Coming to America

For the next month my students will be working on an interdisciplinary unit. The theme is "Coming to America" and it falls under my immigration standards. The students will spend the next three weeks doing research in all of their core classes. They will be required to take over 100 pages of notes from a variety of mediums. They will view 3 videos, read 2 chapters which contain 4 sections from their textbook and browse through over 100 websites.

This intensive research will give each student an incredible base of knowledge on the topic of immigration. They will understand why people were both pushed out of their countries and pulled to the United States. They will learn about the transformation of the United States from a mostly agrarian nation to an industrial superpower.

What makes this unit different from traditional classroom learning happens in the final week of the project. The students are assigned a fictional identity. They are provided with a background profile of an immigrant who is coming to America. Through creative writing instruction in their L.A. class, the students write a journal that describes their journey across the oceans. This journal will be written using a blending of facts taken from their research mixed in with their own thoughts.

The culmination of the project is a simulation where the students are processed at Ellis Island. Parent volunteers work as the processors. Our media center is transformed into a holding area where each student must pass through a series of medical and psychological exams. Students that are successful will take an oath of allegiance. Those who are not successful are deported.

More to come...

Goodbye Boris

The first freely elected leader of Russia has died. Boris Yeltsin is well known for climbing atop a tank during the coup to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev. He will also be remembered for the drastic decline of the former Soviet State during his tenure. More importantly, he was seen as a friend to the rest of the democratic world as he eased tensions and formed stronger bonds between former cold war enemies.

With that being said, here are a few more moments from Yeltsin's life that should not be forgotten:

• A mischievous child, Yeltsin lost his thumb and index finger while playing with a grenade.

• He was expelled from elementary school for criticizing a teacher at an assembly.

• While working as Communist Party Boss, Yeltsin was drunk and fell off a bridge into a river. The details of the event are unclear, however, a local police station recorded that he suddenly turned up, fully dressed, and was dripping wet from head to foot.

Goodbye Boris. Thanks for helping to end the Cold War.

Change in Leadership

Our principal has been re-assigned to another middle school in our county. I have incredible admiration for her style of leadership and her dedication to our school. She has always tried to do what is best for students which may be her most admirable quality. It will be difficult to work under a new principal, but she can leave knowing that the stability she created will not be rocked. Her policies will continue to be implemented and our school will continue to succeed.

I have a disability

I remember being a kid in my elementary school and having other kids point out the fact that my clothes did not match. I really didn't care too much about how i dressed so it wasn't that big of a deal. It was around this time that I was sent to the nurse to take a color blind test. I failed pretty badly.

I guess i can blame my mom for being color blind. I remember learning about it in science class when i was in high school. I think it is a sex-linked trait. I am pretty sure the reason that an over whelming majority of people who are color blind are men is because the trait for color blindness is carried on the X chromosome. There must be an evolutionary reason why only men become color blind. It probably makes us incredibly manly. It probably had to do with men being dragged to malls and home decorating stores. Perhaps we evolved to become really poor at shopping so that we would not have to go.

Anyways, at least now i have an excuse when my clothing does not match. Actually, I have been pretty fortunate that people have helped me pick out my clothing. I can't stand shopping anyways, so it worked out pretty well.

Flying Spaghetti Monster

The teaching of evolution in public school has been a highly debated topic. We all learned about the "scopes monkey trial" where John Scopes was arrested for teaching about evolution in a Tennessee public school in 1925. Since then there have been numerous court cases and lawsuits brought upon schools for the teaching of either creationism or evolution. While they are both theories, evolution is backed up by both morphological and molecular evidence. Creationism is supported by the bible, but holds little merit from a scientific point of view.

The separation of church and state was clearly defined by our founding fathers in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Therefore, the teaching of a theory that is only backed up by the bible should be prohibited. Recently, the Kansas school board decided that along with evolution, they would begin to teach the theory of "intelligent design." This was simply a re-worded form of creationism.

The following website was created when a parent of a Kansas school student wrote a letter to the Board of education asking them to consider the teaching of his theory of "creation." His "Flying Spaghetti Monster" is backed up by more evidence than intelligent design. He even includes charts and graphs.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Are we related?

Breaking News: Charles Simonyi has become the 5th person to pay for a ride on a Russian made rocket into outer space. He was blasted into orbit on April 7th and will return on the 20th. Simonyi was born in Budapest and came to the United States to attend Berkley. He became involved with Microsoft's Office program and was behind the development of Word and Excel. Why should you all care? Well, Simonyi is now worth over a Billion dollars.

My Grandfather may have also have spelled his name with a Y. When he came to Ellis Island after WWII, he spoke little English and it was common for the processors to change the spelling of names to make them more "American." My Grandfather came from the Ukraine, which borders Hungary to the east. Perhaps my grandfather had a brother who lived in Budapest? Wouldn't it be great if I could be united with my long lost Uncle Charles? What would be even better would be if I could become the 6th person to pay for a ride on a Russian made rocket into outer space. Help me find a connection!

Are Marathons Healthy

Not really sure about this one. I was speaking with a friend recently about my new found enthusiasm for running marathons. I just completed my first in Atlanta, Georgia and have signed up for two more this year. My friend was concerned that perhaps these long runs may be causing permanent damage to my body. I spent a few hours and was able to find many websites that discuss how marathons can be harmful and little that says they can be healthy. Check out these two:

Marathons = Bad

Running = Good

I am interested to hear from anyone that has run multiple marathons during their life. I do not believe there has been much research done on the effects of running 26.2 miles years after this feat has been accomplished.

It is slightly concerning especially considering the first person to run a "Marathon," Pheidippides, collapsed and died after he ran from the fields of Marathon to Athens, Greece.

Updated! Click HERE

Being a Bills fan is hard

It is hard to cheer for the Buffalo Bills. Their past Super Bowl performance alone has made it difficult to be a fan. Growing up in Rochester NY, (around 90 miles from Buffalo) the only team i was even aware of were the Bills. Since my move to Florida, I have had the opportunity to tailgate in the sunny parking lots of the Buc's stadium. While they are not much better of a team, at least they never have even threatened to "black out" the televised games.

The Bills have had some major shake-up's in their organization this off season. The one that actually provoked this blog is the trade of Willis "ACL" McGahee to the Ravens. After the trade was complete, McGahee was quoted in the Baltimore Sun saying that "he couldn't wait to get out of Buffalo because there was nothing to do there but play video games due to the lack of suitable night clubs, restaurants and attractive women."

McGahee is dead wrong about the lack of diverting things to do in the frozen tundra of Buffalo, NY. Since it is so cold all the time, residents of Buffalo have extended hours on their bars (4am) which help you get more drinks down thus giving the appearance of more attractive women. Apparently McGahee was too busy playing Dungeons and Dragons to go to Chippewa street or to see the lovely ladies at "The Colonie Lounge."

Sure it is tough to be a Bills fan, but it doesn't even come close to how hard Willis McGahee sucks at life.

Reign over me

Growing up, one of my favorite movies was Billy Madison. There is nothing funnier than watching Adam Sandler put flaming bags of poop on Old Man Clement's front porch. Well, it appears that Sandlers days of nudi magazines and chasing penguins are over. He has matured into more serious roles such as Spanglish and Punch Drunk Love. His most recent release, Reign over me, with co-star Don Cheadle is one of his best yet.

The story is quite simple. Sandler and Cheadle were roommates during dental school, but grew apart after graduation. The two are reunited during low points in both of their lives. Cheadleoperates a successful dental practice, but is bored with his work and feels suffocated by his wife (Jada Pinkett Smith.) Sandler suffers from the loss of his wife and daughters who were killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks.

The rest of the movie follows the friendship that is reignited between Sandler and Cheadle. Sandler does an excellent job playing the role of a man who has not grieved over his loss. Cheadle attempts to "fix" his friend with varying degrees of sucess. Both actors do an outstanding job in a movie that will make you tear up as Sandler describes his family as well as laugh out loud when Cheadle deals with an obsessed patient.