Winter Carnival and Teddy Roosevelt

The Murder of Theodore Roosevelt! Of course he wasn't actually murdered, but he was shot. Shot and lived! He even went on to give a speech before seeking medical attention. In real life John Schrank was convicted of the crime but there were always whispers that maybe someone put him up to it. Someone with a political agenda perhaps? Because Roosevelt lived, the official investigation never looked into a conspiracy. So we are pretending he was killed and are looking for the person who paid Schrank to do it. Whether or not that happened in real life, this simulation is set up to point the finger at one person. It's the job of the students to figure out who by examining the evidence and Roosevelt's career and looking for the connections. Of course the whole thing is a bit of a ruse to get students talking about the progressive era and hook their interest by doing it as a game. Its one of my favorite things as I love this time period and Teddy! We spent a good deal of time this week working on this.

In Psychology we have been listing to the podcast Serial and applying some elements of psychology to what we are hearing. We are discussing what makes someone believable, how do we know when someone is lying, how does memory work, and the role of bias in our perception of the world. This podcast is really good, and the students have enjoyed listening to it. Many report they are resisting the urge to listen on their own time so as not to get ahead. Also in Psychology we tackled a current issue sweeping social media this week. Someone posted a photo of a dress seen below on social media. It was soon discovered that some people are seeing black and blue in the dress, while others are seeing white and gold. There is some interesting Brain science behind this phenomena. So we discussed the photo and what is happening in the brain in Psychology.

(What color is this dress?)

I took part in another great Twitter chat Monday night. Every Monday from 7-8 pm other interested parties start chatting on a specific topic related to social studies education. Then, if you want to read the tweets, you search for #sschat. You can also tweet yourself by tying your message and including #sschat. I have found this a great way to make connections and learn soem really interesting things. I  look forward to participating every Monday when I can.

Each year for the past 5 years myself and a colleague in my department have been fortunate to attend a summer workshop in different parts of the US. sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. These Landmarks of American History workshops provide a free week of site-based professional development related a specific historical topic and site somewhere in the U.S. In the past we have attended NEH workshops in Lowell, MA related to the Industrial Revolution and the Textile Mills there that included a trip to Old Sturbridge Village, the War of 1812 in Toledo, OH including a trip to Michigan and Lake Erie, The Underground Railroad in New Bedford, MA including a trip to Boston, and the Gold Rush in Sacramento, CA including a trip to where gold was discovered and a former gold mine. This year we have submitted another application and have crossed our fingers we get accepted. Not only do we learn so much to bring back to our classes, but they are also a lot of fun! We will find out at the end of March if we were accepted.

(From last year's NEH trip to Sacramento, CA)

In my Sacrifice for Freedom class, students are making great progress in their research. We will be putting together a website this spring to tell some unknown stories about people who lived during World War Two.

(The hand carved cross that was on Lewis Goddard's grave in France for many years)

It wouldn't be the week after vacation without Winter Carnival! Students' emotions were on high all week, but especially Thursday and Friday as the events culminated with a school wide assembly and hallway decorating. I used to be clsoely involved and so I always cringe at the things that go on during the week. Thankfully its not as stressful for me as it once was. The Seniors won, of course. All in all I think it was a good week, but I'm glad it's over! Now if we could just get some snow to melt!
Below are the different hallways for each class decorated for Winter Carnival.