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This post first appeared here at History Is Elementary in May,2007 . Enjoy! Look at my title. Balloon. Bomb. Separated each word means something very different and the concepts they represent are on opposite ends of the desirable and undesirable spectrum depending on the situation. Of course, when you place the words together the concept they represent (water balloons) can also reside on opposite ends of the desirable and undesirable spectrum. Having a balloon bomb fall on you when you least expect it is not a desirable situation. Watching a water balloon drench someone you are upset with can be a great thing. Playing with water balloons on a hot summer day is a very desirable situation for many, however, believe me when I state being appointed as the adult who gets the honor of filling 200 water balloons for a field day event is not a desirable situation Today’s 13 list doesn’t deal with just bombs, or just balloons, or even balloon bombs filled with water. The balloon bombs that are...

This morning I noticed on Facebook (yes, Elementaryhistoryteacher has a profile, but it's under an assumed name) several of my former students were commenting they just had one more week of school. Fellow educators were also giddy at the thought the school year is almost over. Can’t say that I blame them. In May, 2006 I was posting concerning end of the year awards and a letter that ALL of my students receive at the end of the year. I provide the full text of the letter and encourage other teachers to use it if they so desire. I finally managed to get our team awards done yesterday and gave them to my team members so they could verify signatures, etc. I typed up awards for all As all year in each academic area, and most improved in each homeroom. The front office prepared our certificates for all As all year, all As and Bs all year, and perfect attendance----the usual, you know. As a team we decided to give our awards tomorrow so if there is some sort of mistake it can be correcte...

This article first appeared here in March, 2006 . I write the following sentence on the board: Millard Fillmore was a know nothing. I ask students to tell me what the sentence means. “Well…..somebody isn’t too smart,” a student volunteers. Another comment is added. “That guy, Mil-, Mil-. That Mil- guy doesn’t know nothing.” I ignore the grammatical error. At this point it will just confuse them. I try to turn students in another direction. “What are nouns?” Someone regurgitates “Words that name people, places, ideas, and things.” I counter with, “What’s our strategy to find nouns?” Several seconds go by. I hold up my board marker and point to it. Several hands go up. “We look for noun markers like the words a, an, and the.” “Good, take a look at the sentence again. What do you see?” “Know nothing is a noun. It has an “a” in front of it.” “Yes. So is Millard Fillmore stupid?” “No, somebody is calling him a name.” “What else do you notice about the words “Know” and “Nothing”? After sever...

This post first appeared here in November, 2006 Is it possible to love someone through another’s memory? To love and admire someone you never met, someone you will never be able to meet, someone who at the moment of their passing caused an incredible upheaval of grief and gouged an enormous chasm of longing for things that can never be, someone who a large number of people still speak of with reverence, awe, and thankfulness? I believe it is possible. I know it is possible. I know it because I participate in this kind of love and admiration everyday for two vastly different Americans who left this Earth almost a year to the day from one another. My admiration for these two inviduals stems from my mother who shared her memories of them with me during my formative years where they became entertwined and linked indelibly in the murkiness where actual memory and grafted memories blend. I was six months old on Saturday, November 24, 1962. Naturally I have no real memories of this day. What ...

This post originally ran in May, 2008 . I thought it was appropriate to re-run it today….. Ah, testing is over….Spring has sprung….and the fifth of May brings cries of Happy Cinco de Mayo, Elementaryhistoryteacher! Students discuss how their families will invade the nearest Mexican restaurant for special deals, free beer for the adults at some establishments, and lively music. Whoa there…I like Mexican food, music, and an occasional beer as much as the next person, but exactly what are we celebrating? It’s lunchtime and lots of people are moving about the campus, so I send out a group of kids with clipboards in hand and ask them to take an informal survey asking any adult in the hallway, media center, lunchroom, or main office why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. I send out another group to ask students at lunch the same question. The two groups remaining in the classroom stay busy until our survey takers return. Fifteen minutes later the data is passed along to the groups that stayed in t...

This post first appeared here at History Is Elementary in November, 2006 as a tribute to my Uncle Robert West for Veteran’s Day. His war story like so many others was almost never told. Like so many men who fought during World War II they all did heroic things, but wanted to just merely fade into the background once they returned, but my Uncle Robert could never fade anywhere… So….meet my Uncle Robert and then tell me what you think: This post is probably my longest yet. Yes, I know…..many of my posts are rather wordy. I even thought about cutting this one down a bit or even making it two posts instead of one. I decided I wouldn’t. To delete any part of it would be a disservice to the men of the 104th and to my Uncle Robert. I don’t think Uncle Robert’s story can be told without sharing details about the Timberwolves and their brave contribution to our victory over the Nazis. I remember my Uncle Robert as a quiet, sweet soul. For many years I spent at least one week….sometimes two…. e...