Hurricane History

* please forgive my typos and mistakes. I'm typing from the car. 

First and foremost, I hope you and your loved ones are safe and ok. 

It has been a wild week, hasn't it? The evacuations, the hunkering down, the junk food (that wasn't just me, was it?), the usage of our collective armature meteorology skills, the lack of power, the brush-clearing, the constant Florida sweating, the waiting for power.

We have all just lived through a major historical event. Together. 

Irma was historic in many ways: the 37 continued hours at 185+ mph, the largest evacuation in American History, the largest power restoration effort in American History, the longest stretch of no-school hurricane days in MY memory, the widespread damage from the Keys to Jacksonville to Naples and even into Georgia and South Carolina.

Even if Tampa Bay "dodged a bullet", as all the news reports keep saying, it was still a big darn deal to all of us. 

When kids come back to school Monday, many of them are going want to swap Irma stories. Heck, most adults I know are going to want o swap Irma stories. 

And some kids won't want to talk about it. And that's ok, too. 

This is a chance to teach about the many different stories that make up historical events. 

This would be a great opportunity for your kids to write about their Irma stories and compare a few (being SUPER sensitive about kids who may have been genuinely traumatized either personally or by connection)

You may consider sharing your Irma story and sharing another Irma story (maybe a student volunteer or one from the news). 

Then, discuss whose story was the "true" or "real" story of Irma. 

Chances are, your students can tell you immediately that there is no one "true" or "real" story of Irma. Instead, major events are made up of many different perspectives that are complied to make History-with-a-capital-H. 

And that's the point to history. History is never ONE narrative, written by ONE person to create The Textbook. 

Instead, History is created by thousands of stories, complied together to create a bigger picture. 

We were all a part of history this week. Until we are 100+ years old, we will remember where we were during Hirricane Irma and what our communities were like. What effects they felt. How they acted.

And while we're discussing this week as History, remember how many variations exist. Not everyone evacuated. Not everyone lost power. Not everyone suffered damage. Not everyone boarded up. Not everyone hunkered down. 

This is history. 

And if kids can understand history in this way with Irma, it will make it easier when they look at the many varied stories that make up the American Revolution or the Plague or the Great Migration. 

On a personal note, I'm writing this as I ride "shotgun" as we head home from Tennessee, where we evacuated. I-75 is closed due to flooding in North Florida, so we're learning all different back roads today. 

My story is different from your story. But added together, we make the story of Florida (and Georgia and Souh Carolina) during HurricaneIrma. 

This is how History is written - many different stories. And every one of us is a part of history, particularly this week. 

How can you use Irma to discuss history and geography and government economics this week? 

And if you want some more thoughts about teaching after Irma, check out these thoughtful ideas from a counselor who worked with schools after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita - https://m.facebook.com/patti.m.ezell/posts/10214304169257010 

My favorite was the "don't rush to catch up on pacing" one. 

Again, I hope you all are well and getting back to normal! 

 See you soon! 

-Tracy