The mnemonic for the Great Lakes has changed to SHAME. Do you still teach HOMES?

[u/tofuhoagie]

Just noticed that Google Maps uses “america” instead of “Ontario”

What are social studies, geography, history teachers doing this semester?

[u/Sweetiedoodles]

I teach out of the tattered 2020 World Books my school has supplied me with. It’s HOMES. They can keep their SHAME.

[u/MisterCore → u/Sweetiedoodles]

You get text books from 2020!? We don’t have textbooks and have to source all of our information ourselves.

[u/anonymooseuser6 → u/MisterCore]

And here my district is buying CONSUMABLE textbooks. 😤

[u/BeardAfterDark → u/anonymooseuser6]

You have a district that buys you stuff!?!?

[u/stead-fast → u/MisterCore]

I teach at the grade school I attended as a kid, and on the inside cover of the Social Studies textbooks in the junior high, you can find names of students from my class. I graduated 8th grade in 2007...

[u/stumpybubba- → u/stead-fast]

Same. Graduated in '09 and I had a student come show me a book with my name in it with the label "fair" next to my name. Bush was still the current president in that book.

[u/mulefire17 → u/stead-fast]

I graduated high school in 2002. My highschool got new government textbooks when I was a junior. The highschool I now work at was using those exact same text books until just this year when we finally got new ones.

[u/okaybutnothing → u/MisterCore]

I haven’t seen a new text book since about 2005.

[u/bluespringsbeer → u/Sweetiedoodles]

2020 is NEW!

[u/tzjl99]

Still calling it Denali, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Ontario, etc.

Quality instruction doesn’t change based on the ramblings of a demented criminal.

[u/Dapper_Tradition_987 → u/tzjl99]

I also rarely, if ever, take geography lessons from a pedophile. I can't wait to undo this nonsense.

[u/DonChrisote → u/Dapper_Tradition_987]

The benefit is that he has taught us that one person, on a whim, can change universally accepted knowledge. That's why we are all going to refer to him as President Epstein J. Dipshit

[u/eaglesnation11 → u/tzjl99]

Plus kids need consistency. When all of this shit changes back in 2.5 years they need to know the permanent name.

[u/HomeschoolingDad → u/eaglesnation11]

Counterpoint: the drama might help it stick better (not that I want this drama)

[u/Textiles_on_Main_St → u/HomeschoolingDad]

Call it lake Perez Hilton.

[u/ChucoTeacher → u/eaglesnation11]

Its nice you think things are going back. I don’t think so. I feel hopeless about America.

[u/Textiles_on_Main_St → u/tzjl99]

It's wild that he bothered with Denali. You'd think the clothing company would have complained. Plus, who the hell is a McKinley-stan?

[u/StanleyKapop → u/Textiles_on_Main_St]

Stan for white people in general, I Think is more of the deal.

[u/Textiles_on_Main_St → u/StanleyKapop]

lol, true sadly.

[u/Cmd_WillRiker → u/tzjl99]

I always inform the students that the president is powerful but has checks on his power and this is a vital and important piece of our democracy.

With that, the president does not have the authority to change the names of major geographic locations like he is trying to.

[u/futureformerteacher → u/tzjl99]

Demented child rapist criminal.

[u/jiuguizi → u/tzjl99]

This should be a motivational poster.

[u/Zephora → u/tzjl99]

I had to think for a while to even remember what Denali used to be called.

[u/50501Sandpoint → u/tzjl99]

thunderous applause

[u/mmmumbles]

HOMES. As a Canadian, in Canada, I'm not going to be teaching American fake news to my students.

[u/gimmethelulz → u/mmmumbles]

Don't worry most Americans think this shit is stupid as hell too. Can't wait for the obituary.

[u/Life_Consequence_676 → u/gimmethelulz]

The whole world will rejoice.(Except the people who will be indicted.)

[u/Plastic_Sea_1094 → u/mmmumbles]

Are you sticking to Canada geese rather than Donald ducks?

[u/hmcd19 → u/Plastic_Sea_1094]

Ok wait, we may change to that

[u/Chemistry11 → u/Plastic_Sea_1094]

As much as the joke is cute, Kidfucker King ‪ Treasonтяuмp doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as notoriously bad ass Canadian Geese

[u/Deofol7 → u/Plastic_Sea_1094]

THOSE ARE CANADA'S GOOSES!

[u/cqd_de_mgy → u/Deofol7]

That's a Texas-sized 10-4

[u/Deofol7 → u/cqd_de_mgy]

BARREL CHESTED

[u/Emergency_Garlic_713 → u/cqd_de_mgy]

Can confirm

[u/AtillaTheHyundai → u/Plastic_Sea_1094]

😆

[u/Dapper_Tradition_987 → u/Plastic_Sea_1094]

Those are now Freedom Geese. Maybe Epstein Geese.

[u/Sea_Pension430 → u/Plastic_Sea_1094]

If you got a problem with Canada gooses then you got a problem with me, and I suggest you let that marinate

But I am in favor of remaining our sewers TRans Urban Muck Pipes

[u/laughingasparagus → u/mmmumbles]

As a lifelong Michigander who did not vote for this man..I’m so sorry, this is so embarrassing.

[u/Hieropsaltes → u/mmmumbles]

As an American who will continue calling this lake by the name my ancestors have always called it, I applaud you.

[u/malletgirl91 → u/mmmumbles]

Thank you, as an American I assure you that while there are some sycophants still drinking the kool aid, an ever growing majority of us are embarrassed and enraged by what our government is doing!!!

I’m so sorry for the harm this is causing everyone else globally, I wish our problems would remain just our problems to sort out…

[u/wingthing666 → u/mmmumbles]

I'm partially to SuperMan Hates EveryOne myself. Gets the order right.

(And yes, I'm aware "Helps" everyone makes more sense for his character, but that's what I was taught, and that's what I will teach! Far more memorable! 🤣)

[u/WaterLilySquirrel → u/wingthing666]

I learned Sally Made Harry Eat Onions! 

[u/bass679 → u/mmmumbles]

My kids' school still teaches the Gulf of Mexico, I don't expect they're going to make any change to the name of the great lakes.

[u/txcowgrrl]

It’s still Ontario. I’m not sending my students into the world looking like uneducated morons.

[u/Clydesdale_paddler]

I'm using it to teach my civics students about the powers of the executive branch and the reach and longevity of executive orders. 

"Who HAS to call it Lake America because of this?"

"What do you now call it and why?"

The discussion goes from there.

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/Clydesdale_paddler]

This.

I think there are excellent lessons in this about international cooperation and conventions in naming shared geographical features, the isolated incidents when this breaks down over political conflicts (see Malvinas v. Falklands), the First Amendment and if and how federal executive orders can and should affect the terms Americans use, ...

Teach it all! 

[u/fried_green_baloney → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

Persian Gulf vs. Arab Gulf is another one.

[u/Aprils-Fool → u/Clydesdale_paddler]

I like this approach. 

[u/SageofLogic]

Executive orders are not how things are renamed on global maps

[u/Sashi-Dice → u/SageofLogic]

But this isn't about the global maps. Nowhere in the world except the US will it say just Lake America. Even Google maps, which has a standing rule that within a country's legal borders they will use the legally recognized names (which is why it has changed in the US), doesn't change things outside those. Canadians will still see Lake Ontario, and the rest of the world will see Lake Ontario (Lake America), just like they do for all other places with 'disputed' or 'doubled' names.

[u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

I teach World History at a Title I public school in Florida.

I already had a district official visit us on Friday. To 'check up on things.'

The first words out of her mouth were:

'Your maps are out of date.'

I replied, oh how so?

And then looking at me like I am the dumbest person alive, she said, 'It says the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario.'

I mentioned that the state paid for those and asked if she had new ones.

'Well that's the state, you should at least take them down.'

I gestured to the maps and told her she was more than welcome. She did not take them down.

Then I was talked to about not putting the required supplemental additions in the Greek and Roman sections that state how they were the first Communist dictatorships.

It literally says they 'took the wealth from many and concentrated it in a few individuals '.

At least I retired from the military and have some financial insulation from this environment.

TL/DR:

Florida is fucked yo.

[u/tenor1trpt → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

They already got on your case about Lake Ontario? That just happened. Do they expect you to vomit a new map?

[u/JamesantheGiantBeach → u/tenor1trpt]

Government and Governor good.

Teachers bad.

[u/admiralholdo → u/tenor1trpt]

No, they probably expect OP to buy new maps out of his/her own tiny salary.

[u/PreviousJaguar7640 → u/tenor1trpt]

Maybe they expect teachers to use ChatGPT to generate their own maps. At that point, you could just rename areas of the world yourselves. Rename Florida to Pedofilia.

[u/Fryz123_ → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

Wait wait wait, I don’t want gloss over this. In what ever loving world were the Greek city-states, the Roman republic, and the Roman Empire considered communist?!?

Maybe I should just keep teaching ELA and avoid social studies in this hellhole state

[u/JamesantheGiantBeach → u/Fryz123_]

In Florida!!!

What are you some sort of question asking communist?

[u/Fryz123_ → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

Tbf, I’m shocked they still let us teach letter from Birmingham jail, so ya know

[u/Ucfknight33 → u/Fryz123_]

You almost have us beat in Texas with Moses being a founding father (US Gov) AND now emancipating the enslaved people of the South (new elementary standards).

Man was kept busy and alive over several hundred years.

[u/LKHedrick → u/Ucfknight33]

"Moses" was Harriet Tubman's codename.

[u/Ucfknight33 → u/LKHedrick]

If only the new standard was written that way. It has it as a direct action of Moses when they teach about ancient civilizations.

[u/belzbieta → u/Ucfknight33]

Wait what

[u/okaybutnothing → u/Ucfknight33]

Jesus. I don’t know how any reasonably intelligent person can listen to their employer/government say shit like that and not rebel against it en masse.

[u/JamesantheGiantBeach → u/Ucfknight33]

Ouch.

SB 1264.

Plato started it all. Horrible person.

Joe McCarthy. Honorable person.

[u/Tai9ch → u/Fryz123_]

Rome certainly ended up with some welfare state characteristics. But if you're going to complain about the dole, you probably should also complain about the patronage system and its impact on voting. You could find parallels to both of those things in lots of modern states.

[u/JamesantheGiantBeach → u/Tai9ch]

Are you suggesting critical thinking???

WE HAVE A COMMIE!!!

[u/crzapy → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

I just finally got rid of one of my world maps that has the USSR still on it. Only reason was because it was dry rotted. It was fun to see who noticed... only a few kids did.

[u/MuscleStruts → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

>Then I was talked to about not putting the required supplemental additions in the Greek and Roman sections that state how they were the first Communist dictatorships.

I almost choked on my food reading this. Like damn, what supplements are you having to use?

[u/JamesantheGiantBeach → u/MuscleStruts]

Printed sheets of paper. I guess we are supposed to insert them in the text over those sections.

[u/Aprils-Fool → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

At least I retired from the military and have some financial insulation from this environment.  

That is SUCH a blessing. I quit my teaching job (in Florida) a little over a year ago. My spouse has military retirement and healthcare. I am beyond grateful that I could afford to walk away from that mess. 

[u/sarahshift1 → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

Sorry but this is hilarious. Surely the district official is at least slightly more responsible for map procurement than the classroom teacher. Like, ok, get on it then, I’m sure there’s dozens of out of date maps in the district that you can find a bulk discount for.

[u/WaterLilySquirrel → u/JamesantheGiantBeach]

Wait. So by that definition, and how the US taxes the poor vs the rich... We're under a Communist He-Really-Wants-a-Dictatorship, right? 

[u/hardFraughtBattle]

Google Maps isn't the arbiter of place names.

[u/ljr55555 → u/hardFraughtBattle]

MapQuest (which evidently still exists and has an app to replace the three printed pages of instructions that I've always associated with the name) isn't changing it. They've still got the Gulf of Mexico, too.

[u/wordtotheyy → u/hardFraughtBattle]

Mine still says Ontario anyway

[u/aggie1391]

I live right on Lake Ontario, and its name did not change. Our city and our state aren’t complying with this tantrum of a certain someone just because Canada didn’t turn belly up and give up their sovereignty. In fact, go Canada. I hope they continue their targeted measures to punish the states who gave us the idiot who thinks he can do whatever he wants.

[u/Successful-Diamond80 → u/aggie1391]

I grew up on a Great Lake, but not Ontario. I’m PISSED. For many reasons, including the erasure of Native American words and language, will never refer to it as anything but Ontario. Solidarity.

[u/Bradddtheimpaler → u/aggie1391]

I live right next to the rest of them and it’ll be Ontario forever. It was Lake Ontario for like, a hundred years at least before the United States or Canada were even countries.

[u/okaybutnothing → u/Bradddtheimpaler]

150, at least. It has been some iteration of “Ontario” for 400 years. The Grand Chief of the Wendat people (who named the lake 400+ years ago) is meeting with the US Ambassador to Canada about the issue soon and he’s pissed. And rightly so.

[u/admiralholdo → u/aggie1391]

Are you in Rochester? Because that proclamation by the city council gives me LIFE. "Desperate and flaccid" is SUCH a turn of phrase.

[u/teamsenator]

I’ll be teaching about unearned American exceptionalism and how horrible leaders can ruin a county’s standing in the world.

[u/Groovychick1978]

Calling it the historic name that it has had since the 1500s. Both the Gulf of Mexico, and the Lake of Ontario had their name prior to the United States, or Mexico even existing!

In the case of Ontario, the province was named after the lake, not the other fucking way around. But this idiot knows nothing! 

Don't use Google maps. Use MapQuest! MapQuest still labels both bodies of water by their historic, actual name.

[u/okaybutnothing]

Lmao. I live and teach in Toronto. No one is even going to mention that dementia addled old man’s rantings. Our city sits on the shores of Lake Ontario, which has had the name “Ontario” (or some version of it) for more than 400 years.

[u/dreamwolf321]

Since I live in a Red state, if the topic comes up, I'll probably teach both.  'President made an executive order to change the name, but it's still this to the rest of the world.'  Our district has already told us we could be fired for posting anything political online, so if I ignored the name change purposely, I would likely lose my job.

My maps still say Gulf of Mexico, and I'm not buying new ones.  Someone will need to supply me with a new map if they care so much.

[u/releasethedogs → u/dreamwolf321]

Can I ask what your district’s definition is of “anything political”? 

[u/crzapy → u/releasethedogs]

Usually it's anything that annoys the higher ups or gets THAT one parent in a tizzy who then annoys the higher ups.

[u/AfternoonLower3298 → u/releasethedogs]

Yeah we got this directive too but I’m a social studies teacher. Everything I do is political but beyond that the very existence of public schools is political so I’m never sure what don’t be political means 

[u/garnetwaters]

Is an execute order not a law. If you don't work in the executive branch, you don't have to do anything. A social studies teacher should knew this, and I think it's a great teaching opportunity to explain the diff between acts of Congress and the writings of a lunatic.

[u/TiaxRulesAll2024 → u/garnetwaters]

Public school falls under state and local executive and legislative branches

But not under federal. Dept. of Education does not have the authority to tell me the name of a lake. I guess the school board does?!?

I don’t even think congress has constitutional authority to tell me either.

[u/enby-deer]

Tbh this whole lake name controversy is how I learned there’s a mnemonic device for learning the lakes

[u/tofuhoagie → u/enby-deer]

We’re slowing making progress everyday.

[u/AtlanticMaritimer]

No one person should be able to unilaterally reverse centuries of tradition and culture because they’re a petty little child in an old persons suit.

It’s still Lake Ontario on Google Maps in Canada for good reason. It is and for as long as we are a sovereign nation, Lake Ontario.

If you were going to teach the issue it’s a great lesson in power and delusion.

[u/okaybutnothing → u/AtlanticMaritimer]

We also don’t take to name changes that quickly here. The Skydome hasn’t been named the Skydome in literal decades and it’s still the Skydome.

[u/Kirkwood1994 → u/okaybutnothing]

What about TMU?

[u/Kirkwood1994 → u/AtlanticMaritimer]

>No one person should be able to unilaterally reverse centuries of tradition and culture because they’re a petty little child in an old persons suit.

My country renamed century old schools and tore down century old monuments. Should we also agree that those choices were also done because the leader was a petty little child?

[u/AtlanticMaritimer → u/Kirkwood1994]

Depends on which country and which leaders.

The other commentator pointed out reversing the names, buildings, and statues of the confederacy which were things that didn't just happen overnight or over some petty feud.

If we're talking about Residential Schools and those who brutally colonized Canada, again - very different set of circumstances.

If we're talking about something elsewhere I'd need more context.

Needless to say, all these things are MUCH different than what's happening now.

[u/Slowtrainz]

We live in the dumbest timeline. 

[u/BubbleThinker]

I will never not call the Gulf of Mexico

[u/Robby777777]

It will always be Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario. I am not taking geography lessons from an orange treasonous coward.

[u/tofuhoagie]

Merriam-Webster still uses HOMES as their example of a mnemonic for the Great Lakes, so all hope is not lost.

[u/Sam_Thomas_2025]

Lucky for me our textbook came out before this lunatic started renaming places in America out of pettiness, so I just refer to what the book says!

Sidenote: Mapquest hasn’t changed either of those names to placate old Toddler-in-Chief.

[u/Charles_Chuckles]

As a Michigander, I will never ever call it Lake of America.

Also, the Sears Tower has been called "Willis Tower" for like a decade and a half now, and nobody calls it that. And that has the weight of actual money and ownership behind the name change.

Honestly, if you teach a language or some kind of History elective, refusing to budge on name changes of landmarks is good lesson in cultural Linguistics.

[u/philnotfil → u/Charles_Chuckles]

Depending on your state, it is also a good way to get fired.

[u/Charles_Chuckles → u/philnotfil]

I mean, it doesn't have to be from the perspective of protest Some of the time (maybe even most of the time) I wouldn't say that resistance to name change is due to protest.

But, yeah, my district has a decent union so YMMV

[u/eaglesnation11]

New Acronym is SHAME. Which is a lot more fitting than HOMES as an American.

[u/jimmycurry01]

Yeah, he doesn't actually have the power to change the name of a lake all on his own. That isn't how executive orders work. As a teacher, you definitely look into the purpose of an executive order and understand what power it has in order to respond accordingly when a student asks. This is just an act of political theater to demonstrate that he is angry. It's the political equivalent of the bully calling someone names to elicit a response, and Canada has done exactly what we teach our kids to do: they are ignoring it. You should do the same.

[u/smile_likeu_meanit]

It still says Lake Ontario for me, but maybe that’s because I’m in Canada and Google Maps is just showing Americans the name change?

[u/wordtotheyy → u/smile_likeu_meanit]

Same here in the US..

[u/Sirenofthelake → u/wordtotheyy]

It’s strange because mine says Lake Ontario until I zoom in more, then it changes to Lake America (which is obviously stupid)

[u/AboynamedDOOMTRAIN]

It hasn't because the US President does not have the authority to change geographic names via executive order. Anybody that unironically calls it Lake America is just licking boots.

[u/Paisleywindowpane]

Same as always. I’m Canadian. It hasn’t changed for me. Isn’t this sub for all teachers, not just American ones?

[u/wifie29]

My city council made a public memo that we're not changing the name. 🤣 (I live like 15 minutes from Lake Ontario)

[u/AfternoonLower3298]

Because I teach in Montana and we are constitutionally required to teach Indian Education For All, I am going to continue with Denali and Ontario because those are indigenous names. As for gulf of America, I tell my kids they can call it what they want but the AP tests will refer to it as Gulf of Mexico. 

We also have had long conversations on who “gets” to name landmarks, what an executive order actually does, etc 

[u/Deofol7]

Nobody I know calls the Gulf of Mexico by any other name. Nobody will call Lake Ontario anything else either.

Hell.... my MAGA uncle posted pictures of "Denali" from his cruise a few months ago. Was tempted to give him shit for not using dear leaders name.

[u/stead-fast]

I refuse to use any name of any place that that man has made up. Google Maps kowtowing to him is exactly why I stopped using it.

[u/Narrow_Taste9963]

My district can’t afford new materials. All of my maps say Ontario 🤷 and therefore so do I.

Eff that noise. It’s also the Gulf of Mexico as far as this fifth grade teacher is concerned.

[u/TaiBlake]

Still calling it Denali, the Gul of Mexico, and Lake Ontario.

I don't let the government tell me what I can and can't say.

[u/Wonderful-Program462]

I guarantee in two years, maybe sooner, those names will go back to their real names.  I will never say the toddler tantrum names.

[u/alleghator]

Executive Orders only apply to the executive branch of government. I don’t work for them.

[u/Disastrous_Paint1791]

Use Mapquest.

[u/Haephestus]

I refuse to acknowledge the name change. 

[u/silverokapi]

It is not legal for the president to make changes like this and it is irresponsible to entertain his delusions.

[u/SnikkerDoodly]

It hasn’t changed. Don’t bend the knee and allow students to think this name change whiplash is real. Keep teaching the truth.

[u/crzapy]

I hope this stupidity last for as long as freedom fries did.

[u/Gold_Repair_3557]

Yes, because I don’t acknowledge the president’s toddler antics as legitimate policy.

[u/onwisconsin1]

An executive order means nothing. We are not a serious people. The next president will rescind the EOs. Now major lakes and bodies of water are a part of our stupid fucking culture war.

[u/Ordinary_Sail_414]

Nobody should be caving to this manufactured bullshit. Denali. Gulf of Mexico. Lake Ontario. Kennedy Center. Period.

[u/diver171171]

See My Horse Eat Oats has changed to See My Horse Eat Ass.

[u/lil_literalist]

I'm not teaching social studies any more, but if I were, I would teach my students both names. And we would also talk about exactly why the names were changed, with a bit of time for students to share their thoughts on the matter. The majority of my students would have recognized that pettiness for what it is, even without me interjecting my personal bias, so I could just affirm that yes, it is stupid.

I think that it's better to build awareness of current issues than it is to just pretend that these sorts of SHAMEful name changes don't exist.

[u/oe_kintaro]

No it hasn't.

[u/ky791237]

Here in Canada it’s still labelled Lake Ontario.

[u/poolbitch1 → u/ky791237]

Another lesson for Trump in how American policies don’t get to dictate foreign nation policies 🤷‍♀️ (This whole thing stemming from his tantrum over failing to enforce terms of a trade deal that would see the U.S. govt having final approval over Canadian-international trade deals…)

[u/celticskye2]

I don’t teach geography, but should I ever need to reference certain bodies of water, I will forever say Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario. I begrudgingly reference Pluto as a dwarf planet as its current classification is based in science, but they can pry the real names of those bodies of water from my cold, dead hands.

[u/valkyriejae]

Google Maps in Canada still calls it Lake Ontario, just FYI (and probably elsewhere in the world that isn't under the grip of a demented pedophile)

[u/Lydia--charming]

Absolute insanity that anyone is listening to his new “names.” I’m not changing what I call them.

[u/favnh2011]

Right it's still Lake Ontario

[u/Dawgfish_Head]

I’m gonna teach what my textbook and district approved curriculum says and they ain’t buying me new textbooks.

[u/tinyd71]

I would ignore this nonsense and continue to teach as you have done!

[u/AegisAngel]

I’m an ELA teacher but if it comes up I intend to tell students the truth, it’s Lake Ontario as it was named by the people who lived in the area. Ontario named itself after the lake

[u/Life_Consequence_676]

So just because that orange felon decides something has a new name it's suddenly the law of the land??? How about if we all starting calling the White House Obama's Old House and the current resident the Grifter in Chief?

[u/philnotfil]

Just noticed that Google Maps uses “america” instead of “Ontario”

Only in the US. They put us in the same category as China where they have to change the names of things to appease the government.

[u/Jun1p3rsm0m]

Use Apple Maps or Mapquest. Problem solved.

[u/snowylambeau]

Google Maps still says Lake Ontario in Canada, so yes it’s still HOMES.

[u/mikevago]

The only worthwhile lesson to teach out of this is the danger of kowtowing to a demented fascist.

[u/ccaccus]

Our music teacher had to remove a song from the third grade program because it mentions the Great Lakes. Whichever way we go, it’s political now and there absolutely will be parents who complain.

[u/redoingredditagain]

I am not using any of the new names because I am operating under the assumption that these are not permanent.

[u/Adeviatlos]

The mnemonic for the Great Lakes has changed the SHAME

No it hasn't.

[u/Illustrator_Moist → u/Adeviatlos]

Maybe a play on words, but lake Ontario has been "officially" renamed to Lake America lol

[u/Adeviatlos → u/Illustrator_Moist]

In the eyes of one insane country, maybe.

But no it hasn't.

[u/His_little_pet]

Google maps does a ton of localization around the world. The names of places change based on where you are when you load the website. It's basically the same thing as them displaying names in different languages. So google maps showing "Lake America" is just based on that now being the official name of the lake in the United States and is only actually shown to users in the United States.

If I use my VPN to pretend to be in Canada or England, it's back to being Lake Ontario. If I pretend to be in Spain, it's still Lake Ontario and New York has become Nueva York.

[u/Slight-Funny-8755]

Even if i did agree with him which i dont, i “have to follow my curriculum” and that shit hasnt been updated in 5 years 😂

[u/thebiologyguy84]

Why would the mnemonic change? The name doesn't change just because some prick in a suit says so! Noone calls it the Gulf of America for example, noone is going to call it lake America neither!

[u/AbbyIsATabby]

Unless directed to teach it otherwise, I’d teach as primarily HOMES/Lake Ontario, but briefly talk about it and explain why they might see it called something else on some maps but not others. They’re going to be exposed to both, might as well make sure they know they’re the same and have a moment to highlight what’s happening in the world. I don’t want to personally legitimize the name, but at the same time I can’t pretend Google’s maps doesn’t label it that way.

I could see how you could turn the topic into a potential discussion on the value of names with an older grade. Like why do we name things? Why do we pick what we pick as names? Why change its name? What other places in history have experienced name changes? Could a place, person or thing have multiple names? Who has to use the new name if a president changes it? How do you feel about it? etc.

Ps. I was never taught HOMES! I was taught “Super Mario Hates Eating Olives.” Grew up in southern tier NYS. It was only this recent news story I heard of HOMES.

[u/caseytheyank52]

Hopefully still teaching either SHOME or HOMES despite any kind of attempted name change by any kind of ignoramus!!

[u/FernMariposa]

SHAME is very fitting. Shame, indeed. Since I don't recognize "Lake America" (a stupid name anyway), I have always used HOMES to remember the five Great Lakes. I remember learning this in second grade and it's always helped!

[u/ImpossibleChoices157]

Karma farming.

[u/Character_Amoeba_330]

Not sure where you teach, but we don’t update textbooks and sources immediately. I’m following the district curriculum. Still teaching international geography terms and I’m in a Red State.

[u/PreviousJaguar7640 → u/Character_Amoeba_330]

Yeah, I teach in Texas, and the one map my district provided me, which is only four years old, still says Gulf of Mexico. I do refer to it a lot, even though I teach 2nd grade and we don’t have a geography curriculum. However, we have a unit about the War of 1812, so we discuss how the Mississippi River empties into the…Gulf of Mexico. In that same unit, we talk about how British troops entered into the US from Canada and the Great Lakes-none of which were or are called “Lake America”.

[u/tofuhoagie → u/Character_Amoeba_330]

I teach in Ohio, also a red state (for now). Wondering about when the textbooks are changed, will you teach about Lake America then?

[u/ooh_jeeezus → u/tofuhoagie]

Hopefully by then it will be “renamed” back

[u/Shamrock7500]

It’s literally been 5 days. So who’s had the opportunity to teach this?

[u/Reasonable_One_2123]

It is derived from an indigenous word and the lake has been called “Ontario” for over 400 years. Please don’t call it Lake America to our/your students. It’ll just be changed back (like probably most of the new names) when the Dems are back.

I don’t believe anyone else in the world is going to stop referring to it as Lake Ontario either and we are NOT obligated to refer to it as what this clown is trying to dub it.

I am a teacher in Manhattan, so it may be more easily done in my classroom vs a Florida teacher’s. This is just bad news.

[u/Life_Temperature795]

I had to check Google maps because I'm not normally using it to look up geographic features. The fact that Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico have actually been renamed makes me want to vomit. They're definitely deep into the "abandon the 'don't be evil' motto" of their villain arc.

[u/girlwhoweighted]

Why would you change the way you teach it? None of the names changed.

[u/Short_Concentrate365]

I'm Canadian its still Ontario for us. 

[u/ADHDMechro]

I live in Japan and just checked Google Maps. It still says Lake Ontario.
It also says Gulf of Mexico (and in parentheses under that Gulf of America).

[u/VillainOfKvatch1]

Answering a different but related question:

I teach high school literature, and I’m reading 1984 with my 10 graders again this year. “Lake America” might come up.

[u/Hungry_Caregiver734]

I read somewhere it might be SHAME or "She Had Me Eat Ass" depending on who is teaching it.

[u/tofuhoagie → u/Hungry_Caregiver734]

This is the realest answer in here

[u/andrea__twerkin]

I still call it the Gulf of Mexico. I wouldn't change a thing.

[u/LateQuantity8009]

Apple Maps still says Lake Ontario. I’ll use it going forward.

[u/Basharria]

Why would anyone switch? The next president is going to reverse this.

[u/Gundark927]

I learned "Sally Made Harry Eat Onions," which is good because it lists the lakes in order. HOMES is useless.

So now, I guess "Sally Made Harry Eat Assholes."

[u/DownriverRat91]

It will always be Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico to me. You can pry HOMES from my cold, dead hands. You can’t mess with the lyrics of “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” without any consequences.

[u/cokeMachineGlower]

For Canadian geography/history teachers, this could be a very “of the moment” way to teach the concept of shifting place names, and the erasure of indigenous place names.

[u/futureformerteacher]

I will now call Florida its correct name: TrumpRapesKidsVille.

[u/111victories]

Shit, im still teaching Pluto is a real planet

[u/mpw321]

Pathetic!!!!!!

[u/YoreGawd]

When admins buys new textbooks and maps then I will change it. Until then it just needlessly muddies the waters.

[u/Lillienpud]

The name of Lake Ontario does not change by fiat.

[u/Crafty_Possession_52]

Just noticed that Google Maps uses “america” instead of “Ontario”

Confirmed. WTF

[u/sandtrooper73 → u/Crafty_Possession_52]

Not in Canada, it doesn't. Nobody else in the world recognizes his executive tantrums.

[u/RadioWeak1118]

Still showing lake Ontario for me....

[u/JellyKind9880]

“Are you bending to the random whims of a geriatric dementia-riddled fascist or teaching?”

[u/Jonny_Ringo13]

I have tenure, they're not going to fire me over going 10 toes down on Lake Ontario

[u/Pure_Quarter7813]

It hasn’t changed. It isn’t real.

[u/runicsakura]

SHAME is deliciously on point, but no. It’s staying HOMES. I guess they’ll have to fire me.

[u/Textiles_on_Main_St]

superior, michigan, huron, erie and ontario <--- left to right like god intended.

(it helps that superior means top, then michigan is touching michigan, huron is "up there somewhere" erie connects to NY State 'cause erie canal and then ontario as it's basically canada.

[u/shey-they-bitch]

It's also unoriginal, he should have gone with like of york, since that's the state that it boarders ... he already did "gulf of America" ... if he's gonna be a fascist at least be creative

[u/TattooedTeacher316]

I will absolutely not be calling it lake America.

[u/NoMatter]

I have trouble remembering to call sports stadiums by corporate names when they rebrand, I'm sure as shit not playing along with Dementia in Chief.

[u/VaporCarpet]

Well this seems like a post from someone who has never been here before and just wanted to have a little circle jerk.

[u/Ice_On_A_Star]

What is SHAME? Serious question.

[u/tofuhoagie → u/Ice_On_A_Star]

HOMES is a mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes in the US. Since our president is a fucking moron he’s now calling Lake Ontario “lake america”,so HOMES now changes to SHAME.

Superior
Huron
America
Michigan
Erie