In Flanders Fields

The Veteran's Day holiday made for a short week. I love everything related to World War One, so I always find particularly poignant the worldwide observance of Armistice Day. In the 11th month, on the 11th day, at the 11th hour, the war ended. Of course what followed was a bit of a mess that led to World War Two, but end of the war is an event to be remembered, considering the millions that were killed in the war. I make sure my students know why we celebrate Veteran's Day on the 11th every year and we discuss the sacrifice made in general. Across the nation there were parades, wreath laying, and other tributes to veterans and/or the end of the First World War. I think the most moving tribute was the ceramic poppy display at the Tower of London. The poppy became a symbol of war dead and has remained so in part thanks to famous poem "In Flanders Fields" by Lt. Col. John McRae. For this year's remembrance, organizers set up a display of 888,426 ceramic poppies, one for every British soldier who died in the war. I really like how the display looks like blood pouring from the Tower, symbolizing the loss of life to the country. Very moving!

In U.S. history, students started work on their $35 Dollar bill projects this week. We also started reading The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass as we begin discussion of slavery and the Civil War. In Ethics class we debated torture, and started learning about Euthanasia and end of life issues. I have a friend who is a nurse and will be visiting my class to talk about ethics and medicine and answer questions. This will happen after Thanksgiving.

Frederick Douglass

In History v. Hollywood we began talking about the Holocaust. Students created a wordle of important things associated with Holocaust to keep in mind as we watch the film "Schindler's List". We had a great discussion about the causes of the Holocaust, and examined pictures from the time and watched a short documentary about Alfons Heck who was member of the Hitler Youth. This is always a moving subject for students that they always find interesting. I look forward to our discussion of what happened and how it could happen.

The wordle we created

I talked with an educator from the Newseum this week about our presentation at the National conference next week. We will be talking about the Civil Rights project I did with my students last Spring. Luckily, the Newseum paid for my conference registration as a result. I am also attending the House of Delegates on behalf of the Maine Council for the Social Studies. The whole conference should be a lot of fun and I can't wait to blog about it next week. Below is the slide show we will be presenting at the National Conference, including work my students created.




Next week will be busy as I have four days of classes, then I have to prepare to leave on Thursday for the four day conference!

November Rain

Thanks to Guns and Roses whenever it rains in November I think of that song form my youth. We actually had snow on Sunday, but rain later in the week. With the turning back of the clock and the cold and the wet, November can feel very somber. I am excited that I have the National Conference in Boston this month to look forward to.

We had elections this past week, and we have been looking at the issues on Maine's ballot in the days leading up to the election. We didn't spend a lot of time studying the arguments for and against in my classes, but we did refer to the League of Women Voters Guide, and discussed the merits of the arguments. The real election happened on Tuesday, but on Monday and Tuesday I held secret ballot elections in my classes and tabulated the results. 6 out of the 7 questions on the ballot this year were bonds. All were approved in real life and in my student elections. We also had Representative Chellie Pingree running for re-election and she won both in real life and in my student election. In addition, Susan Collins also won both elections. What was interesting was the two measure son the ballot in which the real vote and the student vote differed. Question 1 asked voters if they wanted to ban the use of bait, traps, and dogs in hunting bears. In real life, the measure was voted down in a close vote. However my students voted to approve the measure (but also in a close vote). The other area of difference was in the election for Governor. In real life, the current Governor won re-election. Paul LePage defeated Mike Michaud by about 48%- 43% and Eliot Cutler had around 9%. In my student election Michaud won with 50% over LePage with 31% and Cutler with 19%. We discussed this in class and students speculated as to why they thought the vote came out the way it did. It was all an interesting exercise in democracy that I hope will foster a bit of interest so that they will vote when they have the opportunity  in real life.

In Ethics class I had a guest speaker as well. Over the summer we received a letter form the Better Business Bureau that discussed a school speaker program in which they offered a variety of topics to go over. I took them up on it scheduled a speaker to come and talk about what the BBB does. I had told her ahead of time that it was an Ethics class and they had already been study the basic principles of Ethics. My speaker drove up from Massachusetts to be in my class at 8:15, so I'm sure she was up early. She was full of energy and had a nifty little powerpoint to share with videos on what the BBB does. the first few minutes were a bit of an overview of what the BBB can do. Then she decided to go basic and start posing hypothetical scenarios, most of which we had already discussed in class. She seemed impressed with the quality and depth of responses (no surprise to me since we had had the same discussions already). She was so impressed she sang their praises to me over and over. While she was impressed, I was not so much. She gave a great effort and I appreciate what she did, but she either missed the point and forgot that we didn't need the basics. I wanted her to talk about examples of how businesses have been accused of shady practices and what the BBB can do to help consumers, not hypotheticals about what to do if you see a $100 bill in the hallway. I think she has this "canned" presentation that she is used to doing it to younger students who have had no formal instruction about ethics. At least it kept the students engaged, they didn't seem to be bothered by having the same discussions over again, and I think it's because the speaker was so high energy and charismatic.

In History v. Hollywood students presented the Historical Trailers they made using the iMovie app on their iPads. Almost every single student felt the need to apologize in advance for how" stupid" their was. This is so annoying! Non of them were "stupid" the students just get easily embarrassed about showing these to the class as they are forced out of their comfort zone. This is why I like to show them the one I made, so they see that if I can be a little ridiculous, so can they. Each trailer showed creativity and a connection to the message from the film.

My students in Sacrifice for Freedom continue work on individual projects and I have to admit I really enjoy helping them look for material and leads to follow up on. It's great that they get to experience the work of what historians actually do and understand what makes it so interesting and important. As Veteran's Day approaches, I can't help but feel the emotional connection to the work the students are doing and I look forward to when they have a product that can be shared in some fashion. We also hope to follow up with the people living currently in Beddes, France who still honor Mr. Goddard. Despite the implementation of new standards, the pressure form student testing, and new teacher evaluation work, its this kind of work that keeps me going!

Next week we start $35 Dollar Bill projects!

Too Busy

These last two weeks have been full of things to do and extended time at work! I'm not excited about it either, but this is what doing Parent/Teacher Conferences this way does to us. I love having the day before Thanksgiving as compensation for doing evening Conferences, but it makes for overworked and overtired teachers that, in my opinion, aren't as effective with their students for both weeks. I think we would be better served to have Thursday evening of Conferences from 4-8, then no school the next day for students and Conferences from 8-12 for teachers. There are no other classes to teach in the mean time and we get the weekend to recover. Its really kind of crazy, I would argue, for us to teach a regular week and have an evening of Conferences in the middle of the week. I also think it would be just as convenient for parents as what we do now. At any rate, that's my annual rant on the matter.

One thing I have been trying to find time for, but I really enjoy, are these mini-courses offered through FutureLearn. These are Massive Online Open Courses that people from all over the world take for free, and they last about 3 weeks. With sponsorship from the BBC, they are offering courses related to World War One to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the war. I have taken 2 so far and absolutely loved them! Luckily they don't require a ton of time or work as I haven't had much of late. But I have really enjoyed analyzing the issues with people from all over the world. The first course I took was on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and an analysis of the League of Nations and the United Nations. Not only can I use some things in my classroom , but I learned so much more. The course I am taking now is on how the war changed the way we think of Heroism, and I am absolutely enthralled with it!

In Ethics class we have been discussing Moral Courage and students presented projects on that topic. We have a guest speaker coming next week from the Better Business Bureau. In U.S. history classes we are examining the paradox of Andrew Jackson who expanded democracy and was autocratic at the same time. History v. Hollywood students worked on their iMovie Trailer projects using historical films. Sacrifice for Freedom students finished their group presentations about the war in their countries and have moved on to more specific individual projects. One student is looking into German POW's who were held in Houlton, ME during the war. Another is writing to the Mayor of Beddes in France where a US soldier was killed and buried in order to learn more about how they honor this man each year. Another is looking for anyone who may have been from Maine who served in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. This is just the beginning of what we think will be an exciting project!

So I'm busy grading, teaching, conferencing with parents, modifying curriciulum for proficiency based diplomas, considering my teaching process to line it up with the new evaluation model using the Marzano model, being an advisor, and a few other things I'm supposed to be doing but probably not because I'm too busy!

On top of all this I am preparing for the Webinar to be delivered in December and my presentation at the NCSS Conference in Boston on 11/21. So I will be very excited to blog about these exploits very soon! Election day is next week and so we will discuss the ballot here in Maine, in my classes, so students can follow the results of the election.

Long Week

A regular week is long enough as it is. Throw in a night of parent/teacher conferences on top, and its especially long and tiring! As a result, my post this week will be brief.

In Sacrifice for Freedom students started doing presentations about the country connected to their target language during World War Two. These presentations went very deep in showing how fascism destroyed each country. Now students will be selecting individual topics to tell stories from the war years. This is really exciting stuff!

This was Make a Difference Week at my school. This means we collected as much money and food as we could to donate to local food banks. Students really stepped up to the challenge and collected a bunch of food, surpassing our goal! It is really nice to see students coming together to give back to their communities this way.

Thursday night was what turned me into a zombie for a few days. After a regular day of school, we had 4 hours in the evening of conferences with parents. I understand how important it is for parents to talk to teachers, but man is this rough. I was not myself for a few days afterwards. I say every year I wish we didn't have to do it, but I guess its just one of those necessary evils. Next week is worse when we have conferences again on Tuesday night. I will say it is nice to be settled in to a routine with my classes and to be making progress in all my classes. However, with the new initiatives from the district, and the initiatives from the State, I'm afraid I am feeling more exhausted than ever.

Next week in my classes I will be discussing the candidates and the questions on Maine's ballot for the upcoming election.

Short week

No school on Monday this week for the Columbus Day Holiday. I would argue that no other Holiday is as uncelebrated and as undeserving as this one. Even the most favorable interpretation of Columbus puts him along side William Bradford, Hernando Cortes, and maybe Andrew Jackson. None of whom have their own holidays. The least favorable views of him put him closer to Josef Stalin or Adolf Hitler, and no one would advocate for a holiday for any of those guys. The creation of the holiday goes back to a time when Americans were looking to improve our own morale and image by focusing on the aspect of Columbus as the great explorer and supposed discoverer of America. If not for how this Italian and his holiday was able to lift Italian-Americans and improve their own pride and morale, the holiday would probably already cease to exist. The fact that the holiday has become what St. Patrick's Day is for the Irish, has complicated attempts to get rid of it. Native Americans of course would love to see it disappear. In some case a compromise if renaming the day to "Indigenous Peoples Day" or something like that has gotten momentum in recent years. If Native Americans achieve success in renaming the Washington Redskins, I wouldn't be surprised if the next point of emphasis will be Columbus Day. It's nice to have a little break this time of ear with the day off, but to call it Columbus Day and give him some type of honor is just not right in my opinion.

Tuesday was our first day of school and we had planned to have the education director from the National D-Day Memorial have a conversation with my Sacrifice for Freedom Class through Skype. Felicia Lowrance gave a brief presentation to the class about doing oral history. She also talked about some examples of soldiers who died on D-Day and some primary sources that go along with them. The students asked a lot of questions. She did a really nice job in presenting the idea of how images can convey, taste, touch, smell, and really bring primary sources to life. She also sent us the names of the Maine soldiers who died on D-Day and we will begin the work of trying to learn more about them. It was really great to have her as a guest speaker all the way from Bedford, VA!

On Wednesday, on 10th graders and 11th graders took the PSAT, known as the "Practice SAT". This is a 3.5 hour test of Reading and Math. It's also a 3.5 hour test of a teacher's patience! We tested with 2 advisee groups in a room so that we could take turns as teachers half the time "off" and the other half proctoring the test. The students struggle with the restrictions- no books, no electronics, no leaving. So many of them commented on how long it was and how it was "the worst day ever". The griping gets a bit old for the teachers too, and that's why its nice to take turns. Hopefully they see some benefit that will help them on the actual SAT when they take that.

I attended my first Maine Council for the Social Studies (MCSS) Board meeting of the year this week.  I was too busy to attend the last two meetings and was feeling a bit out of the loop. But I was quickly caught up. Much of our attention is on the NCSS Conference in Boston next month. I will be attending the House of Delegates on behalf of MCSS. Also, the Massachusetts Historical Society will be hosting a reception on behalf of MCSS to welcome Maine teachers during the Conference on the the 21st from 6-8 pm. We also have been working on creating committees to help build membership and to plan the next Conference and professional development opportunities. I get really energized being on this board, but I fear that there are so many more demands on my time at school this year, that I may not be able to continue. I hope to make it work, but time will tell.

Election season is in full swing! I hate seeing the political signs ruining the beautiful road ways, and the commercials on TV are horrible. But in my classes we will discuss more about the issues on the ballot as we get closer and the candidates for Senate, the House, and the Governor. In Ethics, as we practice our protocol for helping to resolve ethical dilemmas, we applied this to the issue Question 1 on the ballot. this question asks Mainers, "Do you want to ban the use of bait, dogs or traps in bear hunting except to protect property, public safety, or for research?". So I asked my students to examine the ethics of using bait, dogs, or traps to hunt bears. I provided them with articles on both sides of the question, and with the current law. Then we watched this video from a Televised debate over Question 1. It was a very interesting discussion and debate. Students learned a lot about hunting, and about being respectful of someone else's views. I really enjoyed our discussion and I think they saw what makes this such an ethical dilemma, and got some insight into which side they fall heading into the election.

Next week is Make a Difference Week in my school as we collect donations to help stock our local food banks!

Ebola, Hamilton, and Curriculum

Ebola virus has been on everyone's mind of late as the tragedy spreads to the U.S. with the first victim dying in Texas this week. We have been analyzing dilemmas in ethics, and what better way to do so than to apply it to real thing happening now. We examined what happened in the case of Thomas Eric Duncan and analyzed his dilemma and the choice made. It was a fascinating discussion as students discussed what they might do in the scenario and which ethical philosophy best explains their thinking. It was clear to me that students are very concerned about the spread of Ebola. I could tell that they understood that in ethics you can resolve dilemmas by using the "Ends Base Approach" (utilitarianism), the "Rule Based Approach" (categorical imperative), and the "Care Based Approach" (golden rule). Sometime you can find a compromise or third way out as well. So they clearly had learned these lessons.

In my AP U.S. History class, student did research on either Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson. They had to find out how the person they were assigned felt about the assumption of state debts, the Whiskey Tax, the protective tariff, the National Bank, and the French Revolution. Then they were randomly assigned to debate another student who had the other person on one of those topics. I always enjoy watching students get into character and they often get competitive in their debate. As as result of doing this, they were able to explain the formation of the two party system in American politics. In connection to this, we also discussed the Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel and I shared two great videos that explore that famous duel in somewhat humorous ways!




All of my students have iPads provided by the State of Maine. Each iPad has the app iMovie on it. this is a great app for students to use to make movies. In my History v. Hollywood class, students were assigned a project to make an original trailer for a real historical film. The app gives students different templates as options for the trailer. Then they get to create video and still images to plug in and create the trailer. I really like this project as it feeds into the students' creative energy and the projects they create are very good! I told them I wouldn't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself, so below is the trailer I created using iMovie, co-starring my son!



Friday was the start of a four day weekend for students, three day for Staff with Columbus Day on Monday of next week. Friday for the Staff was a workshop day. Most of our day was spend working in content areas on curriculum guides and curriculum maps. I spent a good amount of time working with the other U.S. history teacher in my school thinking ahead to two years form now when our classes will need to be standards based. We looked at key concepts and at the curriculum created by the Stanford History Education Group. This curriculum is very well done and is aligned with common core. As we work toward this reality two years from now, I think we will be using this resource to create common assessments. It was nice to have time to work with colleagues and get much important work done. It was also nice to have a lunch with my fellow teachers and not be rushed along as we usually are.

After our three day weekend, we will have a guest speaker via Skype next week from the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA and other exciting things happening!

Routines are fun!

When the leaves start to turn and October shows up on the Calendar, its always a great time of year to be productive. All the introductory aspects of the new school year have now become routine and with cooler temperatures, students are more able to focus for the whole day. This is just one reason October is one of my favorite months!

In my U.S. History classes we are talking about the Constitution and the structure of the Government. We are preparing for a guest speaker later this month. Attorney James Lawley will be returning to speak to the Juniors about 4th Amendment rights and answer questions about his time as a lawyer and the Constitution.

We spent some time this week talking about cost/benefit analysis in Ethics. It works well in economics, but our point is that without a consideration for ethics, a cost/benefit analysis can sometime go horribly wrong. The case of the Ford Pinto and how Ford Motor Company chose not to fix the gas tank flaw knowing people would die because it was cheaper to not fix it, even after accounting for being sued by the families of those who die. Students also learned about Moral courage and began a project in which they will present a real case of Moral Courage to the class.

In History vs. Hollywood we explored the Women's Suffrage movement by watching the film Iron Jawed Angels. We had great discussion about voting and why it was so important. We also delved into gender issues now and in history.

(Alice Paul)

(Rhone American Cemetery where Lewis Ferlan Goddard is buried)

Next week we begin long term projects in several classes and next Friday is a Teacher Workshop day with interesting professional development opportunities I'm sure!