​This secondary lesson allows students to contrast the historical events with the fictional account of The First Men in the Moon from H.G. Wells.

I am just observing on this trip, but I'll definitely be looking for pointers on presenting other lessons in the coming year at Midway University, outside of Lexington, Kentucky, at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita, Kansas, as well as at historical sites in Boston, Massachusetts.  I will be paying particular attention to the methods and the demeanor of the presenters - both the historian and the master teacher - on this first trip to New Jersey.

We hear, all the time, about how we should not stuff ourselves with food, whether junk food or just too much food in general.  It is often on Thanksgiving that we begin thinking about our New Year's resolutions.  We push ourselves away from the dinner table, and we stare at the empty dishes - coagulated bits of cranberry salad, sticky and charred marshmallow from the yams, turkey gristle - and we wonder if we could possibly be responsible for such carnage.

We ponder our places in the world, in the grand scheme, and we wonder if there is something we might do, something we might say or do - or be - that will make the world a better place.  Are we better people because we eat?  Are we better when we diet?  Are we healthier?  Do we pass plates of positive possibilities to our children?

​If you really are what you eat, might I recommend a menu for this, and every, day?

Dear Friends,

We've seen some wildlife along this excursion, but this group of mountain goats took a bit of our time.

In July, my wife and I attended the first-ever Branson Polishing the Pulpit conference.  The conference is held every year in Sevierville, Tennessee, but in 2024, organizers conceived of a second site for the event.  It is a terrific source of renewal and recharging for any Christian interested in truth and spirit.  Excellent speakers from all over the U.S. taught classes and effectively preached from Scripture.  As a preacher myself, I was especially looking for insights into the Biblical content as well as presentation styles.  It has been a while since the conference, but let this post serve as just an appetizer for other reports and pictures from the event:  there will be more before the year ends.

One of the presenters at Polishing the Pulpit has many artifacts and replicas to show life in Bible times.  These are some images from the collection that he brought with him to show.  There is much to learn from archaeology and the cultures of the era depicted in the Bible​.

Dear Friends,

We had to stop to recognize the Berthoud Pass.  Here is only one of the times that we crossed the Continental Divide.  While here, we saw more snow in the summer than any other place we visited.  That snow allowed us to see some great evidence of wildlife, and it gave us more terrific views.

​On the other side of our state sits a small suburb named Ferguson.  At little more than six square miles, and at less than half the official population of Joplin, Ferguson may sound like a small town - and indeed it is - but a quick look at a map shows it as a part of the St. Louis metropolitan area.  Ferguson is small in area and population, and it appears somewhat uniform with other suburbs, with similar amenities and cookie-cutter houses and store fronts that could just as easily appear in anytown, USA, but Ferguson does not boast of a small-town atmosphere.

In 1990, more than 70% of the citizens of Ferguson were white, with around 30% black.  Now, 24 years later, those demographics have nearly reversed.  Such a quick transition may be a contributor to the current events where a police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old.  I don't pretend to know everything about the situation, and I don't need to go into details or posit any opinions, but there are some things we can learn.  (Incidentally, one Hoggatteer alumna is reported to currently reside in Ferguson.)

What Do Recent Events In Ferguson Show Us?

1. The obvious lesson is that there is racism in America.  If we thought we could undo 400 to 600 years of racism in 50 years, we have learned that we were wrong.  From the first hints of racist activity, through the events of slavery, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement, we recognize that the United States has made positive strides in this area, but there remains a divide in the hearts of some.
2. Hostility is to be expected.  People are people.  People are human.  People have emotions.  Hatred is one of those emotions.  Hatred breeds anger.  Anger can turn violent.  Violence is usually not rational.  If there is anything Ferguson, Missouri, has illustrated, it is that anything can break.  To most of us it does not make sense that when Person One is angry at Person Two, Person One attacks Person Three, but so is the nature of irrational and out-of-control anger.  It is called madness for a reason.
3. Racism is costly.  Who knows just how much has been spent to combat the beliefs that one man is created "more equal" than another?  Add to that the cost of rebuilding downtrodden areas, areas that have been damaged or destroyed in the "race wars", and monuments to remind us of our historical ugliness, and the figure is unfathomable.  More importantly, the cost hits home for many families as their lives are disrupted, and people are killed.  The cost is not only astronomical, but unnecessary.
4. Life is not fair.  Sometimes one person benefits while another person declines...but is that always the result of race?  I must not always envy my neighbor or my brother when he receives something I do not have.  The sooner I understand that life is not fair, the sooner I realize that "fair" does not always have to mean we all have the same things or benefit in the same ways.  We all have something our neighbors and brothers do not, but that may not be the correct definition of the word fair...and it absolutely does not excuse me to take, at all costs, something that does not belong to me.
5. Life can change - or stop - quickly.  When you least expect it, expect it.  Life can be shortened due to a great range of reasons - disease, accident, or deliberate actions taken by someone known, acquainted with, or unknown.  We had best live our lives without regrets, live lives full of service to others, and live lives worth living.  The loss of the young man in Ferguson undoubtedly shocked his family; no parents expect to outlive their child.
6. Attitudes vary by region.  While life can appear peaceful and tolerant on our side of the state, there are communities where differing races are at odds.  They are taught to hate others because of their appearance.  We may not understand, but the truth is that when we stumble upon such a place by chance, these places can make us feel nervous or scared.  It has happened more than once in my own adult life - once, in fact, in Ferguson itself.
7. Issues must not be ignored.  When we sweep negativity under the rug and pretend it's not there, we may quickly be caught off guard.  Problems fester like infection, and under the heat of a rug, the same problems may infest entire families, groups, and neighborhoods.  When we ignore racial division, we do not strive for unity or solutions; we only allow the infection to grow.  It may be easier to pretend there is no problem, but taking the more difficult path may make things easier for us in the long run.
8. We exist as a single race - the human race.  Segregation is not the answer, but neither is forced integration. Perhaps we must get out of our own communities to understand others.  Shouldn't we talk more to each other more and less about each other?  Shouldn't we listen to each other?  Don't pretend it's easy to understand a mindset that has been 500 years in the making, but make the effort to make peace with the people around you.  Reach out:  perhaps you will fail...but perhaps you will get one inch closer to success.
9. Hope springs eternal!  While the news outlets continue to display the bane of Ferguson, other events have occurred.  Not only have people held prayer vigils, not only have people made themselves available for counseling, but individuals have also taken it upon themselves to start cleaning up the mess in their community.  Ugliness often outshines beauty.  Treasures are often hidden.  We must continue to search for and uncover the glorious riches in the darkness.  We must look under stones, dig into the soil, and brush off any clues we find, but we can and will find that there is always a hope that abides.  Our world is full of it if only we will look for it.  When we see it, I fully believe that we should openly share it to others, as well.
10. Life goes on.  Whatever happens, until further notice, someone has always survived.  I suppose that will be true until the end of the earth.  If I am that survivor, I must continue to breathe, and walk, and strive to improve myself.
11. I don't control anyone outside of myself.  In the end, we can only do what we can do.  Sure, I attempt to influence my own children to grow in reverence of my Lord, and I try to influence my class of fourth graders to be respectful, responsible, and safe, but ultimately we must each decide for ourselves who we will be.  Some will always choose unwisely to be menaces to society; they will fill prisons, take from others, and threaten to upset life.  Others will always choose well; they will constantly struggle against the temptations and trials of living in a world inhabited by humans.  I'm not saying it will be easy, but we must not give up the hope of living and advancing life, teaching good citizenry, and the methods of making wise decisions.

There are times when we give up hope.  Those are the times when we want to close ourselves off to anyone who is not like us, anyone who does not share our religion, our sense of humor, or our skin color.  We begin to think we could be better off living alone in the wilderness, off the grid.  Maybe when we see life through the prism of our televisions, we do not see as clearly as when we observe life through our own eyes and even vicariously through the eyes of others (empathy).  We must not assume to know how someone else feels, acts, or reacts, but we must always be prepared to feel, act, and react appropriately for ourselves.  Our classroom is just one place to learn and practice.

May Ferguson, Missouri, serve to remind us, warn us, and educate us about ourselves.

​I've been thinking about professional development lately.  It's something that doesn't seem to have changed much for the better.  These days professional development seems to have become collaboration and common planning time and less about training teachers to do their jobs better.  Even then, all we do is sit around and talk to each other about things we're doing in our classes...or we talk about what assessments are working...or we discuss what problems we may be experiencing with the newest curricular tool.

Sure, we can exchange ideas, but that's not really professional development; that's a meeting.

Grade level meetings are much the same, but data analysis, again, is not professional development.

There are rare times, usually during the summer or the week before school starts back up in August, when the school district brings in a textbook representative to guide teachers through the teacher edition, but rarely is there actual, substantive professional development.

Something to help teachers learn content.

Something to help teachers learn methodology.

Something to inspire teachers to keep going.

Something to help teachers improve their teaching.

So what if I was in charge of professional development?  How would I design a professional development regimen for a district of a school?

Would I hire an out-of-town specialist to give a speech and then send him on his way?  Should send teachers to training in another city and then ask them to present at a faculty meeting?  Is it a better idea to do a book study with the staff?  Would we prefer a webinar?

I think, none of the above.  Oh, sure, there could be a limited benefit to each of those options, but my inclination would be to do something different.  I wrote a little about the #ObserveMe movement in my book, There's No Busyness Like School Busyness, and I think I could use some of that idea to develop a program for teachers in the district.

I would make teachers feel comfortable with vulnerability.  I would observe each teacher to help her find her strengths.  When something about her teaching could be tweaked, I would connect her with a master teacher in the needed area.  I'm confident that in my 30 years in the profession that I can help teachers develop their professional habits.  I believe I could alleviate their anxieties and stresses.  If the district's idea is to instill a collaborative aspect into our way of doing things, my vision for professional development could be a springboard to achieving that kind of a culture.

This wouldn't be a "one-and-done" professional development plan, and people would not just attend a session and then forget what was presented.  I picture professional development personalized for each teacher's classroom - in each teacher's classroom.

For years, I thought it would be interesting to initiate a teaching theater where a real teacher would teach a real class of real students, while other teachers or potential teachers watched from a gallery above.  The master teacher would conduct class below, while also pointing out certain aspects of the lesson to the teachers above, and asking questions along the way.  While this may be a crazy idea, I believe teachers can learn by watching their peers.  In my vision, I could help teachers find the right peers to observe.

At least it would be an effort to take the training on location.  I believe it would be effective and lasting.