The Library of Congress

So, today I am working on my assignment(s) for Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) and also on a lesson that I am going to give on Jefferson after I return home from High Trails.

TPS is really, really cool. We're getting a wonderful opportunity to not only take our 477 class, but also this TPS class along with it. The first few assignments have really helped me understand how to use the Library of Congress (LOC) website. Sheesh there is a lot of stuff there! I've been before, but it always seems a tad bit overwhelming...probably becuase it is : ) But through the assignments that we've had to do, I find myself spending lots of time just gazing at a letter, or as the case was this morning, a drawing that Jefferson made of a plow design. One of our first assignments is to fill out this worksheet for a specific time period...the one we are doing for our unit. I'm not only doing a unit, but also my capstone paper on Abigail, so you can imagine my complete elation when we learned how to use this site and a bazillion more sources immidately became availible to me.

Problem: The LOC site is having problems right now and it is angering me. I feel like someone has locked the toybox, and I am anxiously awaiting someone to fix it. Anndddd, I just checked and it's still telling me "WARNING" instead of sending me to wonderful maps, letters and paintings of the Revolutionary war.

So, since I have some time, I thought that I might discuss yesterday, and the lesson that I was able to observe. In my 450 class I'm assigned to a US history class. When I was in school I took AP, which is offered, along with IB at the school I work at. I am fortuante to be in the "normal" class as I didn't take the "normal" history classes when I was a student. That said, the kids are relly talkative, but the energy is mostly positive. Their assignment was to reserch a specific part of the American Revolution ... i.e. "women" and present what they found along with a monument that they created. My mentor-teacher was explaining to me that he came up with this when there weren't any monuments to the Revolution.

Anyway, the kids spent several days in the computer lab in groups creating their project, and yesterday we were able to see the finished results. I was glad that I got to be in the classroom for that, to see how he made the extremely talkative kids be quiet...and he did so by taking away points from their presentation (although silently...he didn't metion it to anyone, just wrote their names down on a piece of paper...). The projects spanned the entire spectrum from outstanding to missing the boat a little bit, but I was able to see how once you assign something, and see it come into action, how the rubric may need to change. I feel like sometimes our job is never ending. I guess I feel like that becuase it is. Haha. The monuments were really good, and the kids had some really creative ideas. I like when they come up with things that you never think that they would have. One of them was a monument to the American Women and was a statue of a cannon representing the war with the names of influential women on the spokes of the wheels demonstrating the support that the women provided.

I'm going to High Trails next week, so I am getting ready for my lesson on Jefferson that will take place the week after. I'm a little stuck, but perhaps finishing up my other assignment for TPS will help a bit. I love T.J. and it is hard to figure out what the kids might want to know, and how in depth to go. All part of the learning process, I suppose : )

I think the LOC has decided to stop being stupid now, so I am going to go work on that now.
: )