clair057

History is jam packed with moments…..moments great and small. For someone like me they are all equally intriguing….all equally important though some actually get a little more play in the classroom than others. If I had to ask you about your top ten list for events in American History more than likely we would all have varying lists with a little overlap. I’m sure that most of you would include events from the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, the Boston Massacre, or even Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. My events would be a little more obscure (for some)….Shay’s Rebellion, the inception of The Manhattan Project, the Election of 1800, the March on Washington Movement (1941-1947), or the Battle of Fallen Timbers. I could go on and on and on with my list…… The folks over at Online School recently alerted me regarding their post titled One Hundred Great Moments in American History You Can Catch on YouTube . Their list includes moments involving war, presidential inaugurations, assass...

Quick! Dig down deep into that creaky file cabinet in your mind and pull out the folder labeled “Vikings” and name a few of the more famous ones for me. I’ll wait. No, not the football team. There should be another folder there for the OTHER Vikings. You know, the Norsemen who were explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates. There you go. That’s it. Wow, that folder hasn’t seen the light of day in…..well, just blow the dust off it and open it up. So, what have you got? Erik the Red Leif Ericsson ….son of Erik the Red Canute (Knut or Cnut) Sweynsson….better known as Canute the Great ….King of England, etc. Those are usually the top three names I get. Most of the time folks just give me Erik and Leif. What about Thorfinn Karlsefni? Yep, you are so very right. Who in the heck is Thorfinn Karlsefni? Well….here goes…. 1. Thorfinn was a Norse merchant who followed Leif Ericsson’s route seven years later.…around 1010 AD…to North America. 2. While on a trading trip to Greenland Thorfinn met ...

Halloween night Mr. EHT and I received a phone call that every parent dreads…one from a stranger identifying himself as an EMT. My mind worked furiously to comprehend what he was saying, but all I wanted to say was, “Surely sir, you have the wrong number.” He just kept rattling off information ---he was with my daughter, there had been an accident, he and his wife ( a nurse) had been driving by, he assured me they would stay by Dear Daughter’s side until she was in the ambulance. Ambulance?????? I finally got the words out…..”Is she….is she ok?” The voice on the other end of the phone said, “Yes, she’s complaining (hmmmm…….complaining….that’s good, I thought) of back and neck pain, and they have her on a backboard to stabilize her until they can see what is causing her pain. After arriving at the hospital, Mr. EHT and I discovered barring any findings from the x-rays, Dear Daughter was just very scared and hurting from the slam of the airbag deploying and the strain against the seatbel...

When I was growing up my dad had a constant supply of gravel around our house because he was always using one of his tractors to move the gravel around to fill up potholes that would form on the many gravel drives around the lumberyard. From time to time my friends and I would climb the huge pile of white and grey granite stones and proclaim ourselves kings and queens of the world. That is, until we got knocked off our perch and onto our keisters. To this day I have scars and divets in my shins, knees and elbows from my rather abrupt ousters from being a world ruler. From time to time I need a diversion in the classroom…maybe I don’t feel particularly well, perhaps the weather is really crummy, or it could be that a certain student is pushing my button a little too often. Then again, maybe I’m just simply not in the mood to teach that next lesson in my American Revolution unit or World War II, or I simply can’t face explaining how the Korean War has never really ended . Yes, believe i...

I have this deep dark secret. I’ve never really shared it with anyone. My secret doesn’t exactly fit the image many have of me….the quiet unassuming married school marm who in the past has lugged home not just one but two large bags each night filled to capacity with papers to grade, materials to review and to plan lessons with, paperwork to complete, and an assortment of other effects that teachers just seem to accumulate. Teachers just have that image...always doing the right thing, always saying the right thing, always being where they are expected to be, but I have this desire… If I could….if the timing was right…..if I had the funds….if my health was better…..if I didn’t have so many obligations…if ….if….if….if….if… IF I actually had the nerve I would run away. Yes, you read that right. ElementaryHistoryTeacher would love to run away. The reason? Well, to travel, of course. I want to see and experience the world. I want to see the Great Pyramid, the Great Wall of China, and see...

There are so many interesting points to bring up when discussing the War of 1812 – the writing of the Star Spangled Banner , the tornado that actually killed more British during the Washington D.C. invasion than bullets, General Andrew Jackson’s successful attempt to unite the people of New Orleans for its defense, Dolly Madison’s quick action to save the Gilbert Stuart painting of President George Washington – and the list goes on. It’s sad really that so few Americans know about this time in American history, but I believe our first performance on the world stage defending American shores is worthy of our scrutiny, and teaches valuable lessons for all of us. Coming home from our annual “It’s Fall, Ya’ll!” trip to Perdido Key on Alabama’s Gulfcoast I noticed an exit sign along the expressway. It read “Fort Deposit”. “Fort Deposit,” I thought, “ Hmmmm….there has to be a story behind a place with a name like that.” My research tells me that the town of Fort Deposit, Alabama dates back ...

Some things just bear repeating. I’ve been at the beach…again…for the last couple of days, so it’s more than appropriate to share a repeat of an earlier post written on this very same beach three years ago this month….. Mr. EHT and I were up and out very early this morning enjoying yet another sunrise on MY beach. It is not lost on me how things change….and how they remain the same. Enjoy my post I Conquer This Beach in the Name of ElementaryHistoryTeacher !