Sometimes as Social Studies students we forget that we have some really cool local resources for history lessons that can be incorporated into Grade 10, 11, and 12 Social Studies lessons (besides the museum) some of which have good online resources (military musem has some cool links to stories about local events and people), some not so much. But all of them are really cool to visit, and relatively inexpensive. They are great to explore, especially if you can build a proper lesson around them, instead of doing what most of our teachers did which was to drop us off and let us just wander until we got bored. It is important to include local history into the lessons, it'll help get the students more interested in the material and learn more about the area in which they live. Keeping that in mind, here are some links to the websites for them (ps. Hatley Castle does historical tours and X-Men tours!)
Craigdarroch Castle
Hatley Castle
Military Museum a CFB Esquimalt
Fort Rodd Hill
Sunday, November 30, 2008
CBC Digital Archives...
Alright, so while I've been working on the numerous unit plans this semester I came across this site. I hope it hasn't already been posted as I don't have the patience to look through each and every post to see (I haven't been keeping up to date on the blog >.<).
In any case, this is the CBC Digital Archives. Basically a huge collection of assorted radio and TV clips. It's easy enough to navigate and the specific link I have it going to below is for Louis Riel clips. Anyway, just a nice resource if you're trying to find media to accompany a lesson.
http://archives.cbc.ca/search?q=riel&RTy=0&RC=1&RP=1&RD=1&RA=0&th=1
In any case, this is the CBC Digital Archives. Basically a huge collection of assorted radio and TV clips. It's easy enough to navigate and the specific link I have it going to below is for Louis Riel clips. Anyway, just a nice resource if you're trying to find media to accompany a lesson.
http://archives.cbc.ca/search?q=riel&RTy=0&RC=1&RP=1&RD=1&RA=0&th=1
Article Review
In the article “Educating The Next Generation Of Global Citizens Through Teacher Education, One New Teacher At A Time”, Lorna R. McLean, Sharon A. Cook and Tracy Crowe (2006) highlight a renewed interest regarding the state of young peoples’ civic engagement, their character development and their knowledge levels about public issues. Although McLean, Sharon and Cook agree that society has been worrying about the next generation’s character development and knowledge of public issues since ancient times, they suggest that is little comfort to a society “preoccupied with consumerism, especially, as some maintain, amongst the young.” (p.1) The authors draw attention to a connection between this state of young people and the “narrow and nationalist construction of the very curriculum which should be challenging young peoples' ideas and perceptions of the world in Social Studies or History curricula.” (p.1) Interestingly, the authors suggest that even if the curriculum provided more globally responsible content, concerns remain about the kind of preparation that teachers receive to effectively teach these issues. This article introduces a University of Ottawa based initiative called “The Developing a Global Perspective for Educators” initiative and attempts to describe how this initiative aims to address the “knowledge deficit, the paucity of pedagogical skills and the provision of curricula with pre-service students.” (p.1)
Although I did not find the authors really do speak to the article’s claims of addressing the ways in which the Developing a Global Perspective for Educators initiative specifically addresses the “knowledge deficit, the paucity of pedagogical skills and the provision of curricula with pre-service students,” (p.1) the article, (and initiative) does offer a variety of links to useful teacher resources for teaching global perspective type issues and does propose sensible assumptions for which the initiative is based. For example the article suggests that the classroom is a central site for raising these global issues and questioning attitudes among young Canadians. It also suggests that at this formative stage of their professional development, new teachers are receptive to integrating new themes into a curriculum which can accommodate such topics and that the introduction of such themes not only benefits the international community, but also Canadian society.
The Developing a Global Perspective for Educators website explains itself best and offers a number of great links to other useful teacher resource websites as well as desginates two sections of the website to free lesson and unit plans; check it out: http://www.developingaglobalperspective.ca/homepage.html
Although I did not find the authors really do speak to the article’s claims of addressing the ways in which the Developing a Global Perspective for Educators initiative specifically addresses the “knowledge deficit, the paucity of pedagogical skills and the provision of curricula with pre-service students,” (p.1) the article, (and initiative) does offer a variety of links to useful teacher resources for teaching global perspective type issues and does propose sensible assumptions for which the initiative is based. For example the article suggests that the classroom is a central site for raising these global issues and questioning attitudes among young Canadians. It also suggests that at this formative stage of their professional development, new teachers are receptive to integrating new themes into a curriculum which can accommodate such topics and that the introduction of such themes not only benefits the international community, but also Canadian society.
The Developing a Global Perspective for Educators website explains itself best and offers a number of great links to other useful teacher resource websites as well as desginates two sections of the website to free lesson and unit plans; check it out: http://www.developingaglobalperspective.ca/homepage.html
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Another Article Review
Critical Review on "New Approaches to Teaching History: To What Questions are Schools Answers? And What of Our Courses? Animating Throughline Questions to Promote Students' Questionabilities"
In this article, Kent den Heyer is critical of the way teachers and in particular social studies teachers address the curriculum. Heyer mainly questions how as teachers we are too quick to give answers to questions that are rarely ever addressed. Instead, Heyer argues that we should be encouraging our students to question the curriculum. Den Heyer's main argument is that teachers need to take more risks in their classrooms, teachers need to be more ambitious and engage in what den heyer calls "dangerous teaching." This term is used throughout his article to "describe teaching that helps students connect what they learn in schools to politically charged debates over what is worth knowing." (p. 2) Having those open discussions in the classroom and questioning the rationale behind the curriculum is important. It is important for students to understand why they are learning what they are and why it should be meaningful to them. There are many questions that den Heyer asks in his article that I think need to be attended to, such as "Do we as social studies teachers teach about the past in a profoundly ahistorical manner?" In what ways do schools reconstitute a colonial space in which those it assumes to serve are permitted little opportunity to analyze the conditions that shape a good portion of their adolescent lives? And "in what ways might we clarify the questions or concerns to which our courses are but one response?" (p. 3) The ideas and suggestions that den Heyer discusses in his article are of value. Take a look!
In this article, Kent den Heyer is critical of the way teachers and in particular social studies teachers address the curriculum. Heyer mainly questions how as teachers we are too quick to give answers to questions that are rarely ever addressed. Instead, Heyer argues that we should be encouraging our students to question the curriculum. Den Heyer's main argument is that teachers need to take more risks in their classrooms, teachers need to be more ambitious and engage in what den heyer calls "dangerous teaching." This term is used throughout his article to "describe teaching that helps students connect what they learn in schools to politically charged debates over what is worth knowing." (p. 2) Having those open discussions in the classroom and questioning the rationale behind the curriculum is important. It is important for students to understand why they are learning what they are and why it should be meaningful to them. There are many questions that den Heyer asks in his article that I think need to be attended to, such as "Do we as social studies teachers teach about the past in a profoundly ahistorical manner?" In what ways do schools reconstitute a colonial space in which those it assumes to serve are permitted little opportunity to analyze the conditions that shape a good portion of their adolescent lives? And "in what ways might we clarify the questions or concerns to which our courses are but one response?" (p. 3) The ideas and suggestions that den Heyer discusses in his article are of value. Take a look!
Friday, November 28, 2008
The good stuff....
Now here is such a useful website, with something for everyone! It's the Internet Archive, a storehouse of public domain video's, movies, images, documents and audio- all your to view and download free and legally! I've yet to fathom the depth of media that this site, but so far I've seen lost B movies, war propaganda, funny citizenship films from the 50's and documentaries new and old. But there's so much more.....
http://www.archive.org
For example I just watched The Power of Nightmares, a current, documentary about the origins of Islamic Fundamentalism in the 1940s and 50s, and Leon Strauss inspired Neo-conservatism in America, the parallels of idealism and fear within these movements, and their effect on the world today. It's a revealing BBC production and definitely worth using ( if one is brave ) in a history 12 class.
View it here at:
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares
And if you're up for something lighter, why not see:
Design For Dreaming (1956 ) - Pure 50's optimistic commercialism. Film produced by GM to promote Motorama car shows. Check out the "kitchen of the future". Wish my place had one....
http://www.archive.org/details/Designfo1956
Coughs and sneezes- a British public health film from 1945. Flemtastic.
http://www.archive.org/details/coughs_and_sneezes_TNA
Or:
The Last Man On Earth - which the recent "I Am Legend" is based on. Filmed in Italy in 1964 and stars the creepy Vincent Price.
http://www.archive.org/details/last_man_on_earth_ipod
Enjoy!
http://www.archive.org
For example I just watched The Power of Nightmares, a current, documentary about the origins of Islamic Fundamentalism in the 1940s and 50s, and Leon Strauss inspired Neo-conservatism in America, the parallels of idealism and fear within these movements, and their effect on the world today. It's a revealing BBC production and definitely worth using ( if one is brave ) in a history 12 class.
View it here at:
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares
And if you're up for something lighter, why not see:
Design For Dreaming (1956 ) - Pure 50's optimistic commercialism. Film produced by GM to promote Motorama car shows. Check out the "kitchen of the future". Wish my place had one....
http://www.archive.org/details/Designfo1956
Coughs and sneezes- a British public health film from 1945. Flemtastic.
http://www.archive.org/details/coughs_and_sneezes_TNA
Or:
The Last Man On Earth - which the recent "I Am Legend" is based on. Filmed in Italy in 1964 and stars the creepy Vincent Price.
http://www.archive.org/details/last_man_on_earth_ipod
Enjoy!
World Aids Day
So 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World Aids Day, where people all around the world link together in solidarity to recognize this disease. "Now is the time to reaffirm and uphold Canada's commitment andleadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Africa and other parts of theworld, and to the people living with and most marginalized by this disease here at home" (Tony Dagnone, Chair of OHAfrica, a Canadian based registered charity providing support for HIV/AIDS abroad including sending doctors abroad). Why is he saying this? Because for the first time ever, the CN tower will be lit up all in red to support World Aids Day. When is World Aids Day? December 1st. So be sure to check it out!
Using a symbol like the CN tower to support such a worthy cause is an amazing idea; I can't believe no one thought of it before! It just shows how important it is to get involved in our communities to bring about awareness of social issues like AIDS/HIV. I can't wait to instill this sort of grandure within my school community. Starting small and building up to this level of awareness is the sort of creativity that I hope I can get my students to realize. They too can make a difference in their community and the world around them.
Using a symbol like the CN tower to support such a worthy cause is an amazing idea; I can't believe no one thought of it before! It just shows how important it is to get involved in our communities to bring about awareness of social issues like AIDS/HIV. I can't wait to instill this sort of grandure within my school community. Starting small and building up to this level of awareness is the sort of creativity that I hope I can get my students to realize. They too can make a difference in their community and the world around them.
Stephane Dion PM after all??
Click on the title of this post to get to the article. The liberals might try to seek a coalition government and propose that Stephane Dion lead the coalition. The Liberals are citing that the Conservatives have failed to see the overall economic distress in the country. Interesting times might be afoot...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Costa Rica's Support!!!
May I start by saying the FATMUN experience was great, I could not believe the eloquence and safistication spoken by those people who made formal statements for their country. I am sad to announce that Costa Rica's delegate will not be able to attend the second day of meetings, but I know the country and the world's best interests will be met. I also want to place my countries full support behind the Algeria-licious Resolution, and hope that countries see the greatness of this resolution. Don't turn to the dark side (ie. Canada). Long live the Back Row!!!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A ramble on letter writing: IPF and couch surfing
As many of you know, I spent a good chunk of my summer time in the Russian Federation this summer (hence the aggressive "bargaining" for that nation in FATMUN!). What was especially great about that trip was that I did the whole thing relying on contacts I had made...wait for it...through penpals I started writing to in highschool! Yes, I had penpals. I still do- the snail mail kind where you have to wait 3 weeks for a letter. It's a bit like Christmas every 21 days.
Take a moment to set aside the "nerdiness" factor (and maybe stop laughing!) to consider this: writing to strangers in strange places has opened so many doors for me internationally, and not just in the way of free room and board. I've learned languages and been inspired to understand different ways of living and being. I've been able to share a little corner of my world with someone else, although I could swear I see dollar signs in the post lady's eyes every time I'm in the post office!
What I propose is this: why not introduce letter writing to our students in social studies? It could be the start of a class assignment(or not)- but wouldn't it be great to partner with another school or class somewhere crazy and encourage students to write to each other? Now maybe some kids are going to balk at waiting for three weeks to get a letter, and so email is the way to go. But I think there is something unique about waiting for letters and having a physical piece of a different place in your hands or sitting on your living room table. For some kids, an assignment to write letters will just be that- they'll write maybe one or two and then they'll be done with it. But for other kids, this writing will go on for 2, 5, 10 years, building international community and a sense of connectedness that we are sorely lacking. If we want to teach our students about being a member of a global society, shouldn't we introduce them to the other kids on the block?
With any luck, we could foster the development of real international citizens. Citizens who care about their neighbours overseas because they know them. And I'm willing to admit, the travel connections later on are a serious perk.
There is a great group called the IPF- or International PenFriends - that can help set up school writing as well as individual writing. They were the group that first got me connected (ten years ago!), so I can vouch for their reliability. You do have to pay for the service (of getting addresses and that kind of thing), but considering the dividends, it's totally worth it. You can check them out at http://www.ipf.net.au/
Take a moment to set aside the "nerdiness" factor (and maybe stop laughing!) to consider this: writing to strangers in strange places has opened so many doors for me internationally, and not just in the way of free room and board. I've learned languages and been inspired to understand different ways of living and being. I've been able to share a little corner of my world with someone else, although I could swear I see dollar signs in the post lady's eyes every time I'm in the post office!
What I propose is this: why not introduce letter writing to our students in social studies? It could be the start of a class assignment(or not)- but wouldn't it be great to partner with another school or class somewhere crazy and encourage students to write to each other? Now maybe some kids are going to balk at waiting for three weeks to get a letter, and so email is the way to go. But I think there is something unique about waiting for letters and having a physical piece of a different place in your hands or sitting on your living room table. For some kids, an assignment to write letters will just be that- they'll write maybe one or two and then they'll be done with it. But for other kids, this writing will go on for 2, 5, 10 years, building international community and a sense of connectedness that we are sorely lacking. If we want to teach our students about being a member of a global society, shouldn't we introduce them to the other kids on the block?
With any luck, we could foster the development of real international citizens. Citizens who care about their neighbours overseas because they know them. And I'm willing to admit, the travel connections later on are a serious perk.
There is a great group called the IPF- or International PenFriends - that can help set up school writing as well as individual writing. They were the group that first got me connected (ten years ago!), so I can vouch for their reliability. You do have to pay for the service (of getting addresses and that kind of thing), but considering the dividends, it's totally worth it. You can check them out at http://www.ipf.net.au/
Something a bit off topic...maybe?
Okay, so i know we're really excited about the First Annual FATMUN, but I thought I would bring up a topic I never knew was so touchy until just recently. Here it is. I have decided to opt in for the 2010 olympics tickets lottery. I know that the likelyhood of me 'winning' the option to buy tickets is low, but I am personally really keen on going to the olympics in Vancouver/Whistler. I believe that it is a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to show off not only Canada, but BC, Vancouver, and our local friends and neighbours of which we are so proud. I believe that in the turbulent times of late (Bangkok int'l airport takeover, Mumbai attacks etc as recent examples), it is important to look at the possibility for positive future endeavours. Whether or not I do 'win' the option to buy tickets (seems silly, I know), I am looking forward to participating in whatever events I can, be they volunteer activities or not. If I am teaching, I am going to ensure that the events of the olympics are being followed in the classroom, and that activities surrounding them are actively pursued not only in the classroom, but also in the community. The olympics to me, seem like an amazing gathering of many of the worlds' best athletes for events with a common cause.
Well, with that being said, I have noticed a lot of negative feelings towards the olympics. Be they the recent Beijing olympics and the environmental issues that seem to have been 'whitewashed', or the political issues involved with the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 olympics (RAV line bankrupting local businesses, homelessness and the lack of affordable housing, and a lack of addressing poverty in Vancovuer, to name a few), people seem to look for the negatives associated with the olympics, and not the positives. My friends in Vancouver are so 'fed up' with the olympics that they are heading out of town while they are in town, and are opting to rent their houses/apartments for a 'quick buck' instead of reveling in the once-in-a-lifetime set of events in their own city. I believe that today, it is important to take a positive outlook on whatever we can, as we are exposed to far too many negatives in our daily lives whether we like it or not. So yes, I know many people are opposed to the olympics and what it represents, but I for one, am all for events that bring people of many nations together for a common cause.
Well, with that being said, I have noticed a lot of negative feelings towards the olympics. Be they the recent Beijing olympics and the environmental issues that seem to have been 'whitewashed', or the political issues involved with the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 olympics (RAV line bankrupting local businesses, homelessness and the lack of affordable housing, and a lack of addressing poverty in Vancovuer, to name a few), people seem to look for the negatives associated with the olympics, and not the positives. My friends in Vancouver are so 'fed up' with the olympics that they are heading out of town while they are in town, and are opting to rent their houses/apartments for a 'quick buck' instead of reveling in the once-in-a-lifetime set of events in their own city. I believe that today, it is important to take a positive outlook on whatever we can, as we are exposed to far too many negatives in our daily lives whether we like it or not. So yes, I know many people are opposed to the olympics and what it represents, but I for one, am all for events that bring people of many nations together for a common cause.
Free Speech in Canada? Think Again
Here's a current event that has resounding and frightening implications for education and free speech in Canada: The University of Calgary has threatened to arrest, expel, suspend, and fine members of the university's pro-life club if they display graphic images in a (peaceful) anti-abortion protest scheduled to occur this week. Many people disagree on the issue of abortion and the validity of the students' display, but it seems to me that free speech is once again taking a beating on a university campus. Those in power appear to believe that free speech is a right only for those who agree with them. In other words, everyone's equal--but some are more equal than others.
How might we integrate such a current event into a Social Studies classroom? This is a hot-button topic, as anyone involved in the controversy is aware. If it were to arise in my own classroom, I would try to steer it away from the question of abortion and towards questions regarding free speech: Who sets the limits on free speech? The law, a Human Rights Tribunal, or a university? Those bodies might say very different things about what qualifies as "hate speech." What is our freedom of speech supposed to be used for? For subverting prevailing cultural norms, for troubling the hegemony, for "speaking truth to power"? We should ask our students (and ourselves) to look a little more closely at who holds the power nowadays--at what characterizes the prevailing ideologies--at where hegemony is inscribed. I suspect that such scrutiny, if applied to most Canadian institutions, will reveal that the reins of social control are no longer held by conservative "WASPs". Has there been genuine progress, or has one flawed group been replaced by another? This is a legitimate question to ask, especially in the context of a history/social studies class which examines the evolving power structures and ideologies of the state.
How might we integrate such a current event into a Social Studies classroom? This is a hot-button topic, as anyone involved in the controversy is aware. If it were to arise in my own classroom, I would try to steer it away from the question of abortion and towards questions regarding free speech: Who sets the limits on free speech? The law, a Human Rights Tribunal, or a university? Those bodies might say very different things about what qualifies as "hate speech." What is our freedom of speech supposed to be used for? For subverting prevailing cultural norms, for troubling the hegemony, for "speaking truth to power"? We should ask our students (and ourselves) to look a little more closely at who holds the power nowadays--at what characterizes the prevailing ideologies--at where hegemony is inscribed. I suspect that such scrutiny, if applied to most Canadian institutions, will reveal that the reins of social control are no longer held by conservative "WASPs". Has there been genuine progress, or has one flawed group been replaced by another? This is a legitimate question to ask, especially in the context of a history/social studies class which examines the evolving power structures and ideologies of the state.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Pretty Well The Best Website Ever.....no big deal.
Ten by ten is I think the perfect website for socials teachers. We have been told time and time again how important it is to keep in touch with current events and make sure we know world issues. This website is easy, interactive, and is ever-changing. It looks each hour at the top stories world wide from top news sources and presents them to you in an eye catching interactive way. You can they chose the headlines you like and check out the full story. Here is how the website explains it:
"Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record of our world is formed, based on prominent world events, without any human input."
It seems to me that this website makes it so easy even just to get a snippet of major news stories that there is no excuse not to keep up. The other thing is by making it appealing to the eye, and interactive it would be easy to get students to use it and hopefully get them more informed on world news. Ultimately we may be able to create a generation of Socials students that are, "critical and not cynical."
"Every hour, 10x10 scans the RSS feeds of several leading international news sources, and performs an elaborate process of weighted linguistic analysis on the text contained in their top news stories. After this process, conclusions are automatically drawn about the hour's most important words. The top 100 words are chosen, along with 100 corresponding images, culled from the source news stories. At the end of each day, month, and year, 10x10 looks back through its archives to conclude the top 100 words for the given time period. In this way, a constantly evolving record of our world is formed, based on prominent world events, without any human input."
It seems to me that this website makes it so easy even just to get a snippet of major news stories that there is no excuse not to keep up. The other thing is by making it appealing to the eye, and interactive it would be easy to get students to use it and hopefully get them more informed on world news. Ultimately we may be able to create a generation of Socials students that are, "critical and not cynical."
Model UN
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank-you to everyone in class. I had so much fun in today's Model UN, and am now really looking forward to Friday's meeting. I hope everyone else like myself left class wondering just how they could incorporate this activity into each and every one of their socials classes. (Perhaps in setting up quasi-UN's to debate the major themes from differing countries view points, at a particular point in time. i.e. Great Britain puts forth a resolution to go to war against Germany, and whether or not the world community agrees or disagrees).
I must admit I was very nervous and very concerned about exactly how we were going to do this activity, as I had no prior experience with anything along these lines. But now I just wish I had, had this experience in high school. What a great opportunity to see how world affairs are dealt with on the world stage. The need to teach our students to speak and confront authority is more prevalent in my mind now than ever.
Additionally, I would like to comment on the brilliant minds and pure balls that many in our class possess. Well done to everyone who spoke at the podium and from the audience. I am honoured to be in your company, and hope to learn even more from you over these next couple of weeks.
Cheers!
I must admit I was very nervous and very concerned about exactly how we were going to do this activity, as I had no prior experience with anything along these lines. But now I just wish I had, had this experience in high school. What a great opportunity to see how world affairs are dealt with on the world stage. The need to teach our students to speak and confront authority is more prevalent in my mind now than ever.
Additionally, I would like to comment on the brilliant minds and pure balls that many in our class possess. Well done to everyone who spoke at the podium and from the audience. I am honoured to be in your company, and hope to learn even more from you over these next couple of weeks.
Cheers!
Are your students going to be tapped?
Interesting article regarding the "tapping" of online youth communities by the US State Department. The lessons of Obama's historic use of social networking to attract and engage youth voters seems to have been learned by the State Department. What impact does the power and resources of the "State" have on the potential influence of a non-partisan, critical social studies class?
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/5169248/us-taps-online-youth-groups-to-fight-crime-terrorism/
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/technology/5169248/us-taps-online-youth-groups-to-fight-crime-terrorism/
Canadian History taking back from the Americans!
Well last night as I semi-dozed off while watching the news, I was jerked awake by the new Social Studies teacher in me! A story about Canadian History being almost rewritten!! Ooooh what exciting stuff!! So 17th century engraving shown here has historically been thought to depict early contact between Europeans and the original inhabitants of New England....word on the archeological and scholastic street is that it is actually a portrayal of John Guy meeting with the Beothuk in Trinity Bay...Newfoundland!!!
Oh the exciting world of History right?? I just thought you would all enjoy this tidbit of information that would truly be bringing history into today's world for our students...
Article Review: Visual Arts and History
Here's my article review, on a piece entitled "Interdisciplinary Forays Within the History Classroom: How the visual arts can enhance (or hinder) historical understanding" by Liz Dawes Duraisingh and Veronica Boix Mansilla, in Teaching History December 2007 23-30.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Teachers Asking For Help
I know Jason will be like, wow 2 posts in a night after 3 months of silence what's going on but I felt I needed to call attention to the following website: donorschoose.org. It is a new website that fundraises for teachers.
This is where the American education system is at right now. There is not enough money for classrooms, not enough for chairs, and not enough for a positive learning envrionments. So teachers have taken matters into their own hands.
People have the ability to donate money to classrooms and fund projects they feel are helping their children. What does this mean for future classrooms? Will people suddenly feel like donating their money to have not schools, or will economic disparity simply increase as rich neighbourhoods donate money to their local schools.
There is also the possibility that the projects that teachers want to get funded will be so mind-blowing that people will hand over their life savings because they are so impressed. I for one vote we create a website for donations so that our fearless leader can take us on a trip across Europe to study the effects the second world war and cold war have had there. If you think about it, by teaching us phenomenally well, the extrapolated passion and experience we will have for the subject will be exponentially more important because of the large amount of fresh young minds we will impress upon during the tenure of our careers.
This is where the American education system is at right now. There is not enough money for classrooms, not enough for chairs, and not enough for a positive learning envrionments. So teachers have taken matters into their own hands.
People have the ability to donate money to classrooms and fund projects they feel are helping their children. What does this mean for future classrooms? Will people suddenly feel like donating their money to have not schools, or will economic disparity simply increase as rich neighbourhoods donate money to their local schools.
There is also the possibility that the projects that teachers want to get funded will be so mind-blowing that people will hand over their life savings because they are so impressed. I for one vote we create a website for donations so that our fearless leader can take us on a trip across Europe to study the effects the second world war and cold war have had there. If you think about it, by teaching us phenomenally well, the extrapolated passion and experience we will have for the subject will be exponentially more important because of the large amount of fresh young minds we will impress upon during the tenure of our careers.
David Ahenakew
As socials studies teachers we are going to be addressing issues surrounding racially sensitive subjects. David Ahenakew is a former aboriginal leader whom during a conferenece stated that Jews started the second world war. Excuses were made for him (apaprently other than being a crusty old bugger at 75 he had been drinking before his speech and his diabetes had caused his blood sugar level to drop), but he did not appear to be disorientated during his speech.
For his comments he was fined $1000; however, this conviction was later over-turned. He was stripped of his order of Canada. The man is on trial again for this 2002 incident.
His lawyer is arguing that his comments were not to intentionally spread hate and that he had made a mistake. For me the question lies between where freedom of speach ends and hate speech begins. I dont' agree with what David said but I hear things that could be construed as hate on a daily basis, such as: muslim terrorists are evil.
Is hate based on popularity? You didn't hear many people getting outraged at what was said about muslims after 911. I hope to be able to give my students the ability to see all sides of an issue. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Without understanding what freedom he is fighting for we cannot hope to acheive a democratic or peaceful solution with anyone.
What David said may be wrong, and innapropriate, but is his opinion spreading hate? Sometimes letting a man look like a fool is enough.
Oh he wa also offered a position on the Canadian senate after this incident. He politley declined.
For his comments he was fined $1000; however, this conviction was later over-turned. He was stripped of his order of Canada. The man is on trial again for this 2002 incident.
His lawyer is arguing that his comments were not to intentionally spread hate and that he had made a mistake. For me the question lies between where freedom of speach ends and hate speech begins. I dont' agree with what David said but I hear things that could be construed as hate on a daily basis, such as: muslim terrorists are evil.
Is hate based on popularity? You didn't hear many people getting outraged at what was said about muslims after 911. I hope to be able to give my students the ability to see all sides of an issue. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Without understanding what freedom he is fighting for we cannot hope to acheive a democratic or peaceful solution with anyone.
What David said may be wrong, and innapropriate, but is his opinion spreading hate? Sometimes letting a man look like a fool is enough.
Oh he wa also offered a position on the Canadian senate after this incident. He politley declined.
Social Studies Article Review
Hey Everyone,
Here's my article review that was meant to be posted over a month ago but due to technical issues was not. Here it is, better late than never.
This is a summary of my journal review, which is the past: using images to travel through time, written by Ms Caille Sugarman-Banaszak and published in the journal Teaching History March 2008 edition. I chose it because it dealt with the use of images to create historical empathy and understanding though images. For example, the author starts her grade 9 Twentieth Century World class ( British curriculum) by having students bring in pictures of what they feel represents the 20th century for them. She as well brings in pictures of her own family and past history. Students see her ancestors and are encouraged to think of theirs and see that they are but a part of a continuum of histories stretching back into the past. She also intends to use pictures in a proposed field trip to Poland to study the lives of the Polish Jews prior to World War II and the Holocaust. Her plan is to take the class to places that once had large Jewish populations Her intent is to have the students navigate by these pictures and see how much has changed, and how much of a culture, a people is now absent from them.
I feel that pictures can be used effectively in creating historical empathy and linking students with the past and I would like to attempt something similar with what she is proposing but on a smaller, local scale. My proposal would be to lead a class to the RCBM archives after discussing the plight of Chinese people in Canada in the 19th century. The class would examine images from the archives and armed with copies of some of these, we would head to China Town and try to place those images in context with modern surroundings and then discuss our findings- what is left of China Town today? What is missing? How does Victoria’s China Town compare with others that once existed across BC? I think this approach would be quite effective in making ones students aware of the history that is at their very doorsteps, and also of the historical resources that exist in their community.
Here's my article review that was meant to be posted over a month ago but due to technical issues was not. Here it is, better late than never.
This is a summary of my journal review, which is the past: using images to travel through time, written by Ms Caille Sugarman-Banaszak and published in the journal Teaching History March 2008 edition. I chose it because it dealt with the use of images to create historical empathy and understanding though images. For example, the author starts her grade 9 Twentieth Century World class ( British curriculum) by having students bring in pictures of what they feel represents the 20th century for them. She as well brings in pictures of her own family and past history. Students see her ancestors and are encouraged to think of theirs and see that they are but a part of a continuum of histories stretching back into the past. She also intends to use pictures in a proposed field trip to Poland to study the lives of the Polish Jews prior to World War II and the Holocaust. Her plan is to take the class to places that once had large Jewish populations Her intent is to have the students navigate by these pictures and see how much has changed, and how much of a culture, a people is now absent from them.
I feel that pictures can be used effectively in creating historical empathy and linking students with the past and I would like to attempt something similar with what she is proposing but on a smaller, local scale. My proposal would be to lead a class to the RCBM archives after discussing the plight of Chinese people in Canada in the 19th century. The class would examine images from the archives and armed with copies of some of these, we would head to China Town and try to place those images in context with modern surroundings and then discuss our findings- what is left of China Town today? What is missing? How does Victoria’s China Town compare with others that once existed across BC? I think this approach would be quite effective in making ones students aware of the history that is at their very doorsteps, and also of the historical resources that exist in their community.
Icy Reaction to Kleptocracy
Here is an article looking at the evolving impact of the "historic" corporate malfeasance in the industrialised nations as a result of the deregulation of predatory lending practices (essentially legalised theft: thus kleptocracy) in the world's western economies. As I have mentioned in class I have a hard time understanding the lack of any public manifestations of anger in reaction to both the causes of this "crisis" and the corporate welfare cures. How can so many millions of citizens in these "democratic" economies take this theft sitting down? Where are the popular demands (beyond pundits and the left intelligentsia) for economic and political reconstruction? How did we get to the point where workers can see their jobs, pensions, dreams and homes disappear with the complicit participation of their elected representatives without seeking meaningful reconstruction?
The article is an example of how the citizens of the micro state of Iceland (population 320000) have expressed their anger? How do we as social studies educators deal with manifestations of public anger (indignation) in the classroom? Are protesters always reactionaries or hopeless romantics? Is the state always right? How much power do elected officials really have in our age of transnational corporate dominance?
http://news.scotsman.com/world/A-nearriot-and--parliament.4722970.jp
The article is an example of how the citizens of the micro state of Iceland (population 320000) have expressed their anger? How do we as social studies educators deal with manifestations of public anger (indignation) in the classroom? Are protesters always reactionaries or hopeless romantics? Is the state always right? How much power do elected officials really have in our age of transnational corporate dominance?
http://news.scotsman.com/world/A-nearriot-and--parliament.4722970.jp
Transforming Units
I have begun working on the Unit Plan Assignment for this course. Looking at example unit plans from my 2 week observation, its amazing how often one-dimensional, fill in the blank type activities are used. These activities do meet the requirements of the PLOs, but it is so obvious that they do not offer anything more - whether it be something to generate interest in the students, or maybe something to get them thinking critically. It just seems like a first step has been taken to find all the materials to be covered, but then the lesson designing process simply stopped.
In a way, this is not such a horrible discovery to make in terms of my own future lesson/unit planning... for example, what my group plans to do for our unit plan is to take the information from an existing unit and create a much more enriched, engaging unit. It is almost as if much of the tedious work of meeting PLOs etc. has been done, and we can focus on designing a stronger unit to cover the same concepts. Applying this idea more generally, I'm sure throughout my career resources will be shared with colleagues on various units - some of which will probably be pretty basic... but I really like the idea of shaping/transforming lessons. Just a thought.
NOAM SPEAKS!
Noam is here and he's got something to say.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/24/stream
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/24/stream
Found History
Found History
Hope everyone's holding in there..... I've seen lots of tired faces lately, including my own. One more week and the worst will be over.
Anyway, this Friday I received word from the Japanese Canadian National Museum in Vancouver about something I've been researching.
You see, a Japanese friend of mine found out a couple of months ago that her Grandfather had lived in Canada from 1925 to 1946. Her mother had never mentioned anything about it until now, perhaps because it was a controversial issue. All my friend Chie learned was that her Grandfather left Japan in 1925 to seek work and returned in 1946. Supposedly he never spoke about his experiences in Canada or what he did here. Knowing I was Canadian, she asked my help to find out more.
I looked through online lists and government databases but unfortunately I only was able to find that he entered Canada at Victoria in 1925. In an appeal to expert help I emailed the curator at the JCNM my story. Nothing was heard, until yesterday- they'd found him.
He came to Canada to work at farming community called Haney Nokai and in 1941 was sent to a remote interment camp called Tashme, 100 KM from Hope. With this information hopefully I can find out more about him online and I plan to visit the JCNM in person when I go to Vancouver over the holidays.
What this experience has made me consider is two fold. First, the role that museums and archives can play in helping ordinary people discover their past and how I can use their expertise in my teaching. Second, the experiences of Japanese Canadians before the war and the interment during, and how I could effectively teach about it. Sadly many Socials texts give lip service what I consider a serious topic- the racially and politically motivated internment of Japanese Canadians and Americans during the war. Racism, both politically and not still exists in our society and this needs to be discussed critically with the goal of removing it.
So what resources are available?
Online:
http://www.japanesecanadianhistory.net/home_page.htm
http://www.jcnm.ca/
The JCNM also has what appears to be excellent printed resources for teachers, including resources guides ( not free though ) and hands on education kits with photographs, registration cards, videos and recordings.
CBC digital archives:
http://archives.cbc.ca/
Lots of material, including archival film footage of internment and radio reports and interviews. Also great general socials resource ( see cold war! ) and cheesy vintage CBC.
Hope everyone's holding in there..... I've seen lots of tired faces lately, including my own. One more week and the worst will be over.
Anyway, this Friday I received word from the Japanese Canadian National Museum in Vancouver about something I've been researching.
You see, a Japanese friend of mine found out a couple of months ago that her Grandfather had lived in Canada from 1925 to 1946. Her mother had never mentioned anything about it until now, perhaps because it was a controversial issue. All my friend Chie learned was that her Grandfather left Japan in 1925 to seek work and returned in 1946. Supposedly he never spoke about his experiences in Canada or what he did here. Knowing I was Canadian, she asked my help to find out more.
I looked through online lists and government databases but unfortunately I only was able to find that he entered Canada at Victoria in 1925. In an appeal to expert help I emailed the curator at the JCNM my story. Nothing was heard, until yesterday- they'd found him.
He came to Canada to work at farming community called Haney Nokai and in 1941 was sent to a remote interment camp called Tashme, 100 KM from Hope. With this information hopefully I can find out more about him online and I plan to visit the JCNM in person when I go to Vancouver over the holidays.
What this experience has made me consider is two fold. First, the role that museums and archives can play in helping ordinary people discover their past and how I can use their expertise in my teaching. Second, the experiences of Japanese Canadians before the war and the interment during, and how I could effectively teach about it. Sadly many Socials texts give lip service what I consider a serious topic- the racially and politically motivated internment of Japanese Canadians and Americans during the war. Racism, both politically and not still exists in our society and this needs to be discussed critically with the goal of removing it.
So what resources are available?
Online:
http://www.japanesecanadianhistory.net/home_page.htm
http://www.jcnm.ca/
The JCNM also has what appears to be excellent printed resources for teachers, including resources guides ( not free though ) and hands on education kits with photographs, registration cards, videos and recordings.
CBC digital archives:
http://archives.cbc.ca/
Lots of material, including archival film footage of internment and radio reports and interviews. Also great general socials resource ( see cold war! ) and cheesy vintage CBC.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Joy of Learning
So I do not know about the rest of you but EDD430 is not my favourite class as the some of the material, though necessary to know, is not 'joyful'. However, I just read a really good article that was assigned for our class monday morning. For those of you in my class you have probably read it, or at least saw the link he sent us. But really it was a worthwhile read, and if you are going to read one thing this semister for 430 do this one.
Anyway, the article is very applicable to us social studies teachers because it talks about how to bring back joy into the classroom, and into learning. I think we can all agree that our subject area has a stigma attached to it as being, dare I say, boring. We all enjoy learning, and our subject, otherwise we would not be here. But for some students, school is something they have to do, and they lose the joy of just learning. Allowing our students the freedom to be creative, to have some choice, and to find sub-area's within our subject that they are interested in can go a long way to bring joy into learning. The article is an easy read, and for the most part feels like common sense. But I think sometimes we all need a reminder that it is the little things that can bring joy back into the school environment.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept08/vol66/num01/Joy_in_School.aspx
Anyway, the article is very applicable to us social studies teachers because it talks about how to bring back joy into the classroom, and into learning. I think we can all agree that our subject area has a stigma attached to it as being, dare I say, boring. We all enjoy learning, and our subject, otherwise we would not be here. But for some students, school is something they have to do, and they lose the joy of just learning. Allowing our students the freedom to be creative, to have some choice, and to find sub-area's within our subject that they are interested in can go a long way to bring joy into learning. The article is an easy read, and for the most part feels like common sense. But I think sometimes we all need a reminder that it is the little things that can bring joy back into the school environment.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept08/vol66/num01/Joy_in_School.aspx
Controversy in the classroom
My mother has been an elementary school teacher for over 30 years. I’ve always thought she was a fabulous teacher, except when I had to be in her class for half a year in grade 7...not 13 year old should even have to go through that type of trauma. Recently, my mom and I discussed that idea of introducing controversial topics to students. For example, such topics as adoption, gay marriage, racism, immigration, assisted suicide, etc. My mother is somewhat conservative and believes that talking about such issues can be very useful but that we need to be very careful about how we approach it.
I also think that it's valuable to expose students to novels and material that may be controversial because they can be a tool to bring up discussions on important and relevant social issues. Conflicts of race and class exist in our history and continue to persist today. If as teachers our job is to inform, then I don't think we can leave out information just because it's uncomfortable to deal with. We must obviously be sensitive to the beliefs and values of our students, but I don't think we do that by brushing touchy issues under the rug. Through open, honest and respectful discussions we can address difficult subjects and help students deal with their feelings regarding them.
As a history teacher I want to be able to openly discuss Canada's dark history-Japanese internment, Native residential schools,etc-as well the positive. If we want to relate our past to the present, it's important to provide the entire picture. Only then can we start to find some solutions.
I also think that it's valuable to expose students to novels and material that may be controversial because they can be a tool to bring up discussions on important and relevant social issues. Conflicts of race and class exist in our history and continue to persist today. If as teachers our job is to inform, then I don't think we can leave out information just because it's uncomfortable to deal with. We must obviously be sensitive to the beliefs and values of our students, but I don't think we do that by brushing touchy issues under the rug. Through open, honest and respectful discussions we can address difficult subjects and help students deal with their feelings regarding them.
As a history teacher I want to be able to openly discuss Canada's dark history-Japanese internment, Native residential schools,etc-as well the positive. If we want to relate our past to the present, it's important to provide the entire picture. Only then can we start to find some solutions.
Private versus Public Education:
I have been working at private school for the last 5 years, running an after school sports program. My practicum this year is at a public school. I am very interested to see for myself some of the differences between a public school and private school in Victoria. Most of the teachers I’ve talked to from both private and public schools have very strong opinions against the other-mostly negative. I attended a Catholic high school in Ontario, which could be considered somewhere in between a public and private school. I don’t think anyone can make a blanket statement about which is better than the other, and in terms of either choosing to teach at or sending a child to either private or public school, it comes down to individual circumstances and preference.
Some advantages of private schools:
-small community atmosphere that allows for a lower student-to-teacher ratio.
-fewer disciplinary problems.
-tuition costs. Parents have more say in how things are done.
-the tuition factor also enables well-maintained campuses, and excellent books and learning materials.
- By percentage, more of private school students go on to college.
Some advantages of public schools:
-Free tuition
- the argument that the quality of the academic programs are not as high as those of private schools is not necessarily true. There are clearly awesome and brilliant teachers and students in public schools. Many extremely successful people attend public schools.
-Public schools vary widely in academics and extracurricular programs.
-Classrooms are usually larger in public schools, which is not always a bad thing. Students are exposed to more people from many culture and socio-economic backgrounds. This teaches students how to get along with one another regardless of differences, and can provide a more complete l experience that mirrors real life.
Have you heard of the AVID program yet?
AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. Although AVID is an elective course tageted to support students in the middle, C to B+ range, who are motivated to go to university, many of the course principles can be adapted for the regular classroom.
A quote from the AVIDonline.org website:
"WICR — or writing, inquiry, collaboration, and reading — forms the basis of the AVID curriculum.
-Students write down in a specified format two questions they need clarification on in a particular subject. (See liunk below for formatted sheet pdf)
-The teacher groups students in fours based on the subject of the questions.
-Each group has a white board and dry-erase markers.
-The students take turns asking their questions. The rest of the group facilitates learning and review for the entire group. This is accomplished by asking questions of the student whose problem question is being tackled.
-Students are trained to asked higher order questions. They act as socratic tutors or guides to those that need clarification by drawing upon prior knowledge (what DO they know?), and seeing what they've tried to solve the problempreviously...helping them learn, not just giving them the answer. (see the learning process summary flow chart pdf)
-All students write down the discussion/solution to each persons problem questions in cornell note style.
I could just see the light bulbs go off!
Another quote: "Why collaborative learning groups? Because students remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see, hear and say, 70% of what they discuss, 80% of what they do, 90% of what they say as they do a thing!"
From the AVID literature...the tutorial principles, worksheet, and the learning process flow chart:
http://www.thekurlanders.com/julie/avid/docs/pdf_docs/Tutorial%20Principles.pdf
http://www.thekurlanders.com/julie/avid/docs/pdf_docs/Tutorial%20Worksheet.pdf
http://www.thekurlanders.com/julie/avid/docs/pdf_docs/Tutorial%20Learning%20Process.pdf
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/avid
I know in Greater Victoria, Spectrum and Stelly's have this program...perhaps others will comment on their experience with AVID from the observation period?!
A quote from the AVIDonline.org website:
"WICR — or writing, inquiry, collaboration, and reading — forms the basis of the AVID curriculum.
While I was out on the two-week observation, I sat in on a few AVID classes. I was most impressed with the tutorials. How they work is like this:Writing to learn. AVID emphasizes writing in all subjects, with a focus on clarifying and communicating their thoughts and understanding material.
Emphasis on inquiry. AVID is based on inquiry, not lecture. Many activities, from Cornell notetaking to tutorial groups, are built around asking questions, which forces students to clarify, analyze, and synthesize material.
A collaborative approach. The AVID classroom is not a traditional one in which a teacher lectures to passive students. An AVID teacher is a facilitator and an advocate. But students, not teachers or tutors, are responsible for their learning. Tutors function as discussion leaders, while students challenge, help, and learn from one another.
Critical reading. AVID students don’t merely read words on a page. They are taught to analyze, question, critique, clarify, and comprehend the material."
-Students write down in a specified format two questions they need clarification on in a particular subject. (See liunk below for formatted sheet pdf)
-The teacher groups students in fours based on the subject of the questions.
-Each group has a white board and dry-erase markers.
-The students take turns asking their questions. The rest of the group facilitates learning and review for the entire group. This is accomplished by asking questions of the student whose problem question is being tackled.
-Students are trained to asked higher order questions. They act as socratic tutors or guides to those that need clarification by drawing upon prior knowledge (what DO they know?), and seeing what they've tried to solve the problempreviously...helping them learn, not just giving them the answer. (see the learning process summary flow chart pdf)
-All students write down the discussion/solution to each persons problem questions in cornell note style.
I could just see the light bulbs go off!
Another quote: "Why collaborative learning groups? Because students remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see, hear and say, 70% of what they discuss, 80% of what they do, 90% of what they say as they do a thing!"
From the AVID literature...the tutorial principles, worksheet, and the learning process flow chart:
http://www.thekurlanders.com/julie/avid/docs/pdf_docs/Tutorial%20Principles.pdf
http://www.thekurlanders.com/julie/avid/docs/pdf_docs/Tutorial%20Worksheet.pdf
http://www.thekurlanders.com/julie/avid/docs/pdf_docs/Tutorial%20Learning%20Process.pdf
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/avid
I know in Greater Victoria, Spectrum and Stelly's have this program...perhaps others will comment on their experience with AVID from the observation period?!
Online Exhibits
http://www.moa.ubc.ca/exhibits/online_exhibits.php
The BC Museum of Anthropology- For those who haven’t been the anthropology
museum is amazing- located on campus at UBC is it a great educational
experience. Unfortunately the museum is closed due to renovations until
March 2009. However, they are currently offering three exhibits that are
available for online exploration. “The Spirit of Islam,” exploring Islam
through calligraphy, “Respect Bill Reid Pole,” highlighting the totems of
the Haida and “William White My Ancestors are Still Dancing,” white is a
renowned Tsimshian weaver. For those who are interested in incorporating
world, national and regional art into the classroom these exhibits are
easily accessible and perfect for the classroom. Happy viewing
The BC Museum of Anthropology- For those who haven’t been the anthropology
museum is amazing- located on campus at UBC is it a great educational
experience. Unfortunately the museum is closed due to renovations until
March 2009. However, they are currently offering three exhibits that are
available for online exploration. “The Spirit of Islam,” exploring Islam
through calligraphy, “Respect Bill Reid Pole,” highlighting the totems of
the Haida and “William White My Ancestors are Still Dancing,” white is a
renowned Tsimshian weaver. For those who are interested in incorporating
world, national and regional art into the classroom these exhibits are
easily accessible and perfect for the classroom. Happy viewing
The Catherine Vogt Experiment on Diversity of Thought
For laughs and learning:
A 14-year old girl with brains and spunk takes some initiative and teaches her classmates, teachers, and community a thing or two about "tolerance." Read the follow-up news story as well.
A 14-year old girl with brains and spunk takes some initiative and teaches her classmates, teachers, and community a thing or two about "tolerance." Read the follow-up news story as well.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Leave No Child Inside
I came across a fabulous journal called Orion, that seeks to examine issues surrounding place, culture and the environment. It's a MUST read for Social Studies educators- including us "history" people too, because face it- history is uniquely tied to place and the environment!
The article I want to spotlight is called "Leave No Child Inside" You can find it at: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/240/
"Within the space of a few decades, the way children understand and experience their neighborhoods and the natural world has changed radically. Even as children and teenagers become more aware of global threats to the environment, their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading. As one suburban fifth grader put it to me, in what has become the signature epigram of the children-and-nature movement: “I like to play indoors better ‘cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”
Think about it: we live in one of the most geographically remarkable and beautiful places on earth. We actually have the space still to get kids out into the bush, which is a luxury many people are losing. Shouldn't we be making the most of our opportunity?(And, if you want a real scare, look up how much time the average kid spends in voluntary outdoor play vs. the amount of screen- computer or tv- time they get.)
Orion- it's got some good stuff, so take a look around.
The article I want to spotlight is called "Leave No Child Inside" You can find it at: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/240/
"Within the space of a few decades, the way children understand and experience their neighborhoods and the natural world has changed radically. Even as children and teenagers become more aware of global threats to the environment, their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading. As one suburban fifth grader put it to me, in what has become the signature epigram of the children-and-nature movement: “I like to play indoors better ‘cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.”
Think about it: we live in one of the most geographically remarkable and beautiful places on earth. We actually have the space still to get kids out into the bush, which is a luxury many people are losing. Shouldn't we be making the most of our opportunity?(And, if you want a real scare, look up how much time the average kid spends in voluntary outdoor play vs. the amount of screen- computer or tv- time they get.)
Orion- it's got some good stuff, so take a look around.
Assault on Red-Haired Student Investigated as Hate Crime
I know we were joking about this last class, but when this article popped up on cbc, I thought I should share. (Make sure you watch the video that goes along with it)
I'd really like to hear some opinions about this - we've mostly all seen the South Park episode in which this 'ginger hating' theme sprung from, but can schools blame a TV show for bullying and violence in our hallways? Also, what are your thoughts on treating this as a hate-crime?
Thirteen high school students in Calgary have been suspended after a red-headed teen was beaten because of the colour of his hair.
The Grade 10 boy was attacked in the locker room of St. Francis High School after gym class Thursday, students told CBC News.
The victim was taken to hospital for examination, and a spokeswoman for the Calgary Catholic School District said Friday he sustained "some minor bruising" to his upper body.
Calgary police are looking into the assault as a possible hate crime.
I'd really like to hear some opinions about this - we've mostly all seen the South Park episode in which this 'ginger hating' theme sprung from, but can schools blame a TV show for bullying and violence in our hallways? Also, what are your thoughts on treating this as a hate-crime?
Friday, November 21, 2008
How does one inspire grade nines??
The other day while preparing my unit plan for this class, and for my actual class in February, I found myself contemplating just exactly HOW I was going to get my grade nine students interested in not only the English Civil War, but also in Social Studies itself. Every Tuesday and Friday afternoon, I sit in ECS 130 and get absolutely excited about teaching social studies. "Yes!" I think, "I'm going to affect change and inspire students, at 14 or 16, to want to consider and potentially solve the problems that our generation and those before us have created." This elation carries me through my 20 min walk home and I burst into my house with all new and amazing ideas. Immediately, I sit myself down at my computer to create lessons that will not only inspire students but CHANGE their views of the world and embed personal belief that their say, regardless of the size of the issue, matters and will make a difference.
However, as I glance over to my list of curricula and the corresponding time frames I feel the elation that so miraculously floated me down Sinclair Hill without being hit by a truck deflate inside me. How, can I do it all? Inspire both activists and socially conscious students and cover all the curriculum (which at the grade nine level provides little to no room for current events).
So perhaps, my question here is how do I fit in social justice and current event issues in a grade nine curriculum that focuses on 15th-16th century history? While I do not have an straight up answer, I do have some ideas and have decided to share them with you. Any comments or recommendations are more than welcome.
First and foremost, I am an avid believer that History must be relevant to our students. Illustrating how the causes and results of a past event is directly related to our societal norms and politics of today is absolutely imperative. This may seem simple, but it's amazing how much we, as teachers, take for granted our own knowledge of these connections. On this note, I've decided that in order for my grade nine students to understand that the basic human rights that they exercise today were at one time or another fought for by earlier generations. I plan to start the course with a set of rules which I alone have created. The idea is to establish myself as the authority in the classroom, appointed by a supreme being (the principal), and have a divine right to teach rule over the classroom. As we progress through the unit, we, as a class, will create our own Bill of Rights, where the students, my subjects, will have the opportunity to challenge my original rules and bring forth their own recommendations. They will have to earn these rights, through proper and thorough arguments. In this activity I hope to not only connect the importance of this historical event to our own concepts surrounding parliament and democracy, but to also teach my students to question and challenge authority in order for their own personal sense of equality and fairness.
Additionally, I wish to really urge all social studies teachers to celebrate Canadian Black History Month. While the curriculum does not recognize this celebration of African Canadians, it is an official celebratory month on the Canadian Calendar. Use this opportunity to discuss what multiculturalism means to Canada, our communities and and our students themselves.
An interesting website with the history of the African Canadians is :
http://blackhistorycanada.ca/ Here you will find lesson ideas and timeline for teachers.
Bring in music: soul, Blues, Rap and discuss their significance are in representing the struggle of the African person was and still is today.
However, as I glance over to my list of curricula and the corresponding time frames I feel the elation that so miraculously floated me down Sinclair Hill without being hit by a truck deflate inside me. How, can I do it all? Inspire both activists and socially conscious students and cover all the curriculum (which at the grade nine level provides little to no room for current events).
So perhaps, my question here is how do I fit in social justice and current event issues in a grade nine curriculum that focuses on 15th-16th century history? While I do not have an straight up answer, I do have some ideas and have decided to share them with you. Any comments or recommendations are more than welcome.
First and foremost, I am an avid believer that History must be relevant to our students. Illustrating how the causes and results of a past event is directly related to our societal norms and politics of today is absolutely imperative. This may seem simple, but it's amazing how much we, as teachers, take for granted our own knowledge of these connections. On this note, I've decided that in order for my grade nine students to understand that the basic human rights that they exercise today were at one time or another fought for by earlier generations. I plan to start the course with a set of rules which I alone have created. The idea is to establish myself as the authority in the classroom, appointed by a supreme being (the principal), and have a divine right to teach rule over the classroom. As we progress through the unit, we, as a class, will create our own Bill of Rights, where the students, my subjects, will have the opportunity to challenge my original rules and bring forth their own recommendations. They will have to earn these rights, through proper and thorough arguments. In this activity I hope to not only connect the importance of this historical event to our own concepts surrounding parliament and democracy, but to also teach my students to question and challenge authority in order for their own personal sense of equality and fairness.
Additionally, I wish to really urge all social studies teachers to celebrate Canadian Black History Month. While the curriculum does not recognize this celebration of African Canadians, it is an official celebratory month on the Canadian Calendar. Use this opportunity to discuss what multiculturalism means to Canada, our communities and and our students themselves.
An interesting website with the history of the African Canadians is :
http://blackhistorycanada.ca/ Here you will find lesson ideas and timeline for teachers.
Bring in music: soul, Blues, Rap and discuss their significance are in representing the struggle of the African person was and still is today.
We Remember Shawn
Please take time to read this article if you knew Shawn Cafferky. It is very sad that he has left us so young. He was a fantastic professor and definitely knew his stuff.
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/life/story.html?id=7f457066-9361-4bbc-8449-03c42c05c16b
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/life/story.html?id=7f457066-9361-4bbc-8449-03c42c05c16b
Memorializing War and Death - Link to Lesson Plans
This is a google docs link to a 3-day chunk of a unit on Death that I helped design for my English Methods class. It fulfills some English PLOs for grade 12 but is very adaptable to a social studies class. I modeled it after an assignment I did last summer in a course called "War, Myth, Memory, and History."
The basic point of the assignment is to have students work independently to research and present a War Memorial. They have to present the social and historical context of the memorial, any unique rituals or ceremonies that take place at it, and whether it's been a site of controversy. It introduces students to "reading" cultural artefacts as visual texts, with all the meanings and symbols involved in that. One example would be to contrast the rituals surrounding the USA's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with Canada's (we pretty much have none in comparison to theirs. How does this change our perception of war/patriotism/soldiers?). Or (but I don't know how well this would go over with high schoolers!) do a Freudian reading of war memorials: why do so many employ phallic imagery?
Who writes history? What message do war monuments try to convey? How has the emergence of post-modernism changed our representation of war in sculpture? Why are humans so obsessed with ritual? These and other questions can be raised in this 3-day mini-unit, which includes an extensive list of websites for student use, along with mini-lecture notes, criteria and rubrics, and Q&A for a final "gallery walk."
The basic point of the assignment is to have students work independently to research and present a War Memorial. They have to present the social and historical context of the memorial, any unique rituals or ceremonies that take place at it, and whether it's been a site of controversy. It introduces students to "reading" cultural artefacts as visual texts, with all the meanings and symbols involved in that. One example would be to contrast the rituals surrounding the USA's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with Canada's (we pretty much have none in comparison to theirs. How does this change our perception of war/patriotism/soldiers?). Or (but I don't know how well this would go over with high schoolers!) do a Freudian reading of war memorials: why do so many employ phallic imagery?
Who writes history? What message do war monuments try to convey? How has the emergence of post-modernism changed our representation of war in sculpture? Why are humans so obsessed with ritual? These and other questions can be raised in this 3-day mini-unit, which includes an extensive list of websites for student use, along with mini-lecture notes, criteria and rubrics, and Q&A for a final "gallery walk."
Thursday, November 20, 2008
In addition to all of the links in the UVIC bulletin on the UNEP page which is more than what you will need to prepare for a lively substantive debate, here are some more materials for the keener or two in class....always found in the back row!
BBC in depthA guide to climate change with useful information, articles and graphics.
DEFRA Global Warming site for studentsA useful guide on climate change written in student friendly language - includes activities and a quiz.
Feeling the heatA very useful guide to climate change and how the international community is responding. Includes an introduction, the science behind climate change, solutions to climate change and details of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - UNFCCC - that has been ratified by 189 countries and the Kyoto Protocol, which sets legally binding targets and timetables for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
Friends of the Earth: climate changeProvides an environmental perspective on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol and solutions to climate change.
Global Eye: climate changeExcellent interactive guide to climate change written especially for students.
Glossary on climate changeA very full glossary – some are very technical, others less so, but whatever you are looking for in terms of climate change, this glossary has it!
Greenpeace: climate changeA useful environmental perspective on climate change and non-nuclear solutions.
Kyoto protocol explained A one page summary on the Kyoto Protocol written for young people.
New ScientistUseful section on climate change that includes a timeline, frequently asked questions and quotes.
BBC in depthA guide to climate change with useful information, articles and graphics.
DEFRA Global Warming site for studentsA useful guide on climate change written in student friendly language - includes activities and a quiz.
Feeling the heatA very useful guide to climate change and how the international community is responding. Includes an introduction, the science behind climate change, solutions to climate change and details of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - UNFCCC - that has been ratified by 189 countries and the Kyoto Protocol, which sets legally binding targets and timetables for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
Friends of the Earth: climate changeProvides an environmental perspective on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol and solutions to climate change.
Global Eye: climate changeExcellent interactive guide to climate change written especially for students.
Glossary on climate changeA very full glossary – some are very technical, others less so, but whatever you are looking for in terms of climate change, this glossary has it!
Greenpeace: climate changeA useful environmental perspective on climate change and non-nuclear solutions.
Kyoto protocol explained A one page summary on the Kyoto Protocol written for young people.
New ScientistUseful section on climate change that includes a timeline, frequently asked questions and quotes.
History News Network: John McCain
Just reminder to check out and book mark History News Network, check out all the features...
Follow link to explore critical substantiated views of John McCains. For me it is frightening how close this hothead came to the holding the metaphorical nuclear football...Andrew (hope you made it thorugh Ginger day without too many bruises) you will especially enjoy Mary Hershberger: What Is the True Story of McCain’s Wartime Experience?
http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/56255.html
Follow link to explore critical substantiated views of John McCains. For me it is frightening how close this hothead came to the holding the metaphorical nuclear football...Andrew (hope you made it thorugh Ginger day without too many bruises) you will especially enjoy Mary Hershberger: What Is the True Story of McCain’s Wartime Experience?
http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/56255.html
Climate Change
So, for those who are looking for the 'scientific background knowledge' on climate change for our Model UN summit, I would like to suggest a few possibilities.
1) The official documentation site: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created by UNEP and WMO (world meteorological organization)
2) People on campus like Dr. Andrew Weaver and others in the Earth and Ocean Science department.
3) Earthweek Magazine: A Diary of The Planet: Current climate events around the world.
Hopefully these give you a bit of a background on some of the issues that are relevant to UNEP. The IPCC website has so much information, it is tough to wade through it. The recent posters created (1) (2) (3) might help.
I hope these help!
1) The official documentation site: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created by UNEP and WMO (world meteorological organization)
2) People on campus like Dr. Andrew Weaver and others in the Earth and Ocean Science department.
3) Earthweek Magazine: A Diary of The Planet: Current climate events around the world.
Hopefully these give you a bit of a background on some of the issues that are relevant to UNEP. The IPCC website has so much information, it is tough to wade through it. The recent posters created (1) (2) (3) might help.
I hope these help!
Aboriginal Education: Where to begin?
As we all know, every IRP (including social studies) requires some degree of aboriginal education integration in the classroom (see "Working With the Aboriginal Community" in any IRP). The larger question is, how does one begin to incorporate any of these ideas into the classroom without 'singling out' or 'drawing too much attention to' aboriginals that may be in our classrooms? I believe that we need to look at our communities and see what they have available. For example, recently, the SFU anthropology department (and other departments) have worked hard with the Sto'lo nation in the Fraser Valley to produce an incredibly informative web-museum (links HERE and HERE). I believe that the content is suitable for any school within the region, and draws attention to ideas and concepts that students may not be aware of. I am particularly impressed by the calibre of research that has been performed prior to creating these web-museums. Students at any age can easily follow the flash-driven website to learn more about the Sto'lo nation. I believe that awareness of many cultures (including aboriginal) is essential to creating an all-inclusive learning environment.
Some other related links:
BC "Shared Learnings" resource (guide for teachers to integrating BC aboriginal content from K-10 regardless of content)
BC Aboriginal Education website
BCTF Aboriginal Education Teaching Resources website (diverse set of links to ideas for teachers)
What other resources (on the web or otherwise) are you aware of? Do you have any ideas/comments/concerns?
Some other related links:
BC "Shared Learnings" resource (guide for teachers to integrating BC aboriginal content from K-10 regardless of content)
BC Aboriginal Education website
BCTF Aboriginal Education Teaching Resources website (diverse set of links to ideas for teachers)
What other resources (on the web or otherwise) are you aware of? Do you have any ideas/comments/concerns?
The Historical Atlas of Europe
The development of Europe's modern states from 1519 to 2006:
When teaching social studies it’s always great to have maps and images to relate time periods, changing borders and other historical phenomena. This website provides maps of Europe from 1519-2006 and maps of Germany specifically from 1789 to the present. Each map also comes with an explanation about who was ruling what and the general politics associated with the current borders. Definitely a great resource for social studies and history classes of any level.
http://members.tele2.nl/gerardvonhebel/index.htm#homeknop
Adaptive technologies for the classroom
I’ve been thinking… how do we make different alternative texts accessible to students with disabilities in our social studies classrooms? By alternative texts I mean internet sources, videos, sound clips to those who are hearing impaired or blind?
Social Studies is not just a class – it can come to life through the media we use to present history, society and the world, therefore materials for teaching are getting much more complicated in terms of presenting them to the class.
What difficulties will arise when teaching students with special needs in our classrooms? How can we address it?
There’s a GREAT website of Adaptive Technology Resource Centre in University of Toronto. The article was about motivating high school students in learning and becoming a part of media and broadcast industry. Most of the students want to make a difference, to determine their ability in terms of influence on the society, and the project I was interested in inventing different technologies to make media accessible to special needs people. The program is called SNOW - Special Needs Ontario Window. That's one of the examples of how we can connect learning with real life challenges. Here I will try to make a link.
www.snow.utoronto.ca (cultivating Ontario’s inclusive education community)
Social Studies is not just a class – it can come to life through the media we use to present history, society and the world, therefore materials for teaching are getting much more complicated in terms of presenting them to the class.
What difficulties will arise when teaching students with special needs in our classrooms? How can we address it?
There’s a GREAT website of Adaptive Technology Resource Centre in University of Toronto. The article was about motivating high school students in learning and becoming a part of media and broadcast industry. Most of the students want to make a difference, to determine their ability in terms of influence on the society, and the project I was interested in inventing different technologies to make media accessible to special needs people. The program is called SNOW - Special Needs Ontario Window. That's one of the examples of how we can connect learning with real life challenges. Here I will try to make a link.
www.snow.utoronto.ca (cultivating Ontario’s inclusive education community)
Indecently Exposed
Last year on my two week practicum I was asked to teach Career and Health 9. The class was currently on a racism unit, and the students were mildly engaged. When I took over to teach my classes I asked the class how I could teach the unit to make the students more engaged. The students overwhelminly told me that they needed more contextually relevent material because at the moment the material they were learning was foreign and mostly occuring in different countries in different time periods. The first thing I thought of when dealing with racism was Jane Elliott's video "Blue Eyes", and thought her controversial style might help to engage the students. Through my search for the video I came across another of her videos called "Indecently Exposed" This video is filmed in Winnipeg only a few years ago. The video deals with the treatment of aboriginal people in Canada or should I say the mistreatment.
The students responded very well to the video and many of them went home and further researched Jane and her reasoning behind creating the workshops. The students told me many stories of when the have heard racial comments made about aboriginal people, and realized that the issue of racism is contextually relevent.
The students responded very well to the video and many of them went home and further researched Jane and her reasoning behind creating the workshops. The students told me many stories of when the have heard racial comments made about aboriginal people, and realized that the issue of racism is contextually relevent.
UBC Resource Site
At the last class Jason talked about creating a website with all of our created unit plans. Through my searches on the web, I have found that UBC has created a similar site for their teacher education program. The site is created through the UBC Library and there is access to unit plans ranging from grade 6-12 that span the entire curriculum and learning outcomes for a given grade. I have looked through some of the units and the lessons look like they could benefit us as future teachers to give us a jump off point in designing our own lessons.
LIFE photo archive
Because we're always looking for amazing primary sources for our classroom, I'd thought I'd share a new one thats been in development for a while. LIFE has put their archives online and, through google, they are all searchable. There's some amazing stuff in here - just root around and see what you can find!
African American children peering through fence at white children playing in a segregated playground.
Australian soldiers scrambling for cigarettes tossed out of portholes by African American soldiers.
March 22, 1916 - Russian soldiers wearing costumes for an impromptu performance behind the lines during a lull in the World War I fighting.
African American children peering through fence at white children playing in a segregated playground.
Australian soldiers scrambling for cigarettes tossed out of portholes by African American soldiers.
March 22, 1916 - Russian soldiers wearing costumes for an impromptu performance behind the lines during a lull in the World War I fighting.
Technology Within Simulations
When I was doing my two week observation I got to see a Grade 12 History class preparing for a mock trial. As I looked into it further I found out that this teachers mock trials are legendary within the school. Kids request him as a teacher simply so they can take part in them. I also heard that students who can go an entire year in most classes without speaking regularly give passionate speeches during these trials. He sets it up each unit with putting a main player in that unit on trial. Everyone has a role and is forced to research all aspects of that event. For instance while I was there they were doing the Russian Revolution so they were preparing to put Stalin on trial. The whole thing seemed amazing.
What I thought was really neat though and super worthwhile for us was how he used the internet. He set each trial up on a blog page that the kids had access to. He put the outlines, resources, roles, and all other necessary aspects up there for the students to work off of. He also set up private rooms within the blogs where say only the defense lawyers could access in order to post and discuss information for the trial. It solved two major problems.
First the obvious it allowed kids to meet and share ideas from home without having to meet up. He said it had been a headache in the past trying to get kids to meet up outside of class time. This way there was no excuses they could all get to an internet source throughout the day and discuss what they wanted. It also gave them the ability to pass key information on that they wanted to other members of the trial, a key witness for instance.
the second thing it did and what I really thought was useful was allow him to see who was doing the work. It was made clear to the kids at the beginning of each trial that a huge portion of their mark would be made up by their effort and the amount they participated and contributed to their group. He said as with most group projects in the past it was tough to give everyone in a group the same mark when you were pretty sure a couple kids had just coasted along while others did all the work. What the blog did was allow him to go online and see how many times the kids had viewed the page, as well as how many times they had posted or commented on things. Then if one kid wanted to argue that they had participated he could pull up their stats and simply show them they had rarely been on the Blog and posted even less.
He did it all through the blog site on Google, but really had it dialed in and it was amazing to see. It also allowed the kids to really have a feeling of pride as they did so much of the work on their own and he could simply be there to guide them along and ask probing questions to get them thinking.
What I thought was really neat though and super worthwhile for us was how he used the internet. He set each trial up on a blog page that the kids had access to. He put the outlines, resources, roles, and all other necessary aspects up there for the students to work off of. He also set up private rooms within the blogs where say only the defense lawyers could access in order to post and discuss information for the trial. It solved two major problems.
First the obvious it allowed kids to meet and share ideas from home without having to meet up. He said it had been a headache in the past trying to get kids to meet up outside of class time. This way there was no excuses they could all get to an internet source throughout the day and discuss what they wanted. It also gave them the ability to pass key information on that they wanted to other members of the trial, a key witness for instance.
the second thing it did and what I really thought was useful was allow him to see who was doing the work. It was made clear to the kids at the beginning of each trial that a huge portion of their mark would be made up by their effort and the amount they participated and contributed to their group. He said as with most group projects in the past it was tough to give everyone in a group the same mark when you were pretty sure a couple kids had just coasted along while others did all the work. What the blog did was allow him to go online and see how many times the kids had viewed the page, as well as how many times they had posted or commented on things. Then if one kid wanted to argue that they had participated he could pull up their stats and simply show them they had rarely been on the Blog and posted even less.
He did it all through the blog site on Google, but really had it dialed in and it was amazing to see. It also allowed the kids to really have a feeling of pride as they did so much of the work on their own and he could simply be there to guide them along and ask probing questions to get them thinking.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Pride In The Work You Do
I was looking around Youtube at different videos that came up when I typed in "social studies projects." Despite the fact that most of the videos were American examples they really were quite impressive. What really struck me though was how genuinely excited the students seemed to be to make these videos, and the pride they were taking in their work. It struck me that so often what is missing with the projects we give out to students is that they don't get an opportunity to get excited for them, and take pride in what they are doing.
I'm not saying by any means that Youtube is the answer, or you have to get your students to make videos. But it reminded me of the fact that we keep pressing the importance of using technology in the classroom as much as possible. With how advanced the Internet has become, and the ease in which you can now create a website (like Lindsay showed us) why not put your kids work up for others to see. It seems to me that it will increase their motivation and give them a chance to really get excited about whatever the topic is.
Another great advantage I see with giving your kids an outlet in order to present their work is that it can connect the classroom to the home so much easier. I think that is something that we all agree is often lacking. What easier way for a parent to see their kids work than to have an outlet online for them to check out. Also I think parents are much more likely to check out their kids work and be excited for it if the students are excited for it.
I encourage you to check out some of the videos and projects that are posted on Youtube, and I'm sure if you search around you can see other examples of online projects. You never know who may become interested in your students work or connect to what they are doing. It simply increases the network of followers and resources within your Social Studies classroom.
I'm not saying by any means that Youtube is the answer, or you have to get your students to make videos. But it reminded me of the fact that we keep pressing the importance of using technology in the classroom as much as possible. With how advanced the Internet has become, and the ease in which you can now create a website (like Lindsay showed us) why not put your kids work up for others to see. It seems to me that it will increase their motivation and give them a chance to really get excited about whatever the topic is.
Another great advantage I see with giving your kids an outlet in order to present their work is that it can connect the classroom to the home so much easier. I think that is something that we all agree is often lacking. What easier way for a parent to see their kids work than to have an outlet online for them to check out. Also I think parents are much more likely to check out their kids work and be excited for it if the students are excited for it.
I encourage you to check out some of the videos and projects that are posted on Youtube, and I'm sure if you search around you can see other examples of online projects. You never know who may become interested in your students work or connect to what they are doing. It simply increases the network of followers and resources within your Social Studies classroom.
The Battle Between Humanities and Social Sciences has begun, and History is leading the charge
‘Two Cultures’ Tension in Social Science
Key philanthropic and government programs offering grants for Ph.D. students appear to be excluding proposals for graduate students in sociology and political science, while favouring proposals from those in history, anthropology and a range of relatively small disciplines, such as art history and ethnomusicology, according to data released Friday.
The article from Inside Higher Education is long, but worth the read. Remember when we were all told that a humanities degree would never get us a job in the private sector? Think again! The social sciences seem to be falling behind heavily in research funding, which is quickly being moved to the humanities (history programs are becoming the biggest benefactor) Will this be a further shift away from the empirical roots of the social sciences into the more subjectivist approach of history and the arts? What does this mean for our high school classroom?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Smart Cookies
I apologize to those of you who have already read my little tirade, but I thought it was applicable to teaching social justice related issues and social responsibility in the classroom. It just really fits with teaching more than content in the classroom- so here goes.
Today we sat through a presentation by the "Smart Cookies"- women who have overcome debt in their lives and now go around helping people, students included, to live fiscally responsible lives. This sounds great, nu?
But on my walk home, I had a lot of time to ponder the Smart Cookies' presentation. While I agree wholeheartedly that students DO need to have life and financial skills, and that these should be taught in school, the whole presentation left a sour taste in my mouth. I think it's great that these women are seeking to educate students about fiscal responsibility and staying out of debt, so I have no issues with their motives. But, I couldn't help but feel that the presentation came off a bit as being "make more money to make you happy" -ish.
If I step on some toes here, sorry 'bout that. The presentation was very focused on the individual- what you want and what you need and how you will get that for yourself. This makes sense in the goal setting arena- we need to set goals for ourselves, and goals are good. They're also essential in helping students succeed. My issue is when goals become so detached from the larger picture that we begin to wade into dangerous waters. What about connecting students to the larger community? What about asking them how their goals might affect others? What about asking them to think about the consequences of choosing a particular lifestyle? Not just personal consequences, but local, national and global consequences? I'm not saying students must choose a particular lifestyle, but rather that they should be encouraged to think about the impact that their choices- even seemingly "personal" financial ones- can have on the world.
Some people say that's too much of a burden to put on the shoulders of youth. But really, in light of the different crises that are faced by people in the world every day (think environment, human rights issues, food security...), can we really afford to teach that our own goals and achievements matter most in the world? I'll admit that I fall into this trap of thinking from time to time. But I'm willing to be shaken out of that trap as well, albeit sometimes reluctantly.
What about the bigger issues around consumerism? What about ethics? It's true that we live in a capitalist society and you can't get away without buying stuff- that's how our society works. But, shouldn't we be teaching kids to consider from whom and where they purchase things, or asking them to consider the global ethical implications of living the high rolling lifestyle- even if they can personally afford it?
Make no mistake, I'm not advocating ignorance or asceticism or anything like that. I simply think we need to place financial skills and "goal setting" within the larger context of society and help students to make personally and socially responsible- ethical- decisions. What impact does your spending have on your family, community- the street kid in India? Do you even have to care about the street kid in India? Maybe that's not the "purpose" of the planning 10 course, but I feel that it should be addressed. Just because we can afford to do something doesn't mean that we should .
Our lives aren't just about us- it's time to start looking past the end of our own nose.
Toe stomping complete.
Today we sat through a presentation by the "Smart Cookies"- women who have overcome debt in their lives and now go around helping people, students included, to live fiscally responsible lives. This sounds great, nu?
But on my walk home, I had a lot of time to ponder the Smart Cookies' presentation. While I agree wholeheartedly that students DO need to have life and financial skills, and that these should be taught in school, the whole presentation left a sour taste in my mouth. I think it's great that these women are seeking to educate students about fiscal responsibility and staying out of debt, so I have no issues with their motives. But, I couldn't help but feel that the presentation came off a bit as being "make more money to make you happy" -ish.
If I step on some toes here, sorry 'bout that. The presentation was very focused on the individual- what you want and what you need and how you will get that for yourself. This makes sense in the goal setting arena- we need to set goals for ourselves, and goals are good. They're also essential in helping students succeed. My issue is when goals become so detached from the larger picture that we begin to wade into dangerous waters. What about connecting students to the larger community? What about asking them how their goals might affect others? What about asking them to think about the consequences of choosing a particular lifestyle? Not just personal consequences, but local, national and global consequences? I'm not saying students must choose a particular lifestyle, but rather that they should be encouraged to think about the impact that their choices- even seemingly "personal" financial ones- can have on the world.
Some people say that's too much of a burden to put on the shoulders of youth. But really, in light of the different crises that are faced by people in the world every day (think environment, human rights issues, food security...), can we really afford to teach that our own goals and achievements matter most in the world? I'll admit that I fall into this trap of thinking from time to time. But I'm willing to be shaken out of that trap as well, albeit sometimes reluctantly.
What about the bigger issues around consumerism? What about ethics? It's true that we live in a capitalist society and you can't get away without buying stuff- that's how our society works. But, shouldn't we be teaching kids to consider from whom and where they purchase things, or asking them to consider the global ethical implications of living the high rolling lifestyle- even if they can personally afford it?
Make no mistake, I'm not advocating ignorance or asceticism or anything like that. I simply think we need to place financial skills and "goal setting" within the larger context of society and help students to make personally and socially responsible- ethical- decisions. What impact does your spending have on your family, community- the street kid in India? Do you even have to care about the street kid in India? Maybe that's not the "purpose" of the planning 10 course, but I feel that it should be addressed. Just because we can afford to do something doesn't mean that we should .
Our lives aren't just about us- it's time to start looking past the end of our own nose.
Toe stomping complete.
The Museum
Walking through the museum as a (soon to be) teacher was definitely a very different experience than the times I remember as a student. There is such a vast amount of interesting information available that I never really noticed when I was younger. I think the main reason for this is the presentation of materials - there was SO much text on a wall under an artifact. Obviously this is necessary for describing specific artifacts, but there was nothing drawing say a junior high school student to a series of artifacts on the whole. In my opinion, a museum normally does a very poor job in captivating the interest of a young student. (There were some interactive stations which definitely had the attention of Dr. Price's son, and they were great, but there was not enough...)
To get something out of a museum experience, the responsibility is basically entirely on the observer. I can remember going to various museums when I was traveling, and having to force myself to engage with the artifacts and not simply browse - as I knew the artifacts were incredible pieces with rich histories. But again, they were artifacts, and text on a wall. Something needs to be done to insert a curious or interested thought into a young student's mind about the museum materials. Something to make them want to engage.
There isn't much to this post, other than to say I am very interested to see what sort of curriculum, or design changes might come about.
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