LIGHTER POSTING

As school has ended, my workload has increased. Our summer workouts for girls soccer have begun. This is an everyday committment that is time-consuming. I love to coach soccer, however, so it is a labor of love. I'll try to keep everyone posted on our progress this season. I really look forward to our season.

My second endeavor is the summer assignment for my returning AP US History students. Using our school website I am conducting a summer-long on-line threaded discussion with the students. I post an article or video about some aspect of US history that we will study in the new school year. The students are required to post on the article answering questions I ask concerning the material. It is interactive and the students were really excited about taking part this summer. I have vowed to spend time trying answer all their posts coaxing them to further delve into the topic and to post on the posts of their classmates. So far the students have posted replies that are well thought out and serious. It has been enjoyable to make them think, but it is really time consuming.

I have a long reading list to plow through also. I have been reading Newt Gingrich's Civil War trilogy of alternative, or what-if, history. They are really well-written. I am in the middle of the second book. The first entitled "Gettysburg" had Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia confront the Army of the Potomac on the first day only. The Confederates then went on a long flank march defeating the Union troops at a decisive battle at Union Mills. Excellent stuff for history geeks. The second is titled "Grant Comes East." I read Gingrich's book "Pearl Harbor" in which Japan did in fact, make the third strike destroying the dry dock in Pearl Harbor, crippling repairs for a long period of time. Excellent reading.

I want to give priority to posting on several sites that I read, so I want to keep in touch. Talk to you later.