Things You Might Could Possibly (and in all probability) Care Less About…

So…

1) My research paper in U.S. Military History to 1900 is going to be entitled “Clandestine Operations in Boston.” The tentative thesis is:

The effect of clandestine operations, to include sabotage and espionage, in Boston from 1765 to 1776 exacerbated relations between England and the Colonies and accelerated the beginning of the fighting phase of the American Revolution.

It is my intent to discuss the development and organization of the resistance in Boston, the various operations it undertook to include sabotage, espionage, and counterintelligence operations; how this affected British operations within the area and how it affected the beginning of the Revolution.

Now I just hope I can find enough sources to prove the thesis! It must be six pages, not counting footnotes and you must use at least six sources, one of which is a professional journal. It is due on April 17th.

2) I made a 97.5% on my 2nd exam in U.S. History to 1900. I was very nervous about that exam. I went down to the two minute warning and felt I did not do well at all. I got a better grade on this one then the first one. I currently have a 96.25% in that class.

3) I will finish the semester with an “A” in World History II even without taking the final (which I don’t have to take) or the last quiz. So I’ve basically told the professor I’m not going to be coming to the class for the remainder of the semester.

4) I have a five page paper due on April 17th in Renaissance and Reformation on either Erasmus or Thomas Moore or a comparison of them both.

5) I still have three papers due in this stupid Educational Psychology class. One is due on Friday. I’ll do it tomorrow and Thursday. I am going to try and finish the other two on Sunday. That way I can devote the remainder of my time to the two history papers I have due soon.

6) Pre-registration for upcoming terms begins Monday. I get to register with the grad students since I have about 175 hours. This is very, very good.

I am taking the following classes:

May semester:

ENGL-2030 - Traditions in World Literature

Summer semester

EDUC-3040 - Educational Technology
EDUC-4160 - Teaching Diverse Students

Fall semester

HIST-4500 - Colonial Era from 1607 - 1763
HIST-4510 - American Revolution 1763 - 1800
GEOG-1030 - Africa, Asia, Oceania
EDUC-3070 - Instructional Strategies
And I will probably take one more class

7) I think I will finish the semester with an A in US Military History to 1900, an A in World History II, a B in Educational Psychology and I don’t know about Renaissance and Reformation - either an A or a B.

8) I still have a lot to do before I graduate

9) I’m still not seeing the end of the tunnel

10)  I know there was something else, I just can’t remember what.

Interview: Troy Turner - Advanced Prosthetics & Human Performance (Part 1 & 2)

(UPDATE, March 22, 2008) :  I’ve added part two of the interview for your reading pleasure.

This is an interview with my brother. But the guy really needs to interview me so I can tell the world how Troy was as a big brother growing up. Then you’d get the real story!

I’m fairly very proud of my brother. He’s doing some great things for this country and some even greater things for the guys who have lost limbs overseas or wherever. Of course, I think sometimes that he’d say they are doing more for him then he is doing for them.

Naturally, I would not normally post a link to a website dealing with biotech stuff, but I just can’t help it today. So go over there. Read it and appreciate the work of civilians (and contractors) in and around the military. Not all military contractors are bad guys. TATRC is one of those “guys” that ain’t bad.

Interview: Troy Turner - Advanced Prosthetics & Human Performance (Part 1)

Interview: Troy Turner - Advanced Prosthetics & Human Performance (Part 2) 

Meme: Passion Quilt

First let me just thank Miss Profe and Repairman for tagging me with this meme. School and work and family have seriously reduced my blogging time, but I’ve tried to increase my number of posts. I think actually what is happening is that the more frustrated I get with school, the more I post!!!

Anyway, I thought of this all week and as a future teacher, it’s somewhat hard to think what I want to instill in my students in the future. The things that come to mind are compassion and, perhaps more practically, the ability to research and read sources with an eye for reliability and credibility. Unfortunately, I think as a history teacher it may be somewhat hard to teach compassion and it’s somewhat hard to capture “the ability to research and read sources” in a picture! Now on to the actual meme…

Sharecropper’s Cabin

What does a sharecropper cabin’s have to do with what I would like to instill within my students? Glad you asked! ;)

My paternal grandfather was a sharecropper supervisor in east Texas. That doesn’t mean much. He was still just as poor as the rest of the sharecroppers and lived in horrible surroundings like the rest of them. Perhaps it goes without saying that most sharecroppers were African-Americans. This was during the ’40s and ’50s and segregation was still large and in charge throughout the nation and granddad and his family (including my dad) lived amongst African-Americans. Dad has told me many times he would see his father (my granddad) out late at night working in the fields just to earn some extra money to give to his neighbors when they were mistreated by the landowner and such. Granddad hated seeing people being treated unfairly in any instance. He would take food over to them when they needed and share whatever he had with them whenever he could.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I hope to instill in my students a sense of fairness and perhaps even something more valuable - a sense of shared experiences. History is full of shared experiences and they are useful in teaching others how we are equally similar and different.

Here are the rules for the Passion Quilt Meme:

Post a picture or make/take/create your own that captures what YOU are most passionate for kids to learn about.

Give your picture a short title.

Title your blog post, Meme: Passion Quilt.

Link back to this blog entry.

Include links to five or more individuals in your PLN (Personal Learning Network).

Please take this as an open opportunity to respond to this meme as those who I’d like to see respond already have.

Quick and Funny Post for English Literature Teachers

I think all of you who teach English (British or Shakespearean) Literature will truly appreciate this. I think they did a bang up job and shows just how much fun you can have with Shakespearean English.

First of all, here’s the original comedy sketch:

And here’s the Shakespearean version:

Also, I’ve been tagged for a meme and I intend to post about it this weekend. I have a huge exam on Friday in Educational Psychology that I must make an “A” in and a 4 page book review due as well on Washington’s Spies (that I plan on posting when I am done).

Spring….Break?!?

I don’t think so. I could only wish for a “break!!”

Let’s see…what do I need to do this week…

(thinking…)

1. Read Washington’s Spies for HIST-1220 (World History II)
2. Write a rough draft review on aforementioned book for HIST-1220 due the week I return to school.
3. Determine history research project topic and thesis and write a proposal for it and turn it in for HIST-4700 (U.S. Military History to 1900)
4. Read 2nd professional journal paper for PSY-3130 (Introduction to Educational Psychology) and write a summary for it and that ain’t gonna be easy!
5. Study for my 2nd PSY-3130 exam given the week I get back.
6. Study for my HIST-3330 exam (Renaissance and Reformation) given the week I get back.

…am I missing anything??? I hope not. I’ll check later today.

Oh, and of course, I get to go to work on Mon-Wed-Fri as well. This is NOT a break. I repeat: This is NOT a break.

Oh and oh, I went ahead and dropped my art class if I didn’t already say so. I wasn’t happy about that at all. I was sorely disappointed. It was truly my only enjoyable class, but it was just taking up too much time. One drawing was taking 3 hours on the average and that was just a 8×6 drawing. Maybe I can take it next semester.

So if you need me…I’ll be at the library or at Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately, I won’t be home having a…BREAK!