"Lord of the Flies meets Federalist One"

Source: National Archives

I'm getting ready for Student Council and my classes this morning. We should get to Gettysburg today and I decided to take a trip down memory lane. The links below are my posts while in Gettysburg. A couple years out, you forget how profound a moment in time is. I'm really glad I captured these. To anyone reading this, you need to go to Gettysburg and take in the battlefield as well as the cemetery and the town. I can't full explain it, but I think I can explain better my sense of who I am as a citizen better having spent a week there.

Gettysburg and 'history as art' (July 18, 2011)

Gettysburg National Cemetery (July 21, 2011)

Have a great day...

The 149th Anniversary of Near Perfection

Lincoln at Gettysburg National Cemetery (Source: National Archives)

The Gettysburg Address

The sesquicentennial minus one of the Gettysburg Address is today. This blog was originally meant to process thoughts from my travels with the Presidential Academy a couple of years ago. One of the weeks was spent in Gettysburg and it had a profound effect on me. You can't wander the battlefield and remain unmoved. You can't wander the cemetery without feeling two emotions seemingly at odds with themselves: pround sadness and profound hope. The Gettysburg Address beutifully captures both in a way I don't think any other speech does.

This blog now serves as a gateway to my thoughts on oratory and so this post fits.

But I've also been waxing eloquent on Thanksgiving and I think it fits as a post to that as well. Lincoln hits the nail on the head when he reminds us that we can't consecrate what has already been consecrated. Our job is to pick up the plow and continue the work. Veteran's Day last Monday and Thanksgiving this Thursday are great bookends for that sense of gratitude and expectation Lincoln suggests. Gratitude at the work done for us. Expectation at our work ahead.

The link above is to Ken Burn's take on the Gettysburg Address.

The link below is my take on the national cemetery at Gettysburg.

Declaration Address and Dream-July 21, 2011

National Oratory Fellow--the 'humblebrag'

I have been trying to figure out what to do with my blog. I initially set it up to show students what I'm up to as I travel on professional development trips over the past years. I've also used it to muse on things 'edumacational' with colleagues and friends. But I wondered if the blog, which was named for the three documents I studied as a member of the Presidential Academy in 2011 (Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address, King's I Have a Dream), had become obsolete. The school's new website has a blog option for me and teaching is a marathon for ten months. I was pretty sure having two nearly identical sites would be a waste of time...

...and then ...

... last summer, while I was at Ford's Theater for the Civil War Washington Teaching Fellowship, I was encouraged to apply for their National Oratory Fellowship. I applied and was notified this week that I selected! I will tell you I am honored and encouraged at my selection...

...but

...I am more excited for my students. This fellowship is different than others I've seen. It will teach me how to incorporate oratory into classwork and connect me with a cadre of other teachers doing the same thing. However, it also brings teaching actors into my classroom to work with my students! DC actors working via video conferencing with my students, how cool is that?! In addition, two of my charges will be selected to perform their works (either an interpretation of a famous speech or an original oration of their own) on the stage at Ford's Theater! The box in that photo up top is where the podium will be in May! I've used a KU reference with my kids. It's like playing basketball on the court at Allen Fieldhouse. It will be an honor they will remember for the rest of their lives.

So...

...this blog, like a good Christmas present, is getting a 'regifting'. We are going to use this site specifically for 'speechifying', and I want to ask your help. I will post regularly what the kids are doing and about the fellowship but every once and a while I want to ask for your help.

Request #1:
If you had to recommend a speech to a 13-14 year old, what would it be? Answer in the comments section. You don't have to be a member if you don't want to. Just give me your first name, okay.

Here are a couple videos I found on YouTube. The first is a documentary on the oratory program. It looks different than this now, but you get to see the process. The second is a young man from Maryland--I've watched this piece several times and continue to find new things I like about this oration.