The post mortem…

This semester was certainly an adventure in teaching and learning.  And the excitement of final exams brought out even more twists and turns, ranging from the one student who got confused and tried to submit his exam for Wednesday’s class on Monday (thinking that Monday’s exam was due on Wednesday), to the student who thought Wednesday’s exam was due on Thursday, to the student who contacted me Tuesday evening to look over a rough draft of her exam (which was due on Monday).  Apparently stating the exam due date and time in bold on the course syllabus, on the first line of the exam, and at the end of the exam directions (and announcing it in class every day the last week of class) wasn’t enough of a notice.

Anyway…as promised, here’s the recap from the Bonus Questions:

For HST 2202, the students were asked two questions, both of which referred to material covered earlier in the semester:

1)      What was the name of the elephant in the Coney Island documentary?

8 of 42 (19%) correctly identified Topsy

An additional 5 of 42 (12%) received partial credit for knowing how Topsy died (electrocution), even if they couldn’t remember the elephant’s name

2)      What did Charles Shaughnessy talk about in the immigration lecture?

17 of 42 (41%) received full or partial credit for knowing what he talked about

For HST 3303, students were asked to identify historic sites that had been discussed in class.

Identified historic places included Philadelphia (16), Saratoga (15), Boston (11), Valley Forge (10), Lexington (8), Concord (8), Charleston (7), Newtown (5), Old North Bridge (5), Williamsburg (4), Morristown (3), Bunker Hill (3), Paul Revere Marker (3), West Point (2), Fort Niagara (2), Ticonderoga (2), Trenton (2), New York City (2), Mount Vernon (1), Newburgh (1), Lake Champlain (1), Fort Pitt (1), Yorktown (1), Quebec (1), Fort Detroit (1), Monmouth (1), Princeton (1), Hopewell Furnace (1), Oriskany (1).  Students also listed (but did not receive credit for) Gettysburg (2), Midway (1), and Washington, D.C. (1).  One student even provided elaboration for Morristown:  “That place with the houses where you can’t climb on the ‘houses’/huts where soldiers lived” (look at the photo at the top of this blog to see which houses she referred to).  Of course, the above grouping was broad; any property listed in Philadelphia was grouped as “Philadelphia,” and “Saratoga” included “marker where Benedict Arnold was captured (his name was not on it)”…and yes, I know he wasn’t captured at Saratoga, although the Boot Monument is there.

For HST 4401, students could list up to ten places visited in the video The Pennsylvania Road Show viewed in class (descriptions were acceptable; for those who listed more than ten, I only counted the first ten on the list).

And now, what you’ve been waiting for (drum roll, please):  some student interpretations of the past from the final exams.  Again, these were all take-home exams…and the original spelling, grammar, and syntax have been maintained.

From HST 2202 (United States History Since 1877):

Rock and Roll was the bastard mulatto child of a heterogeneous American culture.

Kennedy was Johnson’s successor in office.  Johnson had already set a platform for success before Kennedy got into office.  The continuation was successful by Kennedy due to Johnson’s ground work.

President Kennedy went to Berlin to give a speech about foreign policy.  During the speech, President Kennedy ended up referring himself to a jelly doughnut.  (Point of pride:  At least someone was paying attention to the lecture)

Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and also from Arab descent.  He was recognized after the September 11^th terror attacks.

Ralph Nader:  Was a senator during the times of September, 11^th 2001, who was an American but he had Arab heredity.  This was a time when people attacked all Arabs and Muslims and some other religions because of the attacks on the World Trade Centers that killed so many Americans people thought that every Arab and Muslim was the same even if they were born in America.

The 25^th Amendment allowed for a Vice President to be inacted after a resignation or death of the current president.  The new president can appoint a Vice President afterwards.

Lyndon Johnson both started and ended the Space Race.

The Black Panthers was another name for the Nation of Islam, which was founded in 1931 and led by Elijah Muhammad.  They emphasized identifying with their African roots and were against integration.  They were for racial separatism, saying that integration would destroy the blacks along with the whites.  The Black Panthers were also self-help, basically saying that God helps those that help themselves.  They also banned behaviors that reinforced racial stereotypes.

Black Panthers:  An organization that represents black power and prevented police harassment.  The black panthers gave a positive influence in the Civil Rights movement.

The enemies list was conjured up by President Nixon.  He felt that anyone from a movie star to a member of congress hated him.  Thus he saught to steer clear of an involvement with them.

Enemies list:  The enemies list was all a part of Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate Scandal.  This was simply a list of people that Nixon to me was afraid of or did not trust.  These were people he thought could bring his skeletons out the closet and after looking at his list it seems as if this man was scared of anyone with a little close to no power.  An example would be Bill Cosby being on this list, like I have no clue what he would do with his famous stripped sweaters on.  This list was full of actors, writers, dean of admissions for many big universities and of course politicians.

The enemies list was part of the Watergate Scandal that listed everyone who Nixon felt was a threat to himself.  The list contained politicians, celebrities, and other people who Nixon felt would hinder his chances of re-election.  Because of Nixon’s nature, he had offended many people over his political career that he felt would hurt him later which is why he felt that they were a threat.  On this list were famous people like Barbra Streisand (“Send in the Clowns?” Nixon must have felt this was directed at him) and Jane Fonda (okay, we probably could understand Jane).

From HST 3303 (History of the American Revolution):

Newburgh Conspiracy:  Occurred in 1783 within the Continental Army as a response to not getting paid correctly.  Many soldiers were considering mutiny; however, George Washington had put a stop to it by talking to them and making the soldiers realize that he was a man just like them.

The Treaty of Defensive and Conditional Alliance was an alliance between France and America that recognized American independence.  It granted America a maintained sovereignty and France agreed to give up Canada.  It also declared neither country can sign treaties without consulting with each other.

From HST 4401 (History of Pennsylvania):

Pennsylvania Line Mutiny:  Soldiers of the Pennsylvania militia left their camps in protest of bad weather conditions and no warm clothes or shoes to wear.

Matthew Quay:  former Governor of Pennsylvania who also tried to reform the state system (never a governor, was one of the people whose actions led to a need to reform the state government)

At the end of the 19^th century Pennsylvania’s industry was beginning to be on a rise.  There were jobs in the coal mines and jobs in the iron industry and in many other areas.  This was an incising draw for people from the “old world” because they could come and work and have more freedoms in the new land than they would have at their former locations.

Homestead Strike:  an industrial strike by steel workers against an agency, it happened in 1892.  It resulted in unionizing the workers.  (oh, yes—every strike leads to the formation of a labor union)

Henry Clay Frick was an industrialist and also the chairman of Carnegie Steel Company.  One thing he was famous for was the construction the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Company.

Final tally for the semester (including final exams):  6 more stickers added to the board, a marked decrease from Fall 2011 (but still more than I would like).  Someday, students will realize (a) that they need to do their own work; and (b) I’m not joking when I tell them the first day that I will file academic dishonesty charges if they violate university policy.

This week’s photo…the famous Boot Monument at Saratoga National Historical Park.

Benedict Arnold–the hero of Saratoga–wasn’t captured here, but he was wounded at this location.

It’s all over but the shouting…

The last week of the semester is over, and I must admit I’m feeling a bit bittersweet.  I did enjoy teaching my classes this semester, and I was fortunate to have a good group of student teachers this semester.  Being in a Spanish classroom for the first time in 24 years wasn’t as daunting as I thought it would be, and I actually learned some things while observing the social studies student teachers.  I got the pleasure of having a class interrupted by a fire drill and by a lockdown drill, and I survived the semester without losing a day of instruction because of snow (unlike last year, when we had five snow days—which prompted the desire to film the U.S. history survey class and History of Pennsylvania).

Recording the classes also provided me with an opportunity to reflect on how I teach, and, honestly, I didn’t see anything that I didn’t already know.  I talk too fast.  I pace a lot.  My hands don’t stay still.  My jokes are corny and sometimes go over the students’ heads (although it helped to have two non-traditional students in the U.S. history survey class who are old enough to share some common experiences, such as remembering when men first walked on the moon).  Plus, it does look like the camera adds at least 10 pounds, depending on the camera angle—and it doesn’t do a very good job of distributing the extra weight.  In addition, I suspect that the frozen shoulder is making a return, as the left shoulder is quite sore (and in some of the videos it looks like the left shoulder is slightly higher than the right—unless I have developed a hump like Igor in “Young Frankenstein,” but one that does not shift from one side to the other).

At the same time, I have experienced the frustration of finding out that students don’t always take advantage of the opportunities given to them.  A prime example relates to the research paper rough drafts submitted at the end of March; maybe ¼ of the students actually made all the changes suggested, and maybe another ¼ attempted some (but not all) of the corrections (and at least one turned a moderately decent paper into one that is resulting in academic dishonesty charges after making the corrections).  I guess the students either didn’t think I would penalize them for not fixing the problems (a big mistake on their part), or they just didn’t care.  Either way, I’m probably going to be awarding more D- grades on research papers than any previous semester; the only reason why those students aren’t failing is that they must pass the research paper assignment in order to pass the course, and, despite their inability to write an acceptable research paper, I don’t think it’s a fatal error on their part (except possibly for the one who plagiarized).  Of course, maybe my expectations are too high; I just want them to follow directions, write grammatically correct sentences, provide historically accurate information, and document their sources.   On the bright side, I suggested on two of the papers that they consider submitting them for the North Hall Prize (an undergraduate research award sponsored by the college library) and presenting them at next spring’s Phi Alpha Theta Regional Meeting.

At the same time, sometimes their attempts at conveying their thoughts become a bit amusing.  This past week also saw the last book discussion in History of Pennsylvania, in which students made a presentation of Sports in Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Historical Association, 2007).  It’s always interesting to see students make a presentation (and write a review) of a book I have written (this is the only one I force them to buy, and I do not get any royalties from sales).  The first time I taught the class, one student proceeded to write a 5 page review essentially complaining that the book only talked about sports in Pennsylvania and not other states without saying anything about its actual content.  This time, the student reviews included the following gems:

“In the following text, she also describes how this game is played, and gives incite to how it was different from rounders.”

“This book is a factual based book, so there is no stretching of sources, so they work well for the situation being discussed.”  (my former profs will be so proud to know I didn’t stretch my sources!)

Some of the final versions of research papers, too, make me scratch my head as I try to understand what they intended to write:

About the colonial wars of the first half of the 18^th century:  “These hostilities were what motivated the colonies to increase their population from 250,000 in 1700 to about 1.3 million in 1750.”  (Of course—constant warfare always is a lure for immigrants)

About legislation passed by Parliament in the 1760s:  “Based on the many acts that were passed by Grenville, the colonists had a very little tension span, and did not want anything else happening within the colonies.”  (A prime example of “spell check is NOT your friend if you don’t choose the correct word)

This coming week is finals week, when my students share with me the knowledge they have acquired during the last 1/3 of the course (since early April).  All of the exams are take-home (essays and short answer), and they have already been warned to follow directions or be penalized (with it implied, of course, that they will be penalized anyway if they provide me with incomplete or historically inaccurate information).  All three classes will also have bonus questions (sort of a reward for coming to the classroom to turn in the final exam instead of just submitting an electronic copy to the dropbox—although they do have to do that, too, to be checked for plagiarism).  I’ll post the bonus questions in next week’s blog; I don’t want to spoil the surprise if any current students read the blog (although one class already knows the bonus question).  All of the bonus questions will refer to material covered previously in the course, some from last month, some from as far back as February (or, as some would say, the distant past).

And now, to borrow from Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, your moment of Zen…

How I’m going to be spending my summer “vacation”…arranging and researching church records for a conference paper to be presented in November.

The Long and Winding Road…

(apologies to The Beatles)

We’re in the homestretch, as this coming week is the last week of classes.  So far, only four stickers have been added to the board (a vast improvement over 19 last semester), and most students followed directions and gave me their rough drafts when they submitted the final versions of their research papers (my rationale:  if I didn’t mark it on the rough draft, I can’t hold them accountable for not making the correction on the final version).  Plus, if a student neglects to document all of the information in his/her research paper—especially direct quotes—in my mind, the student is daring me to fail him/her for not following directions.  Obviously, if I have no qualms about charging students with academic dishonesty, I have no problem failing them for not following explicit directions.  Of course, some of the rough drafts needed a complete reworking of the entire paper, so I’m sure I will still find some issues with grammar and spelling (after all, spell check isn’t your friend if you choose a word that is spelled correctly but isn’t the correct word).

Sometimes, too, I know what they intend to say, even if the wording is a bit awkward.  For example, these gems from book reviews:

For the purpose of historical information the author did attempt to show excitement for her topic, with the antidotes of an actual variety of women during the time period of 1865-1940.

However, despite how concise and nearly historically accurate that the narrative is, it really is a good read.

This past week was more than just grading book reviews (and getting mentally prepared for the excitement and adventure of grading the research papers).  We almost had our first snow day of the year (well, we did have some snow, and some students and faculty couldn’t make it to campus because of road conditions), so Monday was switched from “lecture day” to “documentary day” that reviewed material previously covered in class.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were lecture days, and Thursday and Friday were “fun film days” (documentary on tourism in History of Pennsylvania and two episodes of Liberty’s Kids in the American Revolution class) on the days students submitted their research papers.  In addition, I’ve reached the point in the semester in the U.S. history survey class in which it’s not really history to me because I’ve lived through it (of course, as an early American historian anything after 1800 can be considered current events), but at the same time to the vast majority of students the 1960s was when their parents were children—if their parents were even born yet (a couple of years ago I had a student whose parents were born after Watergate).  Fortunately, this semester I have a couple of non-traditional students in the U.S. history survey who understand when I talk about Black Panthers, hippies, Hanoi Jane, and the Mercury 7 and who remember what it was like to watch Apollo launches (and who also remember when Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff).

And, of course, the last week of classes brings its own adventures:  the final student teaching observations for three of the students; the last book discussion in History of Pennsylvania (one that I am definitely looking forward to, because students will be discussing the “mustard” book); and the last lecture of the semester.  I have not yet achieved the dream of having the class give me a standing ovation, but I always try to end the semester on a high note before giving the students final words of wisdom:  “Happy Studying!”

This week’s photo of the week comes from the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.  It shows some of the lighter side of visiting museums…

Based on my performance when playing this game, it was a good thing that I wasn't a fighter pilot during World War II...because I never landed on the boat.

Our shining stars

This week brought a variety of activity for this college professor.  Lectures in all classes, discussion in the two upper level courses, and documentaries on Wednesday while I was busy attending the annual Teacher Education Council Assessment Day.  Monday also was the day for the Academic Honors Ceremony, where the academic programs honor our outstanding students (in the case of the History Program, we honored our Outstanding Senior candidates for the B.A. and B.S.E. Social Studies programs, along with recipients of the Phi Alpha Theta Book Award, which is given to Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society members who have demonstrated excellence in the study of History).  As the self-designated photographer, I had the pleasure of snapping photos with the digital camera, feeling a bit like paparazzi (except instead of photographing famous people, I was photographing really smart people).

The camera was also snapping away on Saturday, when one of our students presented a research paper at the Eastern Pennsylvania Regional Meeting of Phi Alpha Theta.  I have been a member of this honor society since 1979 (the 18th of April, to be precise), and I have presented papers at regional meetings in three states and have chaired/moderated sessions when able ever since my arrival at Mansfield University in Fall 1998.  I always found it to be a pleasant (and non-threatening) experience when I presented a paper at these conferences (and not just because I won Best Paper awards at two of them), but the faculty who moderate sessions offer constructive criticism, and our students generally have enjoyed the experience–especially those who win awards.

This time, the experience was quite different.  It was the faculty advisor’s first time at hosting a regional meeting, and it showed.  For instance, the prize competition was a bit of a farce; I “served” on the committee, yet I did not see any of the papers that were under consideration.  Also, it appeared that there was no distinction made between undergraduate and graduate students, and, with them grouped together, some worthy students’ submissions were probably overlooked (and I’m not just writing this because our student didn’t win an award).  The quality of the student presentations was uneven at best; one of our group tallied 95 “ums” in the one presentation (that one, incidentally, was one of the honorees).  I ended up chairing/moderating two sessions, one to cover for the faculty advisor who assigned himself a session at 8:30 in the morning when he had to take care of conference arrangements.  For the other session, one of the presenters did not show up…which, on the bright side, provided the presenters with ample time (although I would have liked to make comments, but I was not provided with any of the papers in advance).  The one session I observed (at which our student presented), the chair managed the time poorly, and as a result our student (who was presenting last), was a bit rushed.  Plus, she did not receive any feedback from the moderator, other than him asking a question that made it obvious that he really hadn’t paid attention to her presentation.  At least she now has the experience of making a presentation at an academic conference under her belt, one that will help her as she begins graduate school in the fall.

This week will provide a different type of adventure, as students in my upper level classes will be submitting the final versions of their research papers (except for the two who have been granted extensions for medical reasons).  And, judging from the weather forecast, I probably will be dodging snowflakes when going to class–yes, it’s spring in north central Pennsylvania.

Photo of the week:  The Mansfield University contingent at the Eastern Pennsylvania Regional Meeting of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, hosted by Kutztown University.

Left to right: Me, Amanda Ward, Bobby Nichols, Dr. Andy Gaskievicz

Another movie?

Teaching in the 21st century is quite different from when I first taught college in 1986.  For one thing, students then were remotely aware of some of the topics I discussed in class because they had occurred during their lifetime (for instance, in January 1986 the space shuttle Challenger exploded, which made the lecture on the space program a bit different than I had initially intended).  Back then, too, I mostly lectured and seldom showed films in class, mainly because showing a film involved ordering the 16mm film from the main campus of Penn State, waiting for it to be delivered, and hoping that the film did not break (and, if it did, praying that I remembered what I had learned in the instructional technology portion of the secondary teaching methods class I took as an undergraduate).  Plus, back then I did not show what has become a staple when teaching about the civil rights movement, The Long Walk Home (and not just because the film was not distributed until 1991).

If you haven’t seen this movie, you really should.  It’s the best portrayal of the civil rights movement in a feature film, and it’s reasonably historically accurate.  Strong performances by two Academy Award winners (Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg, who won the Oscar that year for Ghost but had a far better performance in this film) and a riveting story keep the students engrossed in watching the movie.  This past week, I showed this film in the U.S. history since 1877 class on Monday and Wednesday, and one student (who is older than me and lived through the turmoil of the civil rights movement in Philadelphia) told me at the end of class each day how impressed he was at the film’s attention to detail; he even noted that he had ridden in the same type of buses when going to school in Philadelphia in the early 1960s (and had experienced black-on-white intimidation, the opposite of one of the scenes in the movie).   Historical accuracy and a powerful story are only two of the pluses of the film, as one of the actors (the girl who plays the younger daughter/narrator) had been in my mother’s Sunday School class a couple of years earlier–so there is a more “personal” connection in that I knew one of the actors in the film.

This year, in the American Revolution class, we watched 1776.  When I referenced the movie in one of my lectures, I was met with blank stares–as only one or two had ever seen it (or heard of it).  I remember seeing it in high school, and that movie inspired me to be an early American historian (I already knew I wanted to major in history in college, but that steered me to which time period I wanted to study).  So we watched it, and they have been tested on it (a bonus quiz, since I didn’t warn them in advance about it), and most of the students were able to grasp the basic concepts and major characters in the debates about declaring independence.

For History of Pennsylvania, we have watched two films:  The Courageous Mr. Penn (also known as Penn of Pennsylvania), a 1941 British production that clearly was made as propaganda to encourage the United States to enter World War II on the side of the Allies, and Allegheny Uprising, a 1939 John Wayne movie that focuses on colonial/British relations during the latter stages of the French and Indian War (and provides justification for why the colonies rebel).  Typically I show The Molly Maguires when discussing labor/management relations, but this year I opted for a documentary from the History Channel.  The documentary wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t nearly as good as seeing Sean Connery and Richard Harris (plus, the football/rugby scene in the movie is worth it, just to see how rival ethnic groups took out their hostilities on each other).  In other words, just like teaching courses is an evolutionary process, I am always looking for ways to convey the information better–and, when something doesn’t work, I’ll remember that for the future.

This week I get back to lecturing and take a break from student teacher observations (first set for the second placement were finished this week, and I don’t see them again until the end of the month).  No papers will cross my desk for grading until Thursday, so I actually get a breather this week (well, at least on the teaching side, as I do have to slightly modify a report that must be submitted for distribution by Wednesday and have to continue working on the assessments for accreditation).  Monday I will get to play photographer at the Academic Honors Reception, taking pictures for the department’s webpage and Facebook pages.  Wednesday morning I get to spend at “Assessment Day” with the Education faculty, working with data I will need for the accreditation report I’ll be writing this summer.  Our social studies education program is nationally recognized by the National Council for the Social Studies, and I want to keep it that way.  In the meantime, I get to start figuring out (again) how I can make the ancient history I teach in the U.S. history class relevant; I’m still adjusting to the fact that not only do my students not know about Watergate, but their parents might not remember it, either.

And now the photo of the week, from Fort Stanwix National Monument in Rome, New York (where I got my first taste of life on a movie set, observing the filming of a documentary on Benedict Arnold that someday will be distributed):

I know...anyone who has seen "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and/or "Spamalot" is now screaming, "I'm not ready for the cart!"

Historical Revisionism

Between correcting rough drafts and grading exams, the fabulous purple pen had a busy week (well, technically purple pens, as three of them ran dry).  In between, I saw a class discussion in HST 2202, showed photos from historic sites related to the American Revolution in HST 3303, and watched documentaries in all three classes, along with observing two student teachers—one who taught about Politics in the Gilded Age and one who taught the Spanish words for various family members using characters in the television program The Simpsons.  The latter also provided me with an opportunity to see a student teacher cope with classroom management issues; her cooperating teacher told me that she is doing a fine job and that he has even learned from her (which I consider to be high praise).

Sometimes, when grading and correcting these papers, I become a bit amused at the various interpretations of the past presented by my students, such as the following examples from research papers in the American Revolution class:

Thomas Hutchinson was Massachusetts Gov. and had been attacked by a violent mob because the colonists thought you supported the Stamp Act.  His wife was Anne Hutchinson and they were both driven out of Boston to Rhode Island known in her days as “the island of errors.”

British military personal were matching uniforms and often held dinners and balls throughout the Revolutionary war.

Finally, Howe’s most enticing point to his higher-ups was that if this was successful enough, he may be able to draw much, if not all, of Washington’s forces away from Burgoyne’s area and free up space for any pushes that the gentlemen may have had in store.  This last point depended solely on the probability of if Washington would take the bait or not and move his forces to defend Philadelphia.  If he was unsuccessful, Washington could overrun Burgoyne, which would spell disaster for Howe’s command and threaten any maneuvers he might have for the future.

Occasionally, too, geographic illiteracy is a bit evident:

General Washington did eventually cross the state border when he had learnt that more British troops were on their way to Philadelphia, and stationed his troops in Morristown, New Jersey to protect Philadelphia from invading forces coming from New Jersey.

Brandywine Creek would have not been flooded, in fact in General Washington’s notes the last day that rain was recorded was on August 26 and was a few hundred miles east of the Brandywine Creek.

Book reviews, too, include a bit of humor (and I’m sure it’s unintentional):

Some of the sources are unpublished and so the validity of such a source is questionable, because it was not peer-reviewed or anything.

However, despite how concise and nearly historically accurate that the narrative is, it really is a good read and does indeed show this authors’ excitement of this point in history.

Although the book is a total of 434 pages, only 323 pages of it are actually content, the rest is merely endnotes.

And now (drum roll, please)…historical revisionism on the take home exams.

From HST 3303:  History of the American Revolution

The alliance between the Oneida and the colonists took place because the gradual Europeanization of the Oneida, this helped in making a stronger bond between the neighbors.  Many of the Iroquoian Confederacy supported the decision and this was a very big help to the Colonists because it was a big factor in the defeat in New York.

I am not real sure how Britain responded to the actions of the First Continental Congress.  It seems like we talked about that so long ago.

Common Sense was a book written by Thomas Pain.  It dealt with the lack of thinking that went on during the Revolution.

The Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts was where a battle between minutemen and British Regulars occurred during a minutemen retreat back to Boston.

The Second Continental Congress reconvened in May, 1775 and, this time it was much different than before.  British loyalists like that of Representative John Dickinson of Pennsylvania wanted to keep friendly relations with England and avoid any more bloodshed of either side in the current disputes.  Dickinson, who had a very good way of convincing people with his words, was able to convince many of the colonial representatives early on to stay with England.  By the end of the convention, he and all other colonies decided for the Constitution, essentially freeing the American colonies from English tyranny.

Old North Bridge:  Bridge in Lexington, Connecticut where American militiamen fended off British soldiers.  This was a pivotal moment in the opening events of the American Revolution.

From HST 2202:  United States History Since 1877

The NRA wasn’t the best thing, but it helped bust the morale of people.

William Jennings Bryan, a defender of the Christian faith, was on the team of prosecutors to try to convict Darwin.

The United States would also intervene during the Mexican revolution because they did not want U.S. owned businesses to be taken out of their territory, the United States would arm poncho villa and his men to help take out the government to put a new man into power.

Helping the British in their time of need was on behalf of the Good Neighbor Policy, where the United States stayed neutral but they did not want to see Britain defeated because of lack of arms.

The scopes trial was simply about a man teaching human evolution and breaking the laws doing it.  The major argument is between reason and faith.  In the end Mr. William Jennings Bryant was fined one hundred dollars.  This was all in a small town in the state of Tennessee.  I personally thought this case was interesting and very different from today’s court cases due to the fact that the judge was smoking in the middle of the case inside the court house.

The works progress administrations also known as the WPA.  This was for the unskilled workers which accounted for about 8.7 million compared to the 750 thousand skilled workers in the PWA as discussed in class on 3/22/2012.  Aircraft carriers were running lines for companies.  I feel as though this program was very effective and helped out the unskilled Americans get a job and make money.

Also, three students seem to think Daffy Duck was a Disney cartoon character.  As a former employee of Time Warner, personally I thought the students should automatically fail the exam for that error, but, as it turned out, all three students did earn failing grades.  Moral of the story:  you have a better chance of passing my exams if you can keep the cartoon characters straight (although having historically accurate content and completely answering the questions helps, too).

This week will include discussion in HST 2202 and HST 3303, The Long Walk Home in HST 2202, Diplomacy and the American Revolution in HST 3303, and the rise of organized labor in HST 4401 (focusing on the Molly Maguires).

This  week’s photo is from the Memorial Day walk at Valley Forge National Historical Park from May 2010.  Students in the American Revolution class are reading Joseph Plumb Martin’s autobiography Ordinary Courage to get an understanding of the experiences of the common soldier in the war (and I’m particularly partial to this version of Martin’s story, as I compiled the index and have an essay on the portrayal of the common soldier on film in the upcoming 4^th edition).

Without a doubt, the Continental Army camped at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778 would have enjoyed skateboarding and rollerblading, but it was prohibited.

Let the Grading Frenzy Begin!

Discussion in all classes this week…readings and documents on the 1920s and 1930s in HST 2202, presentation on Gerald Eggert’s Iron Industry in Pennsylvania in HST 4401, and presentation on Joseph Glatthaar and James Kirby Martin’s Forgotten Allies:  The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution in HST 3303.  The assessments included discussion summaries in HST 2202, quizzes and book reviews in HST 3303, and book reviews in HST 4401.  Then, on Thursday and Friday, the research paper drafts arrived in HST 4401 and HST 3303 (and students were warned that if they did not bring completed 15 page drafts they should bring withdrawal slips, because they would not pass the course).  So the purple grading pen definitely will be getting a workout over the next week, especially since students will be submitting second exams starting on Monday.

In addition to providing me with work (whoever thinks college professors only work 15-20 hours per week should spend a week shadowing me), each class experienced the joy of audio-visual enhancement of the course content (HST 3303 finished 1776 on Monday; HST 2202 viewed selected Disney wartime cartoons on Wednesday as we discussed wartime propaganda, and HST 4401 watched The Valley That Changed the World about the early oil industry in Pennsylvania).  Because the discussion of Eggert’s book did not last the entire class period, I showed photos of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site as an example of an 18^th/19^th century iron plantation/ironmaking community.

Other than that, this week saw the last two student teaching orientation visits:  one with an experienced cooperating teacher who already is impressed with her student teacher, and the other with a former student who has her first student teacher.  We also had the accreditation visit from the regional accrediting agency, and as the History program’s assessment coordinator, I (along with other programs’ assessment coordinators) met with a member of the visiting team.

Meanwhile, here is a sample of some of my scholars’ writings on their research paper drafts (I have already started a list of key issues to share with the classes when I return the rough drafts Wednesday and Thursday, respectively):

British military personal were matching uniforms and often held dinners and balls throughout the Revolutionary war.

With the years to follow he died in the opening of parliament in London of a blood disorder.

The Colonists began to break rules such as crossing the proclamation line that claimed the land west of the Mississippi river is reserved for the Indians.

In late 1774 after the battle of Lexington militias began forming all throughout the American colonies.

Grenville claims the Stamp duties are least exceptionable because it deals with fewer officers and the kicker is it collects itself.

And from the book reviews:

Alcohol provided another way that they could connect with the spirits.

However, despite how concise and nearly historically accurate that the narrative is, it really is a good read and does indeed show this authors’ excitement of this point in history.

Although the book is a total of 434 pages, only 323 pages of it are actually content, the rest is merely endnotes.

This coming week will involve grading exams, observing student teachers, and correcting rough drafts–plus a bit of teaching and class discussion.  Finally, the photo of the week (one of the photos shown from Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site):

Blog author as costumed interpreter at Hopewell Village NHS in 1984. Students commented that I looked younger back then.