What are weekends for anyway...

...That is the question I ask myself on Saturdays when I give up my time to do lesson plans.  I am excellent at multi-tasking, so I can also clean house, do laundry and sometimes surf the internet while I am doing the plans.  Not exactly at the same time, but I do split the time up for each of these.  I guess I just pace myself.  Actually doing lesson plans is fun for me.  I love to learn and I am actually learning (or rather re-learning) while I plan away.  The World History classes are studying ancient Egypt and the textbooks are older than I wish they were, so I do a lot of research on the internet in order to supplement my lesson plans.  I have found some great sites and lots of information that isn't in the text.  Information I can share with my students that will stimulate their thinking and help them pay better attention to the subject.  I am finding that ancient Egypt was an amazing civilization.  No one really knows how the pyramids were built so precisely and perfectly, but the ancient Egyptians seemed to have had incredible engineering, architectural and math skills. The people were very intelligent.   Most of the pharaohs fascinate me and I love researching them and reading thier stories.  There is one in particular that I became fascinated with; the first female ruler in history.  This female pharaoh, Hatshepsut,  lied and connived her way into being a pharaoh by saying that her father and the gods had appointed her after her husband (and half-brother) Thutmose II had died.  Though she posessed great beauty, she dressed like and bearded herself like a male pharaoh and was adressed as "His Majesty". She actually became pharaoh in place of her stepson, Thutmose III, because he was only a boy when his father died.  Even after Thutmose III came of age, Hatshepsut continued to rule Egypt.  Under her reign, Egypt became wealthy and prosperous through trade, military expeditions, mining and agriculture.  She was also known for her building activities.  She had a beautiful temple built and dedicated to herself.  She also began the practice of building obliques, or great monuments. Supposedly, Hatshepsut's name and likeness was removed from all Egyptian history by her stepson when he came to power after her death.  Was that his way of getting back at her for "stealing" his position?   Historians actually believe that Thutmose III wanted to relegate Hatshepsut to her correct status of co-regent so that he could claim that the succession of pharaoh ran from his father to him with no interference.  In any case, it was interesting reading and research.  Since I love learning and reading, it was perfect for me to take a little side trip into the life of Hatshepsut.  I probably won't spend too much time on this female pharaoh with the class, as we will have many pharaohs and much history to cover while we are learning about ancient Egypt.  But....it will be fun to throw a woman into the mix.  Happy Tales!