Take the GLBT History Month Challenge

[Smarmie Doofus]

Damn . I only got 3 out of 9. And I was lucky to get that.

After you fail ( 5 or more out of 9 is PASS. Why 5 of 9 ? 'Cause I say so, that's why.) give me some ideas about how to mark GLBT History Month ( formerly known as "October") in the school where I teach.


http://www.glbthistorymonth.com/glbthistorymonth/2010/quiz00.cfm?Week=4

I warned you.

[Lunabelle]

1. 6 out of 9

And 5 of those were just guesses!

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. good god.

I need to hit the books.

Did you get the Tchaikovsky Q ?

[Lunabelle]

27. Yes, I guessed

I had no idea about any of them; I may be psychic or just a really good guesser. The only one I knew was the question about Matthew Sheppard. The Laramie Project.

[Amimnoch]

30. Heh, of the 3 I got right that was the only one that I didn't guess.

I didn't really know it, but using deductive reasoning, it would stand to reason that most parents in that era of Soviet Russia would encourage their children into civil service, as that was the best path to success at the time.

[closeupready]

44. I got that one - big Tchaikovsky fan here, and read a biography on him, this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovskys-Last-Days-Documentary-Study/

In which it discusses the fact that he was unhappy in the civil sevice.

Other than that, I did horrible - 4 out of 9, two of which I guessed, lol. I'm not as gay as I thought. Maybe this makes me bi...?

[Smarmie Doofus]

47. Now , how could anyone be "unhappy" in the civil service?

Don't believe everything you read.


And vice versa.

[Glorfindel]

2. I got 5! Yay, me...

n/t

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Ah. Ferrrchrissaaakes. That's it. Show me up. nt

[rurallib]

5. gay or straight, most of those people I had never heard of

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Thank you rurallib!!! THANK YOU!!!!!! nt

[xchrom]

7. 6 -- i was conflicted about some of my wrong answers

& had enormous amounts of d'uh' all over me.

[Smarmie Doofus]

9. Everyone is kicking my ass.

I wonder if we all get the same questions.

I'm supposed to be pretty good at this stuff.

[mitchtv]

25. oops 33%

not so smart

[getting old in mke]

8. 6 of 9

Though a couple were informed guesses ("Clearly not A or C...try B or D")

[Smarmie Doofus]

10. Ahhh.... shaddduppp.

:hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi:

[William769]

11. I got 3 out of 9

Back to Gay school for me!

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. You're incorrigible.

But we're in the same ( slow) class.

So, you have to help me come up w. a project for GLBT History Month. Sorry. Them's the rules.

[William769]

18. How about the origins of LGBT History Month itself & how it came to be

In the United States & other Countries.

[Smarmie Doofus]

20. Hmmm... I'm gonna let "that percolate down to the bedrock."

( John Huston in Chinatown). It'll "stay there, instead of evaporate like it does in most reservoirs."

Interesting idea. Let me mull.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. 5 out of 9, but I missed a question about a person I actually

have met and got a point for remembering how many seats in the Icelandic Parliament, which is not exactly a 'gay trivia' question. The one about Iceland, the way they asked the question is was more about Iceland than anything else. Sendak did not come out until 2008-3 years ago. So a person could have read up on him during the last primary season and the bio would not have included his sexuality. Not either question belongs on this test in the way it was asked. Sendak's story is more like news than history. Famous for decades on end, out for 36 months.
I got the Sendak question right, by the way. But then I had to google 'Sendak gay' to find that he in fact, did come out.

[Smarmie Doofus]

15. What they consider "history" in general is *very* , let's say....

..... loosely connected to the general understanding of the meaning of that word.

Not so much on this test, but on other sites associated w. GLBT History Month, including the "31 GLBT Icons". I don't think of of Clay Aiken as "historic"; but he certainly is an "icon"
I tend to be more of a purist in this regard. History is history. Clay may be "history" some day ( he did break new ground) but that still remains to be seen.

[dsc]

31. I got the Iceland question right

but only did so via multiple choice test taking skill, not real knowledge. Two choices had a total of 49 seats while 3 choices were unanimous. Thus I reasoned the real vote was likely unanimous and 49 seats.

[enlightenment]

14. Seven out of nine - but I guessed at four of them

rather than knowing the answer (for some reason I do really well on m/c quizzes). I'm embarrassed to know so little.

What do you teach and what grade level?

[Smarmie Doofus]

19. Oh come on. No one could score 7, even w. great luck.

Tell the truth; you're among friends.

>>>>What do you teach and what grade level?

Good question. I teach in a Special Ed school, age levels 14 +, grade levels on paper 9 thru 12, but all of the kids are extremely academically delayed. So you're talking about reading G levels that top out at maybe 5 th or 6th grade with most of the school well below that.( including non-readers.)

That's always been a bit of a paradox in terms of bringing GLBT issues into the school. Some will say any discussion is over their heads. I don't agree. If the kids think, for example, that "gay"is a bad word ( and they almost all do) then there is a need for education on that topic.

Besides... it helps the adults on the premises to learn stuff they don't know either. Believe me, there's a lot of work to be done there.

[enlightenment]

23. Seriously - I got lucky.

Plus I'm a history instructor. And my son is transgendered (and recently went back to uni), so I read a lot of different things to keep up with him!

But mostly just luck. I was more surprised than you when I got them right.

Sounds like a fascinating - and challenging - environment in which to teach; you have my admiration. I teach college, which has its own frustrations, but nothing like the challenges you face.

I don't think the discussion would be over their heads; my concern would be presenting it as something other than a 'special' topic. I understand why we create months for topics that are usually marginalized in academic discussion, but there is definitely a downside to that approach. 'Special', unfortunately, is easy to ignore once the 'month' is past, both for students and for teachers.
A better idea, in my opinion, is to incorporate the GLBT community, both historical and current, into discussion all the time . . . to make them part of the greater whole rather than something that is 'special'.

That said, it doesn't happen that way, so setting aside time is the next best alternative.

Perhaps if you start, as a lead-in, with an examination of how words become slurs? Get them to start questioning their own beliefs on a relatively nonthreatening level? Maybe talk about how contributions to society are not bound by sexuality or gender identification - but how society often constrains people because of those qualifiers?

I apologize - I'm not being very helpful here, I know. I'll keep thinking about it!

[One_Life_To_Give]

16. Knew 1 out of 9

What age group of kids do you work with? Subjects?

[Smarmie Doofus]

21. Gotta get that score up, OLTG.

In this day of teacher "accountability", they can fire my ass if you keep failing. ( Obama is for this.)



Re. the school:Special Ed HS; see my reply #19.


And you have to give me a project idea. Sorry. You play, you pay.

[One_Life_To_Give]

24. Fortunatly I test well

So Obama will never know how much I guessed correctly.B-)

Perhaps the Movie "Bruno" would be a good springboard.

[Rhythm]

17. 67% ! Yay!!!

Wish i could contribute some ideas about what you wouldn;t get your head bitten off over when teaching minors...
maybe a screening of "The Celluloid Closet" or "Before Stonewall"???

[Smarmie Doofus]

22. Good job. I don't think those films would really do it.

A little esoteric for my kids' taste and awareness level. ( See reply 19)

We need to go more *concrete*.

But keep thinkin' on it.

[dsc]

26. 3 out of 9 for me too

I do call foul though as being a gay history quiz it was quite arts centered.

[Smarmie Doofus]

34. Right. I though it was going to be about Plato and ...

... Alexander the (maybe not so) Great.

What a dirty trick.

[Iggo]

28. 5, but I did some guessing. (n/t)

[Smarmie Doofus]

35. Stop trying to make me feel better.

And give me an idea for a project.

[Behind the Aegis]

29. 5 out of 9

[Smarmie Doofus]

36. Low pass.

But better than I did.

[Firebrand Gary]

32. 7 out of 9

I got lucky, I guessed on one of them.

[Smarmie Doofus]

37. You guessed on *one*?

I guessed on *eight*.

The only one I was really sure about was the Mathew Shepard question.

[laconicsax]

33. Woohoo! 6 of 9!

That's a gentleman's "D" if I'm not mistaken.

[Smarmie Doofus]

38. I'll be applying a "curve" to the test.

The highest known score was a 7.... which will now become a 9/9.

Ergo ,your final score is......#$$$$%%&&&&%%^$@!*.... 8/9.

[laconicsax]

39. To be fair, I had to guess on most.

Like what was the vote? I remembered that it was unanimous, but had to guess still.

[laconicsax]

52. Oh and BTW:

Curving the test means that you're going to apply a normal distribution curve, not change the total it's out of.

With a curve, the highest 2.2% gets an A, the next 13.6% get a B, 68.2% get a C, then it reverses--13.6% get a D, and the bottom 2.2% get an F regardless of actual percentage.

I had a physics prof who let the class decide if tests would be grades on a curve, and despite this being explained, the majority always voted to do it and got pissed off when they got an F despite scoring 76%. I've never gotten so many Cs in my life as in that class and it's been a pet-peeve of mine ever since whenever people misuse "grading on a curve" to mean "bumping everyone's score up."

[One_Life_To_Give]

40. Couple more project thoughts

Baron Von Steuben and Gays in the Continental Army as compared to current repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Could also highlight recent cases of parents refusing to tell sex/gender of child. And why does society have such a reaction to not knowing the gender of a 3mo old?

[Smarmie Doofus]

42. Von Steuben vs. DADT is inspired stuff.

Might be more suitable for a general ed HS though.


Keep 'em coming.

[joeybee12]

41. I think I got 4 out of 9...

Most of these people I don't know who they are!

[Smarmie Doofus]

43. Me neither. But I do now.

You're within striking distance.

[Stargleamer]

45. Eight out of nine!

but I was just guessing on most of them.

[Smarmie Doofus]

46. !$%@@!!*&^???**$%# !!!! ?

There's gonna be an investigation.

[Stargleamer]

48. I just missed the one about which David Sedaris book

went to no. 1 on the NYT bestseller list. I chose "Me Talk Pretty One Day"--wrong answer. Otherwise I made intelligent guesses.

[Smarmie Doofus]

51. I have Holidays on Ice.

Six stories. Paperback version.

It's been staring at me plaintively from my bookcase for about 5 years.


I don't get him.

[MuseRider]

49. I got 6 out of 9!

I took it on a lark, just wanted to see what I knew and learn what I did not. I guessed on a few and was able to get them right but not too bad for a score. :-)

[Smarmie Doofus]

50. I just did a redo.

Let's put it this way: 6/9 is pretty friggin good.