get a crop I don’t like, I reject it. Nobody lets us reject the kids that we get. We take them where they are, and we do the best that we can with them.”

Karen Moxley is a teacher at Cross Timbers Middle School in Grapevine and president of the local chapter of the Texas State Teachers Association. She is critical of the report.

“Children and lives aren’t products. They’re really lovely, wonderful, messy things that have their peaks and valleys,” Moxley said. “We can’t control that. It’s grossly unfair to say that teachers are the only solution.”

A key quote from the report, used by Kress in his press advance, cites Erik Hanushek’s claim that students lagging behind can catch up with just five years with an effective teacher. The problem is, of course, that effective teachers tend to quit after five years, because the rest of the system is so fouled up.

More later.

Tip of the old scrub brush to TexasEd, “Do As I Say – It’s Not About the Money.”

Leave a Comment » | Education, Education reform, Teacher Pay, Teaching, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Treating kid’s brains as finely toned muscle

March 3, 2007

How many of us have worked with former athletic coaches who just don’t quite master the need for practice of academic topics, time to master academic skills, the need for constant rehearsal of the skills, and good care and feeding of the brain, the same way they understand the care and feeding of kinesthetic skills?

Chris Wondra.com posted a 7-point summary of Eric Jensen’s plan for keeping kids’ brains in top learning order. It’s worth a look. Treat it like a checklist: How many of these get done in your classroom? How much of this brain conditioning do you have control over?

Now, remember that part of the No Child Left Behind Act that says what we do should be backed by research?

Leave a Comment » | Brain development, Brain learning, Classroom technology, Creativity, Education blogs, Education reform, No Child Left Behind Act, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

107th Carnival of Education

February 23, 2007

More than 50 entries, at History is Elementary. If you’re not reading that blog anyway, you ought to. Go see.

St. John of Kenty, or St. John Cantius, patron saint of teachers

St. John of Kenty, or St. John Cantius

Patron saint of teachers

Leave a Comment » | Education, Education blogs, Education reform, History blogs, Teaching, Technology, Technology in the classroom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Dressing as Jesus for Halloween

February 22, 2007

Educators get a few seconds to make a decision, usually with other kids yelling and a fight breaking out across the hallway. Lawyers and judges have more time.

But even with the advantage of cool reflection, the levels of irony in this case are too thick to cut through.

Can a kid dress as Jesus about to be crucified, for Halloween? Is the costume religious? If so, is the school’s allowing it to be worn an impermissible endorsement of religion? Is the costume blasphemous? If so, would the school be sued if they didn’t ban it? Is the costume in good taste, compared to the kid dressed as a chainsaw serial-killer, or one of the phantasms from Nightmare on Elm Street?

How do 10-year-old kids always come up with these questions?

With the disclosure that what I have comes from a press release from the Alliance Defense Fund, which has its biases, I post the details of the case as we have them so far, below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments | Education, First Amendment, Jurisprudence, Justice, Religious Freedom, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Leroy Lee, exposer of “phantom forests” hoax

February 21, 2007

For a decade of my life I was deeply involved in the fight to get compensation for downwind victims (most from Utah) of the fallout from U.S. atomic bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site. In the course of that time I saw a variety of amazing fibs told by the government — hoaxes that injured and killed people. I grew to respect those whistleblowers who had the guts and patriotism to cry foul on the hoaxes.

Leroy Lee died about a month ago in Santa, Idaho. He was a seasonal government worker, a timber stand examiner — a tree counter. As low guy on the totem pole, it was not his job to take the global view. Still, he noted that there were fewer growing trees in the forests than the U.S. Forest Service claimed, and much more cleared land, too, clearcut.

The Forest Service was lying to Congress about millions of dollars of harvests on public lands. Lee blew the whistle. Officials had hoaxed up on paper, forests that didn’t exist, in 15 of the west’s National Forests.

It wasn’t a big scandal as scandals go, but the Kootenai National Forest still works to straighten things out, mostly in litigation. Most hoaxes are exposed by honest, hard-working people like Leroy Lee. They are heroes of our republic. Many of them remain unsung, like Lee.

In his “day job,” Lee taught physics, chemistry and biology at St. Maries High School, St. Maries, Idaho.

More information:

Leave a Comment » | Business Ethics, Environmental protection, Ethics, Freedom - Political, Hoaxes, Natural history, Patriotism, Science, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Teachers underworked and overpaid

February 8, 2007

Amazing.

Women clocking in, IBM archives

Via Education and Technology, I hear of a study that says teachers may not be undercompensated, with a supporting opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, “$34.06 an hour: That’s how much the average public school teacher makes. Is that ‘underpaid?'”. The study comes from the Manhattan Institute, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures, by Jay P. Green and Marcus A. Winters.

My escaped-sewage detector started clanging. Check out the lengthy explanation of methodology in the actual report. Such apologies up front should be a warning.

Of course, this raises issues about all the methodologies of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read the rest of this entry »

6 Comments | Economics, Education, Education reform, Education spending, Public education, Teacher Pay, Teaching | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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