One Less Boogie Man

When I heard at 10pm on a Sunday night that the POTUS would be addressing the nation in 30 minutes I knew it had to be something huge. What news cycle involved a 10:30 PM address? Exactly none.The next hour and some minutes of media speculation was painful. What would the big announcement be? Was it a national security emergency? It was mind numbing. What would I be telling my students about tomorrow? I was communicating with several teachers through social networks...all of us trying to limit our speculation as to what the news might be.

When the news finally came, I was reminded of a statement I had made to a group of my Civics students this past Friday. After a discussion on terrorism (which seems to regularly be on their mind), I had suggested that I felt that we would soon be told that Osama Bin Laden was no longer alive. I was, of course, basing this comment on the fact that he had been in such deep seclusion for quite some time. I was founding it on the point that he was no longer leaking video statements to the press. I had no idea that less than 72 hours later that announcement would be made. I watched in awe as our President made it known "officially" that our boogie man of the past decade was no more. I will not recount the statements of the President as he can relay the information far more eloquently than I. For those remarks one should watch the video I have included in this post from our Commander in Chief.

Let May 01, 2011 mark the date when President Obama gave the order and successfully accomplished something that the past two could not. Those who revel this event, as I believe it, do not do so for the death of a human being but rather for the ease of mind that a nearly supernaturally elusive figure has been captured and killed. Will this end the terrorist threats of Al Qaeda? Hardly. It will, however, show that this America with this American President is one that is capable of accomplishing enormous things. It may or may not be coincidental that May 01, 1945 marked the day that another boogie man, Adolph Hitler, was declared dead. May 1st is apparently an unlucky day for mass murderers.

It's April again. Here is my note explaining why claims that President Obama cancelled the Nat'l Day of Prayer are FALSE!

by Frederick B. Gerwig on Wednesday, 30 March 2011 at 22:29

It always amazes me how eager people are to believe anything about our current president that make him seem shady or un-American.

In April 2009 and April 2010, these emails and statuses claiming that the Nat'l Day of Prayer has been cancelled by President Obama have circulated. The are ABSOLUTELY false, yet year after year someone (likely a Birther, Becker, or Mama Grizzly) spreads this same old garbage to people they know.

Here is something like what the status will say...I am sure you will see it before May 05, 2011.

President Obama decided that there will no longer be a "National Day of Prayer" held in May. He doesn't want to offend anyone. Where was his concern about offending Christians last January when he allowed the Muslims to hold a day of prayer on the capitol grounds. As a Christian American "I Am Offended." If you agree, copy and paste no matter what religion you are.

The National Day of Prayer (aka US Law 36 U.S.C. § 119) is an observance initiated by Congress and signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1954. As it is a law, a President of the US cannot simply cancel it. It would literally take an act of Congress or a ruling by a judge to overturn it. That stated, the day has been challenged. In April 2010, a judge heard a case from the Freedom from Religion Foundation asking that the observance be ruled unconstitutional. The judge did just that, but an appeal was immediately filed...with President Obama's attorneys trying the appeal IN FAVOR of the Nat'l Day of Prayer.

If you need more than my word for this, try their own site: http://nationaldayofprayer.org/ They even have a ticker counting down until the exact second that the observance begins in 2011. Beyond that, Snopes.com is a fact checking website. They too have a story (with cited sources) explaining why this email/status is a FALSE claim. Here is a link if you want to see for yourself: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/prayerday.asp

As an educator of History and American Government it absolutely disturbs me that we, as a nation, have become so gullible that we will pass on these lies about so many subjects, get all worked up into a lather, and believe them as truth no matter how ridiculous without checking our sources. It actually concerns me less whether people practice this observance or not (faith or no it is each person's own business), yet it is important that we have a twinge of disbelief when things like this are put out there. Nevertheless, I do not mind being a fact checker for those around me. But please people, look before you leap into a big pile of bullpucky such as this without maybe simply Googling their "National Day of Prayer" site to see that they have a current site counting down to a future date. Additionally, if you ever doubt anything about something relating to a national law, perhaps ask a Social Studies teacher. I am sure you know one. We are the Jeopardy contestants of educators. You're welcome.

***Steps Down Off His Soapbox***

Frederick B. Gerwig

10 Things I Have Learned In My First Year of Teaching

10 Things I Have Learned In My First Year of Teaching...in no certain order.

1. It is not about what you know, it is about passing the knowledge you have gained on to another generation.

• Students expect you to know your material (why wouldn't you), but you can know everything about a subject and not be a good teacher. You have to be able to deliver that material to a student in a way that resonates with them. To adapt a phrase heard recently, being in a classroom makes you a teacher no more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
  

2. It is not about how YOU learn things.

• Not everyone learns the way you did. This is a given with a decent amount of knowledge about education theory, but the important quest is to figure the best way to get the most of your students to learn.

3. One student can stop an entire class from learning for a period of time.

4. "When I was your age I..."

• This statement is right out. Education goes in cycles. Each generation of teacher is schooled in a different fashion trend for teaching. Odds are the students have not been taught the things you were by their age if a trend has fallen out of favor.

5. Do not fall prey to teaching trends.

• Your classroom is your ship. As long as you follow the standards for the area/state/region in which you teach, the thing that is important is what they know...not how they learned it.

6. Many students in High School cannot read well; do not assume they can.

• In the words of Cris Tovani, I Read It, but I Don't Get It. You are doing none of your students a service by assigning things they cannot understand and assuming that reading is understanding.

7. The best way to learn to read better is by reading. (This one was not newly learned...only reinforced.)

• Your students may assume that they cannot read and give up...you do not have that luxury. Make them read to themselves, to the class (with the understanding that everyone deserves respect for the attempt), and do not be afraid to politely correct them for saying something wrong. Sometimes they really have not heard or seen that word before...why let them think they said it correctly if they did not.
• Ask questions and expect answers. "I don't know" might be the most popular non-answer your students will give you, but how can they not know what they are thinking? Not every answer will be correct, but "I don't know" is too easy. Life is not that easy. Isn't that what we are preparing them for?
  

8. Do not be afraid of establishing an authoritative hierarchy within the classroom. Your students are not your peers.

• They have friends, what they need are teachers. Make sure they know that...things will go more smoothly. --Again, not newly learned, but it merits listing.

9. Expect more from your students than they may be able to give.

• At least attempt this with an exceptable cushion for success. Too much rigor will keep them more interested than a watered down lesson done out of apathy. Bored students lead to problematic students.

Last, but not least:

10. If a lesson does not quite work as planned do not give up; simply try it a different way.

• If you teach a class three different periods of the day, you may have to teach the lesson three different ways. Again, it is not how your students get there that is the goal. It is simply that you get them to get it. Adapt, be creative, show them that you are humble enough to change your style for them while still being enthusiastic enough to allow the love of your content to shine through.

My first year in the classroom was not without concern, heartache, worry, and a thousand other emotions about the well-being of my students and my decision to become a teacher. That stated, I have had more joy and sense of accomplishment this past nine months than I have had in any other career that I have held as an adult. Sometimes the simplest, "Thanks for teaching me that," means more from one student than if all 120 had said it. Teaching is ups-and-downs on a regular basis. I can see where some would become disheartened. I'll take the ups of teaching to the downs any day. I cannot wait to start year 2 of many in August.