clair057

Most colleges and universities provide their students with opportunities to take courses online. Unfortunately, online classes still suffer a bad reputation due to many myths that simply don't hold water. The following Info graphic takes a hard look at online education... Via: GetARealDegree.Com

I went to see the movie Lincoln last weekend. I loved it! I’m looking forward to seeing it again…and again. The movie covers the time period from January, 1865 to April 9 at the end of the war and five days later when President Lincoln was assassinated. Spielberg had already begun to develop the idea of a movie concerning Lincoln, but after attending a luncheon for historians where he met and spoke with Doris Kerns Goodwin he decided to base his project on her book, Team of Rivals , however, the scope of the book…..the scope of Lincoln’s presidency is too large and complex a subject to digest into a movie format. Spielberg had to decide what to focus on, and I’m pleased he decided to focus on the struggle to end the war and most importantly the wheeling and dealing that was necessary to get the 13 th amendment passed. Here are 13 little tidbits regarding the movie…. 1.Spielberg and his team spent over twelve years researching the movie.   The attention to detail far outweighs ot...

Look at this picture.   Observe it very carefully.  You can click on the pictures to isolate them and make them a little larger Yes, you see soldiers proceeding up a street, but notice that you are actually looking at two images…..one from World War II and another from more contemporary times of the same location. A historical mix…of sorts. Think about the impact this could have on students of history.   Think about the connections that students could make between historical content and their surroundings. These pictures are the work of historical expert Jo Teeuwisse from Amsterdam.   This article from the Daily Mail states she began superimposing images from different time periods of the same location after finding 300 old negatives at a flea market in her home city depicting familiar places in a very different context. Here is a second example of her work....... Like Miss Teeuwisse I think this process of making war scenes or any historical image have meaning by l...

I love the story of the Red River Raft for several reasons.  First the name...you might see in your mind's eye images of pioneers racing down a river with all of their earthly possessions stacked on a hastily fashioned wooden log raft, but that's not what this story is all about.   In fact, the story involves the INABILITY to move on a river. Yes...this story is not what you expect, and if you spend any time around here then you know I like the unexpected change-up in content. This story also embraces a bit of historical myth... which again....if you spend any time around here reading my meager little offerings you know I like to bust those myths as much as possible, but in this case....it might be okay to include the myth with the lesson content as a hook to draw students in.  This story also has geological and geographical  implications   and a bit of science. It spans several historical eras including Native Americans, pioneers, and the transportation age...a...

I went to see the move Lawless  the other night and was quiet pleased.  A friend recommended the movie to me and told me I would like to see it because it was just MY THING. Well.....it was MY THING and more....mainly because it is real history based on true story.   The movie is based on the book The Wettest County in the World  that has been aptly described as a fictional account of a very real time.  Matt Bondurant, the author, writes of his family including his grandfather....the main characters of the book.... and calls his work a parallel history using family stories, archival records, news clippings and court transcripts. The movie is termed a gangster film and to a certain extent that's a correct description.....The movie opens in 1931 when the three Bondurant boys are making and selling moonshine in Franklin County, Virginia.  While violence is just part of the business things get dicey when a corrupt lawman wants a cut and the Bondurant boys don't...

I began my morning yesterday realizing I had a few things to do that didn't have anything to do with any of my goals or work....making appointments for others....finding paperwork for others....washing clothes for others....and thinking about two or three projects I needed to finish up for others. It's not that I mind doing these things...hardly.  I like to help, but more and more I find my day is full doing a list of things that don't have anything to do with a table of contents I must flesh out, articles to write, and seeing writing opportunities......or at least answering the emails when the opportunities seek me out. Just a normal day for me as I grew more frustrated by the minute, but this time my thinking and my realizing left my brain, moved down my arms and out my fingers to a Facebook status that said, "I wear too many hats that aren't mine...some by misguided choice, some that are inherited and some are foisted upon me.  I'm going to stop.  Take your ...

I've always advised students you can't go wrong with a business degree.   It gives you several ways to go with a career and employers always like to see a candidate with a business degree.    Lots of different people have business degrees such as Danny Glover, John Elway and Trisha Yearwood all have business degrees.   Lionel Ritche and Kevin Costner do, too.    Via: DeVry University