32 Books: Chapter 3: Florida-Georgia Border

After I pick my son up, we race to and through the grocery, fill the tank with gas, and wait for his sister at her school.

He tells me that he didn’t know Morgan Freeman was the president of Africa. 

I choke on my water bottle and nod, and ask him where he got that gem of a fact from. 

Well, it seems his friend D* had seen a movie about a man who just died and he was a very important man and I could I explain why an American was the president of a continent?

I take my time to lead him through the clearest path I can imagine.

I didn’t see the movie, but I think Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela, and it’s South Africa, not Africa.

THAT’s Right! Then who is the skinny guy?

The skinny guy?

Yes. Skinny skinny, Mom, I can’t even explain it. You know him. Who is he?

I shoot in the dark - non-violently - and guess Gandhi.

THAT’s right. What did HE do? I don’t like him.

You like him, I correct. His nonviolent protests inspired Dr. Martin Luther King and played a huge role in the country we have become.

I want to talk more about this good stuff but my son falls silent, already distracted by a book he’d just downloaded. 

Disregarding the fact I really can’t read very well without my glasses, I stick my hand back into the box of books my students have assigned me and pull out whatever one jumps into my hand.

I'm immediately disappointed by it. 

It doesn’t look like a book I would buy. 

The author’s name is printed on an orangy background in a font that is much larger than the title.

 The title tells me nothing.

 It could be romance novel, it could be a murder mystery. It could suck.

Stamped below the title in gold was and award logo was “Winner of the Corretta Scott King Award.”

A sign. Truly.

Sorry Tina Fey. 

Sorry book I almost read first and will definitely read soon. Hello book #1. 

As soon as I get the kids settled at home and start a pot of spaghetti sauce, I curl up on the sofa and fall into the book that I didn’t want to like.

The first page of this 300 page book pulls me into the life of a teenager who is sucked into a series of historical events that lead her through a path of eighteenth century colonial Atlantic history right to the frontier of the Georgia-Florida English-Spanish border.

Two hours later my children want dinner, want attention, want answers to questions that I can’t listen to I can’t get up because I’m reading a horrifying passage about a Simon Legree-like sadistic slave owner using one of his slaves as gator bait.

A few pages later I can breathe again, so I put the book down and take care of their most basic needs but that’s it, that’s all I can do, because I have to return to the eighteenth century and walk through the air castle of a story to see what the next room holds. I finish the book before American Idol comes on and suddenly realize I'm sad to have left that piece of history and come back into the present.

 Anyone who didn’t think they knew about or cared about the experience of free, enslaved and indentured women in the 18th century will absolutely be more interested in it after reading this book. 

32 Books: Chapter 2: Castles in the Air

“If you have built castles in the air,

 your work need not be lost;

 that is where they should be....”

 Henry David Thoreau

One of my favorite scenes in any book or movie is when Harry Potter and the Weasley family enter what seems to be a small tent and finds themselves in something of a cavernous underground vacation home.

 That space they entered reminded me how it feels to fall into the world created by a good story. When a writer publishes a story, they build an enduring castle in the sky that anyone can visit,  and anyone who sees the castle not only connects with the storyteller but also invisibly with every other person who has ever read or will ever read that book.  

32 books in front of me, and I don’t know which to read first. OK, I do know, I want to read Tina Fey first, but that’s so obvious and so easy it’s like going on the first roller coaster you see at a theme park.

 I decide Tina Fey has to wait and I stare at the books waiting for another front runner. 

I grab a stack of 10 to take with me, and decide to decide later. 

Later comes in the early afternoon, in the quiet space of carpickup.  Usually I watch the kids play in the playground and answer email. Today I reach my hand into the box and pull out the thin shiny book on top.

It’s a title I’ve heard of by an author I’ve never read, so I’m ready for the worst.

The first sentence of the book unfolds itself with a staccato beat of dancing words so delightfully engaging they feel like the opening beats of a Lorde song. I’m hooked. 

Before I can get to the bottom of the first page my eyes water up with tears of effort from trying to read the book without my glasses.  

I put the book down and turned on a podcast of Car Talk to fill my empty minutes.

32 Books My College Students Assigned Me to Read: Chapter 1

This semester I got a crazy idea.

I asked my students to assign ME a book to read.  

I know, crazy, right?  I know.

Once I thought of the idea I had to go through with it.

 I figure although I have 200 students, they each only have one history professor, so I wanted to try to connect with them, or at least the ones that wanted more out of college than multiple choice exams and a day of binge shopping on financial aid distribution day.

Since I so much of our interaction was one sided -- I talk, they write; I assign, they read; etc - I wanted to flip those tables and let each of them teach me something.

With that in mind,  any student who wanted to assign me a book was welcome to do so, and when I finished it they could quiz me on it and earn extra class money for playing this game with me.

Class money buys a few precious points on exams. Class money buys out of a missed online textbook quiz .  Class money is used as fine for choosing to walk into the class after lecture starts.  Because I am the dictatorial leader of my own treasury, I model my economy on the post-Civil War South and I make sure that opportunities to earn powerful class money are few and far between.

This announcement that money could be earned while creating work for a professor stunned the class into silence.

Jaws dropped open.

A guy who was standing up from his chair sunk back down.

I was done with my announcement but they looked confused so I continued.

OK, bring me a book WORTH reading. It doesn't have to be about history, it just has to be a valuable story and you have to bring me the book, you can't just send me out to buy it, I have kids who take all my money, and they don't need your help.  

You have to bring me the book and you have to bring it Monday, not Friday, not Wednesday, not two weeks from now.

Also, don't bring me 50 Shades of Porn, don't bring me the Bible, don't bring me a textbook from another class - especially not chemistry - and don't you dare bring me a book I've written because that's kinda stalkerish and weird. 

The class breaks into laughter and files out of the room.

When they're gone I go off to my next class and extend them the same offer.

The next day I make the same offer to my other class.

On the day the books are due I bring a huge box with me, half-hoping to only get a few books.

After I get the lecture set up and give students the green light, they come forward with books to offer. I make sure I know who gave me which book, and lay them respectfully in a row. After class a few more students hand in books.

I empty the box and take it to my next class.

Only one student in that class has brought a book, so I leave the classroom with a single paperback banging around in a laundry-basket sized cardboard box.

My next class gives me 9 books.

32 book in a semester. 

Now that I have the books in front of me, I'm not scared, I'm not thinking how many pages I have to read per hour or how many books per day.

I'm not worried at all because every single one looks delicious, and no matter how hard I try to want to read the other books, the one by Tina Fey is calling to me like a margarita on a hot day.

Wendy Hansen

The absolutely worst thing about being connected and online is finding out horrible things.

I thought today would be a great day.

I made my son bacon and found him matching socks. He never ate the bacon but he smiled at it, and was impressed by my effort. My daughter got herself together in a new dress and headed downtown to be criminal defense attorney in a mock trial.

 Everything was going wonderfully until I scrolled through my feed while standing alone in a silent quiet house waiting for my bagel to toast.

I see a friend's post saying how she will miss Wendy, and then another post and another.

Before my bagel can pop up, hot tears of anger and confusion run down my face.

I shoot out messages and texts asking friends please please tell me what happened, tell me this is mistake, tell me its another Wendy, or a joke, or a prank.

Tell me something because I'm standing here alone with a bagel crying.

The first answer is all I need to see.

It starts with, "Love, hold on, this is the most horrible thing I ever heard..."

If you were to ask me my first impression of Wendy, I wouldn't need a minute to think of an answer, I'd know right away.

She was perfect

The hundreds of times I saw her at car drop off, car pick up, birthday parties and here and there she was  always on her game, always confident, always with perfect shoes, a great purse, and off on a mission to do something worth doing.  At first I thought this was because she had old kids, and more experience with parenting, but then I saw, it was just her.

She was perfect.

Secret of the Smiling Mom

We've been in the car too long and the kids are snapping at each over nothing. I can't take it. I appeal to Zoe's maturity

Zoe, sometimes you can just let someone be wrong and not correct everything. It's possible, ok? So instead of arguing a point you can just it go.

She nods her head.  I continue.

When you're wrong, I just smile at you.

HEY! You smile at me a lot! All the TIME? Does that mean....?

I smiled again and left the unasked question unanswered in the now peaceful car.  

The Two Deaths of Chunky the Hamster

I thought I told you, but I guess I only told one of my classes. Yes, now that I think harder on it, I didn't write the story, I only told it as a whispered confession to an auditorium full of students to fill the last two minutes before lecture starts.

It went something like this.

For awhile my kids had two hamsters. At first they knew which one belonged to which kid, and I think for a week or so the hamsters were held and played with and even called sweet pet names.

After a month passed it was clear both of the hamsters were really mine. That's fine, I liked them. There was the chunky one who climbed like a monkey to beg for treats, and the tiny one that kept getting out.

The tiny hamster became known as Houdini for his relentless attempts to escape for freedom giving one millimeter of opportunity.  Once I found him in Zoe's closet. Once I found him in Zack's closet. One day I found him floating in my bathtub, hanging on to a hand towel shivering for dear life. I rescued it, we bonded.

Another day I spent time picking through the hamster food to figure out which seeds the chunky one really loved.

 Not the brown things, not the black seeds, not the pellet thingy. Each time I handed him those through the top-security bars that held him in his tiny zoo, he would spit them out and look at me like, "lady, you can do better than that, now come on....I'm hungry...."

Finally I found something that looked like a soy nut. He loved it and reached out for another.

 I found him another then another and for half an hours I sat there and let him stuff himself like Chip and Dale on a binge. His eyes started to get sleepy and he finally refused a precious nut.  I promised him we would do this again. We bonded.

Fast forward a year.  One day I get the desire to clean out both hamster cages and let them switch cages. One cage was metal and fun for climbing, the other cage was plastic with twists and turns to hide in.

Then a week later I went to feed chunky his binge nuts and noticed he'd broken out of his new zoo. 

Fantastic, maybe the other hamster wasn't Houdini, maybe the damn cage was at fault.

I looked here and there and over where Houdini would get off to when he ran out, but nothing, no sign at all of chunky hamster for over a day.

Then next evening I was sitting on the sofa and stood up to get some water.  Just as I shifted my full weight onto one foot to push myself (bounce? spring?) off the sofa, I felt a soft furry crunch under my foot.

Oh no, that damn chunky guy was trying to get my attention so I'd feed him. But no, I didn't seem him there and I killed him. I'm equal parts freaked out and grossed out.

 I want to scream but then the kids will scream and there will be no peace and right now the peace is my friend. 

I have to handle this.

What do they do on TV? I try to channel Sopranos or  Shameless or Boardwalk Empire or Orphan Black. What would they do?

I  get an old  hand towel and pick chunky's limp lifeless body up with the towel and... and... its dark outside and I can't bury him. Not tonight.

But I have to do something with him so I put chunky in an empty ziploc box  and put him on the deck.

No, no, no, once I've done it I can't close the door behind me.

 What if some hungry wildlife that lives in the forest next to the golf course sneaks onto the deck and eats my poor chunky corpse before his funeral?

I can't let that happen, so I find a ziploc baggie big enough to fit the fat lump of a towel with a chunky inside.

I zip it up and put it in the box and leave it out there until the morning when I can dig a little hole and bury him.

The next morning when I went to bury the hamster I found chunky had miraculously come back to life and unwound himself from the towel and tried to escape from the baggy that I had unwittingly entombed him in.

 I looked at it for one second - just long enough to confirm that chunky wasn't how and where I'd left him - and involuntarily shrieked.

That's how the kids found out chunky the hamster was dead.

When they asked how he died I told him that I"d stepped on poor chunky the hamster and left it at that. 

"Your hand might feel like it's going to fall off by the end of class, but it's worth it"

To the Future Students of Dr. Soldani,

 If you are reading this letter, it can be assumed you are showing some interest in taking American Experience this semester. 

Before this class I had a lot of trouble with history because of the way it was being taught. Dr. Soldani is a teacher whom not only keeps you engaged and entertained throughout the entire lecture, but she delivers commendable lectures connects the journey of our nation in a way that makes sense. 

Whether you are interested in History or not, this will end up being one of your favorite classes at TCC. This is a real class that requires showing up consistently and taking detailed notes.

 Your hand might feel like it's going to fall off by the end of class, but it's worth it when it since all exams are short/paragraph answer. 

Throughout the class there are also a handful of opportunities for extra credit assignments to earn money. This $20 is an extra 20 points towards the exams, paper, or attendance, so never miss a chance to do them. 

This class has given me a deeper appreciation and understanding of the history of this country, and I hope it does the same for you as well.

Best Wishes,

A.

"Actually study for the exam, if you don’t you’re pretty much screwed"

How to be Successful in Dr. Soldanis Class

To be successful you are going to want to go to class, and on time. If you are late you will owe her play money she gives you as extra credit. So if you’re late and loose 20 dollars that’s 20 points extra credit on your next exam. You will also want to attend every class or as many as possible. It isn’t a good class to skip because you will miss out on important details. She lectures for pretty much the entire class but it is fun and interesting.   

                                                Taking good notes is very important, if not your pretty much screwed for the test. You really can’t find the information she gives you in class anywhere else. Oh and don’t just copy the slides word for word, that irritates her and you won’t get the whole story she is trying to tell you from it. 

Her slides are more of a support to what she is saying.    

             If you have a question, don’t be afraid to ask it. She has office hours everyday if you need her. Every week you should look over the notes you took that past week it will really help you remember thing for the test. Actually study for the exam, if you don’t you’re pretty much screwed, her tests are all essay questions. You should take advantage of the study guides she gives you for the test. They really give you an insight of how the test is going to be and it also lets you know exactly what you need to read in the book. Otherwise you’re stuck reading all the chapters. She only gives 3 tests a semester, none of which are cumulative, worth 200 points each. So it is a big chunk of your grade. To be in her class you should have sense of humor and not take things so seriously. You should also not be easily offended. Her classes are not very hard; you just have to be willing to learn which isn’t hard to want to do with Soldani as your professor. She makes a subject that to most seems boring and adds life to it, she makes you actually want to learn about this countries history.

"....she gets passionate and can talk too fast"

 Dear Future Students, 

I have only liked taking history two times in my life. The first being my 6th grade history teacher, and this past semester in American Experience. Dr Soldani is a writer so she loves to tell stories.                                                              

     My favorite thing about her lectures is her slides. For the most part her slides are only pictures, she doesn’t put up paragraphs and expect you to learn them, she puts up these visuals on the board to help paint her picture of all the topics she tries to get across in that lecture. She is also one of the few professors I know who can spell out to students how everything connected and how everything will affect future topics, which for me put her lectures into context I understood and could start to relate to when she compares them to real life situations that happen today.

To be successful in her class, you don’t need to write down every little thing that comes from her mouth. You can tell by her story telling attitude the main points in her lectures and what concepts she needs you to grasps, these are the points you should take note of! And again you still don’t need to right down everything word for word because she gets passionate and can talk too fast to the point where you might miss something.                Instead just quick points about some type of order to the story will help at least give you reference to read in the text about later or to google later if you were to cheap to buy the book like me. (....besides you can rent it for an hour for free in the library) 

Dr Soldani is one of the few professors Ive had that has a grading rubric that makes sense on top of caring for her students and giving plenty of opportunities to increase your grade. Just don’t skip class and if she offers $20 do what ever it is to get it, chances are its really not hard to get.

Good luck,

A former 1041 student

"Get Ready for an Amusing Semester"

Dear Spring Semester Students,

Let me start off by saying congrats on not choosing the typical boring history professor and get ready for an amusing semester with Dr. Soldani. 

To succeed you will need to take notes on her lectures and be aware of the days she gives out money. 

Dr. Soldani believes in giving extra credit points by earning money from her (sort of like monopoly money). These can be used towards your exams; you can even save them till the end of the semester where she gives you the option to split up the money so you choose where you would like to add the money (points) in. 

Even though attendance is not mandatory, she will charge you $20 (monopoly money) every time you’re late to class. so always be on time. 

Dr. Soldani also provides key terms before class starts. But, again, you must be early to class or you will miss it. 

During her lectures be aware of the images she posts on the PowerPoint slides. These images will appear again on the exams. 

I recommend looking at her website where she directly gives you the images that could show up on the exams or she may ask questions about. 

She also provides a study guide for every exam including the Final exam and will also tell you how the exam will be set up. The day after her exams, Dr. Soldani normally provides a 10 point quiz where she asks questions about the upcoming lecture. These questions do not need to be answered right but be sure to put some sort of answer down. 

Aim high and keep working.

"Be prepared to write as fast as you can"

Dear Future Students,

Be prepared to write as fast as you can, but listen for the key points. 

Don't try to write everything down, there is just no way.

 If you simply pay good attention, DON'T MISS classes/lectures, you will be fine.

Dr. Soldani's method for teaching is awesome and wish every teacher will follow her steps. She is NEVER boring and knows how to keep college students attention, she simply rocks it!

DON'T be late, you really will pay for it! Yes, she charges you if you are late, but if you are not and do your studies, she pays you so don't miss out! I will greatly miss taking her class and would love to take it again!

Enjoy, this will be your best class.

"Oh yeah, read her books"

Dear Prospective Students of Dr. Soldani,

My key advice is to show up for class. You never know what she has up her sleeve, but trust me it’s all in your best interest.

I am a repeat of this course (Amh2020). The first time I took her class I scrolled in at my convenience and did not apply myself. The second time, I didn't miss a single class. And I was only late once, by only two minutes.

Dr. Soldani is a great professor, I wished I would have known about her for my other history class I took prior to this one. I feel like I really got my money's worth in her class. I can walk away more knowledgeable of my country and its history.

Oh yeah, read her books. First semester, I downloaded them for the points. The second semester I downloaded them and actually read them. 

They will get you through the semester. Not so much academically, but through the tough times. She has a great since of humor.

Oh. And ALWAYS CHECK BLACKBOARD AND YOUR EMAIL.

Good luck students!!

"Please and I’m stressing it PLEASE be on time to her class"

Dear Future Students,

Taking Dr. Soldani is NOT a joke! If you are not willing to learn and work hard, maybe you should consider dropping.She is such an awesome teacher, I have learned a lot in her history class this semester. 

She is very funny and she KNOWS her stuff. She has a story or a few stories, for pretty much every lecture, and if you miss class you will be lost, if you don’t have any friends who take great notes. 

Her exams are all essay, and you have to know the material well for you to do well on the exam. 

Sometimes, in class there are specific things she will say and you have to catch them and be able to write about those things on the exam, to get all your points for that question. 

After taking an exam, please come to the next class, you just may earn some points, or even $20 class money. 

Please and I’m stressing it PLEASE be on time to her class, she gives you ID terms that you will need for testing purposes and if you are late you will be fined $20 class money.   

 If you haven’t earned any class money then, you will give her an IOU, or 20 points will be taken off your test. You can earn class money by simply coming to class and completing certain assignments.

 All I stress is come to class, listen, take good notes, and earn class money and points; you will do well in her class, it’s just that simple.

Sincerely, 2013 Fall Semester student

"Her tests are very hard I’m not going to lie "

Here are some tips for you to pass Dr.Soldani's class this semester.

 Make sure you are five minutes early to class because you will have things to copy before class actually starts.

Put your phone away a second before class actually starts because if you have it out she will call you out.

 You will learn more than you have learned in History in her class considering she makes it very interesting.

 Be prepared for her loudness and don’t take it offensively. 

Show up to every single on of her classes because if you miss one class you miss an entire lecture that will be on your test.

Her tests are very hard I’m not going to lie so study a couple days before.

You will be getting fake money, don’t save it because you think you're going to have to use it for something else, I recommend you to use it on every test, its very helpful.

I wish you guys luck and hope you have a great semester with Dr. Soldani.

"Record lecture in your mind but not on your phone"

Dear Future Students of Dr. Soldani’s AMH2020 course,

You ever just walk into a classroom all groggy thinking that you won't enjoy learning anything? Think again.

If you hated learning history all your life, then all I have to say is prepare to fall in love with it. But you gotta know what to do and what not to do to make the class a great adventure.

Record lecture in your mind but not on your phone. 

Take notes but don't text. Phones on silent, the professor is all that should be heard.

Put in your best effort and get paid from time to time.

The sound of money is amazing, trust me. Because with that money, it will all pay off in the end, and you will enjoy every moment.

Thank me later.

"She Won't Put You To Sleep"

Dear Future Dr. Soldani Students, 

The way to succeed in AMH2020 with Dr. Soldani is; first you must attend class every day.

 Second, if you miss class, get your notes from a friend that takes really good notes.

 The most important fact is to be in class early because if you're late just don’t come in at all it will only hurt you.

On the first day of class, she didn’t post any power points with notes to copy down, she just started lecturing. The first thing came to my mind was, I’m not going to do well in this class, but I didn’t give up. 

She gave us her fun strategy for passing the class. She said you guys have to earn money; class money that is. You can earn this money by coming to class, and completing assignments that are given. 

I stayed in the class and worked hard and I have really learned a lot from her class that I didn’t know before. She is one of my favorites here at TCC. 

She doesn’t make it easy for you, you have to work hard for your grade and show her what you know. At the end it will all pay off, I promise. I walked in her class saying, I hate history and now that I have made it this far I can really say it was not that bad, she is not boring at all , she’s very funny and outgoing and caring. 

So, if you don’t like a boring teacher that will put you to sleep, take her and just come to class, listen, and take really good notes. 

Make sure you study and review them before the next class and you will succeed and love her. I have learned so much this semester all because of her. She makes history fun and entertaining, she won’t put you to sleep I promise, like some professors will.