Last January was the 40th anniversary, capture of the U.S.S. Pueblo – as commemorated then on Ed Darrell’s blog.
More recently, Ed’s added a post on the continuing repercussions of that event, even reaching to last week’s negotiated agreement between North Korea and the Bush administration over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
This new post includes a [...]
Category Archives: Social Studies
The Pueblo, me, and Washington, DC
July 2, 2008 – 11:10 pm
TX GOP 2008 platform on Education
June 22, 2008 – 11:51 am
The Republican Party of Texas has now posted its State Party Platform for 2008.
I have also excerpted and posted here the four pages of that platform with the Preamble, Principles, and positions on Education.
As usual the Texas GOP takes interesting positions on many things, but in this post I’ll just quote their statement on “theories [...]
¿ against teaching the controversies (or “strengths and weaknesses”) ?
June 10, 2008 – 2:16 pm
While the ridicule is well deserved, I want to take exception to something possibly implied in Curmudgeon’s response, where he says that “High school students don’t know how to reach ‘their own conclusions’ about science. That’s why they’re in school! That’s why we call them students! “
high school student finds conservative bias
April 28, 2008 – 1:35 pm
added May 2, 2008
For links to other posts on LaClair, see this post on the Five Public Opinions blog. Click here for a transcript of his acceptance speech for the FFRF 2007 Thomas Jefferson Student Activist Award, and click here for an audio recording of the speech.
In a new (April 27, 2008) Op-Ed piece in [...]
6-y-o Ben Whitson gets Good Citizen Award from City Council
January 10, 2008 – 1:47 pm
This might seem like a departure from the usual posts here, but I can’t resist sharing this news about my nephew Ben.
As reported in the Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal:
Ben Whitson, Abiqua School first-grader, was lauded as this month’s Good Citizen Monday at the Salem City Council meeting. He is the second to receive the honor [...]
Children of Jihad
December 30, 2007 – 8:47 pm
I’m listening now to a fascinating presentation by a book author who has spent substantial time with young people in the Middle East. The book is:
Cohen, Jared. Children of Jihad a Young American’s Travels among the Youth of the Middle East. New York: Gotham Books, 2007.
Information about the book, including library holdings in local areas, [...]
history, social memory, identity
December 30, 2007 – 3:54 pm
An inquiry posted on the xmca list asks for bibliographic references to help a student who
… wants to study how memories of significant events (in this case events during the period of political violence here during the 80s) are transmitted between the generation that experienced them and the generation following. He also would [...]
@ issue: “Intelligent Design” in Social Studies
October 13, 2007 – 7:57 pm
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has announce that the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) statement on Intelligent Design in social studies will appear in the third edition of NCSE’s Voices for Evolution. Bloggers and media on the Christian Right are taking notice.
Pledging Allegiance (BookTV)
May 17, 2007 – 7:21 pm
Added April 20, 2008: Somebody reached this post today by doing a search on “Ayers” and “BookTV”. I see the BookTV and CSpan links that were originally posted here are no longer good. They’ve changed their databases. The new link for the BookTV database is HERE. The page there includes a link for [...]
Blyth Patriotism (BookTV): “How to Raise an American”
May 17, 2007 – 7:19 pm
On BookTV — CSpan-2 — Eastern Daylight Time
On Saturday, May 19 at 9:15 am and Sunday, May 20 at 4:00 pm
How to Raise an American: 1776 Fun and Easy Tools, Tips, and Activities to Help Your Child Love This Country
Myrna Blyth
Description: In “How to Raise an American,” Myrna Blyth instructs parents on how to [...]
“World-class” standards for Florida?
April 27, 2007 – 5:21 pm
thanks to Michael Berson of the University of Southern Florida for this item:
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBK5AH201F.html
The spin on Social Studies is interesting; but there’s a lot more emphasis in this article, at least, on education in World Languages – for which the rationale appears to be exclusively commercial.
“Teaching Geography” Bill
April 27, 2007 – 4:57 pm
The recently submitted “Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act” is featured in a number of Florida papers this week (I don’t know if it’s a syndication pattern, or why not other states). Here’s from the Orlando Sentinel.
Considering Florida, I wonder if they’ll pass a law delaring (as they did with history: see here and here) that [...]
Howard Zinn on BookTV (video online)
February 4, 2007 – 11:50 am
On BookTV Howard Zinn talks about themes in his new book, A Power Governments Cannot Suppress. His talk includes comments that are relevant to the attack on Zinn by Lynne Cheney (discussed earlier here).
Zimmerman on Historians and the Public
December 13, 2006 – 11:03 am
Zimmerman to fellow historians: If we really want to improve historical understanding in this country, we’ll create new venues—and new incentives—for public engagement and instruction. Or we can continue to speak exclusively with each other, acting shocked—shocked!—when nobody else understands us.
NSTA rejects Inconvenient Truth - NCSS?
November 28, 2006 – 1:28 pm
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has reportedly rejected an offer to donate 50,000 free copies of the DVD “An Inconvenient Truth” for use in science classrooms; and fear of losing financial support from the oil industry is being suggested as among the motives. What about NCSS, the National Council for the Social Studies? The video could be appropriate in some social studies classes, and social studies teachers could share it with their science teacher colleagues.
Laird for President
November 12, 2006 – 7:51 pm
Sometime later, I add another post on how I used this in my course (I also used it during the 2004 election season in the US). For now, I just want to share a YouTube video from 5-y-o Laird’s campaign for President. I showed this to my students a week before their presentations. I think it helped them think about what they were going to do; but even more, it helped them imagine doing things like this with elementary school students.
an Idea for Constitution Day
November 10, 2006 – 9:16 am
For Constitution Day, it occurs to me that one way to satisfy the Congressional mandate would be to devote the period to exploring where, in the Constitution, Congress gets the power to impose this mandate on the local schools.
