​I remember growing up in the church.  If, for any reason, I had to leave the worship service, my parents taught me to enter or exit the room between songs or prayers, and never during.  I have always tried to be respectful of the service and the worshippers therein.

I do wish we could instill such a respect in the classroom.  Other writers have written about the interruptions of a class period - door knockers, intercoms, and people entering and exiting freely as if nothing of value was happening inside.  The last two weeks were especially bad:
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• A local clinic pulled certain kids from class to provide free dental services.​
• Parents checked their children out of school early for appointments.
• Parents brought lunches in the middle of our morning for their children.
• Kids had to pick up their birthday cupcakes from the office.
• The assistant principal checked in to see if there were any t-shirt orders.
• The class was called at a TBD-time to get pictures taken.
• The principal needed to check a technology issue.
• The counselor needed to see a child.
• Surprise announcements were made on the intercom about some minor matter or other.

It seemed like the intercom was calling us every five minutes or so, every time interrupting our flow of thought and causing me to have to refocus the class every time.

Can we possibly schedule things better and respect the lessons that are being taught?  The time that it takes to readjust attention spans and maintain continuity is just not worth the interruption.  People on the outside do not see what an interruption - even the simplest interruption - can do to a lesson.  When my students are rolling with me, enthralled in the most suspenseful or intriguing portion of an experiment or a story, I need for them to stay with me. I don't need them taking little breaks from the lesson.

Be honest with the college supervisor.
If you are the cooperating teacher hosting a student teacher, please be honest with the college supervisor. Don't think that you are failing the student teacher if you hide their shortcomings.  There may be options that we should consider.  In an extreme situation, we may need to change her placement.  We may need to terminate the placement and try again next semester.

But there could just be a need for intervention and reteaching.  Just like you intervene when you discover needs in your elementary or secondary students, we might need to do that with a college senior.  These are very young adults, and it is our job to teach and encourage them to make the changes necessary for improvement.  Let's work together to develop them to be the best possible educators of children.

Give them things to improve.
When I say that the student teacher should sink or swim, I do not mean that they are left out on a limb by themselves.  You, mentor, are not just watching the student teacher.  You are not just an example to him.  Just like you identify deficiencies in your regular students, you should be finding them for your college colleague.  Identify those things and help them fix those things.  Take him from where he is to the next level, wherever that may be.

​Praise them.  Acknowledge success.  Acknowledge progress.
Your student teachers are entering a noble, and sometimes thankless, profession.  That has to be worth something.  They may not be the best at what they are wanting to do, but they're also rookies.  They haven't regularly led a classroom of their own, and the bottom line is they still aren't in their own classroom.  You still own the class they are trying to lead.  Encourage them daily, but don't just hand out empty comments.

Can you build a way for your student teacher to capitalize on her strengths?  Can you use her strengths to build more strengths?  How can you take her to the next level?  Let's go!  And then make sure she knows when she shows improvement.  Celebrate baby steps, and put baby steps together to show her how far she has gone since the beginning.

Most of us can probably name the number of U.S. states we have visited.  Some even have personal goals or bucket lists to visit all 50 during their lifetimes.  We are odd creatures.

I number myself in that odd group.  I tell people that I have lived in 26 states and 3 countries.  That is to say, I was alive while I was in them.  I wasn't dead.  That means I lived in every one of those states, albeit mostly for short periods.

Now, with the advent of making travels for Project Trails as a part of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, I stand to add at least four states to my list during the next five years - New Jersey (I never thought I'd go to New Jersey.), Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Montana.  That will round out my state visits to 30 out of 50:  three-fifths of the United States have felt the imprint of my shoe.  If things don't work out for my continual part in the program, the number will not rise, and if we get to add some travel to those trips, perhaps the number could be even higher.

On average, the American visits 12 1/2 states in his lifetime.  I have been in four of the five most-visited states, which are Florida, California, Georgia, New York, and Nevada (I haven't been to Nevada, and it's not high on my list.).  The least-visited are Montana, Nebraska (It's not for everyone.), Rhode Island, South Dakota (beautiful), Vermont (likewise, beautiful), Idaho, Alaska, and North Dakota, of which I've been to three of the eight.  I've already doubled the average, and will be halfway to tripling it (Of course, the average could shift as well.)

For what it's worth, I will also add Washington, DC - the first time I will be in the United States without being in a united state.  When I flew to Ronald Reagan International a few years ago, I was still across the Potomac from DC, in Virginia for the first time, headed for George Washington's Mount Vernon.  I have seen DC, but not stepped into it.

For what it's worth, it may be easier at this point to name the states I haven't been to, so I'll try.

There are Hawaii and Alaska, of course.  We can add to that Washington and Oregon, and in no particular order, Idaho, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.  Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio could be listed next, alongside West Virginia, and South Carolina (I've been to all of SC's neighboring states though.).  That leaves Delaware, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, along with New Hampshire and Maine.  That list doesn't include the states I will visit with Gilder Lehrman in the next five years, so until then, I still have to add New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Montana.

Help them with classroom management.
As I continue to observe student teachers in their professional semester of college, I can't say enough that they need to understand that they aren't in the classroom to be friends with their students.  In my own experience, I was only two years older than some of the students in the class, and I had no idea what I was doing.  None of the one class I had in classroom management sank in.

That being said, if you are the cooperating teacher, you're going to have to help them understand that they can be too sing-songy and that sometimes they must be firm. Students need to have a healthy respect for the adult in the room, and sometimes that means getting tough (not mean - tough). Sometimes that means the instructions have to be clear and direct.  The teacher is not in the room to babysit (You don't get paid enough to be a babysitter anyway.), and the teacher is not in the room to be the entertainer (even though there is a healthy amount of entertaining that's necessary):  the teacher is in the room to get the job done. Sometimes that means people are going to be upset, especially after making weak choices.  In fact, the teacher may come out on the other side with even more respect from the students.

Leave the room.  Sink or swim (but don't let them drown).
OK, mentors.  You have to leave the room!  Student teachers probably don't even want you there most of the time. You need to be available at the beginning so you can do some coaching.  Remember the student teacher has not done this job before, and you need to impart your wisdom to them.  However, at some point, it's sink or swim.  Just like they don't want their students to melt down, you don't want them to lose complete control either, but you also don't want them to continue to pursue this career if they're not going to do it well.  The way you find that out is to let them fly solo.

No, you don't want them to crash, but if they make mistakes, they need to learn from them, pick themselves up, and keep going (with alterations).  If they don't pick themselves up, maybe this is not the career for them.  It's too bad they didn't learn that before their final semester!

Be honest with the student teacher.
You may be just like them:  you don't like to deliver bad news or consequences to your protege any more than they want to upset the students.  Hopefully, they can take the truth, if delivered with love.  Remember though, they aren't seasoned veterans:  they are beginners.  Don't expect them to have all the answers and be perfect teachers. That's why they are in your class, and you'll need to help them achieve the next level from wherever they are.

If they are really good, that means you need to still take them just a little bit higher.  They need to feel what it's like to improve.  That might mean you have to point out when they have climbed the next short rung of the ladder. Student teachers can be pretty rough on themselves and not recognize when they have done better.  At the same time, that means you also need to show them how trying the same things over and over without change will always get them to the same place.  They need to know that they can take risks and that they can be vulnerable with you. Remember, we aren't in their lives to make them miserable with heavy burdens:  instead, we must help them carry and keep them moving forward.

The landscaping in this park exceeds expectations.  For its location, in the mountainous desert, there is a surprising amount of great theming, plantings, and other things to see.  I'm not going to report on it all here.

Glenwood Canyon Adventure Park takes advantage of the unique terrain.  It began as a cave attraction many years ago, and there are two cave tours that visitors can take on the property (though don't expect the number of formations that we're used to in Missouri).  I could just imagine one of the family members trying to talk the others into investing in their first high-thrill attraction at the top of the mountain:  that was probably an interesting conversation.

Here are some more photos from the return trip.

As more information comes to me about my latest invitation from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City, I continue to be amazed that I am a part of their programs.  The latest is called Project Trails and in in conjunction with the Wilderness Education Project.  Project Trails will serve Kentucky teachers starting in 2025 (changed from November 2024).

My role in the project is as the elementary specialist and master teacher for Gilder Lehrman.  Historian John Fea from Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.  He will make presentations throughout the program, and I will take breakout sessions with about 50 elementary teachers from across Kentucky to discuss how to teach the presented material.

We will start with three Saturday seminars after the first of the year, located in or around Lexington, Kentucky.  That will be followed by a week-long Summer Expedition in Boston, Massachusetts - learning about American history in locations where American history was made.  In following years, the Summer Expeditions will take place in Montana, Philadelphia and Gettysburg, the District of Columbia, and New York City.

But first, I have been invited to meet the crew.  It looks like they will bring me to Morristown, New Jersey, in December to observe a similar program and get a feel for the way things are done.  It's a little overwhelming to think that this is one of the ways that I'm spending my retirement.

Imagine my surprise when I received this in my emailbox, on Monday:

These projects often come from different people at the Gilder Lehrman Institute (GLI), but from time to time, the contact person is the same.  Suffice it to say, maybe I'm doing something right to be asked to continue serving the institute in these ways.  To be able to present in person, in both Kentucky and Massachusetts, is quite an honor.  In fact, just thinking about doing history training on location in such a place as Boston is pretty surreal.  I'm glad I have the time available to take advantage of these opportunities.

The dates haven't all been set for these events so I'm just waiting to sign the contract that will arrive shortly.  Perhaps future years will bring different geographical destinations, as well.  We shall see.

In June of 2025, I will travel to Wichita, Kansas, to co-present in professional development for elementary teachers in the school district there.  The topic at hand is the American Revolution.  A scholar will be brought in to present the historical side, and then I will follow up presenting how to teach the topic.

I'm so happy to have the opportunity to finally do an in-person presentation for Gilder Lehrman.  I have been responsible for some of their online content in the past, just wrapping up the same type of presentation this summer under the title of American Environmental History.  Last year, by title was Colonial America.  The year before that, I did a six week course in conjunction with the National Park System, with an audience of elementary children across the country.  All of these have been virtual presentations, of which I've never considered myself to be an expert.  I don't like talking to flat screens over microphones and speakers:  in fact, I avoid drive throughs like the plague, and I really do not like talking into a phone (never have).

This time, it's up close and personal, in a large school district, and I'm anxious to get started prepping for the event.  Even if Wichita is not a long-distance jaunt, it's going to be a nice change from sitting in a room by myself talking to 50-100 people around the nation.

I've long been interested in this part of American history.  It is one of the black eyes on our nation's development. However, growing to maturity never comes without mistakes and failures.  President Andrew Jackson is a complex character, and I discovered in reading his address to Congress concerning the "necessity" of removing the Cherokee that he may have had conflicting feelings about them.  I looked at the document with three different takes.  I was left with the idea that he thought sending these 16,000 people to a reservation in Indian Territory was the only compassionate solution that he could come up with - that in order to save lives, both of settlers and of Indians, the two had to be separated.  At the same time, he had to play the politician and convince Congress that the expenditures involved were justified and that it would make room for the white, Christian settlers moving in. Finally, he was the tough guy on the Cherokee, making strong, imperatives that things would not go well for them if they continued to resist.

In other documents from the era, we see the Cherokee response.  We also see accounts of eye witnesses and more.  All in all, about a quarter of the Cherokee perished in the move from the Kentucky area, both on land and by river.

When I was young, we visited the Cherokee living history village in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, at Cherokee headquarters.  At the time, there was an outdoor amphitheater adjacent (since abandoned) where actors portrayed all of the principal players.  I was too young to really understand what was happening at the time, but I remember being mesmerized by the rotating sets and the multi-level staging areas.  Somehow, even though I didn't understand the content, I have some pretty vivid memories of the experience.  The play was called Tsa-la-gi, and believe it or not, I can even remember at least one billboard advertising it with those Cherokee words.

I was also fascinated by the fact that, in Tahlequah, the street signs are lettered with the English street names, but also include the names using the Cherokee syllabary of Sequoyah. 

The scholar in these sessions was the Portland State University's Dr. Catherine McNeur, likely one of the foremost in knowledge on the topic.  Some may imagine that the environmental lobby and activist branch would be a big portion of this presentation, but it was not.  Instead, we talked about such topics as horse poop in the streets of New York, feral pigs, cicada invasion, and more.

My pedagogical presentations followed an hour of interviewing Catherine.  Much as last year's, I was able to focus on the methods of teaching history through the eyes of a reading comprehension instructor.  For this, we used Meriwether Lewis's and William Clark's journals, a lesson called Visions of New York, and documents from the Love Canal debacle in the 1970s.  I also spoke about the Joplin tornado of 2011 and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, both of which had environmental impacts.