One of the primary reasons I enjoy history is because it helps me to gain perspective. As bad as things may seem now, there is always the distinct possibility that someone, somewhere has been through this (or worse) before. Yet… Read More ›
History
Freedoms
As a teacher (and forever a student) of US History, one of my favorite presidents is Franklin Roosevelt. Whether or not one agrees with his policy actions, the thing that most impresses me when I read about Roosevelt is how… Read More ›
Hamilton
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,… Read More ›
Vote!
“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.” George Jean Nathan (1955) Here in Texas, early voting numbers are setting records across the state. The same is true in other states as well. But considering so few… Read More ›
Fiction
After finishing the entire Harry Potter series this summer, I began reading more fiction than normal…normal for me, that is. I will pick up a novel on occasion, but primarily, I stick to nonfiction, mainly history or economics. Yes, I… Read More ›
Ideals
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,… Read More ›
Facts
Imagine the following scene in a high school classroom near you. “Good morning class! My name is Mr. T and welcome to US History. I can see some of you looking around the room for your old teacher, Mr. O…. Read More ›
Fishing
In the days leading up to the Cub Scout camping trip that we went on in October, my son asked over and over if we would be able to go fishing while we were there. He had asked to go fishing numerous… Read More ›
Backward
When I first began teaching AP US History, I thought I knew a great deal about our nation’s history. I was wrong. Partly through completing graduate school, partly from leisure reading, and partly out of necessity, I’ve learned more about… Read More ›
Reading
I don’t really like to travel. Okay, that’s not completely accurate. I enjoy visiting different locations away from home. I just don’t enjoy the travelling part of travel. I need to get a teleportation device of some kind to beam… Read More ›
S
When my wife and I found out that our first born was going to be a boy, we did what every set of parents does…we tried to pick a name. We could have just named him after me, but I’m… Read More ›
Famous
Not me…my ancestors. I, hopefully, will never be burdened with fame (or infamy). One of the interesting aspects of history for me is studying my own family’s past. Now I don’t get carried away with genealogy and historical records. I… Read More ›
Utopia
We started taking the kids to Sweet Tomato when our son was about 3 and our daughter was still small enough we could carry her into the restaurant in her car seat. We figured the food was mostly health and… Read More ›
Half
Teaching AP US History requires me to deal with unpleasant topics from time to time. Slavery is one of those topics and it basically is an undercurrent of most of the content during the first semester of the course. Typically… Read More ›
