Let's Face It, School Year Is Over

Time to realize that schools just aren't going to be open again this year.  Several states have already cancelled it for the rest of this school year.  It is time for all states to do that.  Let's face it, the school year has been ruined as it is.

I know all this e-Learning is  supposedly taking place, but I don't believe it is anything like actual classroom instruction.

What I would do, if I was still teaching with the kids not in school would be to have them write fifty words a school day on how the "V" is affecting their lives and that would at least take care of their social studies.  After all, this is going to be one of those events in our history as well as the history of the world, that will be (and already is) one of the turning points in history.

Events like Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination and 9/11 are in that realm.  However, these events did not directly happen to everyone like this "V" is.  This "V" may or not be right at your door.

Even if all schools end up being closed for the rest of the school year, parents should have their kids writing about this regardless.  Maybe having 7th to 12th graders writing 200 words a day.

The Kids Are Living Through Big-Time History Right Now.  --RoadDog

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE "V"--  To the tune of "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover":

"Stop Touching Your Face, Grace"
"Stay back to Six Feet, Pete."

Pearl Harbor, Kennedy Assassination, Man on the Moon and 9-11

It seems that each generation has their "Where Were You" moment.

For my parents, it was Pearl Harbor.

For my generation it was the Kennedy Assassination and Man on the Moon.

For the next generation it was 9-11.

Of course, anyone old enough will know where they were when the event happened.

Pearl Harbor   I wasn't born yet (1951).

Kennedy Assassination    I was in 7th grade at Winston Park Junior High School in Palatine, Illinois.

Man on the Moon     I was at a friend's house in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where we were visiting family.

9-11    I was teaching school at Magee Middle School in Round Lake, Illinois.

Thanksgiving Trip 2013-- Nov. 21-22: 50th Anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination

NOVEMBER 21ST, THURSDAY--

Drove the usual way, Il-47 south from Woodstock, Il., but turned east at Forrest on US-34 instead of going to I-74. Took that east to I-65 and then to Indianapolis where I found confusing signage on I-465 and ended up on the west side of the city instead of the east.

Went through the city on I-70 right during rush hour, but it wasn't bad. Finally stopped raining east of it and drove to Ohio and exit 29 (Englewood) on I-70 and had my Skyline Chili before getting a room at the Best Western.

NOVEMBER 22ND, FRIDAY--

Drove to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton and met my buddy Denny. We took a bus out to see JFK's Air Force One on the 50th anniversary of when it flew him to Dallas from Ft. Worth and then carried him back in a casket and LBJ was sworn in as president.

We then toured the museum and saw the goblets used in the Final Toast of the Doolittle Raiders. And, we weren't finished for the day.

--RoadDog

50th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination

This coming Friday, November 22nd and on the exact day of the week the event, that was my generation's Pearl Harbor. While moving boxes of Christmas decorations upstairs earlier this morning, I came across two items that I had never seen before.

One was a color photo poster of President Kennedy that is somewhat creased and the other was a thin, hard-cover book titled "The Torch is Passed: The Associated Press Story of the Death of a President."

Liz said it wasn't hers and I know it wasn't mine. She thinks that perhaps she must have gotten the pair while cleaning out her mother's place after her death. Her parents, though Catholic, were staunch Republicans and not big Kennedy fans, so she is not sure why they would have them.

Wonder Where It Came From?  --RoadDog

December 7th, 1941, a Day That Will Live in Infamy

This date, 66 years ago, shocked the United States and plunged us into WWII. I was not yet alive (born 1951), but this battle has been a major point of interest for me ever since reading Walter Lord's book "Day of Infamy" way back in the 60s.

I also enjoyed the movies "Tora, Tora, Tora" and "Pearl Harbor.  "I'll always remember being more than a little uncomfortable when Liz and I went to the Northern Illinois student union theater to see "Tora, Tora, Tora" back in 1970 or 1971. My Japanese history professor was sitting right in front of me and Liz got mad at the Japanese and started making all sorts of comments about them. I was sure I was going to have some very poor grades as a result, but didn't. "Hey, Liz, that's my prof in front of us. Ssshhhh."

In 2003, my mom was nice enough to take the whole family to Hawaii. I've always wanted to go to that state, and there was no way I'd ever not visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona. We went to it. The USS Missouri is now berthed about a half mile away from the remains of the Arizona. These two ships mark both the beginning and end of WWII for the U.S..

The drops of oil drifting up from the Arizona gave me the chills. After all these years to still have this really takes you back to December 7th.

This was a benchmark of my parents' generation, much like JFK's assassination was to mine, and 9-11 is to today's.

A Salute to Our Armed Forces, Both Past and Present. --RoadDog

A Sad Day Six Years Ago, 9-11: The Day Terrorism Came To Our Shores

Today, September 11th, occurs on the very same day as that fateful event six years ago. Not only that, but we had a brilliant bright blue sky here in the Midwest, just as was over NYC that beautiful fall day.

I watched some of the History Channels shows on the event this morning.

I was teaching at John T. Magee Middle School in Round Lake, Illinois, that day. I didn't know anything about it until after first period when another teacher came to me with the information during passing period. School continued on as usual, but all we did in my classes was listen to the radio and TV (although I couldn't get the picture).

I tried to get it across to my students that this was actually an outgrowth of an event that happened almost 2000 years ago when the Romans made the Jews leave Palestine. I also wanted them to know that this was to be an event that would rank right up there with Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy Assassination as points in US history that affected everybody.

Seeing those two buildings burning still gets to me.

I am going to have an account that I wrote on 9-11 from my journal (which I have been keeping since 1978) on my other blog spot.

http://roaddogsroadlog.blogspot.com

A Very Sad Day. --RoadDog