Principal Bozarth just sent this message to the staff:

Here is a lesson about goals and grit.

1. ​Address the questions!  Make sure your thoughts stay on track.  Stay focused and don't try to embellish with side information that wasn't asked for.  Hopefully there will be an open-ended question asking if you have anything to add, but that isn't always the case.  If you really have something important that you haven't been asked, and you simply must include it, think about which question it fits best.
2. Be forward-minded!  Keep in mind that the institute to which you are applying wants you to use what they offer you.  They want to know that the information will not stop with you, but that you will pass it on.  Of course, each institute is different:  some will want you to follow up by presenting your new-found knowledge to peers and educators outside your normal circle, while others will want you to contribute to the research or a publication for their organization.  Still others may ask you for a lesson plan before reimbursing your travel expenses.  That said, you will want to point to those items when answering questions, rather than simply talk about what you have done in the past.
3. Include your students!  You are a teacher; the directors of the teacher institute know that, and they want to know that what they are doing - getting usable information and tools into your hands - will impact your classroom.  After all, that's your primary reason for applying in the first place, right?  It's not just so you can receive a free vacation.  Show how your current teaching practices are current and effective. 
4. Get familiar with Historical Thinking!  Since these are history-based institutes, you need to do you homework and include Historical Thinking concepts in your answers.
5. Give specifics!  Give specific answers with distinct examples to reinforce your responses.  If asked for a lesson idea, mention more than just the title.  Describe you project or lesson with excitement and details.
6. Tell how the institute can help you!  Virtually everybody says the reason they want to attend a research is that "becoming more familiar will help me make connections for my students" and that "my excitement will be contagious and get students excited about history".  OK, so you want to make connections, but let's here it:  how are you going to make that happen?  Show the institute what you will do.  Show them you have a reason for attending.  Consider mentioning that you need help or that you are deficient in a specific area and that you are looking for the week at the teacher institute to fill that need.
7. Be excited!  Did I mention excitement?  Let's see your energy.  Naturally, you don't want to go all Wheel of Fortune on your application, but you absolutely must demonstrate that you want to attend.
8. Agree to collaborate!  Not a team player?  Don't like working with small groups?  Then you probably don't need to apply.  In reality, I am an introvert.  I love to present in front of audiences, but I do as well in a small group or one-on-one.  In these last couple of years, I have attended teaching institutes at George Washington's Mount Vernon and at Fort Ticonderoga, and I have considered them as welcome challenges to get me out of my comfort zone (though I really dislike that term).  I've met people from across the country and broadened my understanding of human beings.  It is certainly a by-product of being in the presence of other people who share a passion for American history.
9. Sell yourself with humility!  Yes, you have to sell yourself, but don't begin with, "I am an exceptional history teacher."  Let your answers lead people to see that about you without boldly stating it outright.  This is not an '80s Michael J. Fox movie where the bold and daring ladder climber gets the prize.  You sincerity is more important than you brilliance.  That said, you do need portray a degree of confidence and competence also.
10. Be unique!  I can't talk about this enough.  I have always striven to be different, to set myself apart from the rest of the pack.  You can probably figure out how most people will answer, so why answer the same way.  Think of something unique, some unique set of words, to present in your answer.
11. Proofread!  And proofread.  And proofread again.  There is really no excuse for numerous spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors on such an application.  If you are attempting to get a scholarship with travel and lodging provided, in addition to hours of professional and scholarly development, at least take the time to edit and revise a few times before you hit send.  Someone is investing one to two thousand dollars for you to attend; the least you could do is invest some time to do it right.

Remember that the application process is competitive, with only the top applicants being accepted every year.  If you're not accepted this time, try again next year, but don't just send the same answers. Study them.  Tweak them. Perhaps you'll make it on your second try, or your third try...

If you make it to North Park Mall any time soon, be sure to check out the artwork on display from local elementary schools.  The first two pictured below are from current Hoggatteers, while the rest are from Hoggatteers who have passed into the fifth grade ranks.

Yesterday's new adventure was a trip to the plasma donation center on 32nd street.  I've always heard about getting paid to donate plasma, but I've never tried it.  After researching about BioLife's process, I decided to make an appointment and try it out.

I found a coupon online that earns $500 for the first five donations before a certain date, which compelled me to try it now rather than later.

There is more involved in the first donation than usual - a physical, a review of medical history, and the filling our of a lengthy questionnaire on the computer.  In addition to a finger prick and a weigh in, the initial process took a couple of hours before I was ever shown to the process area.

Finally in the chair/bed, needle in arm, the process took about an hour - again, longer than normal, since they monitor first-timers for 15 minutes after the process.  I don't know how the process works, but during regular intervals, while the donor repeatedly flexes his hand, plasma is extracted from the blood.  In the alternating times, the donor relaxes the arm and blood cells are returned to the donor.  At the end of the session, fluids are automatically added into the body to rebuild blood volume.  It's not difficult, it doesn't hurt much, and people with deadly diseases are helped.

It's pretty simple, and I have already booked next appointment for later in the week (One may donate twice a week.).

Before you leave the facility, someone loads up some money on a debit card and sends you on your way.  I know my coupon is a pretty good one, but I will also earn a bonus after my eighth successful donation.  There is also a bonus if I refer someone to try the process for themselves (By the way, if you are at least 18, fulfill the requirements, and find yourself making a donation, tell them Mr. Hoggatt sent you!).

The whole family took a well-earned trip to Branson in anticipation of our son's performance at the state archery competition.  During the day before, we were able to take in the ropes courses and other climbing, tunneling, and sliding adventures at the 80,000 square-foot facility.

First up was the four-story Sky Trail ropes course.  The four us us harnessed up and hooked onto the course for tight ropes, swinging bridges, rolling logs, and more along the 20-minute adventure.  Afterward, the kids tunneled through a cement mixer to emerge through manholes, climbed through a water tower to slide back to ground level, weaseled through corkscrew climbing cages into storage containers, and meandered into a series of tree house mazes and obstacles.  My son even tackle a set of warped walls.

The laser room was an interesting addition to the facility.  In turn, we entered the room to avoid lasers with the goal of shutting down the system by pressing a set of buttons located around the perimeter of the room.

Then, after some ground training, my daughter and I attacked the TreeTops Course, quantified as "32 obstacles, including 11 ziplines and 2 death-defying free falls".  This hour-long hike to the literal ceiling and back was taxing on the mind and the muscles, but our successes made the journey worth our while.

I heard this song on the radio, last Sunday, on the only radio station that would play it in our area - Carthage's KDMO 93.5.  The only difference with the song on the radio was that it was the Pete Seeger version; here, I have posted a more modern version.

Sadly, Little Boxes describes how we have taught teachers to lead their classes for many, many years.  For many years, I have advocated for being different, but it doesn't matter:  while people like to tell us to think outside the box, what they really must mean is to make sure we teach every student using the same materials and the same methods.

How has that worked for us?

Could it be that government's answer to education is pretty faceless?  Could it be that a teacher should know students before prescribing lessons?  Our children are not numbers in the State Identification System!  They cannot be "fixed" with a computer code or a patch.

What we have done for years - putting children in small groups, prescribing a program based on test performances, buying materials based on claims that they address the latest federal mandates, accepting shiny new programs because of a sales pitch - has not worked.  In our class, we do things differently.  We accept that every teacher has strengths and weaknesses, and yet we do not pigeonhole the teacher by making him teach with a script.  We accept that students need more than a cold academic approach to knowledge and skills, but that other areas provide the foundation and must be addressed first and often.

I hope students who have me for a teacher do not all turn out the same.  That is not my intention in teaching.  I do, however, hope they can function with other non-boxes in a coherent society.

Behind the scenes at our fifth president's house, comes an interesting find - his personal seal being discussed on PBS's Antiques Roadshow.  James Madison, often attributed as the "Father of the Constitution", requested a modest wax seal after his service as president of the United States, and this looks to be that seal.  The monetary value, right or wrong, is none of my concern as much as the historical value as I imagine the contents and importance of any letters he may have sealed using this tool.

A little mystery brings life to a rainy March day.  I presented 12 boxes to the class, and challenged them to find which of the brass brads in the tops were secretly wired together on the inside.  Some boxes had one pair of complete circuits, while others had up to four; one "trick" box had no circuits at all.