The spiritual worldview provides another way of finding truth. Scientists who deny this would be well advised to consider the limits of their own tools. (Dr. Francis S. Collins)
I would submit to you that of all the gifts that Aristotle left behind for us, the concept of syllogism was by far the biggest for not only the Western world, but for all of mankind. It is this 3-step process that the Western world has used for well over two thousand years to help one come to logical conclusions about the world, and universe, around us. I would think that it is important that when obtaining facts and information, Aristotle’s syllogism is extremely helpful when someone needs to come to a logical conclusion….
After showing the two video clips regarding the interaction between Gandalf and Pippin and their potential fate on Middle Earth, along with the opening crawl from the first Star Wars movie depicting life in a galaxy far, far away, the attention comes back to planet Earth. It is time to continue to develop what I would consider perhaps the most important of all human continuities that all humans throughout history share:
Someone Upstairs Runs The Show.
Imagine a graph of human history. On the x axis running left to right, represents the History of Humans. On the y axis, running from the bottom towards the ceiling, represents human progress. Inside the graph there are two lines drawn representing human progression over time.
1) The first shows an even and consistent advance upwards, starting in the bottom left-hand corner and advancing in a straight, diagonal line towards the right of the graph;
2) The second line is quite choppy, also starting in the bottom left-hand corner, this line progresses throughout time more like looking at a mountain range off in the distance…up and down…really up and kinda down…really down and kinda up…showing overall progress over time, throughout human history….
Which line is the more accurate representation of human progress throughout time, the first or the second line?
There is only one correct answer….
The second line.
After presenting this chart of human history to the students, I turn to them and ask them a simple question:
Which set of lines represents your life?
If I were to put your name by one of the lines, would it be the straight line or the rocky and choppy line littered with peaks and valleys, since you were born?
Not a single student to date has ever selected the first line.
Now, in the lower-left-hand corner of the graph, I have a dot labelled ‘Day 1’ there, representing the birth of humanity. Standing to the left of the chart on the board, I ask the students a question:
Which one of these answers is correct regarding how humans first arrived here on planet Earth?
Beneath the ‘Day 1’ black dot, I have 4, multiple-choice answers below:
A) Adam and Eve, (A/E);
B) Monkeys, (Monkeys);
C) Another world and Aliens put us here, (Aliens) or;
D) A combination of All Of The Above, (AOTA);
Why does the answer to my question matter? What is the point anyways?
In the grand scheme of things, the answer really doesn’t matter for my students. The students are not responsible for knowing the answer because it will never come up at all on the AP World History Exam that CollegeBoard gives every May.
I ask the question for a different reason, whatever students may believe Day 1 is for humans: A, B, C, or D, the point is irrelevant…
At least regarding the AP World History exam.
Do not feel discouraged if you are unsure where humans ultimately came from. Do not feel discouraged if you never knew about, remembered, or even care about history at all. Instead, embrace the idea that it’s great to know that you are free to choose one of those 4 ideas, (or maybe you have a 5th that I do not have on the board), of where we came from. Embrace this idea as well: is it, or is it not relevant, to even care about the beginnings of human history in the first place?
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (Deuteronomy 28:14 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 12: In The Beginning – Part 1.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
I would submit to you that before we can dig deeper to answer that question, we must figure out…
Howto answer that question.
Already wrapping up the second week of class, I begin to sense that I am not going to finish the content at the end of the semester, which is still months away. Whether it’s a fire alarm, an all-school assembly, or going a few minutes over with the school announcements, already the window of teaching the content and analysis necessary for the student to perform at an optimal level on the AP World History May exam is already closing.
As of this writing, I have been teaching this course for 16 years. And it seems, that for the most part, the expectations are always the same…
I am expected to teach 15 and 16-year olds 10,000 years’ worth of content, (before CollegeBoard redesigned the course a couple of years ago to around 800 years), and analysis, at a collegiate level, (in theory), in one semester, or 18 weeks.
I have not, nor ever will be able to, to my satisfaction, finish the course in its entirety, to give the students the best chance to be the most successful on that exam in May.
Whether it is 10,000 years of content and analysis, or around 800 years going forward, the reality is that these expectations are an impossible task.
With that being said, and knowing the obstacles that I am up against teaching in the public-school system, every year over the summer I work on ways to cut corners on both content and analysis, in order to try to fit all in…
I still have yet to find the winning combination to achieve these goals.
That means at the end of the summer, going into the academic school-year, sacrifices in content and analysis must be made.
One of those sacrifices for me usually come at the expense of the Greek Empire.
As week 2 would come to a close and that second weekend would finally approach, I used to spend about a week before the students’ first unit exam on the Classical Civilizations. They used to comprise the following 6 civilizations around the world that existed from about 600 BCE to 600 CE:
The Zhou and Han of China; The Gupta and Maurya of South Asia, (India), and; The Greeks and Romans of the Mediterranean region.
Too much content…too much analysis…
Not enough time.
If that was not enough, I no longer teach the Greek Empire anyway (at least not officially).
It is under these conditions that I will be lucky to even mention one man’s name at all during the semester…
Aristotle.
Aristotle lived from approximately 384 to 322 BCE in the Greek, (Macedonian) Empire. He was the last in a trinity of powerful thinkers who I refer to collectively as the ‘Golden Era of Greek philosophical thought’:
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
It is perhaps because of his status and association with both Socrates and Plato that King Philip II of Macedon summoned Aristotle to tutor his son Alexander the Great, who will ultimately become the worlds’ first conqueror. It is important to note that it is because of the contributions of the Greeks and more to the point Aristotle, that the civilizations of the West should thank. Why Aristotle? Socrates and Plato were giants in the Greek Empire before Aristotle came on the scene. However it was the many and varied contributions of Aristotle, that I believe the civilizations of the West should ultimately thank. These contributions included: agriculture, biology, botany, dance, ethics, mathematics, metaphysics, medicine, physics, politics, and theatre.
However, I would suggest to you that the one contribution that most impacted the Western world, and thus by default, at least over the last 500 years, the entire world, were contributions of Aristotle to philosophy.
Aristotle is referred to as the “Father of Western Philosophy.” Almost a 1000 years later, a philosophical heavyweight in his own right, Thomas Aquinas, referred to Aristotle as simply: “The Philosopher.”
A tiny fraction of his works remain in the present day, (31 of at least 200), of which are in crude, lecture and draft type format.
Nonetheless, the big takeaway is this:
Aristotle is the father of logic, reasoning and ultimately, the scientific method. Aristotle is the founding father of the concept of syllogism. Syllogism is basically a 3-step process to come to a logical conclusion. This is how Aristotle taught the Western World to think, using syllogism:
Part A – All humans are mortal; Part B – I am a human; Part C – I am mortal.
Pretty simple, yet, pretty profound. This syllogism concept, along with his foundational teachings in deductive and inductive reasoning, laid the groundwork for among other things, the modern field of science. The blueprint of logic reasoning and the scientific method remained the dominant form of inquiry, until the late 1800’s.
Now that you have a working idea of how syllogism works, read one of my takes on it:
Part A – All humans have brains; Part B – I am a human; Part C – I have a brain.
Again, pretty simple, yet, pretty profound. (I guess you could argue, pretty silly as well). Whether you agree or disagree as to how simple, or profound, or silly, my take on syllogism is, I would suggest the following…
I would submit to you that using Aristotle’s idea of syllogism going forward will help us to unlock many doors and answer many unanswered questions, about us, and about the universe.
Do not feel discouraged if you don’t know much about what you learned in your Social Studies and World History classes. Do not feel discouraged if you never knew or realized the true impacts of what Aristotle has done for the Western World. Instead, embrace the idea that it’s great to know now that Aristotle was a pretty amazing human. Embrace the idea that maybe, just maybe, using his concept of syllogism, may help us to better understand the world, the universe, and eternity.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
GANDALF: End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.
PIPPIN: What? Gandalf? See what?
GANDALF: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
I would submit to you that a good question to ask yourself is this:
Why, over the approximately last 10,000 years of human history, have humans been creating architectural wonders that reach for the sky, and not towards the center of the Earth?
I would think that some basic logic would be needed in order to answer this question.
Logically speaking, regardless of chronology, geography and/or belief system, what have humans historically done when they needed some: courage, guidance, strength and/or wisdom?
Humans have historically looked up…
Not down.
If you agree with this, then the next issue to grapple with would most likely be this:
Who, (or what), exactly, is this someone, (thing, etc.), that humans throughout recorded history, are looking up to, (not down), for their: courage, guidance, strength and/or wisdom?
Great question.
In fact, this is a question that I address with my students the second week of class. It is usually about this time that I bring up a concept that I refer to as:
The ‘The Big 7 Belief Systems’.
These belief systems were at the time, (before the redesign of the course), what CollegeBoard felt were the most important belief systems for students to learn in the course. These belief systems were covered during the Foundations, (8,000 BCE – 600 CE), and Classical, (600 BCE – 600 CE), units, or units 1 and 2, of AP World History:
So what are ‘The Big 7 Belief Systems’?
Polytheism/Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism and Christianity. Islam is not mentioned at this point officially due to the fact chronologically, it appears in the 7th century, which is for the course, covered in unit 3 or the Post-Classical unit, (600 CE – 1450 CE).
It is at this point when introducing these belief systems that I show a quick clip from the Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, to help set the stage for my ‘The Big 7 Belief Systems’ lecture. The scene is under a minute and half. To put this scene in perspective, here is data when researching the following times of the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy:
What is the combined length of the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions?
Answer:
The Fellowship of the Ring: 178 minutes theatrical, 208 minutes extended (228 with additional credits)
The Two Towers: 179 minutes theatrical, 223 minutes extended (235 with additional credits)
The Return of the King: 200 minutes theatrical, 251 minutes (263 with additional credits)
Grand Totals:
Theatrical edition: 557 minutes or 9.2 hours
Extended edition: 682 minutes or 11.4 hours
Extended edition with credits: 726 minutes or 12.1 hours.
So why exactly am I bringing all of this information up regarding how extremely long these 3 movies are?
I would submit to you this 1 minute, 22 second scene is the most perhaps the most impactful scene in the entire trilogy that is happening on Middle Earth. Seemingly, it appears that this scene impacts every human who watches the scene here on planet Earth. (Gandalf and Pippin are in Middle Earth).
The scene that I am referring to can be found here:
After showing this scene, I transition from the Lord Of The Rings…to Star Wars.
Eventually, when I begin discussing the DBQ essay, (Document Based Question), I will show the opening crawl, containing 3 body paragraphs, that begin all 9 Star Wars movie. Although the Who, Where and When of the 3 body paragraphs may be different as the movies change, what doesn’t change is the opening sentence in that static blue text:
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”
So…what exactly is the point of all of this?
Why am I showing a scene from the Lord of the Rings?
Why am I showing the opening crawl in Star Wars?
Consider the following:
Whether you are a wizard and a Hobbit on Middle Earth, or a couple of Jedi in a galaxy far, far away…
Whether it is referred to as a: “grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass…White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.”…
Or known simple as the ‘Force’…
What we all have in common in Middle Earth, a galaxy far, far away, and here on planet Earth, is the idea that:
Someone Upstairs Runs The Show.
And no matter where we are: Middle Earth, a galaxy far, far away, or here on planet Earth…
We all long to be there…to get there…and most importantly…
To stay there.
Upstairs.
So if we can agree that Someone Upstairs Runs The Show, is it actually possible to find this Someone?
I would submit to you that it might be easier than you think.
Do not feel discouraged if you do not see the connection with the connection between the Middle Earth, a galaxy far, far away, and you. Do not feel discouraged if you feel that you sometimes have no idea which of these worlds you feel like you are in depending on the day. Instead, embrace the idea that no matter what universe, galaxy or planet you are in, we are all thinking the same thought, Someone Upstairs Runs The Show. Embrace the idea that the answer to the ‘Someone’ is not only possible to learn, but sometime in the future, you will be comfortable enough to teach others who this ‘Someone’ is.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (Acts 17:23 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 10: OK…So Who Is This Someone?
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up. (Stephen Hawking)
I would submit to you that humans deep down, in their gut, their soul, their consciousness…whatever you want to call it, believe that there is more to life than just ‘this’.
So what exactly is ‘this’?
I have ‘this’ as a visual up on my front board in class. It is a simple chart with the following on it:
An X axis labelled TIME from zero to infinity;
A Y axis labelled ‘SPEC’: (Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural) from zero to infinity;
A black line pointing steadily upwards as it moves left to right, and halfway through I have ‘SOL’ (Standard Of Living) underneath said line;
A green line, arching above the black line, representing you;
A red line, arching above the black and green lines, representing a stock in the stock market;
A blue line, arching above the black, green and red lines, representing human empires;
A capital ‘A’ marked in the lower, left-hand corner of the chart;
A capital ‘B’ marked at the height of the chart, above the blue, human empire line and;
A capital ‘C’ market where the black, green, red and blue lines all meet at the far right-hand side of the chart:
What does this visual have to do with ‘this’?
After I show and explain this chart to my students, there are 3 major take-aways that I want them to come away with:
1) Over time, empires, stocks and humans have the same, general life cycle: they are born (A), they rise to greatness (B), and they eventually die (C);
2) Since humans make both empires and stocks, it makes sense then that they mimic the life cycle of humans who created them and;
3) Over time, humanity improves on all fronts, Socially, Politically, Economically and Culturally, as shown by the advancing Standard Of Living of humans over time.
So what? Again, what does my visual on my board in my classroom have to do with ‘this’? What does this visual have to do with Someone Upstairs Running The Show?
Well for starters, look at the overall direction of the arrow of humanity over time…
It is pointing upward, not downward.
A secondary point is that when I get to point C on the chart, I die.
Meanwhile, my son, has his capital A to the right of my C. (Since this part is not written on the board, I finish off this concept explaining this last part.)
In other words, when I die, (as will the rest of my generation eventually), my son, (and his generation), will continue to send humanity to greater and greater heights.
To my knowledge, that chart is hand drawn in my classroom only…literally. Therefore, at best, the continuity of understanding that Someone Upstairs Runs The Show, is seen by at most, 150 students per year. (As of this writing, I have been teaching AP World History going on 16 years now.)
Is it possible then, that a single chart, on single board, of a single classroom, literally on our single planet, could have a greater impact on those who will never visit my classroom in their lifetime?
How is that impact possible if you have never seen the chart because you have never been in my room?
How is it possible for someone who has never taken my class to understand that Someone Upstairs Runs The Show?
Architecture. Architecture I believe is the answer.
For at least the past 5,000 years, all around the world, in all civilizations, mankind has always been motivated to build up, not down.
In fact, here are 56 pieces of evidence, in chronological order, that help to prove that mankind has always recognized that Someone Upstairs Runs The Show:
1) 2,720 B.C.; Ellinka, Greece; Pyramid of Hellinikon; almost 12 feet;
2) 2,670 B.C. to 2,648 B.C.; Saqqara, Egypt: Step Pyramid of Djoser; 203 feet;
9) 2,580 B.C. to 2,551 B.C.; Giza, Egypt: Great Pyramid of Khufu; 455 feet;
10) 2,570 B.C. to 2,520 B.C.; Giza, Egypt: Pyramid of Khafre; 471 feet;
11) 2,510 B.C.; Giza, Egypt: Pyramid of Menkaure; 213 feet;
12) 2,205 B.C. to 1,767 B.C.; Xian, China; White Pyramid Of Xian; 1,000 feet;
13) 2,100 B.C.; Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq; Great Ziggurat at Ur; 98 feet;
14) 683 B.C. to 283 B.C.; Meroe, Sudan: The Nubian Pyramids; 20-98 feet (range);
15) 200 B.C. to 800 A.D.; Puebla, Mexico: Great Pyramid of Cholula; 180 feet;
16) 12 B.C.; Rome, Italy: Pyramid of Cestius; 125 feet;
17) 100 A.D. to 200 A.D.; Teotihuacan, Mexico: Pyramid of the Sun; 216 feet;
18) 100 A.D. to 800 A.D.; Trujillo, Peru: Huaca del Sol; 164 feet (planned), 135 feet (today);
19) 150 A.D. to 250 A.D.; Teotihuacan, Mexico: Pyramid of the Moon; 141 feet;
20) 1st Century A.D. to 4th Century A.D.; Tiruchirappalli, India: Ranganathaswamy Temple, 236 feet;
21) 560 A.D to 900’s A.D.; Uxmal, Mexico: Pyramid of the Magician; 131 feet;
22) 604 A.D. to 1240 A.D.; London, England: Old St Paul’s Cathedral 493 feet;
23) 682 A.D. to 734 A.D.; Petén, Guatemala: Mayan Pyramids of Tikal; 154 feet;
24) 1,003 A.D. to 1,010 A.D.; Thanjavur, India: Brihadisvara Temple; 217 feet;
25) 1015 A.D. to 1439 A.D.; Strasbourg, France: Strasbourg Cathedral; 466 feet;
26) 1030 A.D. to 1876 A.D.; Rouen, France: Rouen Cathedral; 495 feet;
27) 1088 A.D. to 1311 A.D.; Lincoln, England: Lincoln Cathedral; 524 feet;
28) 1225 A.D. to 1573 A.D.; Beauvais, France: Beauvais Cathedral; 502 feet;
29) 1248 A.D. to 1880 A.D.; Cologne, Germany: Cologne Cathedral; 516 feet;
30) 1298 A.D. to 1478 A.D.; Stralsund, Germany: St. Mary’s church; 495 feet;
31) 1335 A.D. to 1874 A.D.; Hamburg, Germany: St. Nicholas’ Church; 483 feet;
32) 1377 A.D. to 1890 A.D.: Ulm, Germany: Ulm Minster; 530 feet;
33) 1796 A.D. to 1797 A.D.; Shrewsbury, United Kingdom: Ditherington Flax Mill; 52 feet;
34) 1848 A.D. to 1884 A.D.; Washington D.C., United States: Washington Monument; 554 feet;
35) 1871 A.D. to 1901 A.D.; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia City Hall; 548 feet;
36) 1885 A.D.: Chicago, Illinois; The Home Insurance Building; 138 feet;
37) 1908 A.D.; New York City, New York: Singer Building; 612 feet;
38) 1905 A.D. to 1909 A.D.; New York City, New York: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower; 700 feet;
39) 1910 A.D. to 1912 A.D.; New York City, New York: Woolworth Building; 792 feet;
40) 1928 A.D. to 1930 A.D.; New York City, New York: Chrysler Building; 1046 feet;
41) 1929 A.D. to 1930 A.D.; New York City, New York: 40 Wall Street; 927 feet;
42) 1930 A.D. to 1931 A.D.; New York City, New York: Empire State Building; 1454 feet;
43) 1968 A.D. to 1970 A.D.; New York City, New York: World Trade Center (1 WTC); 1730 feet;
44) 1970 A.D. to 1973 A.D.; Chicago, Illinois: Willis Tower (Sears Tower); 1729 feet;
45) 1985 A.D. to 1989 A.D.; Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast: Our Lady of Peace Basilica; 518 feet;
46) 1993 A.D. to 1996 A.D.; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Petronas Twin Towers; 1483 feet;
47) 1997 A.D. to 2008 A.D.; Shanghai, China: Shanghai World Financial Center; 1621.7 feet;
48) 1999 A.D. to 2004 A.D.; Taipei, Taiwan: Taipei 101 Tower; 1671 feet;
49) 2002 A.D. to 2010 A.D.; Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong: The International Commerce Centre; 1,587.9 feet;
50) 2004 A.D. to 2010 A.D.; Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The Burj Khalifa; 2722 feet;
51) 2004 A.D. to 2011 A.D.; Mecca, Saudi Arabia: Abraj Al-Bait Towers; 1972 feet;
52) 2006 A.D. to 2013 A.D.; New York City, USA: One World Trade Center; 1792 feet;
53) 2008 A.D. to 2014 A.D.; Shanghai, China: Shanghai Centre/Tower; 2073 feet;
54) 2009 A.D. to 2016 A.D.; Guangzhou, China: Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre; 1739 feet;
55) 2010 A.D. to 2017 A.D.; Guangdong, China: Ping An Finance Centre; 1996 feet;
56) 2011 A.D. to 2016 A.D.; South Korea: Lotte World Tower; 1823 feet….
Logically speaking, if Someone Upstairs Does NOT Run The Show, then why would the people of: Greece, Egypt, Peru, China, Iraq, Sudan, Mexico, Rome, India, England, Guatemala, France, Germany, The United States, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, over the last 10,000 years, waste all of their time, energy, and resources, trying to get to that Someone?
Then, and now?
Is the Someone Upstairs Who Runs The Show really up there? I think so. Well, who or what is this Someone? When teaching the class I position this answer one of three ways, depending on who where and when you ask them:
1) Spirits, (polydaemonism);
2) Gods and Goddesses, (polytheism) and/or;
3) God. (monotheism).
Those are the potential answers to who the Someone Upstairs Who Runs The Show is or may be.
Are all 3 answers correct?
Can they all be correct?
Can only one be correct?
Well, in time, hopefully the answers to those questions will be eventually answered….
Do not feel discouraged if you don’t believe that Someone Upstairs Runs The Show. Do not feel discouraged if you feel that you have no idea what the correct answer is if you do believe that Someone Upstairs Runs The Show. Instead, embrace the idea that it’s great to have the freedom to be able to even think about this idea. Embrace the idea that there are answers to that question, answers that will eventually be found when the time comes.
3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:3-4 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
I would submit to you that rest is as important as work…
And play…
And family life…
And more.
However, once that day of rest is complete, and the sun rises on a new work week, whether it is a Monday, Sunday, or any day in-between, eventually, it is time to get back to…
Work.
Usually, the way the school-year is set up, we are by now going into the second week of school. With that being said, I begin to dive a little deeper into the content of the course. Being a teacher in the public school system, teaching an AP World History course with the expectations mandated by Collegeboard, here are a few things that I would like to share with you regarding the teaching expectations that I am must work with, before the redesign that came along in 2019-2020:
1) I have 90 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 18 weeks total, to teach the course, AP World History. This schedule is referred to as the accelerated block system;
2) I need to cover hundreds of people, places and things that mankind has accomplished over the 10,000 years on 6 continents and;
3) The content and analysis presented is, in theory, to be presented at the college level.
The age of my students range somewhere between the 15 to 16 year-old range. Those years are chronological…
Not maturity age.
Nor intellectual age.
Combine the chronological age of the students with the fact that for many, this is their first go around in an AP level course. I make it very clear that they are in Advanced Placement, World History class.
Not regular.
Combining all of these ingredients on the surface appears to be a recipe for disaster.
Dealing with the trials and tribulations and the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the students as they experience the journey through my class is a whole other story in and of itself…
In fact, an entirely separate blog in and of itself.
Back on point….
The first unit in class that we discuss is referred to as the ‘Foundations’ unit. A couple of things that I bring to the students attention are two-fold when introducing the ‘Foundations’ unit:
1) As a general rule, the ‘Foundations’ unit covers content from approximately 8,000 BC to 600 AD;
2) It matters not as far as CollegeBoard is concerned, whether you believe that human history can be traced farther back in time. Or as I have on the board in multiple choice format:
How old do you think humans started on planet Earth?
A) Adam and Eve (or Creation);
B) Monkeys (or Evolution);
C) Aliens (or…Aliens); or
D) All of the above;
Now, back to my classroom. The classroom is dark. At best, once the classroom lights are off, there are several iPad screens that are on, (or cellphones…those are the students that most likely are not going to be successful in my class), giving off a faint glow around the room.
After instructing the students to turn off all of their technology, the dark classroom is just about pitch black now. Then the glow of my red dot from the laser point in my hand appears on a ceiling tile above their heads.
I explain to the students that what they are currently looking at, the red dot, is a representation of their life here on Earth. (As a general rule, after I left that hang in the air for a moment or two, even those still on their iPads or cell phones are now for the most part, fully engaged, wondering where I am going to go with their red dot.)
More specifically, I tell them that the red dot is actually the dash that is sitting on their tombstone. The dash, which sits in-between their date of birth and date of death, represents their life on planet Earth.
No one moves. The students wonder where I am taking this…
I continue.
“This dash that is on the ceiling represents your life and everything that you did during the time you were alive here on Earth. All the good. All the bad. All the ugly. None of that matters now. What matters now is, (I remove my thumb from the remote and the ceiling is now black), that sometime in the future, much later hopefully rather than sooner, you will die, and your life will be nothing more than a, (I press down again to bring the red dot back up on the ceiling), dash on a tombstone….”
“So, if the classroom that you are sitting in represents eternity, then it is safe for everyone in the room then to agree that we are going to be dead much longer, (red dot turned off), than we are going to be alive, (red dot on), from an eternal perspective (red dot off)?
Look at the size of the room. Do you remember your red dot, (red dot on), your life here on Earth? The red dot that is now sitting as a dash on a tombstone for the rest of eternity? Do you really think that, that is all there is to your life on an eternal scale? That once you die here on Earth, (red dot off), that is all there is? Nothing else? In your heart, do you really believe that? That you are nothing more than worm-food once you check out here?
Really?”
“Still not convinced? Let’s extend eternity out some more. Instead of the just the classroom representing eternity, let’s include the entire school…the lunchroom, the library, auditorium and gyms…plus the football stadium, and student and staff parking lots…in other words, eternity now is represented by the entire property of the property of the school itself….
Look at the dot again (red dot on).
Are you sure that once you die, (red dot off), all you have for the rest of eternity is that little dash, (red dot on), on your tombstone? Are you sure that’s all there is once you eventually checkout, (red dot off), from planet Earth?
I don’t believe that…I don’t believe that at all. To me, and to the overwhelming majority of humans that have lived here, (red dot on), for the past 10,000 years, to think that that’s all there is once you breathe your last breath, (red dot off), doesn’t make logical sense either. The idea that assuming that we are nothing but worm-food once we check out here on planet Earth, that that is the end? Does that sound logical to you?
Seriously?”
“I would submit to you that there has to be something more than this….”
As I move towards the light switches to turn them on, I can usually hear a few uncomfortable students shifting in their desks as I finish off this idea of where humans are, and more specifically, where they themselves are, not only in the scale of AP World History’s 10,000 years of human history, but on an eternal scale.
I finish off this concept, while putting the red dot remote control into my pocket, with the following takeaway:
“If you truly and honestly believe that once you die, that is it…that is all that there is for you…why then, throughout human history, humans have believed in this idea of your spirit…or soul…or whatever you wish to call it…a part of you while alive…
Goes somewhere after your death?”
“Call it Heaven. Call it Nirvana. Call it Moksha. Call it Paradise. Call it whatever you want to call it. The fact remains: the overwhelming majority of those 108 plus billion people that have lived, and are currently living on planet Earth believe, that there is something more to this after we die.
Combine that idea with this: where do humans historically turn to for advice, not only while alive on Earth, but when preparing for their afterlife in eternity? The overwhelming majority of humans around the world look up for guidance.
Now, for those who look down…that is a completely different issue and perhaps we will address that some other time. As for me, I highly recommend that you look up.”
“The thing is, the reason why humans throughout time look up and not down is because of a human continuity that I refer to as ‘SURTS’ or:
Someone Upstairs Runs The Show….”
What exactly is SURTS?
That will be addressed next time….
Do not feel discouraged if you don’t believe in the concept of eternity or an afterlife. Do not feel discouraged if you feel that your life is so out of control right now on planet Earth, that the idea of focusing on getting through another day, let alone eternity, is anywhere on your radar. Instead, embrace the idea that eternity is a good thing. Embrace the idea that perhaps there really is more than the years you put in here on planet Earth. That is something to look forward to, in addition to the sunrise…isn’t it?
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. (Isaiah 40:26 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
I would submit to you that it is important to take some rest.
As the final day of the first week of school winds down, I spend a few minutes at the end of class helping them to determine what their focus should be going into their first weekend of no classes. Usually, I will provide them an item-task analysis, ranked in order of importance, of the items that should be completed over the weekend in order to prepare themselves for the upcoming week of class. I end with the quote:
“I will give you Sunday’s off, it’s a God thing….”
The more I think about it, I don’t really know if it is really just a ‘God thing’. I mean, don’t animals, insects, birds, plants, the rest of Mother Nature and even Atheists, believe in the importance of rest?
Whether you believe that it is a ‘God thing’ or not, rest is necessary for all of us. It is necessary for all on this Earth, to be able to rest and relax and restore, as this valuable combination helps to reset our hearts, minds, bodies and souls.
Personally, I think rest is important on a Sunday, because Monday’s for high school students, (and the rest of us for that matter), can be brutal, even on a good Monday…
As an aside, is it even possible to have a good Monday?
Bottom line no matter where you stand on the issue of God, get some rest…
And relax…
And reflect.
For example, spend some time to do some reflecting on the week that has just ended. To be mindful perhaps of the following from last week:
Day 1: What Is A Mid-Life Crisis? – The Average lifespan for humans is between 70-80 years. We are one day closer to death than yesterday. There is no shame in a mid-life crisis. We long for the nudge to go in the right direction;
Day 2: Working For The Man. – If earning a salary, working more than 40 hours is time taken away from you. This time can be devoted to your calling instead. Worried about finances? Not sure about your calling? These things will work themselves out in time;
Day 3: 108 Billion Legacies…Which One Are You? – 108 billion people have lived on Earth. We are the first generation to have our legacy make a permanent impact on the generations to follow via the internet. Combine the internet with your gift? The possibilities are really…infinite;
Day 4: The Times They Are A-Changin’. – History Repeats Itself, Just Not In The Same Frequency Nor Intensity. What the Mesopotamians did over 5,500 years ago and what we are doing now…not much has changed;
Day 6: What Does It Mean To Be Reliable Exactly? – Gathering knowledge from multiple primary and secondary sources in the long run is more rewarding than no or limited knowledge. To “Free Your Mind” and to attain, comprehend, and synthesis knowledge is not easy to do, it takes time and practice to perfect….
Rest…relax…reflect.
Do not feel discouraged if you don’t know how to rest. Do not feel discouraged if you power down your mind and body that wishes to forge ahead, so many things to do, so little time. Instead, embrace the idea that rest is rejuvenating. Embrace the idea that rest restores and recharges. 10-15 minutes. Do nothing regarding the upcoming workweek…for 10-15 minutes. Then, 7 days later, extend your rest time out 5 minutes. Deep breathing exercises. Simple yoga poses. Watching cute little puppies on your social media feed. All unrelated to work and your job(s). Something…some things…to clear your mind.
9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:9-11 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 7: Rest…Relax…Reflect.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
I would submit to you that at the end of the day, all sources of information, whether it be a(n):
(online) newspaper, website, speech, blog, diary, Tweet, Retweet, and others…all have some degree of bias in them.
This reasoning I believe is simple: because Man Expresses Himself. We are all naturally biased to some degree. So, when Man Expresses Himself through one of these outlets, we are then by default, biased.
In other words, bias is part of human nature….
It is because of this realization, (or perhaps, revelation?), that I tell my students when they are trying to learn about historical events, whether from 10,000 years ago, or real-time current events flowing during the middle of class, they must learn how to detect bias.
I would submit to you that it is important for them to learn about said event(s) from multiple sources, in an attempt to neutralize bias when learning about the world around them.
The more sources, the better.
For example, I explain to them that during the school week, that they spend 5 minutes, literally, going through various news websites, to get an idea of what is going on in the world in real-time.
In the end, it really doesn’t matter what website order they select, but here would be an example that I present to them to assess the current events unfolding around the world:
Monday – Fox News, (to get coverage from a network considered far ‘right’): https://www.foxnews.com/;
Tuesday – CNN, (to get coverage from a network considered far ‘left’): http://cnn.com/;
Wednesday – British Broadcasting Corporation, (to get coverage from one of America’s ‘strongest allies’ historically): https://www.bbc.com/;
Thursday – Russian Times (RT), (to get coverage from one of America’s ‘greatest enemies’ historically): https://www.rt.com/ and;
Friday – Aljazeera, (to get coverage from a source from an Islamic point of view): https://www.aljazeera.com/.
(For those of you who qualify as former: honors, Advanced Placement, and Type A students, here is your extra credit):
Saturday – (China) People’s Daily, (to get coverage on what the Chinese, Communist government is telling 1 billion of their citizens to read): http://en.people.cn/
After assessing information from multiple sources in regards to said current event(s), I then tell them that it is up to them to “Free Their Mind”, to come to their own conclusion.
I explain to them that they are one day closer to being out of the house, or off to college, or to their job, or off to visit the world. In any event, they eventually will be on their own, and at that point it will not matter what their parents or religious leader or teacher or coach told them about the world, but eventually, they themselves will have to come to their own conclusions as to the comings and goings of the world around them.
I would contend that it is important for all of us to be able to come to our own conclusions…not because our spouse, family member, boss, co-worker, school-mate, best friend or priest told us the information was right, (or wrong), but because we came to our own conclusion. It was our research, our time, our energy, our investment, that we used when coming to an informed decision about a particular topic.
It is learning to be able to detect bias from sources to help them to try to uncover the truth.
That is where the value of teaching reliability comes into play….
In addition to learning about detecting bias from a source, it is also important to discuss the potential reliability of that source as well.
After all, if the source is not reliable, why would you as the consumer believe anything that the source has to say?
In fact, why would you even go to that source going forward, knowing that there is little to no reliability to begin with?
When reviewing an event to determine reliability, it is important to understand the differences between a primary and secondary source:
1) Primary sources: These are first-hand accounts. They are original sources. The author was somehow directly connected to the event they are writing, (expressing), about. Good examples of primary sources are: laws, treaties, speeches, diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, reports of eyewitness accounts, video or audio evidence, data, surveys, economic statistics or even a play;
2) Secondary sources: These are second-hand accounts. They are by definition at least one step removed from the primary source. There may be direct quotes in a second-hand source, but that direct quote is not from the second-hand source itself, it came from the primary source. Opinions, analysis, interpretation, a review of a play, etc., are all solid examples of a second-hand source. In addition, the farther away in time or geography the second-hand source is, the more unreliable they become.
It is easy to demonstrate the concept of primary vs. secondary sourcing in my classes. I begin the activity by standing by the classroom door. Next, I whisper some information to the student that is closet to me. The task then is for that student to turn around and tell the second student what I said to the first student.
The second tells the third, who tells it to the fourth, that tells it to the fifth in the next row in class…until eventually, my statement finally makes its way to the student at the complete, opposite end of the classroom, in some instances, 30 students away from me.
Once that task is done, the question I ask is this, who is more reliable in sharing the information I introduced in class, me, the first student I shared that information with or the last student to receive my information?
The answer is obvious.
My statement, coming from me directly, as a primary source, would be the most reliable.
The idea that my statement, that has been ultimately processes through 29 additional sources in my example above, from student 30, being as reliable as the statement coming directly from me, makes no logistical sense whatsoever.
In addition, what if I started with my statement with the students in our first class of the day and continued on throughout the entire school day?
How reliable would that information be by the end of the school day?
The school week?
The school year?
I think you get the idea that even an elementary student can understand the concept and more importantly the value of a primary vs. secondary source.
That is, if they have ever played the ‘Telephone Game’, they would understand….
Bias and reliability are evident in their textbooks as well. I ask the students: “Who writes the history books?” The very astute answer is: “The winners.” That would be the most logical answer to make. After all, why would the losers have a chance to put stuff into the history books when after all…they lost?
I ask the students if the winners would like everyone to know about their short-comings, their weaknesses, and their failings. The answer is clear, of course not, they won, after all, why would they write about their short-comings as the winners?
That is why they are more likely to remove such valid, (and truthful), information, even from a government endorsed, public school, textbook.
I end the concept on bias vs. reliability with the following that I have already brought up, and continue to bring up, throughout the school year:
1) Knowledge Is Power and;
2) Reading Is Fundamental.
The question then is simple. Is there a book, website, source, that is free of bias? If you believe that Man Expresses Himself, and has been for the past 10,000 years, how is it possible to truly find a reliable source among all of the evidence that man has left behind over those past 10,000 years?
Is there even a single, reliable source out there?
I think there is….
Do not feel discouraged if you don’t read, research, and discover more about your world. Do not feel discouraged if you cannot distinguish or care enough to worry about the reliability or bias of something that you take in from one, or more, of your five senses. Instead, embrace the idea that Knowledge Is Power. Embrace the idea that Reading Is Fundamental. 10-15 minutes. For some that is a sentence or two at best. For others, that may be several pages or chapters out of a book. Either way, why not begin to spend 10-15 minutes learning something new? When reading or watching, can you tell when bias is upon you? When the information is reliable? It’s not as easy as it appears.
9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; (Deuteronomy 7:9 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
I believe that history does matter, (as of the 2020-2021 school-year, I have been teaching AP World History for 16 years and AP European History for 12 years), and that History Does Repeat Itself, Just Not In The Same Frequency Nor Intensity. In addition, I also believe the following:
1) Knowledge Is Power and;
2) Reading Is Fundamental.
One of the first assignments that my students do for me and due before the second day of class, is to take a political quiz. For several years now, I have had them go to the following website: https://www.isidewith.com/elections/2020-presidential-quiz and take the quiz, and email back their results. I inform them that the quiz, taken ‘as is’, should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. I also inform them that if they so choose, they can go into greater depth to get an even more accurate outcome regarding their scores. There are two more options that allows the quiz taker to go into much greater depth to come to a much more complete picture of how they view presidential candidates running for office every four years in the United Stated Of America:
1) By clicking on the ”Other Stances’ button, multiple drop-down answers are now visible, benefitting those who believe that not all answers regarding politics are black and white and;
2) The ‘How important is this to you?’ 5 point scale, allows the quiz taker to rank order their answers according to issues that they feel are more important to them than others.
I finish by stating that with me and my Type A personality and obsessive, compulsive disorder, when I completed the presidential, political quiz, I clicked on every ‘Other Stances’ button and adjusted the scale for every time ‘How important is this to you?’ came up.
Which of course, was after ever question and every answer, and took closer to 45 minutes….
As a Social Studies teacher, I believe that going beyond the typical yes/no response and going deeper is well worth the investment of their time.
Now, trying to convince a 15 or 16 year old the value of spending closer to an hour on a school assignment that in reality can be completed in about 10 to 15 minutes to complete, well topic is enough to start an entirely different blog altogether….
Upon arrival of the second day of class, I use the presidential, political quizzes that they completed to begin discussion regarding the concept of bias.
For the AP history courses, (World, US, and European History), I would contend that bias is perhaps one of the most important concepts that all students need to have mastered in order to be on their way to passing that exam.
Not to mention the fact that they are properly informed as to how to vote in an upcoming election….
My point here is simple. I teach to my students that in order to earn the grade that they wish to earn in my AP World History and European History courses, then they must familiarize themselves with key principles in my class:
1) History Repeats Itself, Just Not The Frequency Nor Intensity;
2) Knowledge Is Power and;
3) Reading Is Fundamental.
The Agricultural Revolution from approximately 8,000 BC – 3,500 BC was a pretty big deal for humanity.
The Industrial Revolution, beginning in the early 1700’s, was also, a pretty big deal.
Today however? Real-time as I type this? The Technological Revolution, (Information Age, whatever you wish to call it), is the third of the ‘pretty big deals’ of humanity.
As we have already found out in a short period of time during the Technological Revolution, the internet can be considered both a wonder of the world, and a scourge on mankind.
There is no doubt that the internet is a wonder of the world. As long as you have a technology device, (the students all have a district iPad given to them at the beginning of the school-year. In addition, maybe 1 student in a class, literally, does not have a cellphone. In other words, student cell phones and iPads, when combined with the ‘free’ WiFi in the school, accessing information from the internet has never been easier, at least for students in our school district.)
On the other hand, it is easy to argue that the internet is also a scourge on mankind.
If I left a 15 or a 16 year old to go and find articles to read to enhance their learning of AP World History on their own, once they entered cyberspace, they may never come back. (Or if and when they do come back, they may never be the same again.)
What sites are reliable?
What authors are reliable?
Is the content on those sites written by those authors reliable?
Can you answer those questions above confidently?
Also on the second day of class, time is spent discussing the concept of bias and its importance for AP World History and beyond. The students know that the Cable News Network, CNN, is biased, (to the ‘left’). The students know that FoxNews is biased, (to the ‘right’).
Or at least, that is what they think they know.
What many may fail to understand the first week of class is the fact that, I would contend, that all thoughts created by humans, are in fact, biased.
Mankind has been expressing themselves for around 10,000 years. Whether this expression manifests itself on a cave wall, cuneiform from Mesopotamia, papyrus from Egypt, oracle bones from China, a painting, sculpture, building, paper, or the internet, man has, and always will, express themselves.
I would submit to you that it is possible then to connect this expression, to the definition of bias.
Once I lay the groundwork for the concept of bias, what it is, and the importance of it in our classes, I then explain to them that I to have a bias, (agenda, motivation, intent, etc.), when I am trying to teach the content and analysis of 10,000 years of human history to them.
I tell them that their math, science, English, etc., teachers also are biased as well when they present their class content to them.
After all, if a teacher tells a student that it is their class that they believe is the most important class of the school day, is that not teacher biased, favoring their class over all the others?
At the end of the day, it is no easy task to detect bias. It is a high-level skill set indeed.
The trick for the student is two fold:
1) To be able to detect the bias and once detected;
2) What will that student do with that information, knowing that there is a bias, (agenda, motivation, intent, etc.), attached to it?
Do you know how to detect bias?
Do not feel discouraged if you don’t care enough about politics to do thehttps://www.isidewith.com/elections/2020-presidential-quizpolitical quiz. Do not feel discouraged if you have never really thought about how bias affects you and the world around you on a daily basis. Instead, find a way to become more involved with the world. Not through the eyes, ears, and writings of a blogger, reporter, or some famous author. Go outside today and take a 15 minute walk. Experience your own life through your own senses. With your own bias….
For we walk by faith, not by sight: (2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 5: To Be Or Not To Be…Biased.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
On the first day of school, as soon as the tardy bell rings, I play Bob Dylan’s song: The Times They Are A-Changin’ to my students. I have the lyrics on the screen at the front of the room, and the music playing on my 25 year old boom box at the back. (That reference alone should be an automatic giveaway that I was born in the last millennia.).
After the song ends, I begin the process of asking the students to discuss portions of the song lyrics that stick out to them and why. There are several goals that I am trying to accomplish in the time following the completion of the song:
1) To get the students to start thinking about history;
2) Who wrote the song?
3) When was the song written?
4) Where was the song written?
5) Why was the song written?
6) What part of the lyrics helped to give parts 2, 3, 4 and/or 5 away? and perhaps most importantly;
7) Is the song applicable today?
Every year, after the first day of school comes to a close, I continue to draw the same two conclusions:
1) I get a chronological year older and;
2) The incoming students’ ages stay constant.
Every year, I get a new group of sophomores, [aged 15 to 16], taking my Advanced Placement World History class. (For my AP European History students, I begin their first day of class with a different song, Bastille Day, by RUSH.)
As the years have rolled by, I get less and less hands raised when I ask what I used to believe was an elementary question:
“Does anyone in the class know who Bob Dylan is?”
The process of listening to the song and going through the 7 questions mentioned above can range between 10-20 minutes, usually depending on the time of day, (my first period class always needs extra prodding and assistance getting to the answers for some reason). When I believe that I can get about all I can get from them and transition to the next activity, I leave them with 3 big takeaways:
1) History does matter;
2) History Repeats Itself, Just Not In The Same Frequency Nor Intensity and;
3) Knowledge Is Power or Reading Is Fundamental….
Now, to expect a 15-16 year old to be able to grasp one or more of these ideas within minutes of the first day of class, is a tall task indeed. To then have them consistently be able to, not only identify them throughout the 18 week semester, but to also explain their historical significance within the context of a college-level World (or European History) course…
That is a whole other issue indeed.
These Advanced Placement courses that I teach were ultimately created by a company calledCollegeBoard, who also runs the SAT exams as well.
I do not wish to dig deeper to unpack my overall frustrations and general angst regarding CollegeBoard for that alone could be an entirely separate blog. What I want to highlight here before moving forward is the fact that CollegeBoard decided to re-design the Advanced Placement World History course.
In 2019, they split the original content of history from basically 10,000 years of human history, (approximately from 8,000 BC to the present), into:
1) AP World History: Modern. This re-designed course now covers the historical events of mankind from around 1200 AD, to the present, and;
2) What I believe will eventually become AP World History: Ancient. This eventual, re-designed course should then cover the historical events of mankind, from around 10,000 years ago to the 1200 AD mark.
Why does this matter?
For a couple of reasons:
Each school year, I get a new round of incoming sophomores coming from different academic backgrounds*:
A) AP Human Geography. This course has the blessing of CollegeBoard because it is one of their courses;
B) pre-AP World Geography. A theoretical hybrid I suppose, between AP and Regular academic rigor and;
C) Regular World Geography. Regarding regular world geography these students were taught by either a regular education teacher or a coach.
*That does not include the various students that come in from other districts in state…out of state…or literally, from another country.
The point here is that these new, AP World History students, are entering my class with varying personal experiences and backgrounds socially, politically, economically, and culturally.
With that being said, it is no small feat to get all of these minds on occasion to be thinking as one, especially when trying them to get to understand the following:
History Repeats Itself, Just Not In The Same Frequency Nor Intensity.
Once I can get the students to buy into this idea, then I can move forward with the class. (Actually, I just move forward whether they get it or not on the first day. They have an entire semester to try to figure it out. After all, we are all one day closer to death aren’t we?)
Does it really matter that beginning back in 2019 the ability to fully integrate the social, political, economic, and cultural ramifications of the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Indus River Valley, Shang, Olmecs and Chavin civilizations experienced globally beginning around 5,500 years ago, will no longer be a part of the expectations of my class? Perhaps not, as those historical events are now reserved for the new, ‘Ancient’ course beginning in the near future.
In the end it really does not matter if these civilizations were still a part of the course or not. Either way, one of the most important takeaways that I continue to get students to walk away with before they leave my class is:
History Repeats Itself, Just Not In The Same Frequency Nor Intensity.
In other words, whether discussing the Ancient Civilizations from thousands of years ago, or discussing those currently living in the United States, Paraguay, Spain, Uganda, Laos or New Zealand, in the end, nothing has really changed….
Do not feel discouraged if you ‘don’t get it’. Do not feel discouraged if after reading or viewing or hearing an idea, or many ideas, that those ideas just seem to splatter all around your brain with no sense of order, with no rhyme or reason, never to be fully understood, let alone acted upon. Instead, if you agree with the basic premise that: History Repeats Itself, Just Not In The Same Frequency Nor Intensity, then you can, I believe, be able to truly move forward. Combine that first idea with the following two: Knowledge Is Power and that Reading Is Fundamental, and your journey for the rest of the day just got a lot more interesting. Where will these three ideas take you tomorrow?
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 4: The Times They Are A-Changin’.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
I believe at the end of the day, two things that weigh heavily on our minds, especially as we age and approach the mid-point (mid-life crisis), in our lives are:
1) Finances (or money), and;
2) Time.
To me, I think that the majority of us believe that it is a zero-sum game: you either become wealthy, but usually at the cost of time, or you give up wealth, but seem to have more free time. It is possible to find exceptions to both of these rules of course, but instead of wasting time looking for those exceptions and debating the validity of them, I think that one should shift their focus on something I believe supersedes both money and time.
That is, your legacy.
The reason why I think that one should shift their focus away from their finances and time, and focus on their legacy is…
The internet.
The internet is definitely a game changer for the human race. Since the dawn of mankind, humans have all been leaving behind a legacy. In class, I refer to this concept as “Man Expresses Himself”. Whether expressing Himself on a cave wall or in cyberspace, throughout time, mankind has been leaving their legacy behind for future generations to see, whether they realize it or not.
As of 2018, it has been estimated that at least 108 billion humans have lived on planet Earth. That means that at least 108 billion people have already left, or are currently leaving, their legacy.
Thanks to the internet, leaving behind a legacy has never been more simple.
And excuse free.
Before the internet, odds were that the details of your life would not be remembered after 3 generations after you die: your kids, grandkids and maybe, your great-grandkids, would remember you. After that, at best, for most people, a couple of your lifetime facts may take up a paragraph or two, or maybe a couple of pages at best, in a history book.
For those looking for fame, it is fleeting indeed.
But what if you were able to leave behind something more tangible than a couple of facts in a history book? Something that could last much longer than a fleeting 3 generations after you? Whether it be a piece of art like a sculpture or a painting, or maybe a building, or a philosophy or technology, whatever the case, mankind has been leaving that stuff behind, forever.
Why not you?
But, what if you have issues like me, keeping those blasted colors inside those ever shrinking paint-by-number spaces on the page?
What if you are not talented, or smart, or rich enough, to paint or sculpt or built or create these items?
Moving forward, humans are now on the cusp of truly revolutionary times, for all of us.
Is it possible for anyone to build a website? A Blog? A YouTube channel? After all, can’t you just go to a YouTube channel and follow the directions mentioned to build a website or a blog…
Or both?
Those things all can last in CyberSpace long after you are dead, in fact, once out there, much longer than 3 generations after you die.
How could anyone before this era been able to have prepared and planned for this monumental fact: truly, enduring legacies, lasting theoretically forever, as long as someone has access to a computer, or iPad, or cellphone, and WiFi?
Considering that I have seen computers sold for around $100 and that WiFi is free at every one of the almost 30,000 Starbucks around the world, someone, somewhere, has a pretty good chance seeing your legacy online.
In other words, never in human history has it been so easy…so accessible…and so affordable…to create a lasting legacy, that literally can stay with us forever.
The internet has pretty much eliminated any and all of our excuses to not create a lasting legacy.
Today, tomorrow, or 1000 years from today.
Dr. North has said that spending more than 40 hours on your salaried portion of your job is unwise. But instead of thinking of refusing to work over 40 hours as sticking it to the man, why not think of it as sticking some of your ideas into CyberSpace instead?
Why not think like an optimist instead of a pessimist?
I believe that we all have different gifts. It makes sense right? I would contend that for the over 108 billion humans that have lived on planet Earth, there have been at least 108 billion different gifts they potentially could have blessed mankind with. While they were alive, they could have wielded these gifts that potentially could have altered the course of human history…
For the better.
In the end it matters not, based on the fact that for the overwhelming majority of those billions, over the last several thousand years, those gifts were at best remembered for at most…
3 generations after they died.
My gift? I think, that after 25 years of teaching high school students, that is my gift.
I did not develop my gift of teaching. I did not inherit my gift of teaching. At the end of the day, I believe that my gift has been given to me. Who gave it to me? That, I suppose can be discussed another day.
Upon deeper reflection of this thought of who gave me my gift to teach, I do not take this idea lightly. Hence, my sense of urgency to begin the process of acting on this gift. To teach. 50 plus years after being born. Knowing that the average lifespan is between 70-80 years.
Time, at least for me, is running out….
Do not feel discouraged if you are uncertain about whether or not you even have a gift. Do not feel discouraged if you think you have a gift but you have wasted time, energy and money trying to discover it or turn it into something more. Instead, understand where you are in relationship to the over 100 billion that have been on planet Earth before you. Knowing what you know now about the incredible opportunity that those before you could have hardly ever have dreamed about, what are you doing about it personally? What are you doing today, right now, starting on how you will map out your legacy for the benefit of others after you? Got too much on your plate today? Remember, the sun will eventually rise sometime around the world tomorrow, and a new day will begin.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. (ROMANS 12:6-8 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began:
