New Toys!

Recently I mentioned that I had some new technology in the classroom. Aside from the general computing equipment and software, I have a few new things in the classroom that make the teaching experience more enjoyable and easier at the same time. The district I work for got a technology grant that made all of these new toys possible.

At the end of last school year, I was aware that a new projector was going to be installed in my room, allowing me to better use PowerPoint presentations, other software and the Internet in my teaching. That was in the classroom on day one. I began using this aspect of the new technology immediately and it was much easier. Last year, I experimented with this a little, but my projector was on a cart and was often in the way and really more trouble than it was worth. The only real drawback was that, at first, I did not have a wireless receiver to allow me to use the projector’s remote as a remote mouse. I now have one and sometimes use it, but the other new toys I have in the classroom really make that a moot point.

The district also purchased a wireless unit and software called Mimio. This package allows for using a standard whiteboard as an interactive board. It works like a Smart Board or a V-Board without using a separate unit in the classroom. Using a second computer for all my presentations to my students and the new projector, I am able to create interactive activities for students to play with to enrich their learning, enliven presentations by directly tapping into the Internet, annotate PowerPoint presentations on the fly and highlight text for emphasis, all from the front of the room. I can then save these for use in classes later in the day, meaning I only have to do all of this once each day. I can even save what I write as a PDF and print it out for a student if he/she is absent or attach it to lesson plans or my school webpage. My first period class has had a lot of fun just watching me interact with the technology. In addition with the screen capture feature, I can use the software to write “on the board” and save that for later use, virtually replacing dry erase markers. Since I teach two history electives (American Constitution & Civil War Studies and The Bible in History & Literature) scattered between five sections of US History, I’m not having to rewrite my US History notes because I have had to erase them to gear up for the electives. I am currently using We the People…The Citizen and the Constitution as the base text for teaching the US Constitution. It has a very good companion website. (Yes, I am using the high school text in a middle school classroom because it has more information than the middle school text. Students use the middle school text for reading at home.) I have used this website extensively in presentations in this class, as well as used video clips from Discovery Education to supplement lessons. The system comes with a stylus for directly interacting with the board, as well a wireless tablet that integrates into the system. Utilizing screen capture and Expo markers in a tube with a wireless transmitter corresponding to specific colors, I can even write in color. I have created one interactive lesson for students related to a timeline of the Age of Exploration and early English colonial periods. The students that used it seemed to enjoy it and the ones who didn’t have the opportunity were disappointed.

Also, a document presenter (camera) was installed in the classroom. It is basically an Elmo document presenter on steroids! It’s basically a small video camera on an adjustable arm that can be used to show documents and artifacts, but it can also be used to record video. Using the screen capture feature in the software included with this item allows for still shots to be saved. I have used this to save paper by printing one copy of a chart or graph and having the students copy it for themselves. I plan to use this extensively in the spring when I get to the Civil War section of my elective. Earlier this year I acquired a four-volume set of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. This is the bound compiliation of the “Century War Series” edited by Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence Clough Bell and published in “The Century Magazine” in the 1870’s and 1880’s. The volumes I have are copyrighted 1887. I’m not too keen on the students handling these 122-year-old books. The leather binding is fragile and one volume needs to be repaired, but I would like for them to see some of the material. The document presenter will make that a much easier process.

This has made teaching seem a whole lot more like playing than it already did. I’m having a ball with it and I think the students stay more engaged simply because they want to see how I’m going to use it next.

What is “Southern?”

I’m glad somebody has written a song (even with its glaring grammatical error) about the variety that is a part of being Southern. I’m not sure it’s all completely accurate about every Southerner or even myself, but it does recognize that Southern heritage is much more than Robert E. Lee, ANV flags and Confederate ancestry. At a variety of levels, it celebrates the diversity that is Southern heritage. The video premieres this weekend on CMT, so it is new enough I can’t embed it. Please let me know if the link flakes out.

http://www.cmt.com/videos/tim-mcgraw/437639/southern-voice.jhtml?id=1622758

What makes America exceptional?

For whatever reason, according to some because of liberal academic bias against it, the idea of “American Exceptionalism” has been a hot topic on several blogs lately. (See here, here and here.) This is my take on it, for what it’s worth.

As a nation, we have a set of high ideals that were left for us in just the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Combine those with other writings of the founders of the republic and those who have attempted to perfect this experiment along the way, both prior to the Founding Era and since then, and we, as modern Americans, have an awesome responsibility to pass along to our children and, for those of us who teach, our students these ideals.

As I have begun to teach a course on the American Constitution and Civil War, I have become keenly aware of what my goal must be as this year progresses. Here was the exchange in my class today. Please remember, I teach seventh and eighth graders and, for most of them, this is the first exposure they have had to the complete text of the Constitution. We have speent the most of these first five weeks of school reading its text and the text of all the amendments. We were reviewing for a test today.

“The most important thing you will learn from me in this class this year, will be this,” I said, holding up a copy of the Constitution.

“Why is that?” a student asked.

“This is what protects our rights and establishes the framework of government.”

“What if people don’t want their rights protected?” This from the same student.

To me, the basic framework of government we’ve had for the last 220 years is something of a miracle in itself — how we got it, how we preserved it through a civil war, how we’ve maintained it and how we’ve expanded upon its principles are all exceptional. Thanks to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the rest of the amendments, we enjoy more freedom than any people in the history of civilization. That, too, is exceptional. And with exchanges in the classroom like I had today, teachers need to address this aspect of our exceptionalism or we risk people who don’t know how to use our Founding Documents to defend their rights and liberties.

Do I think, we, as the citizens of the United States, are exceptional? No, we are just people. Do I think that the Founding Fathers were, as individuals, exceptional? No, they were just human beings. Did people throughout our history do exceptional things? Sometimes, but they, too, were humans. Has our nation improved over time? At certain times and about certain things, yes. Do we still have work to do? More than we can get to in our lifetimes. We can only hope to instill a desire to see our country improve in our children and students that will drive them to keep it going. I don’t think the Founding Fathers did any more or any less than that in their day.

What makes America exceptional is not the fact that we, as individuals, are better than every other person in every other country on earth. We are exceptional because our ideals, as contained in our Founding Documents, are exceptional. We, as individuals, are rather ordinary for living within them. Occassionally, throughout our history, some people have elected to live outside those boundaries and positive change has taken place. But, does fighting injustice make any individual exceptional? I would argue no. Why? Because we have the exceptional right to do so. That makes ordinary citizens operate within the ordinary scheme of things. There is nothing exceptional about that. It is our rights and liberties, as outlined within the Constitution and Bill of Rights that are exceptional. We are simply ordinary humans operating within exceptional parameters. No one person needs to be exalted to a pedestal in history. If it hadn’t been Thomas Jefferson, who would it have been and when? The same applies to James Madison or Abraham Lincoln or Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King or Barbara Jordan or Ceasar Chavez or Susan B. Anthony or anybody else.

In this country, we have the exceptional right to change our circumstances. Does everyone take advantage of it? Obviously not, but that is more a matter of personal desire, not because one person is better than another. Some are just different. Some think creatively and find ways to overcome their present set of circumstances. As Americans we are free to do this. That doesn’t make us better, it makes us human. All humans are inclined to take whatever advantage we have under the law. If we do anything else, as the Revolutionary generation did, as the Civil Rights generation did, we are revolutionary, but that doesn’t make us exceptional, just revolutionary.

When I hear the words “American Exceptionalism,” I think of the idea that we are better than every other people group in the world, but I would argue that is not the case. We simply have exceptional ideals that we operate with and, sometimes, we have done better than others. Americans don’t like change any better than any other nation’s citizens. That makes us rather ordinary. That we change anyway, well, that might be exceptional, but that is based on our principles, not our innate goodness as individuals. So, we stick to our principles. That’s not exceptional. That’s just doing what’s right. That is what is expected of us. That doesn’t make us better than anybody. It makes us just like everybody — except those who have no principles to begin with. In that case, I don’t have to justify myself to anyone in the world without principles and neither does the rest of the American population.

**Clarification: I do not agree with American attempts to spread our brand of liberty to other nations. It’s not because I think its imperialistic to do this, but that other nations do not have the historic framework from which to build this concept. Also, I believe we have been successful with our ideals because our founders risked their lives and effort to ensure the formation of this country. In my opinion, that personal investment on the part of a people is what defines freedom for themselves and their descendants.

Diane Ravitch: Critical thinking? You need knowledge

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything, but I’m teaching two new elective courses (American Constitution & Civil War Studies and The Bible as/in History & Literature) this year and have moved to teaching US History from teaching Texas History last year. While my curriculum is in place for the US History classes, building the curriculum has been a new and interesting challenge in my elective classes. However, I took some time away from these duties to unwind by reading History News Network. A hat-tip to Rick Shenkman and the folks of this George Mason University-sponsored project for the following. I’ve thought this the whole three-plus years I’ve been teaching, but who listens to the rookie on the block?

Diane Ravitch: Critical thinking? You need knowledge

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Look for an upcoming post regarding some new technology I’m using in the classroom. Suffice it to say, for the time being, I’m wired and interactive with some new gadgets!

C-SPAN’s “Book TV” to feature Symonds’ Lincoln and His Admirals

 

Presidents – Craig Symonds, Lincoln and His Admirals – Book TV

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I found this while searching around for some other resources. I’m not sure if anyone is interested or already knew about it, but I thought I’d share it. The first airing will be on Saturday, July 11, at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central. It will repeat on Monday, July 13, at 2 a.m. Eastern/1 a.m. Central.

Update: As part of its coverage of 2009 Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest, Book TV will highlight the following authors and books:

• Orville Vernon Burton: The Age of Lincoln

• Tom Campbell: Fighting Slavery in Chicago

• David O. Stewart: Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy

This will be Discussion #3 of the program which will air twice on Saturday, July 11, at 11 a.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Central and 11 p.m. Eastern/10 p.m. Central.