The Cold War In My Backyard

Posted on April 12, 2017April 12, 2017 Posted in AmericaTagged arizona, Cold War, high school teacher, history teacher, social studies teacher, Titan II, Titan Missile Museum, tucson, Tucson AZ, US HistoryLeave a comment

]It wasn’t until I returned to Tucson as an adult did I realize that my hometown was one of three locations in America where nuclear missiles would have been launched from during the Cold War, aimed towards the former Soviet Union (had our President given the order to “push the red button”). Over winter break I went to the Titan Missile Museum where visitors are giving a fantastic tour of one of the silos (the only one not destroyed after the Cold War ended) and the control room.

According to their website, the Titan II was capable of launching from its underground silo in 58 seconds and could deliver a nine megaton thermonuclear warhead to its target more than 6300 miles (10,000 km) away in less than thirty minutes. For more than two decades, 54 Titan II missile complexes across the United States stood “on alert” 24 hours a day, seven days a week, heightening the threat of nuclear war or preventing Armageddon, depending upon your point of view.

Did you realize that during the Cold War America tested a total of 1032 nuclear weapons? The Soviet Union tested 715 and a number of other countries tested their own. To see a time-lapse of who tested nuclear weapons and where, please watch this video. You will be amazed!

If you are at all interested in the Cold War and are driving through Tucson, AZ, I highly recommend taking a tour at the Titan Missile Museum. You will not be disappointed!

The underground walkway from the control room to the silo

The control panel

The computer ribbon, punched with holes which actually serve as communication!

Looking thru the silo door at a portion of the missile

The missile (no nuclear bomb on board anymore!)

The radar system outside, one positioned at each corner of the top of the silo as an intruder detection system

Looking down into the silo from the outside

Mock Trial Tournament 2017

Posted on March 13, 2017 Posted in AmericaTagged arizona, Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education, Arizona High School Mock Trial, Desert Christian, Desert Christian High School, high school teacher, legal system, mock trial, social studies teacher, State Bar of Arizona's Young Lawyers Division, teamwork, tournament, tucson, U.S. Constitution, US HistoryLeave a comment

“What’s mock trial” you ask? Funny. I asked myself that very same question this time last year. After a year of teaching the class under my belt, I can now say with confidence that it just might be the very best class your student can take to learn public speaking, to debate with boldness and poise, to improvise under pressure, and to learn the fundamentals of US law.

The official website, http://lawforkids.org/mock-trial, provides a brief overview:

The Arizona High School Mock Trial program, co-sponsored by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education and the State Bar of Arizona’s Young Lawyers Division, teaches students in grades 9-12 about the law and the legal system by participating in a simulated trial. The program is an opportunity for students to learn about the law and the legal system from practicing attorneys; for teachers to work closely with attorneys to reinforce legal concepts in the classroom; and for attorneys to share their expertise about the law and their legal skills.

How does it work? Lawforkids explains:

Students have the opportunity to learn from practicing attorneys; teachers work closely with attorneys to reinforce legal concepts in the classroom; and attorneys have an opportunity to share their expertise about the law and their legal skills. Mock Trial teams, consisting of six to eight students, a teacher/coach, and an attorney/coach, receive a fictional case in November. Each team must learn both sides of the case and students must play the roles of both attorneys and witnesses. Teams work together to learn the facts of the case and create strategies for trial.

These are the program goals:

To give students a better understanding of the legal system – from the rules of evidence to proper court decorum.
Increase awareness of the importance of law in a democratic society and strengthen the understanding of fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution.
To promote increased confidence, poise, oral skills, critical thinking skills and teamwork skills.

The end of the season is marked with a tournament in which students from their region compete against each other.

Regional tournaments are held in late February, in which teams present their cases before a real judge. The winning teams of each regional tournament, the teams with the most convincing presentations, are invited to compete in the State Tournament held in Phoenix in March. The winner of the State Tournament is eligible to compete at the National High School Mock Trial Championship held in May. Recognized as one of the top programs in the country, Arizona’s representative at the National High School Mock Trial Championship won the championship in 1997 and finished in the top ten in six of the last ten years.

Our class (team) just completed our first tournament last weekend. It was a steep learning curve for us all: a first time for not just me as their teacher, but for every student on the team, AND for our attorney coaches. We also practiced within a rather limited time frame, meeting only twice a week in comparison to other teams in Tucson who meet on a regular, block class schedule. Despite these setbacks, the students shined in every way, winning one of the tournament competitions in points and winning each of the competitions in the hearts of the judges. We were told that our “team was so impressive…. I was very impressed that a first year team was so prepared and had such a command of the process! It’s really hard to get a new program started when you haven’t seen a tournament in action. I hope your students are proud of their performance and learned from the teams they competed against!”

They are proud of their performance and some are planning on taking the class again next year. I can’t wait to get started!

Below is a slide show of photos of the team.

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First Semester Final Exam

Posted on January 8, 2017 Posted in Desert Christian High SchoolTagged arizona, concept web, Desert Christian, Desert Christian High School, final exam, first semester, high school teacher, history teacher, social studies teacher, tucson, US HistoryLeave a comment

Before we all left for Christmas break students took a final exam in US History. The classes were given 69 terms which spanned the entire first semester’s educational learning and were asked to create a concept web with them. According to inspiration.com, a concept map/web is used as a

learning and teaching technique, to visually illustrate the relationships between concepts and ideas. Often represented in circles or boxes, concepts are linked by words and phrases that explain the connection between the ideas, helping students organize and structure their thoughts to further understand information and discover new relationships. Most concept maps represent a hierarchical structure, with the overall, broad concept first with connected sub-topics, more specific concepts, following.

This visual representation of their learning asked students to apply and analyze the information they learned about US history thus far by categorizing, comparing and contrasting, and organizing the terms into chronological order, connecting terms into relationships, and creating larger concept umbrellas. For example, a student should be able to place the term “Gettysburg” after “Yorktown,” connect the two with the word “warfare,” and perhaps further umbrella all three terms with a fourth, such as “faith,” “hope”, “African-Americans,” or “Native Americans,” depending on their train of thought and rationale.