Go Green

This week we purchased re-useable bags and have begun to use them each week when we shop.

Reasons to reuse:

1 Every year Americans throw away 100 billion plastic grocery bags. These bags can clog drains, crowd landfills, and leave an unsightly blot on the landscape.
2 Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down.
3 Each reusable bag has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime.
4 The production of plastic bags requires large amounts of crude oil, natural gas, or other petrochemical derivatives.
5 The production of paper bags requires large amounts of wood, petroleum, and coal.

So why don't more people do this? (I have never seen someone in the Houston area reusing their own bags) Well, it could be that they don't know about it. So that's why I am blogging about it. Or it could be that people are inherently stupid and lazy. I am hoping for the first choice - it's a matter of education. I sleep better at night thinking that way.

Get a free Kroger reusable shopping bag loaded to your Shopper's Card when you submit a design. You could win $500 from Kroger—and see your bag in stores!
Find out more about designing your own bag at: Design A Green Bag.com

I also sleep well knowing that the power company that we use is - Green Mountain.

The company is designed to get the most out of marketing and supplying energy from geothermal, wind and solar.

Happy Earthday 2008

Miguel Tejada sports his "Go Green" hat for Earth Day 2008 at Minute Maid Park tonight. The Astros are looking for the sweep of the Pads.

At least some good news tonight. The Astros are up 9-7 in the bottom of the 8th.

Obama loses to Hillary tonight in PA, but his close finish might help push Hill over the hill. She is running out of money. Will she run dry on fundraising?

Well, I am going to go listen to Barack and then head to bed. He's about to speak from Indiana... I guess it's on to the Hoosier state. Great.

A message for Aidan

I thought about what the purpose of my blog was this morning. Really it has boiled down to a record of what is happening in our lives for Aidan to one day read. Then I thought, I really want him to hear what I said last night during the National Charity League dinner. It is my hope that one day he can be as big an influence on his school, community and country as the 10 ladies are that we celebrated last night. I can't wait to see the pictures that were taken.

Good Evening.

I am very proud to be with you tonight. This is a special honor for me and I am thankful for the opportunity to introduce you to these wonderful young ladies.

As an educator, a goal of mine is to help foster leadership and service. That is one reason I appreciate the National Charity League. They have the same goals. The ten young ladies I am about to introduce to you are leaders in many ways. Their work with NCL is important and appreciated by those they can serve. There is no doubt that they have inspired others with their work and their acts of service will multiply in the future through this organization and many others.

As I read through their bios and remembered my own experiences with these young ladies, I was reminded of a quote by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who said,
“It is far better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

As many of you know, these ladies are candle lighters.

So, Aidan... be a good boy! And good things will happen for you in life. You might even be lucky enough to have a girl friend in the National Charity League. :)

National Charity League MC

Tonight I had the honor to be the Master of Ceremonies for the National Charity League Lake Houston chapter. They graduated 10 senior girls and 9 of them I knew well from teaching. It was a wonderful event.

I read each young lady's bio as they walked in with their fathers. Then there was a very nice dinner and the young ladies gave speeches of appreciation to their moms. Then they showed a wonderful slide show with each girl's picture from when they were very little throughout their 18 years. It ended with pictures of the 10 girls during their service time in NCL from 7th grade to 12th.

It was very special for me because the girls asked me to do it. I had most of them in my World History Pre-AP class at Humble High three years ago. They are a part of the first graduating class of AHS. It is going to be another special day when they graduate from our school.

Before I left to go this afternoon, I decided to get some pictures taken with Aidan. I don't really have very many pictures that are just me and him. I think it is because I am usually using the camera and taking the pictures myself. So it was neat to pose with him some. I really have missed him this weekend. I spent all day Saturday at school in meetings about our new grading system and breaking down the conference we went to in Hawaii. Today was the NCL dinner and I did not get home until close to 8pm.

It was a special day though. I will always have a fond place in my heart for these girls. When they delivered their speeches to their moms, I could not help but shed tears. It is difficult to watch some of the most confident and articulate young ladies get so emotional when trying to say thank you to their mothers. But, they did a fantastic job.

An Emotional Week

This past week was quite emotional in my classroom at school. My students presented their digital projects. They were better than ever!

I have uploaded the 12 best videos (ones that I was capable of uploading, a few were awesome but they were turned in on dvds that only play in the player and could not be loaded to a website).

Please check them out here:
Digital Projects in World History

The project information can be found on my classroom website: Click here and then on PROJECTS. Look for the 5th Six Weeks Project links. There were three main areas the students could choose from: Environment, Africa and Modern World topics.

They did some amazing work. A couple make me tear up every time I watch them.

I was peeing my pants...

I don't know why... but this made me laugh so hard!

Enough Is Enough

The debate last night was grizzly. Not what America is looking for or what we need.

I am very encouraged by the polls in PA and the fact that voters seem to be turned off by this negative posturing by Clinton and the media. I just hope PA voters choose Obama and we can get on to having a real discussion about our differences with Republicans. That is what is important right now.

This primary has run it's course already. Enough is enough. Enough from the media and enough negativity. I hope PA does the right thing and moves this along. People are getting fatigued by it.

World History - Digital Projects

I am really proud of the work that my kids have done on their digital projects. They have three broad areas to choose from:
1. The Environment
2. Africa
3. Modern World

The kids have had 4 chances to go to the computer lab during the period and work on research. But the majority of the work on a digital project like this is done at home. They also have to write a research paper and present the material to the class.

Two of the projects have really stood out so far. Both have been videos. The kids in the class were pretty silent after clapping at the end. It really made an impact. I wanted to share them both here on this blog. It is a wonderful feeling to see your students learn about a topic, feel deeply about it, and then pass that knowledge on to the class. But, it is also great to then be able to share it with the rest of the world.


starvation in the african horn from christian deluxe on Vimeo.

Uganda Today by Zac S from fordee on Vimeo.

He is no longer a baby

Today I had a realization. My little baby is no longer a little baby. We bought a bike for Aidan. As if the bike wasn't enough, he is wearing a helmet that is for a 5+ year-old. The 3 year-old ones did not fit. Amazing.

What happened to my little baby?


He is now a very big boy! He can't wait until tomorrow to go bike riding again.

Baseball Time

40 Years Later - Are we to the mountain top yet?

Today is the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination. His last speech: "I Have Been to the Mountaintop."

You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, "Are you Martin Luther King?"

And I was looking down writing, and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that's punctured, you drown in your own blood—that's the end of you.

It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I'd received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I've forgotten what the letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I'll never forget it. It said simply, "Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School." She said, "While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing you to say that I'm so happy that you didn't sneeze."

And I want to say tonight, I want to say that I am happy that I didn't sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream. And taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been down in Selma, Alabama, been in Memphis to see the community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze.

And they were telling me, now it doesn't matter now. It really doesn't matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, "We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we've had the plane protected and guarded all night."

And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

He knew that he would not be around much longer. He was warning us to continue his work. Have we done his work justice?
Great Coverage Here on CNN. On History Channel on Sunday night there is a 2 hour special called "King." Can't wait to see it.

Battlestar Galactica Returns Tonight

The final season begins tonight.
It is one of the very best shows on TV. Hidden on SciFi. But, available for all to enjoy. If you like futuristic science fiction at all... this is a show worth checking out. The plot is thick and evolving and it is unexpected.

Who knows what they'll do tonight? It will be fun. I am just going to enjoy the ride aboard 'Battlestar Galactica.'