Vicksburg National Battlefield

I spent the past two days at Vicksburg National Battlefield preparing for a staff ride I will help lead for Mississippi State University's Army ROTC program. If you haven't been there lately or have never been there- it's amazing. Here are a few websites that give information about the battle and battlefield.

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/vicksburg1.html

http://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm

http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-vicksburg

You can read the official accounts (including Grant's) of the campaign here
http://www.civilwarhome.com/siegeofvicksburg.htm

150 years ago Grant's Union Army was conducting the campaign against Vicksburg. Take time to read about it and go to Vicksburg to see where the battle was fought.

Should Common Assessments Use Computers to Score Writing?

Should Common Assessments Use Computers to Score Writing?

As we move ever closer to implementing Common Core State Standards we have to deal with the reality of how to accurately and efficiently grade assessments that are no longer only objective multiple choice type questions. Here's an intereseting article on computer scoring for writing samples.