History Outside the Walls of NHS

I recently conducted my first field trip as a teacher at Norton High School. Speaking for myself, I must say it was a pretty cool experience. Speaking for the students, I think (hope) they also really enjoyed it as well. Judging by the dozens of "thank yous" I received that day and the following days in school, I think most students really appreciated getting to learn outside the walls of the school and to see actual history in person. And going to Faneuil Hall for lunch and shopping with their friends afterwards also probably helped as well.

The trip included a guided tour of a section of Boston's Freedom Trail. Some sites we visited included Boston Common, the Granery Burial Ground, the State House, the Omni Parker House Hotel, King's Chapel, the site of the Boston Massacre, the "old" State House, Boston Latin School, and of course Faneuil Hall. Our tour guides were young, enthusiastic, and had plenty of interesting facts, many of which I was not aware of. Following the tour, students got to spend an hour or so on their own at Faneuil Hall for lunch.

I'd like to thank the students for their excellent behavior. Thanks also goes out to Mr. Shanley, Mr. Barth, Mr. Duff, Mrs. Taylor, and Mrs. Young for helping me out with the trip.

My next post will include information about another ongoing project with some of my students involving a tour they are conducting for 3rd graders on Norton town history.

In the meantime, let me know if you can think of any other great field trip ideas. I would like to formulate a trip for juniors who take U.S. History II. Can you think of any cool ideas? The Holocaust Memorial and Battleship Cove are two that come to mind.

American Idols? Are you sure?

I recently had an interesting discussion with one of my history classes regarding what the music industry is currently trying to classify as "music." The discussion started because were were talking about the origins of rock and roll in the 1950's with stars like Elvis, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Bill Haley, Little Richard, etc.

I half expected the class to be turned off by some of the 1950's music that I played. To my pleasant surprise, most students seemed to at least appreciate the fact that this stuff was life-changing for the people listening to it in the 50's and how it would pave the way for future decades of music.

We then decided to talk about the themes of music in the 50's in comparison with music that is popular in 2008. That led to the topic of American Idol being brought up. As a huge music fan myself, I can appreciate the talent that some American Idol contestants possess. However, on the whole, many of them possess no musical talent aside from having a good voice. They are winning a karaoke contest on national TV. They aren't singing their own songs, and when they do make it big thanks to the show, many of them go on to produce albums of music that they don't write themselves. Nothing worse than stereotypical, corporately produced pop music that guys in suits think American teenagers will sympathize with.

I was also surprised (and pleased) that most students in my class agreed that they don't tend to respect the American Idol stars. Again, I respect the fact that they have good voices, but when they are able to write and produce their own creative music that doesn't sound like every other band in the world, thats when I will start to pay attention.

What are your thoughts on Idol?

What about the book?

So...what did you all think? (One Book, One School that is)

Did you read it? The entire thing?

Impressions? Did it change your perspective on Lance Armstrong? Positively or negatively?

Did it change your perspective on cancer?

Do you think the book was a good choice for the school?

WWII veterans

I recently had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. Herb Church into my classroom to speak to my students about what it was like living and serving in the World War II era. I am creating this post specifically to get feedback from the students who were present in the room and to encourage more of you to appreciate what those soldiers did for this country and the world.

Mr. Church presented a wealth of information about his personal story including people he met, tragedies he witnessed, and his voyage across the world. Unfortunately, it won't be long before there won't be any WWII veterans left to tell these stories. Of the 16 million who served, less than 4 million are still alive and veterans from that war are dying at a rate of 1,056 a day. I encourage you to find out if you have any veterans in your lives who you might be able to speak with regarding their personal stories.

For the students who were present, what did you think? Would you be interested in having veterans from Korea, Vietnam, or Desert Storm come in later this year?

Free time

I recently answered some questions for The Lance concerning what I do with my free time on the weekends. Free time has been at a premium lately as this tends to be one of the busiest times of the year for a teacher. However, it got me thinking about those hobbies that we all have that we don't get to participate in as often as we'd like. You know what I'm talking about...those things you really enjoy doing but due to your schedule you just never seem to be able to find the time for?

I go through spurts where I really enjoy photography. The great thing about it is that you sometimes surprise yourself by capturing beauty in a seemingly ordinary object. Take for instance this shot of a random tree branch that happened to be in my way...

What do you do in your precious free time? Is there anything you wish you had more time for?

Top albums of 2007

Most of my students have already figured out that I'm a big music freak. Around the end of each year, I can't help but think back at the year gone-by and recall what some of my favorite albums and concerts were.

2007 was a good year for classic rock albums. John Fogerty came out with one of his best solo discs in decades, Revival. If you enjoy the old Creedance sound, grab this disc for sure. Bruce Springsteen also returned with the E-Street Band to release Magic. While I think it lacks some of the energy usually found on E-Street albums, this is still a great release. The Eagles also didn't dissapoint with their first new album in nearly 30 years. Long Road Out of Eden is a double-CD with some songs that have that classic Eagles sound and also some tracks that sound very "new."

I also really enjoyed Ryan Adams' "Easy Tiger" album as well as the interesting duet album with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. David Gray, Crowded House, Spoon, and Levon Helm also came out with great albums this year.

Is there anything from 2007 that you would highly recommend?

Another holiday themed post...

Since I got more responses to my last posting than any previous post...I'll stick with what works. Next up...holiday music. There is plenty of bad Christmas music out there. How many times can Jingle Bells be covered? And whats worse...there are FM stations that have been playing Christmas music 24/7 since mid-November.

But there are some hidden nuggets out there that I really enjoy listening to. James Taylor recently did a great holiday album. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is also a nice refreshing change from the norm.

So my question is...what Christmas music drives you up the wall? AND...is there any holiday music you really enjoy?