Celebrate the New Year and make big plans for your classroom.

The End of Stranger Things: A Decade-Long Journey Concludes I finished Stranger Things Season 5 not because I desperately wanted to see what happened next, but because I'd invested too much time not to see it through. That realization, more than anything else about the final season, tells you everything you need to know about how this once-groundbreaking series concluded.

Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas.

This year marked a transformative period in my reading life, with audiobooks becoming my primary mode of historical engagement while physical and digital formats served different purposes. Below is a complete accounting of my reading organized by format, along with recommendations for educators and history enthusiasts who might benefit from these works. Part One: Historic Audiobook Listens These audiobooks dominated my commute time and transformed how I engage with historical scholarship.

I've been teaching social studies long enough to remember when the biggest challenge was getting students to put away their phones during class discussions. Now? The phone isn't just a distraction; it's their first stop for every answer, every question, every moment of cognitive discomfort. Here's the thing that keeps me up at night: I'm not teaching a trivia class. I don't actually care if my students can recall the exact year the Treaty of Westphalia was signed or recite the Preamble verbatim.

In an alternate history, a unified military confederation in Eastern Europe effectively counters Bolshevik expansion, significantly altering regional dynamics and preventing World War II.

Using comics to teach the Bill of Rights engages students by transforming abstract legal principles into relatable narratives, facilitating understanding of constitutional law through visual storytelling and current events.

Today's conversation with my freshmen about altruistic and culturally competent leadership reminded me why I love teaching government and civics. When we stripped away all the complexity, the students kept circling back to something fundamental: real leaders care about other people more than themselves. This isn't the leadership we see valorized in movies or celebrated in corporate motivational posters. It's quieter, harder, and infinitely more important.

The article argues for keeping Space Shuttle Discovery at Udvar-Hazy, emphasizing its historical context, accessibility, and educational value, while proposing Houston focus on modern spaceflight narratives.

December 2025 encourages celebrating diverse traditions, reflecting on personal growth, and fostering cultural understanding through various educational activities, ensuring inclusive and joyful learning experiences in classrooms.

How a Cuban Generation and Battle of Cuito Cuanavale Changed the Course of Apartheid Fifty years later we need to reevaluate the broader Cuban geo-political power from 1970-1990. When we teach about the end of apartheid in South Africa, we typically focus on the internal resistance movement, international sanctions, and the moral leadership of figures like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

The four months between Franklin Roosevelt's election in November 1932 and his inauguration in March 1933 represent one of the most consequential—and damaging—presidential transitions in American history. During this period, the economy deteriorated dramatically while the outgoing and incoming presidents engaged in a political standoff that prioritized partisan advantage over immediate relief. Understanding this interregnum requires examining both the policy disputes between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt and their fundamentally different relationships with the financial establishment that had brought the nation to crisis.

In the Great Depression, Major General Butler exposed a conspiracy by wealthy industrialists to instigate a fascist coup against Roosevelt's government, raising concerns about democracy's fragility.

This fall semester, I took a deliberate approach to using comic books as teaching tools to explore critical social and historical issues that resonate with my high school students. Rather than treating comics as simple entertainment, I leveraged their visual storytelling power and cultural relevance to create engaging entry points for discussions about representation, identity, and the ongoing struggle for justice in America.

November 2025 encourages gratitude, cultural appreciation, and reflection on history, inspiring educational opportunities that celebrate heritage, recognize contributions, and foster critical thinking and community engagement.

Ada Ferrer's "Cuba: An American History" redefines US-Cuba relations, blending personal insights with rigorous scholarship, making it essential for understanding intertwined histories and contemporary foreign policy.

A failed 1952 coup against Batista could have sparked Caribbean unity, leading to a confederation resisting imperialism and fostering democracy, transforming regional dynamics significantly.

King George III, who reigned from 1760 to 1820, significantly influenced British history through military conflicts, imperial expansion, and personal struggles, shaping the pre-Victorian global order.

Using books like LOTR and Frankenstein to evaluate screenwriting process and teach suspense is a great activity for October.

October 2025 offers educational opportunities celebrating cultural heritage, historical milestones, and scientific discoveries, inspiring students to appreciate diversity and develop critical thinking skills for the future.

"The Ornament of the World" by María Rosa Menocal explores the collaborative cultural achievements of Muslims, Jews, and Christians in medieval Spain, emphasizing their tolerance and intellectual exchange.

Adobe Creative Educators uses monthly challenges to try new activities in Adobe Express each month please enjoy my take on the September and October challenges for fall 2025. #AdobeEduCreative

Toledo became a crucial hub for knowledge transfer between Islamic and Christian worlds after its conquest in 1085, sparking the Renaissance and laying foundations for modern European civilization.

Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote" revolutionized the novel form, explored the human condition, offered social commentary, and inspired various adaptations across art forms.