I’ve added a new feature to my website. The search engine, which I have dubbed Search with a Smile, should be helpful when you are looking for information on the site. If you use it, and encounter any problems, let me know. For now, it is on for a trial run. If it is successful, it will stay. If not…GONE!

If you aren’t a big fan of football, this isn’t the week for you. Huge NFL games on Sunday and college bowl games practically every day for a week. I’ve already mentioned some of the big NFL games. For college, I’ll keep an eye on Rose Bowl (Ohio State vs. Oregon) and the Sugar Bowl (Cincinnati vs. Florida). I even enjoy watching the Rose Bowl parade.

I can think of a lot of nicknames I wouldn’t want…but I think “Underwear Bomber” had to be at the top of the list. Here’s to a terror-free 2010.

Drum roll please….
Top Socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2010

The Krispy Kreme Hamburger! No post on this blog generated more responses than this crazy caloric “cake and cow” combination.

Krispy Kreme Hamburger Article

Here is the proof that I didn’t make up the story about the Krispy Kreme hamburger. The article states that the burger is over 1000 calories. I have to admit, I would try it. Check out the video on the left of the cbsnews.com page to see a video of the burger.

mmmmm....burger

This Day In History
2006-The death toll for Americans in Iraq reached 3000. Again, here’s to a terror-free 2010. Hopefully by the end of next year, we can make it happen.
Celebrity Birthdays today include Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins is a great actor. On of the greats of this generation. Hopkins has played 3 different US Presidents. He played Nixon in Nixon and John Quincy Adams in Amistad (a great movie that many people haven’t even heard of). He also played Washington in a documentary called Freedom. I’ve never seen it, but it sounds good from what I read.
It is also the birthday of singer Donna Summer

Charles Cornwallis and explorer Jacques Cartier also celebrated birthdays on this day. We will hear the name Cornwallis when we begin to discuss the American Revolution.

Happy New Year!

It is definitely a good news day for the Mets. Adding Jason Bay only makes the Mets better. He won’t bring with him the power numbers that he had in Boston, but his offense will fit perfectly in the middle of the Mets lineup with Wright and Beltran. If he plays the game the right way, he should be a doubles machine in CitiField.

No news on the Reds front. Basically, the economy has hit Cincinnati hard. They are budgeting their payroll at about 73 million dollars which they reached with current salaries already. The only good news is that they restructured Scott Rolen’s contract and added a 2 more years. The guy is a pro’s pro but is injury prone. As long as he stays healthy, it really helps the Reds. His restructuring means that the Reds will probably not have to trade Harang or Arroyo. I’m glad to hear that…after all, you can’t win without starting pitching. The Reds also re-signed catcher/backup first baseman Ramon Hernandez. Other than that and perhaps a minor deal later on, I think the Reds are going to have to go with the hopes that their current youngsters will improve. That is not an unreasonable expectation (Votto=26, Bruce=22, Phillips=28, Stubbs=25, Cueto and Baily will be 24 when the season begins). After that, the Reds have to hope that Edinson Volquez returns from Tommy John surgery by mid-season and better than ever. However, you never know with surgery.

Staying with the sports theme:

Underrated Larkin deserves spot in HOF
Jayson Stark, ESPN
If you’re hanging out in a Skyline Chili or in the Montgomery Inn right now, you already know all about Barry Larkin.
But if you’re not someone who has passed through the inimitable 513 area code in the past quarter-century, please listen up. I have some important news for you about this man:
Barry Larkin is one of the greatest shortstops who ever lived. Period.

More Sports:
Miami still have a chance to make they playoffs. All they have to do is win this Sunday. Oh yeah…and the Jets, Ravens, Jaguars, and Texans all have to lose also. The two events to unlikely happen are the Raiders beating the Ravens and the Jets losing to the Bengals. It won’t be easy for the Dolphins to beat Pittsburgh either. If it isn’t settled by the end of the 4pm games I’ll have to find out in the morning, I can’t stay up all night to watch the Jets-Bengals game.
NFL Playoffs Generator

This site can take you through all the different possibilities. Interestingly enough, the Bengals and Jets will likely end up playing each other 2 weeks in a row.

Top socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2009

Balloon Boy Story Full of Hot Air!
When this story first “popped”, I knew that it was a hoax right away. Below was my spin on the story in mid-October.

Up and Away

Anyone following the story of the the boy who disappeared on a flying saucer shaped balloon? Turns out he wasn’t actually in the balloon…he was hiding because his daddy yelled at him. The boy is 6 years old. The entire family was on Larry King Live last night. To me, the entire story smells like a publicity stunt. This family is clearly not normal and I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear more to this story later on.

Want more proof that this isn’t a normal family? The young boy’s name is FALCON!!!
The family has also appeared on the TV series Wife Swap.

Didn’t the father look a little like Cletus from the Simpsons

Cletus? or Crazy Balloon Man?

Of course, I then followed that story with an exclusive scoop of my own thanks to my journalistic skills. Here is my blog post from 10/17

I’ve been investigating this story since it broke 2 days ago. I’ve learned that Richard Heene (aka Cletus from the Simpsons) is not the actual father of Falcon, the boy believed to be in the balloon.
Falcon’s Daddy is pictured below:

By the way, what a sad movie! I couldn’t even get past the beginning.

On This Day In History:
2006-Saddam Hussein was hanged.
Happy Birthday today to future New York Knick LeBron James. By the way, I’m getting tired of the grumbling from Nate Robinson and Eddy Curry about their lack of playing time. Isn’t it obvious? The team is winning without you. Complain about playing time only if the team is losing without you and winning with you. The Knicks are 6-4 in their last 10 and are close to a playoff slot…not that it means anything this early in the season, but for a team that was lousy the last few years, it is something to strive for.
It is also the birthday of baseball legend Sandy Koufax, Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer (both Today show hosts…that’s odd), and Tiger Woods (I wonder what Mrs. Woods will be buying him for his b-day).

Whew…thus concludes the longest longest post in the history of this blog…my fingers need a rest.

This news story broke without me being aware of it. How is that possible? Apparently there is word that Tyra Banks is going to end her talk show. Is life worth living without Tyra? Hmmmm…yes. I’m actually worried because without all that work to do on the talk show, Tyra Banks might go back to calling me all the time. She just won’t take no for an answer.
Here is an excerpt of an article from the Philadelphia Enquirer:

Sideshow: Tyra Banks: Next chapter?

Me too me too me too! That’s Tyra Banks announcing the end of The Tyra Banks Show, her syndicated CW joint, after five years. Last shows will happen in 2010. Could Tyra, 36, not stand Oprah Winfrey getting the eyes for being a prominent black woman TV host calling it quits? Or was Tyra just tyra’d of the show? On her Web site, she says she’ll concentrate on that all-engrossing cause, CW/UPN’s America’s Next Top Model, plus movies and unspecified “digital products,” which sounds nastier than it probably is.

The writer of the article also states that there are rumors that Tyra Banks is quitting because she is pregnant.

My commentary is: Can we keep Tyra and get rid of Oprah? What? Oprah’s leaving too? Who says there’s never any good news! I’ll continue to “say no to the O”

Top socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2009:

Mice!
Ah, who will ever forget that disaster of a day when the beady little eyes of our least favorite rodent were first spotted. Not only did “Mickey” ruin my lesson, it was an equal opportunity pest, spending time in Mrs. Convey’s and Mr. Joseph’s classrooms. “Mighty Mouse” was also spotted on December 23, the day before the break trying to get back into my room. The scream of Keara kept him away.
No word yet on whether the tickling to death will be the means of extermination.
When reached for comment, Mr. Dowling simply stated, “I hate meeces to pieces.”

Here is a list of famous mice who are better than the Weber Mouse:

5. Danger Mouse (I watched this one as a youngster)

6. Fievel

7. Itchy from the Simpsons

Question of the Day: Am I missing anyone? Do you have any nominations for Honorable Mention?
On This Day In History:
1845-Texas is added as a state to the United States. The US was in the midst of “Manifest Destiny”, the belief that the United States has a god given right to all of the land from “sea to shining sea”. Wars and forced migrations of Native Americans dotted the landscape during this time in history. We will be discussing Manifest Destiny in May this year.

Top Socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2009

Laughs and Lunch
It all started on October 22 with this post

Today we started out Laughs and Lunch group. It was simply an informal gathering of some Green 7 students to relax, watch some cartoons and enjoy our lunch.

Our first selection was a series of Popeye cartoons. I guess I’m still having flashbacks to last year’s Halloween Costume (I was Popeye). By the way, wait until you see this years costume. Mrs. Dowling has been working hard on it and I think it is my best costume ever!

Anyway, back to Laughs and Lunch…We will meet when I’m not overloaded with work. I’m guessing it will be a Thursday or Friday most weeks. I did this last year with the 8th graders and it was a lot of fun.

Thanks to Jesse E., Vinny D., Ethan B., Natale S. and anyone else who attended. I know I’m forgetting a student or two, sorry.

Since the original get together, we have watched Looney Toons, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and More Looney Toons. It is an enjoyable/relaxing get together. In fact, we’ve seen other teachers do similar get togethers with great results.
We probably average 17-18 students a week. I have no intention of stopping Laughs and Lunch. However, once this quarter ends I won’t be available during Period 4 anymore. Perhaps (if there is enough demand) we’ll do it at 7:30 once a week. I may do it even if there isn’t enough demand because sometimes I need a break also.

Today is the birthday of Spider Man comic book creator Stan Lee, actor Denzel Washington (has anyone seen The Great Debaters?), David Archuleta (this will make Mariapaz happy) and Mackenzie Rosman. Mackenzie Rosman is the little girl from the TV show 7th Heaven. Hard to believe that she is now 20 years old. It also was the birthday of President Woodrow Wilson.

I just finished Pay It Forward, the novel that inspired the movie. At first, when Jesse let me borrow the book, I thought I was wasting my time reading it because I thought it would be exactly like the movie. There are some differences. However, I did enjoy the movie more than the book.
Either way, the story is an inspiring one that I wish everyone would read (or watch). We would live in a better world if we tried to do nice things for people and expect nothing in return other than to have those people do nice things for other people.

There probably won’t be additional entries for the book club for awhile. I’m reading mostly fiction books for the next few months. I don’t do enough of it and it actually can be enjoyable. Reading can be a wonderful replacement for television and video games from time to time.

It may sound like I’m in a bad mood but I’m not…just a few things I need to get off my chest.

My cousin had off all last week while we were in school for 3 days. In other words, her school had a 2 week vacation! Why are we not doing this in Port Washington?!?
Terrorism is horrible for obvious reasons and we won’t get into that now. But it drives me crazy that these nuts totally ruin the flying experience. I still haven’t forgiven the “shoe-bomber” for making me have to take off my shoes every time I fly somewhere. Thank goodness he didn’t try to hide anything in his pants!!!

Ahhhh…I feel better already.

Fun day yesterday. I had my family over for Christmas. We had a great time.
Today, I’m going to my mom’s house for our tradition…leftovers. Thankfully, we try not to let anything go to waste.
It is hard to believe that by this time next week we’ll be in 2010.

Top Socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2009

Extra Help
Over the past few months, one of the frequent topics of discussion has been Extra Help. We’ve had our regularly scheduled help in the morning, Study Skills during Core Extension, review during class and who could forget the 20 Questions game starring the students of Green 7. Perhaps most important is that most of the students are doing real well. I anticipate that they will continue to work hard in 2010. I’d love to extend our streak to 2 quarters of having no students fail Social Studies. Thankfully there are only a small handful of students who are in danger of failing.

This Day In History
1776-Yesterday, Washington and his men stealthily cross the Delaware River to surprise the German mercenaries. Today, they make the defeat a reality, winning the Battle of Trenton. I was watching some of The Revolution yesterday. I haven’t gotten up to The Battle of Trenton yet, but the show makes it sound like Washington needed a victory in the worst way. There were a lot of generals who thought they were more worthy than Washington to be in charge. Had he lost at Trenton, that might have been the end for him.
2004-Peyton Manning broke Dan Marino’s record for most touchdowns in a season. I still consider Marino to be the best quarterback in history. Unfortunately, he is missing something that Manning has, a Super Bowl championship. The Dolphins haven’t been the same without Marino.
Both Harry Truman and Gerald Ford died on this day in history.
Celebrities celebrating birthdays today include Christ Daughtry, John Walsh from America’s Most Wanted, Carlton Fisk and Ozzie Smith. One of my gifts yesterday was the book Game Six which recounts all of the stunning events of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Fisk hit an amazing homerun in extra innings to help the Red Sox defeat the Cincinnati Reds. Luckily for the Reds, they came back and won Game 7 and the World Series.

Top Socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2009

Website Records
Amazingly, we shattered our monthly website record. It happened in September. At first, I was thrilled because it was the best September I’ve had in the 4 year history of Socialstudieswithasmile.com. Then it became the best month ever. We did the same in October…and November. I’m sure the blog and the postcards earlier in the year are the biggest contributors to the jump in visits.
Hopefully, everyone will continue to stop by for their Social Studies needs. You make all the work that goes into this site worth it.

On This Date In History (12/27)
1932-Radio City Music Hall Opened. I went to the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall last year for the first time. Spectacular! I didn’t think I would like it, but it was quite enjoyable. The auditorium itself is a sight to see. I can’t wait to go back.
Two athletes share a birthday today: Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies and Carson Palmer of the Cincinnati Bengals. Bengals have a big game today. Win and they are in the playoffs. I’d prefer to see the Dolphins make it but you can’t always get what you want.

Top Socialstudieswithasmile.com blog “stories” of 2009

The Deaths of Walter Cronkite and Senator Ted Kennedy
Both were great Americans. The following is the post written after the death of Walter Cronkite

It certainly was sad to hear of the passing of an American legend, Walter Cronkite.
I was barely alive when Cronkite retired from the CBS Evening News in 1981 but my lasting memory of him is the clip of Cronkite telling the US about the death of President Kennedy in 1963.
I heard an interesting story about Cronkite last night. When the anchors of news programs are not on TV, their substitute would often begin “Good evening. I’m ________. Walter Cronkite is on assignment.” Typically this would mean the anchor is out doing an investigative report that would air later on once completed. However, according to George Grande, Cronkite’s boat was called “Assignment”. So when Cronkite was out on assignment he was often enjoying one of his passions, boating on “Assignment”.

On This Day In History:
1776-Washington and his men cross the Delaware River for a surprise attack on The Hessians and British (Battle of Trenton). There is a great account of this in David McCulloch’s book 1776. I have the book (and excepts of it printed out if you would like to read it. It is a stunning account of this attack.
Today also marks the deaths of two Martins…Billy Martin of the Yankees and Dean Martin the entertainer.
It was also the birthday of some other famous guy…

Writing while wondering why I’m up so early! Couldn’t sleep…woke up around 4 am…ugh!
As the end of the year rapidly approaches, I thought now would be a good time to review the top stories of the Socialstudieswithasmile.com blog.
Our list will include 8 top “stories”
#8….The Socialstudieswithasmile.com Begin is Born!
It all started on June 8, 2009 with a very simple statement:

Welcome to the socialstudieswithasmile.com blog. Good luck on your finals!

Over the summer I’d post every 4-5 days with an audience of 1 (me). Once school began we added a few loyal posters and other frequent readers. We’ve evolved to include such daily topics as This Day In History, Celebrity Birthdays, The Question of the Day and random facts (both historical and bizarre). I also include my thoughts on the day at school. Best of all, this blog has allowed me to get to know some of my students better…which is the reason I started this blog earlier in the year. I intend to keep it going as long as I have the time and something to write about.

Now back to present day…
The mouse returned! By the way Keara screamed in class yesterday, I thought it was an insane killer trying to get in the room. It certainly put a damper on our ability to discuss political cartoons. Speaking of political cartoons, you will have an assignment, probably in January, to create a political cartoon on an American Revolution topic. Don’t forget some of the techniques that we have discussed.
I didn’t watch the entire Santa Clause movie yesterday…I tried to get some work done…but what I did see seemed pretty good. I think the sound quality was much better with Mr. Buchman’s speakers. I’m going to try to upgrade sooner rather than later.
I thought the Laughs and Lunch cartoons were fun. The baseball one is one of my favorites. I’m looking forward to seeing the Tortoise and the Hare cartoon. That one is great also.

For those of you who are celebrating, Have a Merry Christmas. As always, enjoy this time with your family.
I think we’re going to have a pretty large number of students who will be returning to school with tans. I’ll be jealous!

On This Day In History:
1524-Vasco da Gama died.-As you recall, Vasco da Gama was the first person to sail around the tip of Africa to get to Asia. Remember, we gave da Gama the grade of V.G. for very good. He was able to do what Dias (grade of D) could not do.
1814-This day also marked the signing of the Treaty of Ghent (in Belgium). This treaty was the treaty to end the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was a war between the United States and Great Britain.

Birthdays Today include Ryan Seacrest of American Idol. By the way, I can’t watch that show anymore…it has become too predictable with the same songs, judges comments, etc. every year. However, the show definitely changed television and in my opinion for the better. There are now shows on television that you can watch as a family. The networks got away from family programming for a long time. Now, if only they could bring back more sitcoms I’d be very happy. It is also the birthday of author Mary Higgins Clark and singer Ricky Martin

Enjoy the rest of the day and vacation!

For those of you who are celebrating, have a Merry Christmas.
If you are not celebrating, simply enjoy the vacation. It is a great opportunity to recharge our batteries and then come back ready to get back to business.

To all: Happy New Year!

I’ve spoken to more than one student who has a Thursday morning flight scheduled. Be on the lookout at the airport, I get the feeling there will be a large Weber presence. Mrs. Dowling actually ran into my cousin at the airport in Hawaii 2 years ago. We knew she was going, but had no idea that she would be leaving at the same time….so it is possible.

Oglethorpe Bashing!!!
OK OK…the Oglethorpe Bashing has to stop. Question of the Day: What name would be a good name to indicate power/strength? I like Thunder. What’s your opinion? It should be an uncommon name, yet a name that would work as a first name (boy or girl).
My 2nd choice is Falcon…which also was the name of the balloon boy.

Today would have been the birthday of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church in the United States. The Mormons were not always the favorites of people they lived around. As a result, they settled in Utah thanks to its isolation because of the Rocky Mountains. The overwhelming majority of Mormons still live in Utah. The leader who brought them there was the leader after Smith’s death, Brigham Young. Young is a relative of former football player Steve Young of the 49ers. Any idea why the 49ers are called the 49ers? It has nothing to do with the Mormons but does have a historical reason.

Today is also the birthday of Harry Shearer of The Simpsons. Shearer is the voice of many characters on the show including Principal Skinner, Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders. Although I haven’t watched it much this season, The Simpsons is one of my all-time favorite shows.

More later…enjoy the last day of school for 2009.