Exploring The Backroads: Public History with Jessica Hanson

I'm impatiently waiting for YouTube videos to upload since "snow" predictions canceled my night class (6-9)! We're hard-core though...so on into the weekend. Can't get behind another 3 hour class meeting.  Make someone smile today/tonight :) 

+ MLK Jr. should not just be remembered on his "birthday week" or black history month. http://childcareclassroom.com/childcare-classroom-10-mlk-quotes/ Here is one of his other speeches; many are ONLY taught the "I Have a Dream" speech.  "On September 12, 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City to honor the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on the eve of its centennial anniversary. At a dinner organized by New York's Civil War Centennial Commission, Dr. King spoke on the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation in American history, arguing that the document proved that government could be a powerful force for social justice. He urged Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and President John F. Kennedy to hasten integration and progress towards full civil rights."

I have had a CRAZY past week! I was offered a full time teaching job, the weather has been a bit extreme for Middle TN, & I am trying to stay on top of all my hw, lesson planning, grading, etc...  2/17/15' (Never got above ~21 degrees yesterday) I felt so proud to have safely traversed the interstate for my professional development meeting Monday, so I mainly just did a bit of hw for TNTP that night; I slacked off on working out that day :/ Boo me. Tuesdays I already do not work out, but I really should have done a "makeup" day.  Instead, I did some exploring in nature's "icy wonders" & spent time with Chris & the fur-babies, since he was also off!   Then, I did grade quizzes & updated students on what our week would look like in case of more delays (due to weather). Today I have been grading under the heating blanket. I plan to finish that, lesson plan (even if classes do wind up being cancelled for the entire week), TNTP h...

I am reading for my TNTP certification homework, currently. I saw some tragic statistics regarding students that are both of color and low income; they usually get instructors who score poorly on certification exams or fail and have to retake them several times. There is an ever growing # of U.S. students living in poverty, as well — so this is not a "small" issue (as evidenced in this 2015 article).  http://www.southerneducation.org/Our-Strategies/Research-and-Publications/New-Majority-Diverse-Majority-Report-Series/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now I intend to make as high of a score as I can on all three of my Praxis exams. It may sound cheesy, but I want to achieve highly FOR THEM (my new "scholars"<<what my new job calls our elementary students)... not FOR ME, a job, or money. 

Sometimes children's books (or at least the ideals in them) can change your life! My mom always read to me, and encouraged me to read aloud to her, and even to myself for better comprehension. I still read aloud...even to my college students and when doing my own lesson planning & homework. One of my favorite childhood books may be cheesy to some, but it always inspired me as: The Little Engine That Could (1930). The train itself is passionate and constantly optimistic. Maybe I also liked that it was a girl. There were and still are so few female main characters in children's books, that are not some super heroes' sidekick, girlfriend, or at least a helpless princess/ damsel in distress type. This is particularly interesting, since both the original train and the later heroine are females and vehicles! Trains, planes, automobiles, etc...are usually only considered masculine or at least "for" males. Additionally, she loves her work—delivering toys and tr...

I'm not posting this on any "public" social media yet! I always have hesitations about things that I sincerely care about! I have gone to college STRAIGHT since I graduated high school in 2006.  I went straight into college less than 3 months later; it was NOT easy. I am not discussing "difficulties" academically. I was never a "straight A" student; however, I really only struggled in math. I am referring to finances. I had to WORK. 2+ jobs EVERY semester (including summers)—and keep up my studies!  I was enthusiastic, and in fact naive! I thought you work HARD and then something "falls into your lap." My journey has been both elating, frustrating, heartbreaking, fun, and scary!  It may sound cliche now...but I am sincerely grateful for ALL my struggles during my educational/professional journey: including adult chicken pox, being robbed at gunpoint at a former job, financial struggles, romantic struggles, etc... So many times I w...