Monday, October 21, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
I'M INVISIBLE
We are walking out of Target after each of the kids spent their $20 and I bought coffee.
Zack has a large nerf sniper gun.
Zoe has cute white shoes.
I'm wishing I'd bought myself something but what I need to do is get us home so I can get writing and finish my report.
As we start to cross the parking lot Zack grabs my hand and asks, "Does this mean you're going to be invisible when we get home?"
What? What? I ask, snapped out of my daydream about the Almond Joy bar I didn't buy.
"Does this mean when we go home and try to talk to you, you're going to put your hands over your ears and shout I'M WORKING! I'M INVISIBLE! I'M NOT HERE, YOU CAN'T REALLY SEE ME SO DON'T TALK TO ME!"
I pat him on the head and agree, yes, Mom has HUGE deadline to meet, but I'll try not to act crazy.
He nods his head then slings his huge weapon into the car, and pulls it across his lap ready for whatever comes next.
Zack has a large nerf sniper gun.
Zoe has cute white shoes.
I'm wishing I'd bought myself something but what I need to do is get us home so I can get writing and finish my report.
As we start to cross the parking lot Zack grabs my hand and asks, "Does this mean you're going to be invisible when we get home?"
What? What? I ask, snapped out of my daydream about the Almond Joy bar I didn't buy.
"Does this mean when we go home and try to talk to you, you're going to put your hands over your ears and shout I'M WORKING! I'M INVISIBLE! I'M NOT HERE, YOU CAN'T REALLY SEE ME SO DON'T TALK TO ME!"
I pat him on the head and agree, yes, Mom has HUGE deadline to meet, but I'll try not to act crazy.
He nods his head then slings his huge weapon into the car, and pulls it across his lap ready for whatever comes next.
Monday, October 14, 2013
The US is not socialist. The US is a country. We have people.
On a particularly gorgeous October Friday, I decided to reward the students who came to my afternoon class by giving them a "can't get it wrong" assignment. Everyone who is in class and submits an answer gets credit, and I use the responses to gauge where to target pieces of my upcoming lectures.
This particular day I asked a two part question:
1) Is the US a Socialist country? 2) How do you know?
15 students nailed it.
Here’s a sampling of the rest.
- I think the US is socialist because the government allows people to do things like start their own businesses.
- I think America is pretty social with other countries and does a better job talking and dealing with them.
- The United States is socialist. We tend to lend things. But we aren’t under a dictator.
- I have no idea if the US is socialist. But I’m going to say yes.
- No idea. I’d guess C. C is always the answer.
- I’m going to go with “no” because I have a 50/50 chance of being right.
- Yes, we are socialist because we get our arms from importing and exporting.
- Yes we are socialist in the US because we talk about things and our opinion is supposed to matter.
- Yes? I’m guessing…. Something about Obama?.... I don’t know.
- US is not socialist. I know this because when someone says “socialist bastards” they’re talking about other countries.
- No, the US is not socialist because we are better than any country since we are not like any other country.
- Yes, the US is a socialist country. We have the public media and what spreads by word of mouth.
- Yes. I have no idea what socialism is but we do it with other countries.
- The US is not socialist. The US is a country. We have people.
- Sure we are socialist. And I’m basing my answer on the firm principle of guessing.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Like a Monet: The Same Love, a Different Life.
Looking at a map of Europe I see another Cuba, another island that is the crossroads of continents, placed near a precipitously dangling boot of a peninsula.
Sicilia. Sicily. Sometimes independent, sometimes split in two, sometimes conquered, never isolated.
This whole journey is making me see that no island is an island, and that I'm ending up all the way over there is not even a surprise at this point.
People on that island (and all islands, even the British Isles) are pushed an pulled by forces bigger than themselves - war, famine, plague, tidal waves, opportunity, hope, and a never ending parade of boats bringing things, taking things.
Sicily in the 1850s was pulsing with the conflict that would result in the unification of small states that would become Italy. Exports were dropping as California began to dominate the US market for citrus and olives and other delights that had once come from this region.
I'm not exactly sure if Jean Soldani family packed up and left because he was destitute, because he feared violence, or maybe because some family tragedy left him unable to live on this small island and keep their sanity.
Or maybe he left after years of planning and saving and writing letters to friends already in New Orleans, epicenter of the Creole Catholic Caribbean, preparing their way for a prosperous future.
In 1883, soon after his 23rd birthday, charming Sicilian Jean had an American son with Clementine Moti - her name tells me she might have had red hair or at least a loud laugh. I can't find their marriage record or anything else about them. They name him Achilles. Quite French, which was quite appropriate in New Orleans during the Civil War. I've been told that they have a daughter, too, I'm told, although I can't find a single record anywhere about her.
I hunt for women with her last name who lived in New Orleans at any time in their lives. She could be Maria, or Eugenie or Isoline or Guiseppina Soldani. Or maybe she was a half-sister or step-sister or a cousin raised as a sister?
What I know, or at least I've been told, is that Achille's parents died in a shipwreck off Cuba.
Why they were in Cuba or near Cuba during her 10 Years War is mystery to me. Maybe they were travelling from Sicily or maybe to South America to look for land. Maybe they weren't shipwrecked at all, maybe they died of Yellow Fever and the shipwreck story added a bit of cayenne to story.
The children, Achilles and his sister (Maria? Eugenie? Isolde? Guiseppina?) perhaps were entrusted to an orphanage in New Orleans. I know enough as a researcher and historian to shudder at the idea of an orphanage. Primitive sanitation (no running water, no disposable diapers, babies everywhere) meant no institution was immune from periodic attacks of influenza, yellow fever and scarlet fever.
Achilles Soldani appears without his sister in the 1880 census; he is listed as living with a young couple -M. and E. Rabalais - in Placheville, Louisiana.
There are no additional lines; the household was only three people. For whatever reason -- perhaps it was better she stayed with the nuns? perhaps it was unfit for a young lady to be out on a farm? -- the family did not bring Achille's sister to live with them.
Family legend has it that he visited his sister in New Orleans, often. That was quite a distance before cars and highways.
All we know is that they loved each other, and life separated them.
Achilles became a farmer and had a large family. One of his sons would become my great grandfather.
My parents became engaged on their first date. It was if they re-found each other, remembered each other.
When my father went home he announced he was engaged to Maria. "Maria who?" they asked and he famously replied, "Doesn't matter, it's going to be Soldani."
They have been inseparable since.
Like Achilles, my father has become a modern day farmer, growing delightful crops of Fancy Hibiscus.
My mom has spent a great deal of her life working with nuns, with kids, with refugees and the poor.
When you step back and look at it from a certain angle, like you'd look at a Monet, all the blobs become a picture and the story becomes clear.
The same love, a different life.
Maybe. Maybe not.
But just writing this part of the story gives me the courage to keep going, to tell you the part that I'm 100% sure is not conjecture or coincidence.
Sicilia. Sicily. Sometimes independent, sometimes split in two, sometimes conquered, never isolated.
This whole journey is making me see that no island is an island, and that I'm ending up all the way over there is not even a surprise at this point.
People on that island (and all islands, even the British Isles) are pushed an pulled by forces bigger than themselves - war, famine, plague, tidal waves, opportunity, hope, and a never ending parade of boats bringing things, taking things.
Sicily in the 1850s was pulsing with the conflict that would result in the unification of small states that would become Italy. Exports were dropping as California began to dominate the US market for citrus and olives and other delights that had once come from this region.
I'm not exactly sure if Jean Soldani family packed up and left because he was destitute, because he feared violence, or maybe because some family tragedy left him unable to live on this small island and keep their sanity.
Or maybe he left after years of planning and saving and writing letters to friends already in New Orleans, epicenter of the Creole Catholic Caribbean, preparing their way for a prosperous future.
In 1883, soon after his 23rd birthday, charming Sicilian Jean had an American son with Clementine Moti - her name tells me she might have had red hair or at least a loud laugh. I can't find their marriage record or anything else about them. They name him Achilles. Quite French, which was quite appropriate in New Orleans during the Civil War. I've been told that they have a daughter, too, I'm told, although I can't find a single record anywhere about her.
I hunt for women with her last name who lived in New Orleans at any time in their lives. She could be Maria, or Eugenie or Isoline or Guiseppina Soldani. Or maybe she was a half-sister or step-sister or a cousin raised as a sister?
What I know, or at least I've been told, is that Achille's parents died in a shipwreck off Cuba.
Why they were in Cuba or near Cuba during her 10 Years War is mystery to me. Maybe they were travelling from Sicily or maybe to South America to look for land. Maybe they weren't shipwrecked at all, maybe they died of Yellow Fever and the shipwreck story added a bit of cayenne to story.
The children, Achilles and his sister (Maria? Eugenie? Isolde? Guiseppina?) perhaps were entrusted to an orphanage in New Orleans. I know enough as a researcher and historian to shudder at the idea of an orphanage. Primitive sanitation (no running water, no disposable diapers, babies everywhere) meant no institution was immune from periodic attacks of influenza, yellow fever and scarlet fever.
Achilles Soldani appears without his sister in the 1880 census; he is listed as living with a young couple -M. and E. Rabalais - in Placheville, Louisiana.
There are no additional lines; the household was only three people. For whatever reason -- perhaps it was better she stayed with the nuns? perhaps it was unfit for a young lady to be out on a farm? -- the family did not bring Achille's sister to live with them.
Family legend has it that he visited his sister in New Orleans, often. That was quite a distance before cars and highways.
All we know is that they loved each other, and life separated them.
Achilles became a farmer and had a large family. One of his sons would become my great grandfather.
My parents became engaged on their first date. It was if they re-found each other, remembered each other.
When my father went home he announced he was engaged to Maria. "Maria who?" they asked and he famously replied, "Doesn't matter, it's going to be Soldani."
They have been inseparable since.
Like Achilles, my father has become a modern day farmer, growing delightful crops of Fancy Hibiscus.
My mom has spent a great deal of her life working with nuns, with kids, with refugees and the poor.
When you step back and look at it from a certain angle, like you'd look at a Monet, all the blobs become a picture and the story becomes clear.
The same love, a different life.
Maybe. Maybe not.
But just writing this part of the story gives me the courage to keep going, to tell you the part that I'm 100% sure is not conjecture or coincidence.
Friday, October 11, 2013
AMH 2020 11:15 class rankings as of 10/11/2013
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 99.56% |
| 99.56% |
| 99.56% |
| 99.11% |
| 97.78% |
| 97.33% |
| 96.00% |
| 95.11% |
| 94.67% |
| 93.78% |
| 92.89% |
| 92.89% |
| 92.44% |
| 90.00% |
| 89.78% |
| 89.33% |
| 88.89% |
| 88.89% |
| 88.44% |
| 88.44% |
| 87.60% |
| 87.56% |
| 87.56% |
| 86.22% |
| 86.00% |
| 84.44% |
| 84.00% |
| 83.20% |
| 81.33% |
| 80.44% |
| 79.60% |
| 78.80% |
| 78.67% |
| 77.33% |
| 77.33% |
| 76.40% |
| 74.00% |
| 72.00% |
| 70.40% |
| 67.56% |
| 65.78% |
| 65.78% |
| 65.60% |
| 57.00% |
| 55.60% |
| 55.56% |
| 54.80% |
| 52.80% |
| 50.40% |
| 48.80% |
| 48.80% |
| 47.20% |
| 46.40% |
| 41.33% |
| 37.20% |
| 32.89% |
| 11.20% |
| 8.00% |
| 4.00% |
| 0.00% |
I Don't Know what Socialism is But Here is a Drawing of a Cat
Before my 11:15am lecture on the New Deal today I asked students to write a few sentences explaining what they they think Socialism is.
I haven't covered this in class yet, so what the students write comes from previous teachers, the media and .....?
In a class of 80, about 20 students nailed the answer. Here are some of the rest.
In communism there is one crazy guy with all the power. In socialism there a group of crazy people running things.
Socialism is where immagration is excepted.
I have no idea what socialism is but here is a cartoon of a cat. ;-)
Socialism is a country where people have some sort of opinions.
Socialism is when you agree with the government.
Socialism is where the government doesn’t control the people. The people are allowed to vote for president.
Socialism is the idea that conservation saves the earth, not war.
Socialism is where people provide input and laws are based on the majority.
Socialim is where the government assigns people food and jobs and monitors everything they do. Basically.
Socialism is where the government makes people from different backgrounds come together and make one culture.
Socialism = Government controls your LIFE
Socialism is being able to talk to other countries without having to go to war.
Socialism is a country that socializes with its people very well. They’re always on the same page, no disagreements.
Socialism is no classes, ie: Fuck the social classes, everyone is on equal playing field. Socialist countries fail because there are all ways snobs who want to be snobs.
Socialism is the believe everyone should receive equal treatment from the government. Example – if everyone in class takes an exam, everyone gets awarded the class average, not what they earned on their exam.
Socialism is different from communism because of the people.
Socialism is when two countries have a good agreement and can stand each other. Communism is different its when they are all about taking over.
Socialism is the idea that the government should be based on social policies and not political ones.
I know what socialism is but I didn’t have my coffee today.
Socialism is a government and peace.
Socialism is where people are valued by the government.
Socialism is like Obamacare, right?
Socialism is when the government rules over every aspect.
Socialism is when countries like Cuba and China don’t have communication with other countries.
Socialism is where a bunch of Hindus go to a Japanese wedding and learn to make spicy curry.
Socialism is when the government is the most important aspect of the country.
Socialism is where the government runs based on what the people choose.
Socialism is a party of people who come together.
Socialism is where people can assume a separate style of life and can co-exist amicably.
Socialism is where you can expect equal pay for your job. Unlike capitalism.
Socialism tries to eradicate poverty.
Socialism. (entire answer)
Socialism is where the government allows the society to make all the rules. So instead of having a government to tell you what to do, you can vote on laws you want to follow.
WW2: Fill in the Blanks #Pretest
Pretest Question:
WW2 started in _____ when ____ and _____ declared war on _____ for invading ________.
No joke, about half the students knew this answer quickly.
Others were a little less certain.
Some weren't even grounded in reality.
WW2 started in the late 1900s when Europe and Asia declare war on the 1900s for invading them.
WW2 started in _____ when ____ and _____ declared war on _____ for invading ________.
No joke, about half the students knew this answer quickly.
Others were a little less certain.
Some weren't even grounded in reality.
WW2 started in the late 1900s when Europe and Asia declare war on the 1900s for invading them.
WW2 starts in 1900 when France and Spain declare war on the world for invading Cuba.
WW2 started in 1940 when Japan and the US declare war on treaties for invading peace.
WW2 starts in 1962 when America and Russia and Korea declare on Japan for invading Japan.
WW2 starts in 1842 when Japan and the US declare war on 1843 for invading Japan.
WW2 started in Germany when Germany and the US declare war on Germany for invading Germany.
WW2 started in 1942 when the US and Germany declare war on Japan for invading Pearl Harbor.
WW2 started in the 1920s when Germany and Russia declared war on the US for invading Germany.
WW2 starts in 1942 when US and France declare war on Germany for invading Hawaii.
WW2 started in 1941 when England and the US declare war on Spain for invading Pearl Harbor.
WW2 started in 1936 when Germany and Austria-Hungary declare war on United States for invading Austria-Hungary.
WW2 started in 1940 when US and Britain declare war on Germany for invading Russia.
WW2 started in 1939 when England and France declared war on Germany for invading Berlin.
WW2 starts in 1942 when America and France declare war on Japan for invading the US.
WW2 starts in 1830 when Germany and Russia declare war on Japan for invading them.
WW2 starts in 1940s when England and Spain declare war on France for invading Germany.
WW2 starts in 1950 when Europe and Asia declare war on the US for invading Russia.
WW2 starts in 1812 when Spain and America declare war on China for invading China.
WW2 starts in 1992 when France and Russia declare war on the US for invading Spain.
WW2 starts in 1910 when France and Britain declare war on Japan for invading the US.
WW2 starts in 1850 when England and Russia declare war on China for invading France.
WW2 starts in 1948 when the US and Holland declare war on Germany for invading Israel.
WW2 started in 1940 when France and Russia declare war on Britain for invading Germany.
WW2 started in 1995 when Germany and Russia declar war on Great Britain for invading Czechoslovakia.
From Acapas to Watamala
Pretest: Name 5 Countries in South America
About half the students answered this question perfectly.
Some students struggled.
Here is an alphabetical list of non-South American nations that, in some imaginations, have joined us in the Western Hemisphere:
About half the students answered this question perfectly.
Some students struggled.
Here is an alphabetical list of non-South American nations that, in some imaginations, have joined us in the Western Hemisphere:
- Acapas
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Alstralia
- Antarctica
- Armenia
- Asia
- Blahblah
- Chili
- China
- Coda Rica
- Debrish
- Ecodor
- Ecru
- Egypt
- Erop
- Ethiopia
- Europe
- Filipines
- France
- Fyomzuilla
- Germany
- Guam
- Guatado
- Iran
- Italy
- Liberia
- Maracas
- Namibia
- Pakistan
- Potwatamie
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taliban
- Valencia
- Wadoo
- Watamala
Thursday, October 10, 2013
PreTest: Please Name 5 Cities in Europe.
Question #4: Name 5 cities in Europe
About half the students correctly identified 5 cities that actually are in Europe.
16 students wrote Manchester. I think they like soccer?
12 students think Holland is a city.
Here are some of the other answers in no particular order.
If indeed Myniz, Amandam and Voma are European cities, please let me know*
- Voma
- Myniz
- Zaelms
- Amandam
- Europeon
- ChiTown
- Nancy
- Asia
- Vicarce
- Murvik
- Guadalupe
- Gadolfi
- Belize
- Italy
- France
- England
- Asia
- China
- Mexico
- Munch
- Moscoo
- Tokyo
- Napoleon
- Montreal
- Sissily
Mysterious Communism (Revised)*
I make it a practice to give my students pretests so I can find out what background knowledge they bring to the classroom.
Many students perform well; their answers would bore you with the steady drum of succinct, correct answers.
Some students are perplexed by a question or two.
DEFINE COMMUNISM
(answers include.....)
* Communism is everything that is going on
* Communism is where the people are in charge of the government
*Communism is where the government takes money from all and gives it back evenly
*Communism is people that speak for the people of a city or state
*Communism is where the government is there to tell you what is right and wrong.
Many students perform well; their answers would bore you with the steady drum of succinct, correct answers.
Some students are perplexed by a question or two.
DEFINE COMMUNISM
(answers include.....)
*Rule by a dictator (x13)
*Rule by one person (x7)
*A bunch of shady people. Maybe terrorists?
*A country with a dicktator
*A bunch of shady people. Maybe terrorists?
*A country with a dicktator
*When an entire country has the same economy
* Group oriented goals
* A country that has very little money
* Group oriented goals
* A country that has very little money
*Communism is finding common ground between nations
*Communism is a country that invades other countries.
*Communism is a country high on religion
*Communism is the belief the government has control.
*Communism is where people aren’t allowed to do what they want to do; the president tells them what they can do.
*Communism is prejudice views of the world
*Communism is when there is strict rules
* Communism is everything that is going on
* Communism is where the people are in charge of the government
*Communism is where the government takes money from all and gives it back evenly
*Communism is people that speak for the people of a city or state
*Communism is where the government is there to tell you what is right and wrong.
Name communist countries
Most students wrote China, North Korea, Cuba.
Others offered up a bouquet of nations:
Germany (x35)
Japan (x30)
France ( x7)
Iran (x17)
Iron (x1)
Iraq (x2)
United States (x4)
Mexico (x2)
Afghanistan (x2)
Mexico (x3)
Europe
Asia
Pakistan
Coup
Monday, October 7, 2013
Grade Distribution AMH 1041 - Running Total*
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 99.62% |
| 99.23% |
| 99.23% |
| 98.85% |
| 94.62% |
| 94.23% |
| 93.85% |
| 93.85% |
| 92.31% |
| 91.92% |
| 89.62% |
| 89.23% |
| 89.23% |
| 88.46% |
| 88.08% |
| 87.69% |
| 86.92% |
| 83.46% |
| 81.15% |
| 78.85% |
| 75.77% |
| 75.00% |
| 74.23% |
| 72.69% |
| 70.77% |
| 70.77% |
| 67.31% |
| 65.77% |
| 60.38% |
| 59.23% |
| 58.08% |
| 56.54% |
| 41.15% |
| 40.00% |
| 36.54% |
| 28.33% |
| 28.08% |
| 21.92% |
Grade Distribution - AMH 1041 Exam #1
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 100.00% |
| 99.00% |
| 94.00% |
| 93.00% |
| 92.50% |
| 92.50% |
| 91.50% |
| 90.50% |
| 90.00% |
| 88.00% |
| 87.50% |
| 85.00% |
| 85.00% |
| 85.00% |
| 84.00% |
| 78.50% |
| 77.50% |
| 75.50% |
| 74.00% |
| 72.50% |
| 70.00% |
| 69.00% |
| 67.50% |
| 67.50% |
| 67.50% |
| 65.00% |
| 57.50% |
| 57.50% |
| 55.00% |
| 47.50% |
| 45.00% |
| 28.50% |
| 27.50% |
| 22.50% |
| 12.50% |
| 0.00% |
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