We race into springtime and summer in Santa Fe. Seniors are busy preparing their portfolios and the "map project" We have had a wonderful time with maps.."Miss, You really like maps..oh yes!" We have learned how Lewis and Clark used striding, compasses and pole chain to make maps in the 1700's.
We have made maps of Botswana, Cuba, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Students have used Jeffrey Sachs' rubric for evaluating progress toward development or vice versa---lasting causes of entrenched poverty, government failure, cultural discrimination, lack of innovation and geopolitics to evaluate: Who has and who has not." 
The Yale Team visited my classroom and students were mostly alert, citing examples of landlocked countries, recent political crackdowns and geography+economic+political strife. The most difficult challenge is to get them to read and do homework. The students feel overloaded and about 90% have jobs after school--some late into the evening.
Dennis Santa Kogo from Kenya who lives in Minnesota (where he is doing a college degree) visited. He spoke with the students about Kenya and did a wonderful powerpoint presentation. Two of 
my students had also done a presentation about Kenya. They have never been there but seemed to get the same information and photos off the Internet.
We studied AIDS, malaria in Africa and how a simple $10 bednet can alleviate the untold economic and physical suffering of Africans. Dennis told of his own bouts with malaria, how it keeps you out of work and tired and how for a child that means near death without treatment.
my students had also done a presentation about Kenya. They have never been there but seemed to get the same information and photos off the Internet.We studied AIDS, malaria in Africa and how a simple $10 bednet can alleviate the untold economic and physical suffering of Africans. Dennis told of his own bouts with malaria, how it keeps you out of work and tired and how for a child that means near death without treatment.
My junior class of US History is superb, excelling in every challenge. Our recent brown bag project on World War II brought out assignments on people, places and things. A few girls studied fashion and how New York couturier blossomed under the Paris occupation. I asked my students to differentiate between Anne Frank and Eva Braun and the moral decisions they made and what happened to them. Both had tragic lives and students agreed that Eva 
Braun had made poor choices--even trying to kill herself many times. We watched "{Saving Private Ryan}" a film for which I have to get permission from parents. It is rated "R" and the violence constitutes something that somehow parents might find objectionable for teenagers. The students come alive in World War II, they can interview their grandparents about real life experiences.
Braun had made poor choices--even trying to kill herself many times. We watched "{Saving Private Ryan}" a film for which I have to get permission from parents. It is rated "R" and the violence constitutes something that somehow parents might find objectionable for teenagers. The students come alive in World War II, they can interview their grandparents about real life experiences.I have learned alot this year-- particularly about classroom management. Once students know you, and once you have principals who back up your decisions, things work more smoothly. I have had a lot of interaction with parents which helps enormously. We have been very tough on attendance and absenteeism which is the #1 problem in the schools. When students are absent, they miss the class, they expect to make up the work and eventually some fall behind. When parents know the severe problems their child is causing by "ditching" the local expression, they can be of help. 
This summer I will be going back to Yale for a Seminar on "Democracy." I hope to bring to my US Government and US 
History classes a more exciting and hands-on approach to the uniqueness of American democracy. I find it necessary to separate our government system from its economy. It is hard not to feel as a student that the government is really not 'on their side' economically.
History classes a more exciting and hands-on approach to the uniqueness of American democracy. I find it necessary to separate our government system from its economy. It is hard not to feel as a student that the government is really not 'on their side' economically. In fact, there are many parallels with the play the Wizard of Oz which recently came to our theater--a production completely directed, managed by students.
The Wiz could not have been cuter. The scenery and munchikins who came from nearby elementary schools were adorable
The final project for my seniors is to make a map of their own environment. We have projects on "Where Teens Can Listen to Good Music" "The Prices of Hotels in the Plaza which include the Lodgers tax" and "The Relation between world population growth and poverty."
The final project for my seniors is to make a map of their own environment. We have projects on "Where Teens Can Listen to Good Music" "The Prices of Hotels in the Plaza which include the Lodgers tax" and "The Relation between world population growth and poverty."
Santa Fe would not be Santa Fe, nor New Mexico, without fabulous Native American culture, incredible wonders of geology and art beyond all belief..This little native american-Hopi boy was at a special dance at Pojoaque for the opening of their exhibit. My friend, Ray, Dennis and I went to Tent Rocks, where we were showered by a pebble storm during a blizzard of eroding debris.