Thursday, October 16, 2008

Attempting not to cough up a storm

Well the weeks almost up, and I think I've just about got everything planned for tomorrow's insane US history in a day event. I get to cover the exciting topics of the American Revolution and the Wild West all in the matter of one hour! I think I can manage to squeeze the Revolution down to size, but the more I look at all there is in the Wild West, the more I realize that I could talk about this topic for absolute ages!
Of course the point is that I'm not really supposed to just be talking about it, but finding someway to get my students to engage with the topic. As of now, I've narrowed down about 5 Tall Tales, together with short bios of several big time real life characters, and a handful of major events that help define the expansion of our country and the idea of Manifest Destiny. I think it has the potential to be a lot of fun, and I sorta wish I had a whole day just to devote to the Wild West in particular.
Now that I've got the project mostly under control I need to head on out and pick up some supplies for my pilgrimage across the country tomorrow. Gotta get me some qual-i-ty vittles for this event! Honestly, after reading Tall Tales for a while I'm having trouble not speaking with a special "country" accent. My poor students this evening!
I'm battling off a cold just now as well. I figure if I just keep myself excessively busy my body will realize that it really doesn't have time to be sick. It's a thought at least. We'll see how it all works out.
I'm heading off for Ostrava tomorrow, and looking forward to visiting everyone out there for a couple of days. If only Czech trains were a wee bit faster (sigh). But the autumn colors are really quite amazing this time of year, so at least there's that to enjoy. I'm just hoping I manage to get a seat. I think I'll be cutting it close when I transfer in Prague, and the train to Ostrava tends to be packed on Fridays, so anyone who wants to pray this all along smoothly I'd be much obliged to.

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