Iowa State Fair

The Political.....

and non-political side of the Iowa State Fair.

Turkey in the Straw

Currently, I am in the Hawkeye State, Iowa, visiting my family. As some may already know, it is state fair time and the Iowa State Fair, immortalized in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical State Fair, is the most famous. Once a year about one million fair goers gather to eat various food items (usually fried and on a stick), take a peek at the famous butter cow and largest hog and wander around for hours viewing all types of entertainment. This year the beginning of the Iowa State Fair coincided with the Ames Straw Poll and thus the Republican presidential candidates, both announced and anticipated, and the media have descended upon the state and fairgrounds.

The straw polls and subsequent Iowa Caucus always cause me to reflect upon the various methods we use throughout the country to elect our presidential candidates and, ultimately, the President of the United States. For those of you from states in which a caucus is not the norm, you should know that it is both a bizarre and fascinating experience. Bizarre in that it seems antiquated and not totally representative of the entire voter constituency (the process can take the entire evening, so not all can participate), but fascinating because it is an experience, much more so than going to the polls and just casting a vote.  The only thing to which I think it compares is Town Meeting, but that is a discussion for another time.  Yes, partaking in a caucus or straw poll is truly participatory and one easily gets caught up in the excitement of the process, but at the same time it leaves one open to the influence of others (votes are not secret and the supporters of candidates can openly try to sway other voters) and leaves out anyone who would like to participate, but cannot because of other obligations (I am thinking specifically of families with small children, people with evening jobs).  

Primaries, on the other hand, are run much like elections, but with some variations.  Once you are registered to vote, and in some cases, registered with the party in question, you just show up to vote and cast your ballot. Polls are typically open from early morning to evening.  In theory, almost everyone can, with a little bit of effort and not a lot of time expended, cast their ballot and participate.  Not as much fun, but open to all voters and the ballots are secret.

In so many ways we have outgrown our election processes (the electoral college is also a discussion for another time), but I do not know if we are ready for sweeping changes.  Iowans certainly are not willing to give up being first to vote on presidential candidates and will most likely not give up the current system of caucuses and straw polls. Especially when the Iowa State Fair and local businesses gain so much from the process.

Trial by Jury

"Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" -- William Blackstone.

Today, a jury in Florida found Casey Anthony "not guilty" of first degree murder, aggravated manslaughter or aggravated child abuse.  To those of us occasionally caught up in the story and trial, the verdicts came as a shock.  I think many, perhaps even the jurors themselves, believe Casey was somehow culpable in the death of her daughter.  But the evidence was obviously not enough to convince a jury of Anthony's peers that she was guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt" of murder.

Cheney Mason, one of Anthony's defense attorneys, blasted the media in a post-verdict press conference.  The media's obsession with the trial and murder certainly did have an effect on public opinion, but what does this all say about our judicial system and trial by jury?  It is not by any means perfect, but the alternative is hardly palatable.  Is there a difference between law and justice (I'm watching Alan Dershowitz on Piers Morgan right now)?  I think these are all very interesting questions to ponder with our peers and within our classrooms and this trial certainly provides an interesting case study.

School House Rock Wednesday #2

This is, by far, my favorite School House Rock video.  Enjoy!

And where is Portugual?

A couple years ago I was with a friend when she noticed the above background picture on my computer.  The picture was taken in Sintra, Portugal.  I mentioned that it was taken in Portugal.  She paused and then said.  "And where is Portugal?"  I mentioned that it was.... in Europe (face still a bit blank)... next to Spain (that seemed to help... a bit).  On the one hand I found it funny, but on the other hand I was horrified.  It brought the American lack of geography knowledge a bit closer home.  My friend was educated and living in an affluent New England community.  I would not have been surprised if she did not know where Burkina Faso is located, but Portugal?

I am a total map nerd.  Whenever my family visits a yard sale or book sale, I inevitably end up buying an atlas... or two... or three.  Old, new, outdated, children's version -- I love them all!  Even more tempting is a beautiful, framed map.  So it saddens me when I hear about Americans and their lack of geographic knowledge.  I am therefore thinking of starting a crusade to get a map of the world hung in every classroom and every household in America.  I realize that most classrooms have lovely, pull-down maps, but in my experience, they are rarely pulled down and not made for marking up.  My family owns a wonderful, very large, laminated map of the world (similar to this one) and it is incredibly handy.  One can mark them up to highlight places studied in a particular lesson, to trace students' ancestral heritage, or to indicate the places visited or that one would like to visit one day.  I think exposure to maps is essential to understanding the larger world.

Although useful, online maps, like Google, and Bing are not enough.  One has to manipulate them to really get a feel for where things are located in relation to oneself.  The ability to walk by a map daily and, on occasion, take note of where things are located cannot be beat.  It is like a daily reminder that we are part of a larger world.  By having to consciously think about looking something up on Google maps, we are not given this subtle message.  So if you do not already own one, do yourself and your family a favor, buy a world map and hang it prominently in your home.  Talk about where you live, where you grew up and where your ancestral roots originated.  When a story comes on the news that seems to interest your children, walk over to the map and note where the story takes place.  Is it the location far away?  Is there something familiar nearby?  Maps, although simple in concept, provide a  real educational opportunity.  Who knows, you might even learn something in the process. 

School House Rock Wednesday #1

School House Rock played an important role in my educational development and thus, because Wednesdays are tough days (and nights) for me, I will post a favorite School House Rock video each Wednesday.  In honor of Sarah Palin and her re-writing the famous ride of Paul Revere, I think this video is most appropriate.  Please note that although the video does not make this clear, Paul Revere made his famous ride on April 18, 1775 and "the shot heard 'round the world" (not fired by Revere) occurred on April 19, 1775, now fondly commemorated as Patriots' Day.  (If you are ever in Massachusetts around Patriots' Day, there are awesome re-enactments in Lexington, Concord and other surrounding towns).  And, yes, I realize that the School House Rock Video has Paul Revere yelling "The British are coming! The British are coming!" into a bullhorn.  He did in fact state that "The Regulars are coming out!" after he was asked to not make so much noise.  This is why School House Rock is a good starting point for a discussion on the American Revolution, but not a final source of information.

Bells, Bells, Bells

Little did I know that we would hear about Paul Revere and his bells so soon after my last post on the subject.  Palin supporters are even trying to amend Wikipedia.

History Re-told

Welcome to my first education blog post! Initially I was not sure what to discuss for this post, but have decided to go with this....

Sarah Palin discussing the historical importance of Paul Revere.  Palin's misunderstanding of history is not as disturbing as the fact that like Palin, so many other Americans take history and re-interpret it for the benefit of their own political ideas.  No Governor Palin, Paul Revere did not stand up to the British and tell them that they were not going to take our arms and he did not "ring those bells" -- that would have been counter-productive and most likely a suicide mission.  Paul Revere was a silversmith and he might have made bells, but the signal Palin is referring to is the two lanterns placed in the steeple of the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea") as a warning. Revere rode on horseback from Charlestown to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock about the British coming to arrest them, all along the way spreading word to fellow patriots about the advancing Regulars.

Palin is not alone in this need to rewrite history.  Here is Michele Bachmann discussing our founding fathers and slavery.

To say that our founding fathers "worked tirelessly" to eliminate slavery is a gross misstatement of history.  Many of them, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington, owned slaves.  And John Quincy Adams, although openly opposed to slavery, was not even 9 years old on July 4, 1776.  

American history is not always pretty.  We study history not only to learn about our past, but to learn from our past mistakes.  By rewriting history and glossing over those events for which we may not be so proud, we do a disservice to those who fought to change the status quo and make history.

Currently most Americans have a very poor understanding of American history, and an even worse understanding of world history.  As a history lover and social studies teacher I find this very disturbing.  I think the biggest challenge in the years to come for history teachers will be undoing all the inaccurate history floating around in the media.  Unfortunately, once it's out there in the world wide web, for many it is fact.  I'm sure in the years to come we will hear more about Paul Revere and his bells.