"Life"

What I have learned from this assignment is that everyone remembers things differently. Also that some people need to put down more information in order to remember and some people just need to put down a word or two to bring back a part of what they remember. I learned that how a person views a picture can also be looked at differently than how I may view it. That is something to remember when working with students that they are going to work or view something in the way that works best for them, but yet it doesn't mean it is the wrong way.

"Agriculture Today"

Kansas is a leading agricultural state and it is a top recipient of government farm payment. But those payments could go down because of larger states demand of farm programs that help their products as well as the Midwest. Kansas is in the top ten of agriculture states in cash we are ranked 7th and we are ranked 6th out of ten subsidy states in payments. This comes from USDA, the environmental working group.
Farmers find it hard to keep their farms running even some farmers who have farms that are three generations or more with out federal farm payments. Now days there are less political power and sympathy for farmers from Washington. Kansas’s agriculture is coming to grips with what will be a changed farm landscape in 2007. Farm aid keeps farmers, ranchers, and small towns alive. When modern farm programs first came about in the Great Depression, they were weighted toward the commodity crops, which most farmers grew. Today wheat, corn, soybean, cotton, and rice are the only crops with major farm programs geared toward them. A lot of these crops no longer dominate U.S. agriculture. The fruits, vegetables and other crops that are largely grown outside of Kansas make up a bigger share of farm income.
It use to be that a lot of Americans were one, two generations removed from the farm, but that isn’t the way it is today. A lot of farmers have been really struggling under the current farm policies. It would be nice if farmers could have fairer programs and markets would stabilize then they could quit being hostages to government payments.
It is sad to say that any children who would like to take over their family farms will not only depend on whether the farm can make it, but it will also depend on what lawmakers decide over the next year. There is nothing wrong with change, but sometimes it seems as if rural America is not as important to people anymore. One thing people need to remember in the end that agriculture is still providing food and is still feeding a nation. People need to be careful on how they start messing with agriculture and farming.
In my community, which is located in North Central Kansas, I see many large corporate companies taking over our farms. It is nothing unusual to have auctions of land in my home area and big Kansas City firms send someone out to bid on the land. This hurts the local farmers who are struggling to better themselves, but how can they compete against these big firms with millions of dollars to spend. These big corporations don’t ever step foot on the land they purchase they just have foremen to do their work for them and they then cash in. What people don’t realize is this doesn’t just affect the farmers, but it affects everyone. What starts at the top also flows down to the bottom at some point and no matter where we are on that mountaintop whether it is in the middle or the bottom it will reach each and every one of us at some point. I just hope it isn’t to late before we realize what is happening to the small farmers.

"Bakke Case"

I want my students to realize that affirmative action focuses on education and jobs, so that all people including blacks and other minorities get the same opportunities for promotions, salary increases, career advancement, school admissions, scholarships, and financial aid that had only been for the white people. This action was just supposed to be a temporary remedy.
I would also let them know that there has been quite a bit of conflict about this situation. There have been a lot of discussions that claim that the practice is like racism and that it fails to achieve the goal that it is intended. I feel that my students should know that the plan was to help people who were treated unfairly to have an opportunity to get a head in life. Some people feel it has gone to far.
In 1965 President Johnson stated, “You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: now you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please. You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him to the starting line of a race, saying, you are free to compete with all the others, and still justly believe you have been completely fair.”
In 1995 President Clinton stated, “stricter standards to mandate reform of affirmation action, it actually reaffirmed the need for affirmation action and reaffirmed the continuing existence of systematic discrimination in the United States.” President Clinton also wrote a note saying, “that he called for the elimination of any program that (a) creates a quota; (b) creates preferences for unqualified individuals; (c) creates reverse discrimination; or (d) continues even after its equal opportunity purposes have been achieved.”
Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in 2003 for the majority, “In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.”

"Vietnam - National Archives"

Identifier: 542297
Members of the 101st Airborn Division shown aboard a USAF C-130 at Pham Thiet Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, for airlift to Phi Troung Air Base during Operation Austin 6., 04/1966

I chose this photo because I thought that the expressions of the men say a lot about what is going on. I want my students to realize the concerns, fear, the not knowing and the wandering of what is going to happen next is all real to these men. I also want them to look at the picture and explain what they think is going on. I want my students not look at the faces of the young men but also their body language. I want them to realize the seriousness of the situation.

Truman Presidential Library

There was a lot of interesting things on the Truman Library website. The site that I thought my students would like getting on is in the Education and Kids section. I liked the way they broke down the three branches of government. I also liked the power points on each member of the Truman Family. In the kids section they had a play on Truman's Life this would be right up my student's alley because we use plays in class all the time to make learning history a little easier to understand and to also make it a lot more exciting and fun. The kids really like expressing themselves and I even find the students who usually don't say too much are raising their hands in class to ask for a particular part. Another area that looked interesting was the timeline. My students enjoy working on timelines in class and it is an easy way for them to take a look at the whole picture without a lot of reading, but yet with the most important things standing out.
The puzzles and games were really good and I know my students would get a lot out of them plus they would break up the every day worksheet with something different to work on, yet they would be learning at the same time. The pamphlets are a neat idea. I have used these in Geography class with the different states or countries. The kid’s love being able to show their creative side and this gives them a chance to really put down what they have researched and learned from the class. There is much more to look at in the Truman Library than what I have time to look at, at this time but this will a site that I will go back to do some more research in and get some better ideas for my class.

War Without Mercy

I have never read or heard about WWII being a racial war. I guess if you think about it several other wars could be considered racial. I know there was deep hatred for the Japanese because of what they did to Pearl Harbor. I found it interesting that Japan felt that if they attacked us that we would not be able to pick ourselves up from the disaster, but we surprised them and came right back at them stronger than they thought we would. I sometimes wonder if that is not what Bin Laden thought. I believe there is a lot of hate that is going around. I don’t think it was right in what we Americans did to the Japanese who lived here in America. The Japanese Americans or anyone for that matter should never be treated like they were treated such as, sending them to internment camps. We are the land of the free and people immigrated here for liberty and freedom and look what we did to other American citizens just because there nationality was Japanese.
I thought the political cartoons were confusing at first in how both the Americans and Japanese viewed how they looked to each other. I did not really understand some of the cartoons when I first looked at them but then when I read more about how each side viewed one another I was able to see why they drew the characters that they did.
In my opinion I think that depending on how the war begins that most wars are at times racial. I also feel that things are said about other countries or people that we are fighting to get people fired up to go out and fight. I am not saying that is right, but that seems to be the way it goes. I honestly believe racial slurs go both ways and Dower did indicate that in his book. I have never thought of war as being a racial situation before. It has always been war because someone has tried to destroy us or invade our home front. Since reading this book it has made me see WWII and other wars in a different way.
In my class the way I incorporate more global history is to look at life from other people’s point of view and try to show or teach my kids how to have an understanding of why people feel like they do or have the attitude they do toward different things happening around the world. I like to compare and contrast them with how each student may feel about a certain situation that is going on such as the terrorist attaches etc…We talk about current events not only here in the United States, but also around the world in class everyday and I try to relate these happenings in our daily lives if possible.

Kansas Reports

Faith - I enjoy reading about small towns and their histories. It is interesting how these little towns get started.

Tammy - I didn't realize the trolley travelled at such a distance in the Pittsburg area. In fact I didn't even know they had a trolley until I read your paper. good job!

Mike M. - I like reading about small towns and the little feuds or struggles they encounter along the way in order to get themselves started.

Mark B. - The disputes over land were terrible but yet interesting. I am just glad I didn't live in that area during this time.

Greg - This was very good. I like reading about the Civil War and events that surround it.

Jolene - I found the Orphan Train story very interesting. I had always heard about it but never had read anything about it.

Teri - I did not know there was clay mining or that the miners did mine it here in Kansas. I also liked reading about the Indianapolis Speedway and the bricks that were used to build it.

John - I didn't realize so many little towns existed at one time. It is hard to believe so many of them are gone now even though they seemed to thrive at one time very well.

Mark - J.A. Wayland was not someone that I was familiar with. I found this paper very interesting and it helped me to have a better understanding of socialism.

Bill - This is neat to be able to see how the New Deal helped a small town and it's people here in Kansas.

Patrick - I liked the history about the school and all the background information on it. It was interesting to read how it all got started.

Michelle - It seems that even in the 1800's people liked the same recreation that we enjoy today especially the beer:O)

Julie - This was very interesting. I liked reading about the different riots that went on during the 1900's and how they got started in the first place.

Eddie - I did not realize that we had an army ammunition plant in Kansas. This was very interesting and amazing how many people had jobs because of the plant.

Debbie - Good work. I wasn't aware of all the history on the railroad around Parsons. Thanks for the good information. I can use this in my class.

Mary - Parsons School system went through a lot of changes to get where it is today. I found the Douglas School very interesting.

Tracy - I liked the information and story about the lynching, but I also think how sad it was too. It was a very ugly situation. I wish there would be more information on it.

T.J. - I have taught in Wichita in an all black school. I knew about this history on Wichita but it was good to read up on it again.

Steven - I found the Douglas School very interesting. It is to bad that they had to get rid of it. This was the first I had heard of Douglas School. (except when I read Mary's paper)

Rob - I liked reading about the KATY Hospital. It is to bad that there aren't any hospitals like that anymore that really take the time to treat the patient like they are important.

I want to thank all of you for the great information that I have received from all of your papers. They will come in handy in my classroom and for me in the future. You all did a good job on the papers and I found them all very interesting and well worth reading.