Mark Twain Conference

Some of you may remember a post about a field trip to Hannibal Missouri I took with my 7th grade reading class. While I was looking into and planning that field trip, I came across a conference for teachers offered by the Mark Twain Museum. This conference focused on why and how we should teach Mark Twain in the classroom. They focused on specific methods and strategies for teaching The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. When I saw this conference, I knew that I wanted to go. I got permission from my school district who paid for the week long conference my hotel, and my drive out there. I went the last week in July. It was fantastic! I had such a great time! I had no idea there was so much to Mark Twain and I left having a deeper respect for him and his writings. The conference was directed by experts on Mark Twain. The curator of the museum grew up in Hannibal, and has worked at the museum studying everything to know about Mark Twain for 30 years. Another professor dedicated her life to studying Mark Twain and she has a passion for his writing. In fact, every room in her house is decorated and dedicated to either a book of his or a character in one of his books. I never thought anyone could have such a passion for anything really. It was evident in everything she did or said. The conference started with a 2 hour life sketch of Mark Twain. So much was said, I can't every sort through all the facts. The great thing about this conference was that it cost $100.00 and all meals, fees, and entrances into the museums and other things were all included. On Monday night, we went on a river boat dinner cruise down the Mississippi. We read passages and excerpts from his book "Life on the Mississippi" and some from his autobiography. The next morning we had a walking tour of Hannibal, had a private tour through all the museums, climbed Cardiff Hill, and walked along the river front while learning about Hannibal during Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain is a pen name) time. We took a tour of Rockcliffe Mansion, the biggest and most expensive house in Hannibal built in the late 1800's.
Afternoon sessions were reserved for lesson ideas and themes to discuss in the books. The next morning we went on a riding tour of Hannibal (to the cemetery in Tom Sawyer and the cemetery Samuel's family was buried in.) That evening, we had a private tour of Mark Twain's cave. The tour guide was great as he related excerpt from the book Tom Sawyer to us while he also told us historical facts about the cave. We drove to Florida, Missouri (Samuel Clemens birth place) and learned about his early life. We ended the conference with a performance by a Mark Twain look alike (actor who knew about Twain's life), and a buffet dinner. The conference brought back the spirit of Mark Twain and his writing. Of course I took gobs of pictures to show my students about these places and what life was like for people during Mark Twain's time.
The curator of the museum certainly has an interesting job. More interesting than I first though possible for a curator. He gets calls from people all over the world who have random questions about Mark Twain and his life. He has been contacted by Sports Illustrated for a picture of Mark Twain playing Billiards, a cooking magazine wanting a quote from Mark Twain about food, and other various magazines wanting pictures or information. It certainly was entertaining to hear the story of how he was taken to court by a man who thinks he is Mark Twain reincarnated. This guy was selling autographed pictures of Mark Twain on the museum property. Solicitation is not allowed on the property and the curator asked him to leave. Everywhere this guy showed up (always on museum property) he was breaking rules. He went to the point of telling false stories about his life as Mark Twain focusing on his motorcycle trip across the United States. Mark Twain lived during the 1800's they didn't have motorcycles back then. He finally took the curator to court on grounds of harassment and unfair treatment to his business. Of course the case was dismissed once the "reincarnated" Mark Twain represented himself and had no real case. It just goes to show that there are a lot of crazy people out there. Now the museum has posted signs stating the following: "The Mark Twain Museum does not employ or support Mark Twain look alikes." Needless to say, I have an entire folder full of ideas to bring back to my class. We had to complete a lesson plan as part of the conference. You can find my lesson plan posted on the museum website under steamboat jargon. My partners and I did a huge lesson on steamboat jargon to use with either Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. We had so many ideas floating that our 2 days lesson turned into a 3 week lesson. We had to tone it down, so all that is posted is a couple of days teaching vocabulary and all our ideas for extension listed. Because we were doing a lesson plan on river boats, we took lots of pictures of parts of steamboats and river boats (not posted with lesson plan.) My partner got the best deal of all. She somehow convinced the pilot to let her on this boat to get private pictures. She was gone for 2 hours and missed the first lecture of the day. . We have put together a great slide show to show out students for understanding and I'm really excited. Hannibal is a great place to go. There is so much more to see there than just Mark Twain related things. I recommend everyone go. I'm really glad I went, words can't describe how much fun I had and how neat the opportunity was.