Civil War Newspaper Bulletin Board

If I haven't mentioned it before, I think that it would be really nice if people could start marking real, legitimate, awesome bulletin boards for busy history teachers, such as myself. In the meantime, I have to do it myself.

This bulletin board was inspired by old newspapers. I tried to give it that timeline feel with snapshots of information. All of the pictures and information on this board are public domain. I just printed them, attached them to a piece of construction paper, then laminated. All of that work has to be preserved. I spent an unhealthy amount of time on this bulletin board. Around six hours, maybe more like eight hours, from initial research to photo for the blog.

Sorry, no close ups!

Book Review: Twelve Years a Slave

An unexpected, excellent book that should be required high school reading is Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. I have read Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is actually mentioned in Twelve Years a Slave. It was a fantastic book, but a fictional account. Because of that, this book is so superior. Northup tells of what actually happened to him. What he personally experienced. 

It is the life a man born in the state of New York before the Civil War. He sought to make a reasonable life for himself and his family. They were respected in their community and Northup was admired for his talent as a violinist. He was hired to go on a short tour as a violinist with a circus. This new and exciting journey brought him to Washington D.C., where he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. So began the experiences of Solomon Northup with slavery in the Deep South. It is fresh, honest, and insightful. He sees both perspectives - the slave and the freedman. He sympathizes with the man trying to make a living in the South. He shows respect even fondness to the master who treated him with kindness and disdain for the men who broke and beat him. He shows incredible forgiveness and faith in the darkest times. He demonstrates unbiased humanity in a time that is truly impossible to understand. 

I am seriously considering making this required reading for my older students. Move over Uncle Tom's Cabin!

As far as purchasing the book, I bought the Kindle version pictured to the right. It is 99-cents on Amazon and includes five other popular biographies. I haven't read four of the five, but look forward to reading them in the future. This was certainly worth the money. 

In Reference to the Movie

I was so leery about reading this book because of the movie. The content (from what I understand) of the R-rated movie is something that I would not allow in my home, and I have heard that the book and movie are impressively similar. I cannot speak for the movie. I have never seen it. 

For the Parents

This is a realistic description of slavery, the gang system, and the abuse of a slave master toward a slave. I found it horrible, but again realistic - not the excessive violence of today. As far as language, if you have read the popular Uncle Tom's Cabin you are familiar with what to expect. Yes, it is offensive. I am offended that my fellow countrymen had no regard for my fellow countrymen, and felt that they had a right to speak to them in such a way. But I wouldn't avoid this book because of it.

Scheduling the Crazy (Weekly/Daily)

Something that I discovered during my first year of teaching (which is still in progress) is that I absolutely have to have schedules and routines to keep track of the mountains of work. If I don't get a certain days work done that day, it piles up almost instantly. School work is a ton of paper work, data entry, research, communication, presentation preparation, and on the list goes. I have to keep it organized.

There are certain tasks that I do on a weekly basis and others I follow on a daily basis.

Weekly Basis

Sundays - All Powerpoint/Keynote presentations for an entire week are uploaded to my iPad.

Mondays - Make sure my teaching binder is neat and organized. Otherwise, get home right away to spend some time with my husband on his day off.

Tuesdays - Lesson plans for the entire next week are completed. I also make a list of things that I will need to complete for the next week - new test packets, Keynote presentations, quizzes to be copied, etc.

Wednesdays - Upload my lesson plans to Renweb. Add all testing dates to my school's web calendar. Add all testing dates to our staff Outlook calendar.

Thursdays - Enter the week's grades into Renweb. Email parents or students about missing work or noticeable dips in grades. I also email parents about progress students have made since the previous week.

Fridays - Make copies of any and all packets or papers I will need for the upcoming week. I do a thorough cleaning of the room and straighten up my files, desk, and filing cabinet.

Daily Basis 
Every day I always get these items done before I leave. Whether I get out the door at 3:30 (the earliest I can leave) or 5 PM or later, these things get done. I will not leave until they are finished.

1. Attendance - We have to do attendance every class period, but have the option of doing at the end of the day. There is no way I can do it between classes, so I set an alarm on my phone and do my attendance at 2:30 PM every single day. 
2. Grade Homework - As soon as my 6th period class is over, I walk right from podium to my homework trays and collect all of the homework that needs graded. Then task #1 is to get all of that homework graded, recorded in my grade-book hard copy, and returned to files for students to distribute. (I don't record the grades in Renweb until Thursdays.) The only exception homework I will ever take home is a book report or research project that will take several hours or days to grade. But with that said, I certainly do try to get it done at school. 
3. Write assignments - I write up the new date and daily trivia questions on my chalkboard. Then head over to my dry erase board and write up the next day's homework assignment. 
4. Pull papers - If needed, I will also pull out any quizzes or answer keys, textbooks, etc. from my locked filing cabinet for the next day and have them ready to go for the next day. 

These routines might seem excessive, but I cannot tell you how much they have reduced the stress in my life. I don't feel like I have to rush in an hour early every morning to scramble to get work done before our morning meetings or students rush my door for homeroom. Also the weekly tasks ensure that I get all work done before my administration requires it and ensures that nothing gets forgotten. It breaks up the work and creates routine. It works!

The Easiest & Most Amazing Chicken Noodle Soup Ever!

       I won't pretend to be the best cook in town, ever. I am pretty terrible. There are about five recipes that I can make really well. They totally taste like they come from a restaurant, and they usually takes under a half hour to make. I do love that about those five recipes. Whenever I try something new, it usually turns out pretty bad. Like don't feed it to the dog bad.

When I tried this chicken noodle soup recipe, I didn't have any grand illusions that it would turn out well. I was really just hoping that it was edible... especially considering how simple the ingredients are. Well, it was beyond edible!! It was seriously "the best chicken noodle soup that I have ever had" good and beyond easy.

As a teacher I need recipes that are fast, cheap, and create as few dishes as possible. This one fits the bill without sacrificing anything. It will be going into the rotation immediately.

"The Easiest & Most Amazing Chicken Noodle Soup Ever" Recipe

Ingredients
1 lb. Chicken Breast
Carrots
1 medium white onion
3-6 cups of chicken broth
3 chicken bullion cubes
Salt & pepper, as desired
3-6 cups of water
Wide egg noodles
Dash of olive oil
Parsley, if desired

Steps
1.   Chop the carrots. I usually cut enough to fill the bottom of my crockpot.
2.   Chop the entire onion. Make sure the pieces are a little bigger than if you were to dice it. (And yes, you want to use the entire onion.)
3.   Throw the chicken, bullion cubes, dash of olive oil, and salt & pepper into the crockpot on top of the vegetables.
4.   Now this will be up to how much you like broth with your soup. I like a lot, so this is how I do it. Add six cups of chicken broth and four cups of water.
5.   Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.
6.   Ten minutes before serving, pull out the chicken and shred.
7.   Add the shredded chicken & egg noodles for about ten minutes.

Sprinkle parsley if you want and enjoy! Beyond delightful.

The first time I made this was a chilly, cooped up snow day like today and all day this soup just smelled sooo good! Another bonus to this recipe is that it makes plenty so you can enjoy your leftovers the next day as well.