March Madness

How nice it is to weave a little history into our March Madness conversations. I was able to incorporate the recent success of George Mason's basketball team into my mundane Monday morning welcome. Here is what I shared with my classes on 3/27/2006

Point#1 Reviewing Colonial History: George Mason 1725-1792) has been called the "Father of the Bill of Rights" and a major player in the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Ironically, he did nor sign the Constitution because it did not explicitly outline protections of individual rights. Later, the Constitution would be modified to address these concerns.


Point #2 Post Game Press Conference http://gomason.cstv.com/ Coach Jim Larranaga used a quote from William Jennings Bryan when talking about his team's historic victory. Coach stated :" Destiny is not a matter of chance, its a matter of choice" Nice work coach

I am pulling for GMU

Test Process Podcast - An Experiment

For my next podcast I decided to create an audio "test process". I have several students staying after school next week to give it a test run. If you would like to check it out go to my new blog at: http://testprocess.blogspot.com/ Please keep in mind this is 14 minutes of your life that you can not get back. :(

Stay tuned Making History Podcast #2 will be up next week. I went to see Will Richardson speak at the NYSCATE conference http://www.nyscate.org/ so I have plenty to share with my audience (3 at present)

Later

Podcast #1 Joining the Revolution 3.17.2006

At long last I have put togehter my debut Podcast: Podcast #1 Making History -The Spoken Word 3.17.2006

Podcast #1 Shownotes:

• My class webpage www.historyshack.com
• Ballston Spa CSD www.bscsd.org
• The Jime Rome Show www.jimrome.com
• Classroom Blogging: A Teacher's Guide to the Blogosphere by David Warlick
• David Warlick's Blog http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
• Podcasting: Do-It-Yourself Guide by Todd Cochrane
• Free Podcast and Audacity Tutorial http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/
• PODCAST HIT LIST:
  #1 Eric Langhorst http://speakingofhistory.blogspot.com
  #2 Talking History http://talkinghistory.oah.org/
  #3 Ed Tech Talk http://edtechtalk.com/
  

Direct link to MP3 Podcast #1 of Making History (15 minutes)

Until Next Time...

More Reflections from 2006 Campus Tour

A quick review of the Ballston Spa High School social studies department 2006 campus tour. Our tour takes advantage of local colleges that invite speakers to their campus. So far the 2005-2006 tour season has been an elighting journey(Comments on each stop in previous posts)

#1 University at Albany 11/21/2005 (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
#2 Siena College 1/18/2006 (Congressman John Lewis)
#3 University at Albany 1/24/2006 (Frank McCourt)

CURRENT STOP (reflections to come)
#4 University at Albany 3/15/2006 (Kareena Gore Schiff)

AP Prep Update

As part of a post on January 24th, I gave a brief run down of some of the books I was reading/listening to in preparation for the AP US History course I will be teaching in the fall of 2006. Here is an update:

9. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris. Great read. I can never get enough of TR. I still have to decide on which book to read for TR's early years.

10. An Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon (http://www.johsteelegordon.com) This book was quite a find!! It does a great job laying out the debate over the gold standard (Chapter #14 "Cross of Gold") I haven't read this cover to cover but from what I picked up between Chapters #11-#14 I plan on finishing it this summer.

11. Woodrow Wilson by H.W. Brands - I liked this better that Brands' book on Andrew Jackson. Provides some great insight into the personality behind the President and how it shaped his policy.

More to come...

Mock Trial Season Ends

Every year I assemble a crew of brave individuals to participte in the NYS Mock Trial tournament. In late November I hold an informational meeting for willing particpants and hand out our case before Christmas break . The tourney is coordinated by The New York State Bar Association. The tourney (January to March) provides students "with hands-on opportunities to further their understanding of the law, court procedures, and our legal system, while honing their speaking, listening, reading, and reasoning skills."

This years case focused on a traffic fatility that was a direct result of an inattenitve teen driver. Each team that particpates in the tourney has to prepare to argue both sides of the case (prosection and defense). We were fortunate enough to make it into the County semi-finals before losing to Galway CSD. The team is loaded with underclassman who have all expressed an interest in returning to the courtroom next year.