Do you hear what I hear? (I hear Christmas music a month late.... and really I'm fine with that.)

Firstly, let me do a shameless plug to all you Logan people (or people that want to be Logan people. This recently came across my desk, and I think it's a good thing to pay attention to. Let's face it, we all want this baby to survive the wrath of this puppet.
Click this please!


'Nuff Said.

      Let's be honest. Thankfully, vocabulary is not as hard to learn in history. Your entry level history course to your entry level biology course is a stark difference in understanding.

You know... "Stark" difference?

History's on a much bigger scale and many of the words are said often. Biology, though it happens all the time, you have to have a microscope to see its basics. One of the first History Teachers that I remembered actually liking was Mrs. Jaussi. Nope. I don't remember much of the specifics that she taught. But it was ancient world history and she taught us the differences in Greek civilizations by having us sit in different areas of the classroom according to what area we were to focus on (Sparta, Athens, etc.). We then as a class took turns teaching each other about our respective areas. If I had a better memory, I might be able to remember the specifics of Ancient Greek, but that was sadly a decade ago.

My, how times have changed.

  But when I really started to get into the subject, I realized that how Mrs. Jaussi taught me was more important than what she taught me. For instance, I had a professor down at Dixie State who was from Virginia, Dr Chip McCleod.

This guy! He shaved off his awesome goatee looks like.... what a pity.

Again, I don't remember much of what he taught aside from regular old, run-o-the-mill American History. But the way that he taught the Civil War (being from the South), was fantastic. He said phrases such as "them Southern troops were like 'Oh, he** nah, you ain't comin' in here' and 'Kennedy wasn't going to put up with that monkey business.'" Perhaps, it is what any good professor of history is good at. They are able to know the material and tell a good story.  The words that he chose as well as the way that he spoke them gave them passion and life. Otherwise, it would have been just as efficacious to stay home and read just the text.

Wood, Harmon and Hedrick were basically on the same page. They agree that there should be a strategy for learning vocabulary and that time should be set aside to learn it. I agree, but I don't know if you need to make a HUGE deal about it. Honestly, you use the same vocabulary all the time in history. If there is a word, person or location that you will need to use often, I'd say giving it five minutes would suffice. Heck, just handing out a glossary or keyword sheet would probably suffice. In addition, I'd say just make sure to let your students know that you are expecting them to ask if they don't understand the topic. I think that can be a problem sometimes. We may have taught for 10, 20 years. They just got here. A truly great teacher and prophet, John Taylor once said "It is true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious and great in itself, and to unfold and simplify it so that a child can understand it."

I think the key here is critical pedagogy. If you are able to adjust to your students method of learning, you'll know just  what to say. Bye ya'll!

I'm number two! You're number Oooooooone!

It's GIF week here on the Blog O' Doom! Hope you enjoy the animated goodness.

Just as a thought.... I have to wonder what those people who just browse blogs are thinking. "Oh, look at that Blog of Doom. Sounds menacing!" (click, click) "Oh sheesh... it's another school project." (Closes window and computer, goes and makes a sandwich.)

Or this....

          Anyway, down to brass tacks. I have always enjoyed reading. I was the kid with the flashlight under the sheets with a library book. But I didn't necessarily like reading everything. When I was a wee little Viking at Pleasant Grove Junior High, I was blessed to be enrolled in Seminary. Not that I had ever been necessarily a sinful little guy, but let's just say I didn't try as hard as I could. That was when I met Brother Dell Young. He really helped me to want to open the scriptures. I recall him using multiple different methods to help me understand why things were important. I had a very active imagination, and not only was he willing to teach the revelation in each section, but he gave the background as to how they were received. He had 3 boys chewing Tootsie Rolls and spitting the juice into cups on the floor. It was disgusting! But it certainly drove the point home as to why Joseph Smith would pray about. Not only that, it made me want to read about it. To tell you the truth, it was Brother Young's influence that made me want to teach at all. Guess what you have to know how to do if you want to teach....

Well, casually at the very least.

For History, it should be easy to come up with ideas to show context. Luckily, the whole darn subject has a timeline. For instance, you could make all the students sit on the floor, and not allow them to talk at all unless called on (this would go against the paradigm for my classroom.) Hopefully, one of them would stand up to you. This could be effective in showing how our culture and government allow much more freedom and opportunities to students. You could compare and contrast other nations and their history of education. This could lead into all types of spots in history, such as Johnson's Great Society or Reaganomics.

On the other acne covered, pudgy, Junior High hand... I also had an art teacher that made me absolutely despise the subject for many many years. She allowed my classmates to throw me in the trash, never was willing to help me out with my individual issues with techniques, and wrote fairly critical comments on my papers. To tell you the truth, the guidelines for this blog said to not name names, but I can't even remember her name. (Ok... I Googled it because it was bugging me. Turns out she's still teaching art at Pleasant Grove Junior High.) I think the one reason why I don't want to teach Junior High is because I think after you've been there a while, you start to act like them. You know... starved for a little bit of attention for dealing with Junior High.

I think the one thing to remember is that these students aren't yet finished products, so don't throw the book at them. Life is good, and they have plenty of time to learn the lessons you're trying to teach them. If they don't get it from me, at least I can try and therefore leave a good seed to grow in the future. 

And well....

And so it begins....

Hi there class. My name is Keith Jackman. I'm a Senior and a History Major.

    Now that we've got the boring things out of the way, how about I tell you some things worth reading. I'm the fifth of six kids. I have one child of my own, he looks like this

He's a cute little guy. For some reason he can never quite get his tongue to stay in his mouth. For the most part, I stay at home and watch him while my wife teaches first grade at Bridger Elementary School.  This little guy is pretty much my world when he's awake. He was born on the 19th of June, 2014. So, that should give you all enough time to pick out his birthday presents. ;)

I have spent too much of my time (like many of my colleagues) perusing Netflix. I've seen every episode of Lost, Psych, and most recently, the original run of Doctor Who. Other than that though, I love to travel and am interested in all types of games and sports. I love my faith, and am proud to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Not that you haven't run into any willing Mormons already, but if anyone wants to know a bit more about that, let me know!

I'm in between minors right now. I'm really wanting to be in the Speech Communication Teaching minor. Right now, I'm in the Sociology minor, but have no interest in it. I'm hoping that this time my application will stick and they will take me. I don't know what was the issue with the last application was, but my guess is that I have only taken one COMM course and it was at Dixie State. I will be certified to teach History. I am hoping to graduate Spring of 2016. 

I love History. That's probably where the initial interest in Doctor Who came from, though there was a definite drifting from strictly historical stories as the series progressed. One issue that I have professionally however, is that I tend to get caught up on the trivial matters as opposed to the meat of the subject. For instance, in my European History course last semester, I could have picked any number of noble subjects for my final paper. Instead, I focused on Rock and Roll Roots in Post WWII Europe.  I love that sort of stuff. So, perhaps I'm more suited for the History Channel then the classroom. Well, who knows!?  Maybe that's just what the educational system needs: a little spice. I feel like History can be anything that happened. Constantly, new sources are being found that uncover new facts. This can change the entire outlook on a subject. If you don't keep up with it, you end up like the person who walks into the apartment unaware that the roommates are throwing a party. You know the look: 

I would say that literacy is the ability to be proficient in anything. Most often, it is reading literacy that is being referred to when literacy in talked about on its own. It is indeed being able to understand what is front of you.

I'd say literacy has everything to do with History. When it comes to cultures and the conflicts of nations, you need to be able to dive into their primary sources to have any understanding at all. No one could call themselves an historian without the ability and desire to research. You need to be both literate in an ability to gain the knowledge (reading and researching) and the culture and ethics of the people you are studying.

I look forward to contributing to this blog. I've never done it, but I appreciate a lot of people that do. So..... wooo hooo!