Michael Jordan is arguably the best basketball player to walk onto a court.  He is legendary.  This video is intended to make us think about our own efforts, motivations, and roadblocks  (Well actually, they're trying to sell shoes, but don't pay attention to that.).

Now for some questions:

• ​What is Mr. Jordan's point in this presentation?
• Why does he say that failure gave him strength and pain was his motivation?
• How hard do players of professional sports work?
• Did Michael Jordan set the expectations of basketball too high for anyone to reach?
• Do people make excuses for not being "good enough"?  In what areas have you seen this?
• Do we sometimes settle for who we are and stop working for who we could be?

Last weekend, I was in Memphis, Tennessee, just up the street from the location of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  Then, this week, we finally made our way to learning about Elizabeth (Mumbet) Freeman.  Mumbet was a slave during the American Revolution who sued for her freedom, imagining that the Declaration of Independence's "All men are created equal" might just include African Americans.  These two parts of our history are related, but difficult to understand without the context of a timeline.

While our focus, this school year, has been on the Colonial and Revolutionary eras, I like to help students apply those moments to each other and to today (as well as the future).  Again, it is difficult.

What was MLK protesting in the 1960s?  What were the southern and northern states fighting about in the 1860s? Did one I-Have-a-Dream speech and a long walk to a state capitol solve all the problems for black Americans? Were slaves truly freed by the Emancipation Proclamation?  What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he penned, All men are created equal?

Besides the big idea of unfairly treating our fellow man, two concepts have been brought to the forefront in our class.  First, the United States history is often ugly, and second, themes in history are definitely more complicated than they appear - whether talking about the Civil Rights Movement, the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, or the Japanese Internment Camps during the second World War.

Rich Strum, Director of Academic Programs
I met Rich Strum at last year's Mount Vernon Teacher Institute.  Strum is Fort Ticonderoga’s Director of Education.  He serves as Project Director for teacher workshops.  Rich has twenty-seven years experience in the museum education field and has been at Fort Ticonderoga since 1999. He is the author of three books for young readers related to the American Revolution.

Tim Potts, Teacher Facilitator
Tim Potts is a middle school lead Social Studies teacher from Monticello, New York.  Potts will be the Teacher Facilitator for the institute. He is a veteran teacher that has presented at the local, state, and national levels on innovative ways to teach Social Studies. He is also the current treasurer, past President of the New York State Council for the Social Studies, and is now on the board of the National Social Studies Supervisory Association.

Matthew Keagle, Curator
I am already familiar with Matthew Keagle through videos available through Fort Ticonderoga's website and Youtube channel.  Keagle is said to be extremely competent as a leader in the museum profession and has a clear and passionate commitment to developing a premier comprehensive curatorial program that will bring to center stage Fort Ticonderoga’s world renowned collections through exhibitions, digital media, research, programming, and publications.

Dr. David Silbey, Cornell University
David Silbey will be the lead scholar for the week.  Silbey is a senior lecturer at Cornell. He teaches courses on European history, modern military history, guerilla conflicts, and the role of popular will in waging war.  He received his BA from Cornell and his PhD from Duke University.  Silbey's first book, The British Working Class and Enthusiasm for War, 1914-1916, was published in 2005.  His second book, A War of Empire and Frontier: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902, was published two years later.

Nicholas Spadone, Director of Interpretation
Nick Spadone has several years of experience in historical interpretation and research into 18th-century military history.  He joined the Fort Ticonderoga museum staff in 2014 and has since developed major initiatives in military programs, heritage breeds, and carpentry.

Miranda Peters, Director of Collections
Peters works to document, preserve, and make accessible the museum’s holdings. Under her leadership, numerous prestigious grants have been secured to expand the collection staff to undertake challenging projects, preserve the objects, and make them accessible to the world on a new online collections database.

Josh Mason, Museum Education Coordinator
Joshua Mason works with teachers and students of all ages, representing Fort Ticonderoga.  Mason coordinates with reenactors and his fellow staff members to establish and execute educational programs that are age-appropriate, historically accurate, and engaging.

Keith Herkalo, President of the Battle of Plattsburgh Association
The Battle of Plattsburgh Association operates the War of 1812 Museum in Plattsburgh, NY.  Keith Herkalo is the author of The Battles at Plattsburgh: September 11, 1814, the editor of The Journal of H.K. Averill, Sr, and the author of numerous historical articles in regional historical publications.  His research was instrumental in the location and subsequent positive archaeological investigation of “Pike’s Cantonment”, the winter-1812 hut site of the American forces at Plattsburgh.

Brad Niles, Fort Plain High School
​Brad Niles will make a presentation entitled How the Fort Ticonderoga Teacher Institute Changed my Classroom.  Niles teaches in Fort Plain, New York.

Around here, when we see the name Joplin, we think of the name of our town, but in this novel by Diane Stanley, Joplin is the name of the main character.  In fact, the book mentions how Joplin received her name, even mentioning that she is not named after Joplin, Missouri.

I kept thinking of other ways Joplin could fix her problem.  At times, it seemed that Joplin was so stuck in her own world that she forgot about what she had at her disposal.  Other times, especially in the beginning, it felt like the author was writing for an adult audience, getting bogged down in legal text.

All that to the side, I did find Joplin, Wishing to be an intriguing story.  As ridiculous as the premise - a platter that grants wishes, a girl wished from the platter into reality, an immortal bad guy - it works, and anyone with an open mind might want to read far enough into it to get the full effect of the plot.

Sometimes it helps to understand another point of view, and sometimes we just need to contemplate some well-rhythmed poetry.  Knock Knock​ may not be something you can relate to...but then again, maybe it is.

Now for some questions:

• What emotions does this man present in his tone of voice?  What makes you say so?
• What happened to his papa?  Why doesn't he answer the boy's knock?
• Can a person "father" or "mother" himself if he has to?
• Do parents want better for their children than they have?  How do you know?
• What does it mean, "You are still my son, but you are not my choices"?
• What gives a boy strength and wisdom when a parent is absent?

I have been staring at the schedule for my upcoming visit to America's Fort since it was delivered to my inbox on Wednesday.  It is a full schedule with some intriguing topics.  In addition to lectures, discussions, and workshops, participants will tour the fort and museum facilities, jaunt to Mount Defiance, take a boat cruise on Lake Champlain, and experience the 30-foot bateau (flat-bottomed rowing boat) firsthand.

I confess to being overwhelmed by the topics in the schedule.  Just when I think you know most of the answers, a schedule like this comes into play and challenges me.  That just means I have the opportunity for lots of growth, this summer.

The message of April 19 is not one of desperation and pain.  It is one filled with empathy and compassion.  The message of the terrorist attack in Oklahoma City cannot remain one of hatred, but must become a message of hope and a renewed spirit in humanity.  One person committed one horrendous act in hateful revenge, that day, but hundreds of thousands (at least) responded with love and kindness.

When my students are able to touch historical artifacts for themselves (and realize that an artifact is created when it is imbued with the event that surrounds it), they come to appreciate the reality of the event.  When they experience the event from somebody who was there, they can better appreciate how recent history can be.

So yes, history is ugly and dirty.  That's why we must continue to foster new attitudes in students.  I know a few who might better understand that how we treat our fellow man, with revenge or understanding, with tolerance or hatred, matters.  May they forever carry those feelings with them as they advance from my class and into the world.

After learning about the massive chain that was extended across the Hudson River to protect West Point from attack by British ships during the American Revolution, students were given a review of our year through the period.  Making their own chain links, they completed the question on one link with the answer on another.

When completed, they should have had 30 links, and the first should have the answer for the last link.  I learned a lot about how I need to adjust the activity for future classes.

That was the message in my emailbox, when I opened it, yesterday morning.  I have to admit to being both excited and anxious at the prospect of visiting Upstate New York for the first time.  I am told the area is absolutely beautiful, and the added benefit of studying the French and Indian War and World War I in such an iconic and historic location only heightens my appreciation for the opportunity.

If I get to accept the opportunity, I will travel to New York (likely via the Vermont airport), adding two more states to my list of experiences.  While there is not much information - yet - about the week I get to spend at the fort, they did let me know about our teacher facilitator, Tim Potts.  It will be Mr. Potts' job to wrangle the teacher group for the week, making sure we arrive in the right locations at the right times with the right materials and attitudes.

There will also be some reading assignments to complete ahead of the journey, and of course, that nerve-wracking anticipation that comes with making flight plans, driving plans, and personal plans, all while waiting and waiting for the day to arrive.  Only 12 teachers are selected from the states and territories of the U.S. and international teachers may also apply, so it is truly a rare honor to be afforded the opportunity.

In the meantime, time marches on as I must seriously consider my option to participate.