Like many other Americans, I went to bed on election night before the outcome was known. But deep down, I knew the outcome of the election. My fitful sleep was evidence. It wasn’t necessarily surprising that he won. It was the margin of victory that surprised and...if I’m being honest...saddened me. I've been wanting to … Continue reading The Soul of America
I've written previously how I'm not really into making New Year's resolutions. I just figure if I need to change something about myself, why wait? That said, I understand how people can see the beginning of a new year as a fresh star and/or a time of reflection. I get that. I'm constantly writing notes … Continue reading If
(Just a quick note...I wrote this in November of 2021 for my Medium account, which I have now closed. I'm posting it again here...because...well...I like this piece. It's kinda long and a little wonkish at times, but not much has changed in the past year. I did make one update about halfway through.) A few … Continue reading Dealing With Changing Trends in Social Studies Curriculum
I don't enjoy writing book reviews. That was by far the most common assignment during the thirty six hours of course work for that period of my life I refer to as grad school. The reviews were exhausting, boring, and from where I stand, mostly useless since all of the books had been reviewed previously … Continue reading Reviews
A Quick Note: I've been thinking about doing some kind of "deep thoughts" post. I have some ideas, and I haven't done that for a while...for good reason. There's too much serious stuff going on in the world right now. I don't want to add to it yet. So instead, I decided to poke some … Continue reading Searching For Myself
This past week I began my twentieth year as a high school social studies teacher. After the excitement of last school year, this summer was a much-needed break. In fact, I gave myself more of a break than I normally do.
Another book recommendation that showed up on my Kindle recently was Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I'd seen the book at the store and on the Internet, but I had no idea what it was about except that it said it was the history of homo sapiens. Kind of a broad topic, but it was … Continue reading Sapiens
One of the nice things about being a history nerd is that it's often easy to find good deals on books. If you're patient enough, even highly acclaimed books will show up in the bargain section of the book store, as recently happened when I found Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton for $5. If it would … Continue reading Hamilton
After my aunt took me to Hawaii as a college graduation present, I came home with a newfound distaste for pineapple. It didn’t start that way. I used to really like pineapple. But after a week of having pineapple served to me with everything I ate and drank, I’d had enough.
Once upon a time, I would hear politicians speak of returning the United States to its “Founding Principles,” and I would simply chalk it up to a type of misguided patriotism - the “Spirit of 1776,” if you will. Recently, I’ve come to realize that either through my own naivety or a lack of understanding … Continue reading Ideals
Reflections Of A Middle Aged Nobody 