Why History Matters

By: admin - October 3rd, 2011  Filed under: Lessons Add Comment

When I was in high school, I loved most of my classes.  Being a student came naturally to me most of the time, but there was always one exception.  It was that one dreaded hour of everyday when I had to walk through the doorway into history class.  I always struggled with history.  It seemed to be just a random bunch of endless dates to remember, wars to separate, and none of it was easy for me to make heads or tails out of.  That all changed during my junior year when Mr. Ellis became my history teacher.

During that first day of class, Mr. Ellis walked in confidently and wrote three words on the blackboard: “Why History Matters”.  A few of my classmates looked skeptical at our new teacher.  He was not the typical history teacher.  He looked more like a body builder or a professional wrestler.  It was strange that he was teaching history instead of gym class, but this good looking teacher had the attention of the female students at least!  As we all listened, he began to talk about why history matters.

Mr. Ellis began by explaining that history was much more than a bunch of stories in a textbook.  In fact, those stories were completely relevant to our high school lives.  “They are stories of courage, of bravery, of standing up for what is right in the world and fighting against what is wrong.”  He began to make connections between those old stories and what we were going through there in the halls of Grant High School.  That year forever changed how I viewed history.  I realized that it was in fact much more than just a bunch of irrelevant stories.  The Civil War came to life through the magical lens of Mr. Ellis.

Are They Rolling Over in Their Graves?

By: admin - July 15th, 2011  Filed under: Past Leaders Add Comment

I have often wondered what America’s founding fathers would have to say about the state of the country today.  Would their hearts swell with pride at the many freedoms that people enjoy?  Would they feel ashamed of our politicians or support their decisions?  Just how would George Washington respond to our current president’s agenda?  There are definitely several ways they might react, so let’s take a look at each.

On on end of the spectrum, I could see how our founding fathers would be quite proud.  When they signed our Declaration of Independence and drafted up the powerful words of the constitution, they had one thing in mind: Freedom.  Our nation may have its share of problems, but we are definitely free.  In fact, I can publish my opinions in a newspaper, share them on a radio program, or stand in the streets in peaceable protest.  I can go to church and worship freely, no matter which religion I choose to pursue.  So on that side of the argument, America is certainly free and for that, our founding fathers would most definitely rejoice.

However, there is a reverse side to that.  The whole reason that those settlers left England and sailed for the New World was to find a place that would be free of the king’s heavy  hand.  Big government was never the plan, but under our nation’s current leadership, government is swelling to bigger levels than ever before.  Whether you believe the motives are good or bad, there is no denying a hint of socialism in the way things are playing out.  There is also a devastating problem with national debts that is like a huge black mark over our freedom.  Our founding fathers certainly would be rolling over in their graves at the amount of debt our nation is carrying and adding to with each passing president.

Teaching History: How to Bring it to Life

By: admin - June 4th, 2011  Filed under: Teaching Add Comment

History teachers are incredible people.  They have a passion for the stories of our founding fathers and they long to share it with young people.  Unfortunately, teaching history can be quite a hard task.  Many students are uninterested and they just don’t see the value of spending hours discussing decisions made years ago.  History seems irrelevant to many young people and so the primary task of a history teacher is to convince them otherwise.  How is the best way to convince a room full of teenagers that history is worth learning?  Here are three methods that might help.

First, you can make history come to life with costumes.  Let the students actually try on a costume that represents the era you are studying.  If you can get your hands on a few dozen costumes, you can act out the scenes of the era that fill your text book.  Live out the civil war together as a class, reenacting battles and figuring out how each character must have been feeling.

Second, incorporate lots of field trips if possible.  Visit the site of ancient battles.  Go to museums and monuments.  History comes to life when you can see physical evidence of it and this will help students to really understand it.  Field trips break up the day to day grind of class which makes the learning process a little more interesting for everyone!

Finally, you can use movies to help your students picture the events you study in textbooks.  There are hundreds of history based movies, from dramas to documentaries to action stories.  Utilize these as tools and incentives to get students interest in the subject at hand.

A Short History Of Soft Drinks

By: admin - April 2nd, 2013  Filed under: uncategorised Add Comment

The reason why sodas are sometimes called soft drinks is because they do not contain alcohol. The affect that soft drinks have on the body however are very much like the affect that alcohol has on the body (without the buzz affect). Let’s look at a short bit of history about soft drinks in this blog post.

An English chemist by the name of Joseph Priestley was the first person to successfully combine distilled water with carbon dioxide. The next person to take this idea and run with it was John Mervin Nooth. He is the person who built a carbonating devise to use for commercial sales to pharmacies.

1806 was when the USA was introduced to soft drinks when a Yale chemistry professor started selling them in New Haven Connecticut. By 1830 the popularity of the soft drink had taken off so well that they were now being offered for sale on a mass level. One problem that soda manufactures had was finding something to seal them with that would actually keep them from going flat. They tried several things such as corks and caps but none were successful. This issue was finally resolved when a man by the name of William Painter invented the Crown Cork Bottle Seal. This method worked well at keeping the air inside of the can as well as keeping the soda from going flat.

Back in the younger years of soft drinks all the bottles were made of hand blown glass. In 1903 automatic machine bottle makers were introduced at company called the Libby Glass Company. Both Coke and Pepsi are two of the most well known soft drinks of today and they are distributed worldwide.

Making American History Come to Life

By: admin - May 31st, 2012  Filed under: uncategorised Add Comment

The word history has itself a boring connotation to it. It conjures up visions of a white-haired professor wearing a cardigan and argyle socks. It doesn’t have to be this way. The best way to learn history is to live it. This is a great story about how one high school teacher took a lecture about labor conditions during the early parts of the Industrial Revolution and turned it into a great teaching tool.

First, the teach cut up a whole bunch of index cards. The students sat in groups of four or five at tables. Each group was to ‘assemble’ a piece of a stick figure. Then there were four supervisors who would transfer the pieces to the other tables. While the students were assembling their pieces, the supervisors would come around and shout at the workers, call them names, be discriminatory towards female or slower workers. While all of this was going on, there was loud and obnoxious music playing in the background. The lights were turned off, and workers were often fired for no reasons. The workers were removed if they spoke out against the terrible conditions or attempted to talk to other workers.

All of this was to simulate labor conditions for poor factory workers during the Industrial Revolution. It gave the students a small glimpse into the life these people would have lived day in and day out. This way the students were not just hearing about history, they were getting to experience it as well. This is how to learn about American History.

How To Teach Kids About the Civil War

By: admin - March 15th, 2012  Filed under: uncategorised Add Comment

Parents, and sometimes even teachers, have a hard time putting history into a context that kids can understand. This is especially true when talking about the less than delightful bits of history like the Civil War. How can you help children to understand what happen during that time and put things into terms that they can understand? Here are a few helpful tips.

Making a time line is a good way to help kids get some perspective on where the Civil War happened in the stream of time. In general, making time lines in a history class is always a useful and productive project. Helping the children to make a time line of the major battles during the Civil War can help them to see how the power shifted from one side to the other over time.

Reading about important figures from the Civil War is another way to help kids understand the events that took place. Many books have been written on the subject that keep things in simple terms that even a child can easily understand. Having students write reports on some of the significant figures from the war can help them to remember what they learned at a later date.

One of the big results from the Civil War was the Emancipation Proclamation and the changes that it led to in how certain groups of people were viewed. Students can be helped to understand how this document helped to change the United States and make it the diverse country that we live in today. Even very young children can be helped to see how much the Civil War changed the United States.

Becoming a Dock Designer Requires Special Training

By: admin - December 9th, 2011  Filed under: Piers Add Comment

With any career, going to school is almost a must. Even if the career is building and designing a dock pier or a walkway for a lake home, you have to have schooling especially in design and architecture. Many people who design these beautiful docks for families who live on water must first learn basics of not only designing but also how a design will enhance a home so that it can be functional for the owners. Going to school for designing docks can take some time because of having to take basic classes before getting into the specialized classes for this certain trade.

Dock designing is a great job to have if you live near bodies of water. It could be designing a dock for someone who lives on the lake or it could be designing a dock for a city’s beach access or a park on the sound of an ocean. There is always docks needing to be built and having this career could be a lifelong thing in these areas that need them. There may even be a piers company that will hire a student while they are still in school, which would be great for experience and on the job training. Many of these companies have may have a website that shows a dock layout and even a dock review. This will help because working for a reputable company is important especially in the learning years before delving into the career on your own.

Going to school for dock designing may be costly but some companies may pay your schooling or help pay a portion of it. They do this because they know they are investing in an employee that will work for them and that is worth the cost. Not only would a student be learning about docks but also about designing docks with track systems, walkways, floating docks, pier accessories, and special connections for lake access. Learning all of these things will give a well-rounded education and will secure a job for the future.

Designing and building a pier can be a hard trade to learn but experience in this field will be the best learning experience. Dock designing is a career that is need right now because of all of the places needing access to water and parks creating places for people fish and camp. It is definitely a great career to have and a fun one to learn and do for life. Going to school for this could be a great way to open up doors for other designing and even help a student find the exact field they want to design for. Having schooling for any career is important and required. It is something that can build confidence and give someone a sense of accomplishment.

A Veteran Finally Finds Pain Relief

By: admin - November 20th, 2011  Filed under: pain relief medication Add Comment

In the past I would have said that no pain medication would help my pain. I had tried all of them and my foot still bothered me. After sustaining a major injury during my time in the army, it was like I could never find relief. If it was not hurting it was burning and stinging or tingling. Quite aggravating and driving me crazy. I had gone to doctor after doctor and none of them could find a medicine that helped my foot.

My foot first became a problem during the war. I encountered a land mine, which killed most of my army buddies, but I escaped with my life. Unfortunately, my ankles and feet were pretty much shattered in the explosion and at first, the doctors thought amputation was inevitable. Thankfully, I didn’t lose my feet, but the injuries required several surgeries to fix. After they fixed my ankles with bolts and plates I developed an infection in the bone of one foot and almost lost that foot once again. Luckily they treated me with heavy doses of Amoxicillin, but I have so much scar tissue and arthritis on my foot that the pain will never go. They have tried shots in my foot and have even offered to take out some of the nerve endings but I never had the gumption to have that done yet.

I finally went and saw a new foot doctor as he was a colleague of my primary care doctor and he was interested in my case since I was a veteran. When I went in he checked my foot out and then asked me what medications I had taken for the pain. He asked had I ever tried a pain medication called Tramadol and I told him no. He was surprised that no one had ever tried Tramadol on me. He explained that Tramadol can treat the pain and also treat the nerve symptoms as well. He said that when patients buy Tramadol or buy Ultram (the generic version), it works on the brain and helps to ease the pain and over active nerves.

He said that many people with similar injuries had great success with Tramadol therapy. He also told me that Tramadol had low side effects which usually disappear within the first week of treatment. He also told me that Tramadol is generally inexpensive and will work well. So I took his advice and his prescription and went to fill the Tramadol.

When I started taking the Tramadol at first I was very hesitant on taking it as I had tried so many before. However I soon found that it worked way better than all those other medications that I had tried to start with. I looked at the bottle and was just amazed at how well it worked. I wished a doctor had tried this treatment on before but was just thankful that I found something that took the pain and the burning and tingling away. I would highly recommend Tramadol to anyone that is in pain. You can get Tramadol sent directly to your home by ordering it online. I get mine at an online pharmacy that my daughter uses to buy Fioricet and buy Seasonale each month. She orders my pain medicine at the same time so I never have to worry about going to the pharmacy for refills.

Learn Coping Mechanisms from Survivors of the Civil War

By: Linda C. - March 20th, 2011  Filed under: Free Bingo Games Add Comment

As scholars have studied the records of history, they have found documents describing the ways that families lived during difficult times.  One of the most tragic periods of time for the United States was during the period of the Civil War as the south and the north clashed in ideologies of how to run government on the state and national level.  During this difficult time in the nation’s history, people learned to cope with the fear and the death all around them by playing games.  Simple children’s games like charades or “Duck, Duck, Goose” date back to those days when the tension was thick and mothers were trying to invent new ways to keep their little ones immune from the tragedy unfolding around them.

In today’s society, we could learn a few lessons from the people who lived in those Civil War days.  Many of us are struggling with fear, depression, and anxiety, particularly as the state of the economy seems to be slipping into a gradually worsening recession.  Rumors of rapid inflation on food and gasoline prices have people worried about the future and it is affecting both the physical and mental health of many.  One way to cope during this difficult time is to do just like our forefathers did during times of tribulation: learn to play!

We can play games today using the internet for a whole new experience.  Even if you live alone, you can enjoy playing games with others by connecting through the live chat feature associated with online bingo games.  Bingo is a classic game that dates back to Civil War times so it is a perfect choice for combating stress and depression.  There are many websites that offer free bingo games so you won’t have to tighten your budget any further.  Even better, most websites will let you play towards jackpots worth thousands or even millions of dollars.  Can you imagine what an instant stress reliever it would be to win that kind of money?

If you want to learn more about playing online bingo, check out some of these links:

I Made the Switch and Never Looked Back

By: Belinda - February 1st, 2011  Filed under: Smoking Alternatives Add Comment

Smoking electronic cigarettes is something I never would have thought I would be doing back when I first started smoking. Just the thought that anyone would be able to someday buy e cigarettes would not have even occurred to me 10 years ago. But like many other things I never thought I would be able to try or even want to try, my mind was changed when I tried this new way of smoking. Being able to smoke whenever and wherever I wanted was the change I was eager to make once I knew there was an alternative to regular tobacco cigarettes.

So I didn’t really set out to switch from my regular brand to V2 Cigs electronic cigarette at first. What prompted me to buy them instead of my regular cigarettes was a gift from a friend of a V2 Cigs coupon code that she found on an e-cig review site. Like me, this friend had been smoking for quite a few years, but eventually decided that she needed an alternative that would allow her to smoke wherever she wanted. Once I read a great V2 Cigs review I decided that this was the best electronic cigarette brand for me, so I decided to make my purchase.

Since I have not tried other brands yet, I cannot give you an electronic cigarette comparison, but hopefully it will not be too long before I will know all there is to know about this type of cigarette. I am hoping that I will really know all of the difference between Premium vs. Green Smoke and the rest of the popular e-cig brands.  Eventually, I am hoping to start writing my own Green Smoke reviews so that I can help other smokers that want a better alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes.  I cannot say enough about how great it is to finally be able to smoke in public. This was something that I really missed about smoking regular cigarettes and am glad it is not something I have to worry about right now.

Now that I love e-cigs, one small problem is choosing which one of the many different electronic cigarette cartridges to use, but a bigger problem is that some people want to ban this type of cigarette. Though they may not be for everyone, I really hope they won‘t place a legal ban on them. Hopefully those who are having issues with this new type of cigarette will read some of the many e cigarette reviews and see that they are a great alternative for many smokers that simply want to continue with their smoking habit without having to be banished to the outdoors every time they want to enjoy a smoke.