Blue Origin brings space exploration back to Texas

January 5, 2007

Texas plateTexas’ regular license plate features a Space Shuttle, some stars and a crescent Moon, but a lot of Texas 8th graders are foggy on just why. I hope kids living near Houston have a better idea, since the Houston Johnson Space Center is in their area. To most kids under the age of 20 in Texas, space exploration is not a part of Texas history. I had one student in class ask why it was that in the movie version of the Apollo 13 story, the astronauts said “Houston, we have a problem.”

The drive to get a private spacecraft into commercial use has at least one company using Texas as a base. Space exploration may once again become a current event item in Texas social studies classes.

Jeff Bezos’ company, Blue Origin, tested their space craft in November, and the tardy news is bustling around the internet — and present in print and broadcast media, too. That the story is so hot on the internet should be a cue to mass media that it’s time to start paying attention.

The company’s test site is in Culberson County, in far west Texas — far away from the giant media markets in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. El Paso is the closest major market, and it’s in a different time zone from the rest of the state.

This space exploration group reverses NASA’s Houston-to-Cape Canaveral style of operations — Blue Origin is headquartered in Kent, Washington, closer to Bezos’ Amazon roots.

Blue Origin is hiring engineers, by the way.

Watch that space.

Goddard in flight

Tip of the old scrub brush to Futuresheet.

3 Comments | Current History, Geography - Physical, History, Science, Space exploration, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Battle of Medina (Texas) entry revised

December 23, 2006

Since I posted on the Battle of Medina last August, the entry has consistently been hit by educational institutions and what appear to be students looking for information on the events. I have updated the entry, correcting a couple of minor errors and some narrative difficulties, and adding links to sources students and teachers should find useful.

You’ll find the improved post here, “Forgotten Texas History: The Battle of Medina.”

Leave a Comment » | Famous Battles, Freedom - Political, History, Lesson plans, TEKS, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Discussing faith and religion, not yelling

December 21, 2006

Williams College Prof. Mark Taylor has another facet to the question of whether we teach about religion in schools, in an opposite-editorial page article in the December 21 New York Times titled “The Devoted Student” (subscription required after December 28, 2006). Taylor wrote:

Today, professors invite harassment or worse by including “unacceptable” books on their syllabuses or by studying religious ideas and practices in ways deemed improper by religiously correct students.

Distinguished scholars at several major universities in the United States have been condemned, even subjected to death threats, for proposing psychological, sociological or anthropological interpretations of religious texts in their classes and published writings. In the most egregious cases, defenders of the faith insist that only true believers are qualified to teach their religious tradition.

This contrasts interestingly, and vexingly, with trends like the Texas high schools who teach the Bible as history, many of whom probably cross the line into advocacy for religion according to one study.

So, on one hand we get religious fanatics who want the Bible taught as a faith document in high schools. On the other hand, the students at whom those classes are aimed want it taught only one way, their way, when they get it. There is no thought of actually learning beyond what the fanatics want to learn.

Alan Bloom was wrong: THIS is the closing of the American mind.

Taylor ends his piece with a warning:

Until recently, many influential analysts argued that religion, a vestige of an earlier stage of human development, would wither away as people became more sophisticated and rational. Obviously, things have not turned out that way. Indeed, the 21st century will be dominated by religion in ways that were inconceivable just a few years ago. Religious conflict will be less a matter of struggles between belief and unbelief than of clashes between believers who make room for doubt and those who do not.

The warning signs are clear: unless we establish a genuine dialogue within and among all kinds of belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism, the conflicts of the future will probably be even more deadly.

Case in point:  This discussion at Pharyngula.

5 Comments | Curricula, First Amendment, Religious Freedom, Texas, Texas Freedom Network | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

JFK assassination, 43 years on

November 24, 2006

Texas history teachers got either a reprieve or a roadblock, depending on their view, when most schools scheduled vacation during the week of the anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. Generally news outlets highlight the anniversary, and it becomes a good time to discuss the events in history classes.

Classroom discussion openings are available for a broad range of topics in social studies: general government, presidential succession, politics and history of the 1960s, Vietnam, Cuba, the Cold War, U.S. international relations, Lyndon Baines Johnson, racism, civil rights, etc., etc. I have not yet been able to arrange a field trip to the 6th Floor Museum during the week, but I still hope to do that some time.

The assassination and the rumors of conspiracies that have swirled for years offer a good opportunity to discuss the methods and tools of historians, and just how we know what we claim to know about history. It’s a good opportunity to discuss how science can be used to increase our knowledge of history, and it’s a great way to introduce kids to the sort of skepticism that keeps all academic inquiry honest.

How is the day commemorated in Dealey Plaza, the site of the attack? Generally there are no formal activities, though often a wreath is placed there or at the JFK memorial a block away. Tourists come. Vendors try to sell them stuff.

One of the oddest sets of vendors for any historical site, I think, is the “newspaper” hawkers who sell tabloids touting favorite conspiracy ideas. The Dallas Morning News featured a page 1 story on this strange business, on the Sunday prior to the anniversary. Vendors dodge cops because they are unlicensed — which also means that technically they cannot sell the papers, but must ask for donations.

Another key milestone is close to passing: Only one member of the Dallas Police Department remains who was on duty that day. Again, The Dallas Morning News carried the story. Sgt. Graham H. Pierce is not yet retired, but with 43 years on the force, he will be retiring soon.

History sources pass continually. Who will capture their stories for posterity? A class might make a year-long project of interviewing such a man, preparing a document to give him at retirement, to reside in local libraries, and to provide the grist for future historians looking into whatever wild conspiracy claims might be made in the next decade, or century.

1 Comment | Capturing history, History, JFK assassination, Lesson plans, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Texas claim on Thanksgiving

November 22, 2006

Patricia Burroughs has the story — you New Englanders are way, way behind.

Palo Duro Canyon in a winter inversion

Palo Duro Canyon during inversion, Winter 2001, site of the first Thanksgiving celebration in what would become the United States, in 1541. Go here: www.visitamarillotx.com/Gallery/index3.html, and here: www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/paloduro/

Update, 11/27/2006:  Great post here, “Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving.”

10 Comments | Accuracy, Geography - Physical, History, Texas, Thanksgiving | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Egan’s Dust Bowl history wins National Book Award

November 21, 2006

The Worst Hard Time book cover, Houghton Mifflin image

Timothy Egan wins awards for his reporting and writing on a regular basis these days, it appears. He was part of a 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter team who reported on racial attitudes in America for the New York Times. Last week his book on the Dust Bowl won the National Book Award for Nonfiction: The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (Houghton-Mifflin).

This period is not well understood by Texas history students, according to the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests of the past few years. Here’s a new book that should be incorporated into lesson plans for 7th grade Texas history courses, who will be coming into the Dust Bowl period sometime after the first of the year on most calendars.

Egan reads an excerpt of The Worst Hard Time for NPR here, and the site includes a link to the first chapter and other NPR stories on the Dust Bowl.

Other sources for lesson planning for this period should include Woody Guthrie’s biography Bound for Glory (book and movie), Steinbeck’s series on the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath (both book and movie), and Of Mice and Men (book and movie and more movies).

(New York Times book review of Egan’s book, here.)

Leave a Comment » | Books, Dust Bowl, Great Depression, History, Lesson plans, TAKS, TEKS, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

No “Grito” on video

November 15, 2006

It’s amazing what is not available on video for use in the classroom.

Texas kids have to study the “Grito de Dolores” in the 7th grade — the “Cry from Dolores” in one translation, or the “Cry of Pain” in another (puns in Spanish! Do kids get it?). Father Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo made the speech on September 16, 1810, upon the news that Spanish authorities had learned of his conspiracy to revolt for independence. The revolution had been planned for December 8, but Hidalgo decided it had to start early.

This date is celebrated in Mexico as Independence Day. Traditionally the President of Mexico issues an update on the Grito, after the original bell that Father Hidalgo used is rung, near midnight.

Hidalgo himself was captured by the Spanish in 1811, and executed.

It’s a great story. It’s a good speech, what little we have of it (Hidalgo used no text, and we work from remembered versions).

Why isn’t there a good 10- to 15-minute video on the thing for classroom use? Get a good actor to do the speech, it could be a hit. Where is the video when we need it?Father Hidalgo issues the Grito

Statue of Father Hidalgo in Dolores, Mexico

4 Comments | Education, History, History video sources, TAKS, TEKS, Texas | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Texas better than Paris (France)?

October 29, 2006

I think such comparisons are usually a bit on the odious side — but this blogger, Faux Parisianne, balances it with a “Why Paris is better than Texas” post.

All beside the point. The best part of this post is the photo, with the one line caption.

Go see.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Humor, Leadership, Politics, School vouchers, Texas, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Finding folk music for lesson plans

October 16, 2006

Avoiding Aristotle’s warning that we shouldn’t introduce children to “music,” many teachers like to add a little music to a lesson plan from time to time. Especially useful is music that pertains directly to the stuff in the lesson plan.

If you are stumped on how to find such music as I am (and remember, I teach in Texas!), you may find this index of folk music to be quite useful, The Folk Music Index, by Jane Keefer in Oregon.

As useful as that index is, it is limited to material in Ms. Keefer’s personal collection. Fortunately, her site lists links to other folk music indices: Folk Music Indexes, Print and Electronic Sources. That index includes links to such important indices as Alan Lomax’s work at the Alan Lomax Database.

Just a pause to rant: Texas music suffers from profound neglect in Texas history courses in elementary and secondary schools. Oh, there are recordings available for teachers to use in classrooms, including a few old tunes from Native American tribes, some cowboy songs, and a few other Texas-related songs. Nothing for the classroom begins to touch the full range of Texas music students should be aware of, and take pride in.

Texas music would be a good project for a music major, or a copyright specialist, rather than a historian, perhaps. Or the subject would be a good one to make collaborators of lawyers, musicians and historians. Here are some of the great gaps in Texas music that I see, for social studies education:

  • There is not a good collection of good versions of the Texas state song, “Texas, Our Texas.” There is not a collection at all that I have found.
  • Texas blues as a genre is ignored; Robert Johnson’s recordings in Texas are not mentioned. The history of Dallas Deep Ellum section, with its rich connections to blues, is largely ignored.
  • Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys get mentioned, but not with the kind of explanation they deserve. Other Texas Swing bands are completely ignored. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin features recordings of Bob Wills tunes by Asleep at the Wheel, but no Bob Wills himself. (Asleep at the Wheel’s story is another that should be featured, in my opinion.)
  • Scott Joplin is rarely mentioned.
  • Conjunto and Tejano and other forms of music popular among Texans with Mexican heritage are largely ignored. Any artists of great note from Texas’ Hispanic cultures are ignored — where is Trini Lopez these days, anyway?
  • Spanish-language music is difficult to find other than current pop hits.
  • Texas’ influence on modern country music needs more focus. If a text mentions Willie Nelson, it’s rare. Charlie Pride? Does anybody remember 20 years ago?
  • Texas’ influence on rock and roll is ignored. I have yet to find any mention of Doug Sahm; Buddy Holly usually gets a sentence. Z. Z. Top, Steve Miller, Janis Joplin — good luck. Roy Orbison? New Bohemians? Lisa Loeb? Forget it.
  • The Austin music scene get mentioned, but little more. A student could pick up more history of Texas music in a 6th Street bar when Jerry Jeff Walker plays, than she could learn in all of the Texas history texts. (If we’re going to compete with the bars for students’ attention, we’d better do a good job . . .)
  • Texas rhythm and blues gets little mention.
  • Texas rap has no mention — not even Vanilla Ice or Paul Wall.
  • Jazz in Texas is ignored.
  • Classical music in Texas is vastly under-reported. Most texts make no mention of Ft. Worth’s Van Cliburn piano competition, for example — one of the premier events in piano.
  • Texas marching band music with its unique styles gets very little coverage. Considering the University of Texas’ Longhorn marching band, the band out of Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets, Prairie View A&M’s annual competition with Grambling State (of Louisiana), and two or three dozen outstanding, world class marching bands in Texas high schools, you’d think there would be a mention somewhere in a book about Texas history.

If you have a good source of music for history courses, drop a line. If you have a good source of music for economics courses, phone.

6 Comments | History, Lesson plans, Texas, Textbooks | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Based on a true story — except, not Texas. Not a chainsaw. Not a massacre.

October 8, 2006

Nota bene: Be sure to see update, here.

First, there was the woman who squealed in class when I mentioned Travis County, the Texas county in which resides Texas’s capital city, Austin. She said later she had thought it was a fictional county. By the way, she asked, was the rest of the “Texas chainsaw massacre” story true, too? (I have never seen any of these movies; I understand the 2003 version was set in Hewitt, Texas, which is a real, small Texas town near Waco, between Dallas and Austin — but not in Travis County. I’m not sure what Travis County has to do with any of the movies.)

Logs awaiting processing at a sawmill in Nacogdoches County, Texas - Ron Billings photo

Victims of a real Texas chainsaw massacre: Victims await “processing” at a sawmill in Nacogdoches County. Photo by Ron Billings, Texas Forest Service.

Since then, in the last couple of weeks I have had at least a dozen requests to teach the history behind the movie, the “true story.” The movies are all highly fictionalized, I note. Perhaps I should plan a day to discuss real Texas murders, and just what fiction is, especially from Hollywood.

According to Snopes.com, one of my favorite debunking sites, there was never a Texas chainsaw massacre. There was a Wisconsin farmer who stole corpses from the local cemetery, and upon whom was based the earlier Alfred Hitchcock movie, Psycho. There was the chainsaw exhibit at Montgomery Ward seen by writer/director Toby Hooper, when he needed inspiration to finish a screen treatment. That’s about it.

But it’s nearing Halloween, and the studios in Hollywood hope to make money.

There are real Texas crimes that would be good fodder for movies, in the hands of intelligent and creative people. One wonders why more movies aren’t done on the real stories. Read the rest of this entry »

120 Comments | Accuracy, Bogus history, History, How do we know what we know, Movies, Texas | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

History at the State Fair of Texas

October 1, 2006

Mr. Fletcher and the Fletcher Corny Dog site

Care for a corny dog? Fletcher’s State Fair Corny Dogs are the original cornmeal-wrapped hotdog on a stick — invented in 1942 for sale at the State Fair of Texas, by Carl and Neil Fletcher, and still a mainstay. This year you may also purchase deep fried Snickers bars, and deep fried Coca Cola from other vendors. (Photo from BigTex.com)

This is the third day of the 24-day run of the State Fair of Texas. State fairs are loaded with history, generally — but it’s not easy to extract it from some of the fairs. Looking over the program for the Texas Fair, it’s difficult to find something that a Texas history teacher might recommend as a site students ought to see. Oh, the life-size sculpture of Marilyn Monroe, in butter, is a great achievement as temporary art in dairy products goes, but it’s not something that particularly edifies students on the stuff they need to know for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

An alert kid might learn something about ranching in Texas, which is part of the TEKS. The State Fair features the Texas Heritage Hall of Honor. “The Hall recognizes individuals distinguished by their significant contributions to agriculture and ranching in Texas,” the website says. Since 1992 inductions have been made to honor people significant in agriculture and ranching. 44 people have been inducted, including those who assembled some of the great, legendary ranches in the state.

There are several museums on the fairgrounds — the African-American Museum, a railroad museum, the Dallas Museum of Natural History and the Dallas Science Museum, the Dallas Aquarium, the Texas Women’s Museum, and a spectacular water garden.

Are there other sites Texas history students ought to see? Please note your favorites in comments. Or tell about your own state fair, please.

2 Comments | Current History, History, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Evangelism vs. scholarship: Bible study in public schools

September 15, 2006

Last year the Texas Freedom Network (TFN) published a revealing study showing that most curricula for Bible study in public schools promote Christian faith more than they study the Bible. The study was done by a witty and amusing professor of religion from Southern Methodist University, Dr. Mark Chancey.

This week they followed up that study with a detailed look at Bible studies courses in Texas public schools, as they are actually presented to students. It’s not pretty.

In their press release, TFN said:

Clergy, Parents Voice Concerns About Public School Bible Classes

New Report Reveals Poor Quality, Bias, Religious Agendas in Texas Courses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2006

AUSTIN – Clergy and parents are voicing serious concerns that Bible classes in Texas public schools are of poor quality and promote religious views that discriminate against children from a variety of faith backgrounds.

“The study of the Bible deserves the same respect as the study of Huck Finn, Shakespeare and the Constitution,” said the Rev. Dr. Roger Paynter, pastor of First Baptist Church of Austin. “But in some public schools, Bible courses are being used to promote an agenda rather than to enrich the education of our schoolchildren.”

Dr. Chancey is a solid scholar of the Bible. His criticisms are detailed and often understated, in a business where criticism is generally more hyperbole than substance. Especially if you live in Texas, you should read the report.

In the original study, Chancey noted that some nationally-promoted curricula for Bible studies had plagiarized some of their most important materials, in one case including the entire section on honesty as defined by the Ten Commandments. Dr. Chancey does not write drily — he really does a great job turning words. Both studies are well worth the reading.

First Amendment charlatans are fond of quoting the Supreme Court’s decisions in school-and-religion cases since World War II, in which the Court urges critical studies of scripture, saying such studies are legal and good. Then the charlatans go on to advocate Bible studies that are devotional, confusing a Sunday school class-style of scripture study with the critical literature study the Court actually urged. These reports leave little room for squirming by those advocates.

Last time around, TFN held a meeting here in Dallas featuring Dr. Chancey talking about the report and the reaction to it from the religious right (they were stunned into saying many really stupid things). It was a fun night, and I hope TFN will do it again.

Other coverage of the report:

If you see a particularly good story on the study, will you please send me a link?

Patriots and Christians don’t let children take crappy Bible studies courses:

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81 Comments | Creationism, Curricula, Education, Education quality, First Amendment, Plagiarism, Public education, Religious Freedom, Texas, Texas Freedom Network, Textbook Selection | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Ann Richards, you warned us

September 14, 2006

 

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, and a sample of a Texas barbecue rib. Photo by Elecro-Fish Media (Austin, Texas)

Ann Richards died yesterday. It’s sad for me to think what might have been, had she been able to hold off one more charge by the Texas Republicans, had she defeated George Bush in her second campaign for governor of Texas.

Gov. Richards was a gracious and graceful woman who was simply fun to know — while quietly and forcefully inspiring others to do good deeds. In a former time, a candidate who defeated someone like Richards would have the good sense to keep her in government in some capacity, just for her wisdom and experience. It will be a tribute to Richards when civility is returned to politics.

Ann Richards was a public school teacher, clearly of the highest caliber. We can only hope there are more like her teaching in Texas schools today.

Update, September 17, 2006: Molly Ivins, perhaps America’s best political columnist, was a close friend of Ann Richards. Her column well reflects the special qualities of Richards, why we will miss her so badly, and why we should worry that there are so few like her around today.

 

1 Comment | Heroes, History, Leadership, Politics, Teaching, Texas | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Carnival of Education #81

August 28, 2006

I failed to note earlier that the Carnival of Education 81 is up over at The Education Wonks.

Blog carnivals offer good opportunities to find blogs that provide great value, or to find blog entries which are individual gems.  When I send notices of these carnivals to other teachers, I always get thank-you notes.  It’s a cheap way to get a minor ego boost (is there any way to get those put down on the evaluation forms?).

One of the things I’m passing along to my Texas history-teaching colleagues from Carnival 81 is this post, a letter from a grandmother to a young boy, about what her schooling was like, in Texas in the 1890s.  From huffenglish.com.

Miss Gilbert's Music and Elocution Classes, 1891-92, Whitt, TX.

Students at the Parker Institute, Whitt, Texas, 1891-1892 — courtesy of huffenglish

1 Comment | Education, Education blogs, No Child Left Behind Act, Public education, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

More belt than Bible

August 21, 2006

Corporal punishment of students is still legal in Texas. A few school districts use it, extensively — and to good effect, they argue. The Dallas Morning News featured the practice in a front-page story on Sunday, August 20. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), Corporal punishment, Education, Education reform, Paddling or spanking, Public education, School discipline, Teaching, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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