Life

I have just completed the assignment on my life timeline. I tended to list the important things in my life as those things that involved my family. I did list personal achievements but they were also tied to my family in one way or the other. It was interesting to see what I remember as important from childhood. It seem that some of the important things at the time don't seem so important now. I do not journal, but I know if I did I would not be good at keeping notes on a regular basis, I tend to not dwell on the everyday things and only dwell on the most important. I think that is how it should be.

Agriculture Today

New homes are being built at the south end of town all the time. Thirty years ago this land was farm ground, today it is residential subdivisions. Pittsburg built a new hospital and a shopping mall at the south end of town in the late 1960s, at the time that was the edge of town. Today several homes and subdivisions have been built further south, as well as doctor’s complexes and office buildings. This ground used to be farm ground but farming has declined and the land has been sold. Farming used to be a family business, but most high school graduates today go on to college and have very little interest in farming. If they are interested in agriculture, it is more on the business side or technical side and not the production part of it. Most farming that is done in Southeast Kansas is on a smaller scale with single families, and it is usually a second income for the family.
Farming declined in the 1980s, profits were down and costs were up. Many of the area farmers started leasing their crop land and looking for other ways to make a living. Other farmers started selling their land to developers. There are less young families involved in farming today so there are less school age children who live on farms. Organizations such as 4H have changed. Today, many of the projects have to do with science or technology and less to do with livestock or crops. If a student does raise an animal, it is usually just for the fair competition and not that they have raised a herd. Many of the students are involved in the technology projects which really have little to do with farming. Some area high schools still have successful agriculture programs but Pittsburg High School doesn’t offer one, they offer more technology programs and have little demand for agriculture. Girard and other areas in Crawford County still have quite a bit of farming, but Pittsburg seems to be moving in other directions.

Bakke Case

Affirmative action is a very complicated issue for middle school students to fully understand. It is difficult for most adults to clearly understand. Since my 8th grade curriculum focuses on the 19thCentury, I spend a lot of time teaching about slavery in the United States, the laws that allowed slavery, and the issues that divided the nation. When I’m teaching the Reconstruction years I like to compare the Reconstruction laws and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Civil Rights laws of the 1960s. The students seem to understand the 1960s once they have studied slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction. I think affirmative action will be hard for them to understand, but not impossible once they understand the Civil Rights laws.

The students need to understand that affirmative action was meant to be a positive step to increase representation for women and minorities. Some people felt it was a way to remedy the past. It was meant to make opportunities for all men and women of all races to gain equality both educationally and economically. Affirmative Action meant minority students would gain admittance to colleges and institutes of higher education where doors had been closed to them before.

The Bakke Case challenged affirmative action. Bakke was a white, male citizen trying to get admitted into the medical school at the University of California in Davis. The University admitted a less qualified student who was part of a minority group, but denied Bakke admittance. The University had a quota percentage to meet for minorities. Bakke sued on the grounds of discrimination. Some people called it reverse discrimination. The case ended up in the Supreme Court and the ruling allowed Bakke to be admitted. The Supreme ruled that educational institutes could take ethnicity into consideration for admission, in order to diversity their campus and college community, but they could not use quotas to keep students out.

Supreme Court decisions set standards for other cases to follow. The Bakke case is still used today in Courts across the United States. One of the more recent cases is the Grutter v Bollinger Case at the University of Michigan. Justices still feel today that affirmitive action is needed to offer equal opportunities to all minorities. The hope is that in the future, affirmative action will not be necessary; equal opportunities will already be established.

Vietnam - National Archives

Vietnam War Protesters. 1967, Wichita, Kansas, 1976; United States District Court for the Second (Wichita) Division of the District of Kansas; Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-1991; Record Group 21. National Archives and Records Administration Central Plains Region, Kansas City [Online version on February 20, 2006, at http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/arch_results_detail.jsp?&pg=130&si=O&st=b&rp=digital&rh=312]

There are several aspects to look at when teaching the Vietnam war. First you need to look at Vietnamese history and the United States involvement. The Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations played a big role in America's involvement with Ngo Dinh Deim. When Kennedy was assassinated it all passed to President Johnson. Johnson was in the position of knowing the United States could not pull out of Vietnam, but was also aware of how impossible the situation was. With the backing of Congress, the United States sent ground troops to Vietnam and the War became an American War. Vietnam was the first televised war and war correspondents were quick to send footage home to be aired on the nightly news. Vietnam was different than any war the United Stated had ever been involved in. It was brutal to say the least. The War escalated, Nixon took over the office of the president, and Americans started questioning why we were in Vietnam and how many more of our boys were going to be killed. I have chosen this protest picture for a teaching resource to help students understand why the American people were so upset. Many Americans felt it was wrong for the United States to be involved with a war that didn't involve our country. The protesters in the picture obviously felt it was the government's need for power that kept us there. I think this picture would be a good way to introduce the war to students. Using this picture students would start questioning why Americans were protesting, what was the war about, why were we there, what were the results of the war.

Truman Presidential Library

I found the Truman Library website http://www.trumanlibrary.org/to be a wealth of information. Since my curriculum doesn't cover the Truman years, I was concerned how much information would be there for me to use and I was amazed at how much I found that I can and will use. One of the first locations I visited was the Educational Programs available. I looked at the Three Branches of Government designed by Kathy Vest and Kay Cox. This lesson is designed to take students through the three branches of government, how they work, who is part of which branch, what their job is, and how they keep the balance of power between them. The site has information for the students to read and questions for them to answer. It also has links for them to look at current senators, representatives, and cabinet members. I think my 8th grade students would love learning the three branches in this format. The next site I looked at was also part of the Educational Programs. I looked at the lesson plans for Analyzing Primary Sources. This lesson was designed by NARA. With this lesson there were worksheets to guide the students through each of the types of primary sources and help them to understand the significance of the documents, photographs, maps, posters, political cartoons, or advertisements. I went ahead and made copies of these worksheets. They will work great in my classroom. The other site I found interesting for my students was the White House in Miniature Exhibit. My students are always fascinated by the White House. This online version of the exhibit visits such topics as Building the White House, the White House at War, The First Kids who have lived there, and the White House in times of crisis and turmoil such as impeachment, sickness, and scandals. I think my students would enjoy this glimpse into the presidents' lives. I really enjoyed the Truman Library website and will spend more time there and at other Presidential Libraries in the future.

War Without Mercy

World War II's Pacific War was more brutal for Americans than the fighting in Europe. John W. Dower looks at this in his book "War Without Mercy." The Pacific War was more brutal for Americans who were there fighting as well as Americans at home. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor not only outraged Americans but also made them ready to fight a more vengeful war. The Japanese were considered to be subhumans. Their fighting was very savage and they torture their prisoners. American propaganda played heavily on these two things keeping the public emotions raw. Japanese were portrayed as evil and barbaric. These sentiments carried over in the states and allowed the American government to take action against the Japanese-Americans living in the United States.
Looking at the war propaganda is a good way to teach students the effects of the war on the people at home. There were many war songs being sang about the "dirty little Japs." The stereotyping didn't stop there. There were cartoons and posters being printed also. Americans were saturated with war propaganda. When Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, that allowed the government to move anyone with Japanese ancestry out of their homes and into camps, many Americans were behind the action. They thought it was right and safer for the country. They were blinded by the propaganda and not concerned in the least about the personal rights that were being denied. This is a lesson that students need to know about. This is something that we as Americans can not allow to ever happen again.
Propaganda can be very powerful. I think that the propaganda against the Japanese played a very large part on how brutal our Americans fought and how brutal the government was toward Japanese-Americans.

Kansas Papers

John Seal - I found the history of John's paper interesting especially the information about Bourbon County's involvement in the Civil War. I had never heard the story of the Barnesville cemetery and the germ warfare.
Eddie Kearns - I had no idea the Parsons' ammunition plant was so large at one time. I also found it interesting that it had housing and a hospital.
Diane Reeves - I never know there was a Dorrance, Kansas. I'm impressed that Hollywood found it. Sounds like a nice place.
Greg Traxson - I enjoyed reading Greg's paper, I didn't know all the details about the massacre so close to home. I was also surprised to learn about Lt. Col. Warner Lewis fighting for the Confederacy . Very interesting!
Mark McFarland - The Appeal to Reason had a huge impact on the southeast Kansas labor unions.
Michelle Piva - The Pittsburg Public Library was built with funds from Andrew Carnegie, just like the library in Parsons. I wonder how many other towns in Kansas used those funds.
Mike McEwan - Moran, like other small Kansas communities, has stood the test of time. It is still thriving today.
Mark Boyd - The Allen County Land Wars sounded a lot like Bleeding Kansas. It seems like many Kansas areas were settled with passion and violence.
Jolene Pennington - I didn't' realize the Orphan Trains operated for over 75 years. Not all of the orphan's experiences were positive, but the idea was for the greater good.
Bill Wolff - The papers about Parsons have been very informative. The community of Parsons found beneficial ways to cope with the Great Depression.
Rob Barcus - The Katy Hospital was a great idea, almost to good to be true. Wouldn't it be nice to have that kind of healthcare today?
Tamara Ponce - I knew Pittsburg had an electric railway, but I had never read any history on it. It is a big part of the city's history.
Julie Dunham - What a scary time for everyone, but especially African Americans. Kansas was known for its strong KKK membership. It was a topic for William Allen White's paper many times. I wonder how much publicity this race riot received.
Faith Rosson - Edna is good example of how the railroads helped the mid-west grow. Without the railroad, there probably wouldn't have been an Edna.
Patrick Moss - Pittsburg has always been dedicated to education. Pittsburg State University has had a big influence on Pittsburg schools. (I'm hoping with Pittsburg moving to a 4A school next year, the Coal Bucket game will be revived. It was always a fun rivalry.)
Steven Clark - Steven's paper made me sit back and take a look at how things were and where things are going today. The educational philosophies practiced at Douglas School should be used as examples for today's educators.
TJ Warsnak - The Civil War definitely didn't end prejudice and discrimination. TJ's look at Wichita proves that.
Tracy Hutton - The events that took place in Leavenworth were probably similar to those taking place across the nation at that time. What a scary time for African Americans.
Mary Colvin - The Parsons' school district has faced the same problems many districts in southeast Kansas have faced; old buildings and changes in population. However, educating the children remains that most important goal.
Debbie Shaffer - Debbie's paper shows us, again, how important the railroad was to the development of the mid-west. Even though the railroad companies were sometimes difficult to deal with, most Kansas towns could not have survived without them.