I began bicycling in September 2010 for two reasons- the health benefits and to commute to work.  Living in Madison has made commuting a great experience, and I wanted to share some of the lessons I have learned the past three years.

1. Before you begin commuting, ride your expected route at least once, if not twice.  Look for bike lanes that you can use.  If your route takes you down a busy street and you don’t feel safe, find a parallel side street that you can take.  You should also find out if there are paved bike trails in your area.  Finally, check out the WI Department of Transportation’s webpage with bicycle maps.

2. If you don’t remember what you learned about bicycle safety as a child, brush up by going to the WI Department of Transportation’s webpage for safety tips and rules for riding.

3. Depending on the distance of your commute, you might want to consider buying a pair or two of bike shorts.  My commute is 40 miles round trip, and I learned the hard (and very painful) lesson of riding long distances without proper gear.

4. Consider buying both a headlight and taillight.  This is especially important if you will be cycling in the dark.  If you will not be riding in the dark, they still increase your visibility with automobiles, thereby making your commute that much safer.

5. As a teacher, I bring a lot of work home with me; therefore, I decided to buy a basket big enough for my backpack and laptop.  I tried riding at first with my backpack on my back, but by the time I got home at night, I was uncomfortable.  If a basket isn’t your style, you could always choose a cargo bag or pannier.

6. If you work up a sweat on your commute, make sure your place of employment has a shower facility and place to change.  To decrease the amount of gear I need to take to work with each commute, I take a towel and a few days worth of clothes to work on Sunday.  I have a cupboard in my classroom, so I can store my “dirty” clothes in there for the week until the following Sunday.

7. Finally, if you live in the Madison area, you might want to check out the Choose to Commute workshop put on by the Wisconsin Bike Federation.

There are many other steps you can take to increase the comfort of your commute, but the above recommendations should be enough to get you well on your way.  Commuting really boils down to two very simple, but important, principles- the 6 P’s (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance) and SAFETY.

Happy Commuting.

One of the goals I had for my time here at the annual meeting was to find some books to use for our new AP U.S. History course.  I spent this morning perusing the catalogs while watching/listening to country music videos from the ’90s, counting down the minutes until the exhibit hall opened.  I think I found some good books, but I could definitely use some advice.  This is why I am calling on you, my readers, to give me some suggestions for books to use in my AP course.  I am looking for three or four books that cover some of the big time periods or issues in U.S. history.  Additionally, they cannot be overly long (nothing over 500 pages) and should not be too narrowly focused.  In particular, anything dealing with early colonial America, Native Americans, the antebellum period, and Reconstruction, would be especially useful.  Please leave suggestions as comments.  Many thanks in advance.

One of the things I really liked about this conference was the variety of professions represented.  I went to two different receptions last night, one by the NCPH and then the OAH Presidential Reception.  I went to the NCPH Consultants reception because the description in the program said if one was interested to attend.  Prior to the reception I knew nothing about historical consultants, but the conversations I had were definitely engaging and opened up my eyes to a whole new aspect of history.  It sounds as if the field is growing, which must mean that there is a demand by the public for the type of work that historians do.  My time at the second reception was also well spent as I sat at a table with an independent scholar/writer, a librarian at Ohio State University, and a retired teacher-now graduate student at Texas Christian University.  It was quite interesting to hear about their experiences in history, especially because they are not part of the professorial-side of the field.

Overall, my time here at the annual meeting was fruitful.  I heard some fascinating presentations, gave my own presentation, networked a bit, and picked up what I hope are good books.  Even though I’ve only been to one AHA annual meeting and one OAH annual meeting, I get the sense that the OAH is much more welcoming and inclusive of precollegiate teachers.  I hope that this continues for future meetings.  Next stop- the APSA (if my wife allows me to leave her alone with our three kids for four days again.)

Regards,

Jason

Last night’s panel on Getting the Most Out of the OAH went quite well.  Much to my surprise, we had probably 40 or so in the audience.  I hope that more and more precollegiate teachers become members of professional organizations, like the OAH, and begin attending annual meetings and perhaps even volunteering for committees (I actually just applied to help out with the OAH Committee on Teaching).  I can understand, however, if my precollegiate teaching colleagues feel out of place in such organizations.

As I noted in my essay about my experience at the AHA meeting in Boston last year, I was often asked the question, “What are you doing here?” as if a high school teacher was out of place at the annual meeting.  I realize that as a high school teacher, I might not necessarily make a big splash in the field of history, but I would like to think that my work would at least lead others to believe that I am a professional historian.  Recently, in the “From the President” column of the March 2012 Perspectives, William Cronon wrote an essay titled, “Professional Boredom.”  In it he argued that those of us not at a university/college should still be treated as professionals.  His call provides an excellent opportunity for organizations like the AHA and OAH to reach out to precollegiate teachers.

For example, there are a lot of us teachers who would like to continue taking content courses at universities; however, many institutions do not offer history courses at times conducive to teachers (meaning after 3:30ish), and if they do, they are usually so specialized that the content, while interesting, might not be useful for a teacher.  This problem could hopefully lead to some fruitful dialogue between post-secondary and K-12 teachers to see how university history departments could better serve the needs of teachers.  (I should mention that I am quite fortunate to live in Madison, WI, home of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and that I have been lucky to work with professors on independent studies and even two courses, although the “actual” courses were in political science.)  Would history departments suddenly collapse if they offered a few early evening/night classes for teachers each semester?

That said, my precollegiate teaching colleagues also have their fair share of work to do with this issue.  I am well aware of the time constraints placed on us due to our very full platters (let’s face it, we no longer have full plates, we have full platters); however, that should not lead teachers to take the quick and easy way when it comes to graduate coursework (cough, video courses, cough).  Surely, we would not expect our students to take the quick and easy way when it comes to assignments; so if we want to take courses at universities/colleges, we need to be prepared to engage in hours of reading and writing, the activities that led us to become history teachers in the first place.

I would also love to see organizations like the OAH and the AHA, not to mention the various history societies and conference groups, reach out to precollegiate teachers and welcome them, perhaps even provide them with opportunities to participate in committees or workshops/conferences throughout the year.  If they are going to reach out to K-12 teachers, however, then those teachers need to start attending annual meetings and volunteering their time. Once this happens, the history profession will emerge stronger and more unified.  Until then, the feeling of “us versus them” will continue to divide our field.

Regards,

Jason

For the first nine years of my teaching career, my teaching load centered on European history.  All of the graduate courses I’ve taken have been about some aspect of European history or the EU.  Imagine my disappointment then when my department decided to get rid of all three courses I taught concerning Europe.  What all of this means for me is that I now need to teach myself U.S. history.  Luckily, the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians (OAH) is held this year in Milwaukee, WI, about an hour from where I live.

I went to only one panel yesterday, “Researching Capitalism and Democracy in the American Global Twentieth Century.”  While the research of the three panelists focused on Italian immigrants, a topic unfamiliar to me, I did take away some important ideas about the field of history itself.  First was the notion of transnational collaboration.  Two of the panelists had worked together on a project and shared their experience.  Two of the benefits of such partnerships are assisting with translating sources and suggesting readings.  Additionally, transnational collaboration can be useful when dealing with issues such as immigration and labour.  Given my interest in Europe and the EU, I could definitely see the benefits of such relationships.

The second interesting theme I got out of the panel was the link between the national and transnational.  This was made evident in a presentation about the relationship between Italian immigrants in the U.S. and Italy.  Efforts to help out Italy during the First World War drew together the various ethnic communities here in the U.S. and the transnational community.  Additionally, in today’s age of globalization, we can see a very strong connection between trade and immigration.

As for my experience today, I went to an enlightening panel about the Arab Spring.  Much was said about the role of the U.S. in the revolutions as well as the foreign policy of the U.S. during the Cold War.  One statement struck me as particularly disheartening- the U.S. public does not pay too much attention to foreign affairs.  Unfortunately, I agreed.  Most of the news here focuses on local issues or sensational news (i.e. sex, violence, celebrities).  A few years ago, I actually wrote about this to the editor of my local paper, The Wisconsin State Journal, and he said that as a result of declining readership and a decrease in funding, many papers do not have full time or even part time foreign editors. Interesting that in an age of globalization, American citizens tend to look inward.

Tonight, I am on a panel for precollegiate teachers about making the most out of these large annual meetings.  Last year I took five students to the 125th annual meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA) in Boston and wrote an article about it.  My message is actually going to focus on why it is important not only for teachers to attend these meetings, but also why we should bring our students.  Not only do they get a chance to learn about history, but also the field itself (professions, historiography, etc.).

I will write more tomorrow after a full day of panels.  The first one is about blogging, so it should be interesting.

Regards,

Jason