Teaching the American Revolution

"The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." - Thomas Pain in The American Crisis

How my day goes

From the facebook of one of my former AP History students:

And Now, A Day In Coach Ray's Class:
- Look, all I'm saying is at the end of the day the new 3 Star Wars movies suck.(him)
- What Did You Say Pace?(me)
- Those movies suck.
- Run that by me one more time.
- The Final 3 Star Wars films suck.
- You know, I thought you said that Star Wars sucked. And if that were the case, then I was going to fail you.
- Oh. Well I'm a die hard Star Wars fan, but I hate the Episodes 1-3.
- Guys! I love the enthusiasm but none of this will be on your test tomorrow. And even though the last three Star Wars moves were filmed like 20 years later, they are still okay movies...With that said, Jar-Jar Binx can die in hell.

Jobs.

In my classes I sometimes talk about job experiences I've had to help explain some topic or another. I've had a lot of jobs. So I've been meaning to make the list for months, and today - I just did it:

cooked hamburgers (Wendy's), landscaper, house painter, delivered newspapers, quality control in a foundry, lifeguard, convenience store cashier, bank teller, cashier again, tutored college football players, book rush in a textbook store (seasonally), History grad assistant (Western Civ.), cook in a chicken wing restaurant, US Army Intelligence Analyst and Russian Linguist, chicken wing cook (again), (Turned down the CIA to go to Russia with Pepsi), Restaurant manager (Pepsico/Taco Bell), (Turned down State Dept. interview, same reason, but my group didn't get the Ruskie job...), Honors Dorm Director, campus convenience store manager, taught University P.E. classes, high school football grad assistant (6A state champs 1997), Tour Guide at State Park, sporting goods store for xmas, weekend cashier - campus convenience store, computer teacher/coach in Moundville,AL, history teacher/coach in Gulf Shores,AL, history teacher/coach in Decatur, AL, radio announcer for high school sports

I had several of these simultaneously - i.e. Dorm Director, PE Classes, football coach, cashier. It does seem like an awful lot, but it was from 1981 until now.