Back to Before...

This blog was originally designed to record my experiences one summer at a professional development course (two actually). The Presidential Academy selected one teacher from each state and then brought us to Philly, Gettysburg and DC for one week each to discuss the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and the Civil Rights Movement. That was the inspiration of the blog's name--Declaration Address and Dream.


Today I had a little bit of a deja vu from 2011. Dr. Lucas Morel of Washington and Lee University presented for the Gilder Lehrman Institute. Dr. Morel was the lead professor for the Presidential Academy and when I saw his name on the literature, I knew I was signing up.


For the interested, a review of some of the posts from Summer 2011:



Big Arnold and Your Bike


Pictures from the Walking Tour


Gettysburg and History as Art


Photos From the Battlefield


Gettysburg National Cemetery


Talk May Be Cheap, But it is Necessary


John Brown, Domestic Terrorist


I Want to Like Woodrow Wilson, I Really, Really Do


Some Pictures From DC


A Day in the Senate


A Morning in the House


70 Hours in the Classroom, 9 Sites, Battlefields and Tours, 3300 Pages of Reading


In one of my posts that summer, I explained what I liked about Dr. Morel's teaching style:

What I like about sitting in one of Dr. Morel's lectures is that there is an expected give and take. He asks questions looking not necessarily for the right 'answer' but an answer that gets us on the field and moving toward that answer. To participate, you have to know the material, not in a regurgitated ATM sort of way but an organic way of moving toward a concept or big idea. Its a teaching style which encourages participation and requires preparation. You want to get in the game. It is a pleasure to listen to what the other participants have to say about the Lyceum Speech or in response to the handbill pronouncing Lincoln an atheist.

It is a style I both enjoy and try to emulate. I can say that on several of the few moments I consider my most successful as an educator-this is the style I have employed.


I didn't get a chance to say thank you to Dr. Morel today, so let this post be that--Thank you Dr. Morel.