You can almost imagine him saying, in Russian, "I'm not even supposed to be here today."

[caramida]

Many people forget that some of the coldest days of the Cold War weren't all that long ago. Late September of 1983 was fifteen weeks after the opening of WarGames, a movie that seems quaint now, but was scary at the time, and less than 60 days before we were all scared out of our wits by The Day After. They were making Red Dawn at the time.

Just three weeks after the Soviets shot down a South Korean 747 with hundreds of US Citizens aboard, while the US and the USSR were still mortal enemies, deep in a of the Soviet Air Defense bunker, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov saved the world.

Na zdorovia, Colonel Petrov. Spasibo.

One of these days I want to tell his story in class. I wonder if a 'This Day in History' or 'Five Minutes in History' would be a neat way to introduce stories from the past to my students. Also, would five minutes every few days take away from the other curriculum I need to impart?

Hmmm.

Comments

[nietzche-gal.livejournal.com]

5 minutes of cool stories that might lead one of these, less-than-motivated students, to give a thought to the impact of history--is totally worth it. Just don't expect them to be as excited about the connections as you are. I get exciting about connections to real life in my Ethics class and it always disappoints me, when they give a look like-- "So what?"

[jackkansas.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this. My first thought was that LC Petrov bears an uncanny resemblance to ... Martin Landau [cue Mission Impossible theme].

Your "Five Minutes of History" idea sounds good, but trying to shoehorn it into the end of a class might not give you enough time to give the kids time to discuss the event. Maybe you could offer it as a once-a-week or once-a-month lunch time session? Kids bring their lunchs, you make a short presentation, kids get to discuss and comment. Could be fun for everyone — and since participation is voluntary, you'll know soon enough whether the idea is successful or not.

[deirdremoon.livejournal.com]

I totally didn't get the Clerks reference until I read the article you linked to. :)

Thanks for sharing this. I never heard about it before, which amazes me.

[swatibee.livejournal.com]

Trying to fit everything in is ALWAYS a challenge, and it's impossible. Take the five minutes once or twice a week at the start of class and let them see that history is really alive, it's worth it :-)

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Once every few days? Totally worth the five minutes.