On Henrietta Lacks and HeLa Cells

On Henrietta Lacks and HeLa Cells: In February of 1951, an African-American woman from rural Virginia (Henrietta Lacks) was dying of cervical cancer. Without her knowledge, doctors (cell biologists) took samples of her tumor cells to see if they would continue to grow or multiply outside of her body. Labeling them "HeLa" cells, these were the first cells used to create an "immortal line." Until the arrival of HeLa cells, doctors (cell biologists) had spent a majority their time trying to keep cells alive. With HeLa cells, however, they no longer had to worry about cellular reproduction, because these cells seemed to multiply indefinitely. What made "immortal" cell lines so valuable was that they could be used to generate an enormous amount of medical research. Unfortunately, the Lacks family was not made aware of of Henrietta's "immortality" until around 1975. And the taking of Henrietta's personal property for research purposes (without her consent) certainly raised a number of patient privacy concerns that still remain issues in healthcare to this day (HIPAA).

On Nellie Bly and Her Mad-House

On Nellie Bly and Her Mad-House: Getting yourself committed to an insane asylum (on purpose) is no easy task. But as an investigative journalist, Nellie Bly had to get the scoop on what was happening at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Roosevelt Island in New York City. The year was 1887, and Bly had recently left her job at the Pittsburgh Dispatch to work for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. And as one of her first assignments, she went undercover to expose the dark underbelly of American lunatic asylums. Bly faked insanity while living at a women's boardinghouse. Having been examined by a psychiatrist, they committed her to the asylum. While there, she experienced the wretched conditions of asylum life firsthand. Many of the patients were actually sane immigrants, but they simply could not speak English. Clean clothes and edible food were hard to find, and torture (sitting on straight-back benches, wearing straight-jackets, etc.) seemed to be the only daily activity. The newspaper got Bly released after ten days, and she later published a book about her findings.

On Abolition and Women's Rights (1840s/50s)

On Abolition and Women's Rights (1840s/50s): In the 1840s, multiple social movements gained momentum in American politics. From abolition (of slavery) to nativism (anti-immigration) to suffrage (women's rights), many Americans in the 1840s (especially those of the emerging middle class) were becoming aware of the changing cultural attitudes in society at large. Undoubtedly, the primary catalyst for these changing attitudes was industrialization, as increasing numbers of people were able to obtain employment in the growing economy. By the late 1840s, two of these movements started to develop concurrently. Abolition and women's rights saw their first major overlap in July 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in Upstate New York. At the Convention, there were three competing visions that needed to be reconciled. One vision was that of Susan B. Anthony, who (representing white women) advocated for voting rights over ending slavery. Another vision included Sojourner Truth, who (representing free black women) pushed for both abolition and suffrage at the same time. The final vision involved the likes of Frederick Douglass, who (representing free black men) encouraged abolition over women's rights.

On Political Cartoons and the Anti-Imperialists

On Political Cartoons and the Anti-Imperialists: The above cartoon appeared in Harper's Weekly in September 1900. It depicts a fiery President McKinley firing a cannon into an effigy mocking him and the pageantry of imperialism. One October night in 1898, McKinley claimed to have been visited by God in a dream, Who told him to start building an American empire. The first step in that empire-building process would be war with Spain, which enabled the U.S. to acquire territories like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. At the same time, however, there was a growing cohort of Americans who viewed these imperial acquisitions with disdain. Led in part by two Massachusetts Senators, George Boutwell and George Hoar, the Anti-Imperialist League actively opposed the McKinley/Roosevelt administrations in their attempts to expand America's power/reach around the world. The primary argument put forth by the anti-imperialists was that the U.S. got its start as a country thanks to anti-imperialism. Why did the country now want to take the same path as Britain or Spain? Imperial empires only seem to end in disaster.

On Instructional Scaffolding

On Instructional Scaffolding: During the learning process, some students need extra support when accessing the curriculum. One of the teacher's primary goals should always be to make the curriculum as accessible as possible. Instructional scaffolding is one such strategy that teachers can employ to achieve this goal. At the start of each class, it behooves the teacher to set the tone for the period (usually by having students complete an opening task). Quick notes (bullet points) or sentence frames are some of the better ways to get students to respond. After a brief discussion of the opener, the teacher can move toward sequencing and/or guiding the lesson. This is generally marked by an activity (group work, pair-share, etc.). After giving instructions for the primary activity, the teacher's role ought to gradually dissipate as the class moves forward. This dissipation allows students to take charge of their learning, which is the main objective behind scaffolding. As the class nears its end, however, the teacher should step back in to synthesize leftover thoughts and reaffirm upcoming tasks.