Learning Processes Entry #3

I spent a good part of the weekend working on a primary source paper on circuses and the changing role of gender during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for my History of Popular Culture class. While working on this paper, I realized that I tend to write history papers differently than papers for other classes. With other papers, I find that I do not have a need to make an outline, and that so long as I know where my paper is headed to, I am able to write a sufficient paper. However, due to the amount of material that has to be cited in history papers, I tend to find that making an outline for these papers allows me to write more fluent and flowing papers. I put all of my evidence into my outlines, including paraphrased and direct quotations. Then, I find that my outlines write the papers themselves. The funny thing is that I've tried to do this for papers for other subject area classes, and the writing of the outlines does not seem to help my writing process at all.

Takaki - Chapter 5

This chapter focuses a lot on the lives of northern and southern blacks during the mid 1800s. In order to begin a lesson on this chapter, I would have students make a Venn Diagram, comparing the lives of northern and southern blacks. For this task, I would emphasize to students that they need to only cite examples presented in this chapter and forget about any prior knowledge. After students complete their individual Venn Diagrams, we would then make one as a class. I would then use the class Venn Diagram to start a group discussion on whether Takaki's chapter was similar to their previous lessons on black lives prior to the Civil War. Students would be divided up into groups of 4 or 5 for these discussions so as to encourage all students to partake in the discussion.

Takaki - Chapter 4

This chapter focuses a lot of the Indian reaction to western and southern expansion in the United States and Takaki's goal in this chapter is for the reader to better understand the expansion from the Indian standpoint. In teaching a lesson on this chapter it will be essential for students to be able to place themselves in the shoes of the Indians. As an assignment coinciding with the reading of this chapter, I would ask that students write a one page reaction to how they would feel if they were an Indian in the early 1800s. They would have the option to speak as though they were a Choctaw Indian, a Cherokee Indian, or a Plains Indian, as each tribe underwent different government tensions and had different experiences as a result of the different treaties, or lack thereof. Although I'm still uncertain as to whether or not I'm going to offer my students opportunities for extra credit, if I wind up doing so I would allow students to write three different one page reactions, one for each of the tribes. However, each of the papers would have to demonstrate that they had read the chapter and understood the different circumstances that each of the tribes was reacting to.

This assignment not only allows for creative thinking, but it will also allow students to work on their writing skills. I would talk to the English teacher(s) that my students have and figure out what writing skills they were currently working on and emphasize those skills when discussing the assignment.

Learning Processes Entry #2

As I'm reading (and this goes for pretty much anything, whether its academic or social), I find that I'm easily distracted. I typically have to take a quick (even just 1 or 2 minute) break every couple of pages so that I can remain focused on my reading. During these breaks I might do an assortment of things - check my e-mail, have a quick discussion on AIM with a friend, change the song playing on my iTunes...anything that allows me to take a brief mental break from what I'm reading in order to process what I've been reading about.

I also find when I'm reading that I can't do so in the dead silence. If there isn't any background noise I find that my mind has a greater tendency to travel then when there's music playing. The music can't be too loud though, nor can the music be too obnoxious. Music works perfectly. If the TV were on or there were a bunch of people around, I would be too distracted and not be able to focus on what it is that I'm reading.

Processes and Procedures in Planning a Curricular Unit

1. Identify the unit, course, grade level for the unit, and the unit length.

This unit will cover the Cold War in eleventh grade United States History. At West Springfield High School in Fairfax County, classes are run on a block schedule. Core classes are an hour and a half in length and meet every other day. Fairfax County recommends that a unit on the Cold War run for three weeks, so this unit will last for three weeks, or eight classes.

2. Explain your personal stake in the unit – why is it meaningful to you?

In preparing to student teach at West Springfield High School next semester, it is important that I look ahead to what classes I will be in and what units those classes will cover. One of the classes that my cooperating teacher teaches is United States History. One of the last units covered in that class covers the twentieth century, of which the Cold War is an important component of. The Cold War was a time when Americans faced new patterns of immigration and demographic settlements, which resulted in new social, political, and economic issues as the United States entered the twenty-first century. The United States as we know it today was largely shaped as a result of the Cold War.

3. Identify the unit topic and associated content and skills standards that are to be taught in the course.

Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the United States foreign policy since World War II.

a. What are the big ideas that students should develop in enduring understanding of in this unit?

· Benchmark 1: The impact of international affairs on the foreign policy of the United States after World War II

· Benchmark 2: The political impact of the Cold War on domestic affairs

· Benchmark 3: The development of the United States as a major economic power in the Post-War Era

· Benchmark 4: The domestic and foreign policy measures of the national government during the Post-War Era

b. What is important for students to know and be able to do? What are the facts, concepts, principles, and skills that will promote the learning of the core ideas?

· Benchmark 1: The impact of international affairs on the foreign policy of the United States after World War II

1. Partitioning of Germany

a. “Iron Curtain”

2. Soviet domination of Central and Eastern Europe

3. American occupation of Japan

4. Measures taken by the United States to ensure stability in Europe after the war

a. Marshall Plan

b. NATO

c. United Nations

5. Explain the rationale, implementation, and effectiveness of the United States containment policy

a. Truman Doctrine

6. Explain the implications of the Cold War on the space program

a. Sputnik

7. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of the United States’ involvement in Korea

a. 38^th Parallel

b. Chinese involvement

c. Firing of Douglas MacArthur

d. Stalemate

8. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of the United States’ involvement in Cuba

a. Fidel Castro

b. John F. Kennedy

c. Nikita Khrushchev

d. Bay of Pigs

e. Cuban Missile Crisis

9. Explain the causes for, responses to, and the results of the United States’ involvement in Vietnam

a. Ho Chi Minh

b. Lyndon Johnson

c. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

d. Tet Offensive

e. Vietcong

f. Richard Nixon

g. Vietamization

10. Analyze the foreign policy of the United States toward China and the Soviet Union during the Cold War period

a. Massive retaliation

b. Brinkmanship

c. Détente

11. Identify the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War

a. Glasnot

b. Perestroika

c. Ronald Reagan

d. Mikhail Gorbachev

e. Berlin Wall

· Benchmark 2: The political impact of the Cold War on domestic affairs

1. Examine how the fear of communism and the threat of nuclear war affected American life throughout the Cold War

a. Alger Hiss

b. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

c. Bomb shelters

d. Public schools

2. Explain the reasons for the rise of McCarthyism and its significance in the larger American culture

3. Assess the Vietnam policies of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations and the shifts of public opinion about the war

a. Hawks v. doves

b. Kent State

c. Protests

· Benchmark 3: The development of the United States as a major economic power in the Post-War Era

1. Describe the postwar economy and its effects on the American consumer

2. Describe the role of the Federal Government in providing economic opportunities

a. GI Bill

b. National Defense Education Act

c. Great Society legislation

· Benchmark 4: The domestic and foreign policy measures of the national government during the Post-War Era

1. Analyze the Constitutional issues raised by the Watergate affair and evaluate the effects of Watergate on public opinion

2. Evaluate the impact of the Vietnam War on the Executive Branch

c. What knowledge, skills, and attitudes do we want students to encounter or be familiar with in this unit?

For this unit, students will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to analyze multiple sides of an issue. By meeting the four Benchmarks as outlined by Fairfax County, students will be encouraged to put aside all previous notions about the Cold War and discuss the issues and events that occurred as if they were there themselves.

4. Identify the essential questions for the unit.

• What were the political, economic, and social consequences of World War II?
• How was United States foreign and domestic policy shaped by the Cold War?
• What were the reasons for, responses to, and consequences of United States involvement in Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam?
• How did threats and responses to communism impact domestic affairs?
• What important events marked the rise of the United States as a world economic power?
• How did the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam conflict affect the Executive Branch?

5. Identity/explain how student learning will be assessed.

Multiple assessments will allow students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the required material. Because multiple learning styles and intelligences will be present among my students, it is important that I incorporate multiple forms of assessment into the unit.

a. What indicators or evidence will demonstrate student learning?

Early on in the unit, students will participate in a simulation that centers on the debate surrounding United States policy towards the Soviet Union. The United States had four options, as will be outlined in the assigned readings provided by the Choices Program from the Watson Institute at Brown University, which were possible answers to the United States-Soviet Union conflict post World War II. Students will then use these readings and their textbook to prepare for a simulation that will test their understanding of the options and the pros and cons of each of those options. The simulation will also place the students back in 1946, allowing them to relive history through the context of United States policymakers.

Students will also be assessed through a guided reaction assignment to Fog of War. There will be guided questions for students to answer while they watch the movie, but they will then be given a worksheet that will allow for them to voice their reactions both to the United States involvement in the Vietnam War and their reactions to the movie itself. Through their short essays, they will be able to demonstrate their understanding of various people and events associated with the Vietnam War, as well as how the war is situated within the larger context of the Cold War.

Finally, students will be evaluated on the unit as a whole through an exam. Through the combination of selected response and essay questions, students will have the opportunity to bring all of the information from the entire unit together to demonstrate their understanding of the unit as a whole.

b. How do the assessments reflect the content, skills, and attitudes outlined above?

These assessments nicely follow the development of critical thinking that will occur during this unit and allow for independent thinking in reflecting upon the material that will be covered.

c. How will you know what students do and do not know at the beginning, middle, and end of the unit?

At the beginning of the unit, students will take a pre-test to measure their understanding of the unit content. The results of the pre-test will allow me to modify the content of class lectures to either reinforce or more broadly cover the material that students may or may not already know. The pre-tests will also give me a greater understanding of student knowledge base and better allow me to tailor the lectures so that they develop upon previous knowledge.

Throughout the unit, homework and class participation, especially in the simulation, will allow me t gauge ongoing understanding of the unit material. This will also help me to better tailor classroom lectures.

The exam will then reflect whether or not I as a teacher have succeeded in encouraging student learning about the Cold War. It will cover all of the material studied in the unit.

6. Sequence the content, skills, and attitudes identified in point 3 to build toward the assessments identified in point 5.

• Day 1
1. Give pre-test
2. Introduce unit and situate it within today’s world
3. Lecture
• Day 2
1. Lecture
2. In class time to prepare for simulation
• Day 3
1. Simulation adapted from Choices Program
• Day 4
1. Cuban Missile Crisis activity adapted from Choices Program
• Day 5
1. Watch Fog of War
• Day 6
1. Finish Fog of War (the movie is an hour and 40 minutes long, so there should only be approximately 10-20 minutes of the movie left)
2. Assign response questions
3. Pass out review sheet for exam
• Day 7
1. Lecture
2. Review for exam
• Day 8
1. Unit exam

a. How do knowledge and performance skills need to be sequenced?

The knowledge and performance skills for this unit need to be sequenced in the order in which the events occurred. Because the Cold War’s events built upon one another, it will be easiest for students for understand the timing and logic behind the events if they are taught in sequential order.

b. How can the knowledge and performance skills be most engaging for students?

This unit will be engaging for students because the activities allow them to situate themselves within the time in which the events occurred. They will role play through a simulation on the United States’ response to Soviet activities and interpret primary sources in a perspective activity on the Cuban Missile Crisis. For the more passive students, Fog of War will allow them the opportunity to learn through visualization, as well as its reflection assignment.

c. In what ways will students be able to practice and refine what they learn?

Lessons will be practiced through active role playing and class discussions, as well as through self reflection evidenced in student writing.

d. What connections exist between this unit and other content and skills students might encounter in other courses?

· English – public speaking skills, essay writing skills

· Science – scientific developments of the time, especially the space program

e. How can students work together to help each other learn?

Through the two group activities, students will have the opportunity to work together to produce one product. They will be able to bounce ideas off of one another, as well as help one another understand the unit materials.

7. Identify where and how instruction can be differentiated once the teacher has diagnostic information from pre-tests and other formative assessments in the unit.

Depending upon how students do on the pre-tests, I will be able to alter the lectures to better fit their educational needs based on what they do or do not know. I will also be able to assess how well the group activities portrayed the material and then be able to use that as a basis for how the last lecture of the unit should be structured.

8. Identify how community and cultural resources will be incorporated into this unit.

Because I will not readily have access to all of the readings that I want to incorporate into the unit, I will have access to Pohick Public Library where I will have access to many more materials than the high school will be able to provide me with. Although outside of the immediate neighborhood, George Mason University is also nearby, which will allow me even greater access to classroom materials.

9. Identify the materials needed to complete this unit.

Albert, Judith Clavir and Stewart Edward Albert, eds., The Sixties Papers: Documents of a Rebellious Decade (New York: Praeger, 1984).

“Cable from Soviet Ambassador to the USA A. Dobrynin to Soviet Foreign Ministry,” October 25, 1962, http://www.choices.edu/resources/supplemental_tah_Dobrynin_102562.php (accessed September 21, 2007).

Castro, Fidel, “Letter to Khrushchev,” October 26, 1962, http://www.gwu.edu/%7Ensarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/621026%20Castro%20Letter%20to%20Khrushchev.pdf (accessed September 21, 2007).

Choices for the 21^st Century Education Project, The Origins Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History (Providence, RI: Brown University), http://www.choices.edu.

Choices for the 21^st Century Education Project, The Origins of the Cold War, US Choices after World War II (Providence, RI: Brown University), http://www.choices.edu.

Fog of War, directed by Errol Morris, 107 min, 2004, DVD.

Garcia, Jesus and Donna M. Ogle, Creating America: A History of the United States (Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2002).

Hare, Ambassador Raymond, “Telegrams,” October 27, 1962, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621026hare.pdf (accessed September 21, 2007).

Khrushchev, Nikita, “Letter to Kennedy,” October 26, 1962, http://www.choices.edu/resources/supplemental_fogofwar_khrushchev_102662.php (accessed September 21, 2007).

Khrushchev, Nikita, “Letter to Kennedy,” October 27, 1962, http://www.choices.edu/resources/supplemental_fogofwar_khrushchev_102662.php (accessed September 21, 2007).

Khrushchev, Nikita, “Speech to the RFSR Teacher’s Congress,” July 9, 1960, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1960khrushchev-cuba1.html (accessed September 21, 2007).

Streitmatter, Rodger, Mightier than the Sword: How the News Media Shaped American History (Boudler, CO: Westview Press, 1997).

Transcript of Audio Clip of Excom Meeting, October 27, 1962, http://www.choices.edu/resources/supplemental_tah_excom_10-27-62.php (accessed September 21, 2007).

Takaki - Chapter 3

I'm not going to lie, but this chapter definitely had me reflecting back on when I learned about slavery in my seventh grade Social Studies class. While reading this chapter, I instantly thought of the miniseries Roots, which I watched in its entierity in seventh grade. Roots is an eight part series about Alex Haley's ancestral line of slavery. The series starts with Kunta Kinte's capture in Africa, his voyage to America, and then his enslavement. The series then ends right before the start of the Civil War with the emancipation of Kunta Kinte's grandson. This series does an exceptional job of focusing on all of the parts of an enslaved person's life, not just their work in the fields but also their relations (both work and personal) with their white masters and the relations among the blacks themselves. If you have never seen this miniseries, I would highly recommend it. It is an extremely eye opening dramatization of 17th and 18th century enslavement and what slaves experience on a daily basis. If you don't believe me, ask one of the 130,000 people who watched it on ABC in 1977 when it first premiered.* (At the time, that was about half the country's population.)

Jamie and Aaron Y both mentioned in their processes blogs from last week how it is difficult for them to stay focused on one thing for too long. Roots will definitely keep any students' attention, especially because it never stays on the same scene for longer than five or ten minutes. Just like soap operas of today, the story quickly moves between stories, unfolding multiple story lines at once. The series also keeps viewers actively engaged in the story through its cliffhanging episode endings.

More importantly, I would have my students watch this series in order to dispel any myths about American slavery. Roots will also help promote Takaki's theme of understanding the people of America from the vantage point of the people themselves - History from the bottom up.

*According to TVGuide.com

Reflection on Neighborhood Study

After completing the neighborhood study, it is evident that there are many schools and businesses within walking distance from Hardy. Although the number of area businesses undoubtedly overshadows the other schools, I think that focusing on those other schools will nicely complement many other Social Studies lessons. In particular, I would want to focus on incorporating the arts into my lesson plans and studying history through the arts. Both the Corocran College of Art and Design and the Duke Ellington School for the Arts likely offer fascinating resources upon which I could draw my lesson plans from. Because middle school is a definite "stepping stone" and the Ellington is the closest high school to Hardy, I would want to help prepare as many students as possible for their potential transition into that school by getting their feet wet through art.

Neighborhood Study

Hardy Middle School is currently located in a temporary location in the Florida Avenue/New York Avenue area of northeast while the permanent building undergoes major renovations. Because its current location has a surrounding area predominately made up of warehouses, railroad tracks, and row houses, I decided it would be best to study the neighborhood surrounding the school's permanent location in Georgetown. Mainly, this decision was due to the fact that Hardy's students are most used to this neighborhood since this is where the majority of them live. Because of this and the nature of how unsafe the area surrounding its current temporary location is, the PTA provides daily coach charter service before and after school between the permanent and temporary locations.

The following link is to my Google Map of Hardy's neighborhood. While the majority of the area is made up of residential homes and apartments, the majority of the community resources are located along Wisconsin Avenue to the school's east. However, there are a couple of educational institutions to the west of Hardy, including Georgetown University and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, one of the DC school system's top ranked high schools.

I hope that you find the surrounding community as rich in wealth and resources as I did. If I were a student at Hardy Middle School, and attended the school at its permanent location, I would certainly feel safe and well supported by the surrounding community.

http://www.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&fb=1&near=Washington,+DC&cd=1&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=115505603926493854699.00043a4b33e520dd59f02&ll=38.915313,-77.064886&spn=0.016863,0.040169&z=15&om=1

Takaki - Chapters 1-2

I found the opening chapter of A Different Mirror to reflect what tends to be wrong with many of our school's History textbooks - that they don't look at and analyze the true scope of the American population. Instead, the textbooks tend to narrow in on the larger minority groups, more specifically black Americans. However, the majority of History textbooks retell History from the white American perspective as opposed to the minority viewpoint. While the majority of classroom curriculums call for the use of a selected textbook, I feel that it will be extremely important to begin any class covering United States History by looking at the background of the class itself in order to better understand that there is more than one perspective on most stories.

To begin the lesson, I would have each student write on a piece of paper their ancestry. I would then collect their papers, and tally on the blackboard the class' ancestry. In order to protect their interests or any parts of their ancestry that they may be ashamed of, I would keep this an anonymous process. If the class has a majority white European background, then I would make clear to the class that not all Americans are of this representation. If the class makeup is diverse, then this would help to demonstrate the importance of reading Takaki's book and understanding American History from the often overshadowed perspective.

Takaki ends the first chapter with a powerful message which quite nicely sums up what seems to be the entire point of this book. At this point, before moving any further with the lesson I would read this quote aloud to the class. If technological capabilities allowed, I would also display this to the class in order to meet more than one learning style.

• "While the study of the past can provide collective self-knowledge, it often reflects the scholar's particular perspective or view of the world. What happens when historians leave out many of America's peoples? What happens, to borrow the words of Adrienne Rich, 'when people with the authority of a teacher' describes our society, and 'you are not in it'? Such an expression can be disorienting - 'a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing.'" (Takaki 16)

In order to break some of the underlying assumptions that most students have about American History before reading any more of the book or reading any of the classroom textbook, I would also display the following statistics, whether on the blackboard, the overhead projector, or through a PowerPoint, depending upon my classroom's technological capabilities.

• Jamestown, which was the site of the first English settlement in 1607, was also the home of the arrival of the first twenty Africans. Those twenty Africans were brought to Jamestown a year before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. (Takaki, 2).
• Currently one third of Americans do not trace their origins to Europe. By 2056 most Americans will trace their descent back to pretty much anywhere but white Europe. (Takaki, 2).
• Minorities are quickly becoming the majority. They are already the predominate in many major cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. (Takaki 2).
• The United States is a multiracial society and can no longer be defined in terms of black and white. (Takaki 5)
• Today, Asian Americans represent the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. (Takaki 8)
• Race is a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups. (Takaki 10)

Learning Processes Entry #1

While I was reading a selection for my Intro to Islamic Societies class, I found the selection to be extremely difficult to follow. There was a lot of information packed into the small 20 page selection, and as I initially began reading it, I found it extremely difficult to retain much of the information but simply "reading" it without rereading as I went along. Within the first five minutes of reading, I found that I had to start over using a method that I've developed and tnd to use when reading very content heavy material.

• Read the topic sentence in order to preview the paragraph.
• Read the topic sentence again, along with the rest of the paragraph, and highlight the crux of the material.
• Reread the paragraph sentence by sentence, determine its importance, and highlight it if necessary.
• The highlights then serve as a way to quickly refer back to important parts of the reading, whether during class discussions or while studying.
  

Introduction and Backrgound

Hello, and welcome to my electronic home for EDU 540 - Methods and Materials in Social Studies. It is my hope to not just use this blog for this semester's assignments, but for it to develop into a resource that I can use as I begin my career in teaching.

I am originally from Washington, DC, and am a Hoya baby. After completing elementary school in Silver Spring, MD, my family moved to the central Illinois town of Bloomington. I completed both junior high and high school there, and during the journey worked with some amazing, extremely inspiring classroom teachers. Although I never felt at home in Bloomington, I would never ever exchange the wonderful academic experiences I had to have lived in the DC area for my entire childhood. However, by the time I got to senior year of high school I knew it was time for me to return to the DC area.

Throughout my time at AU, I've tried to reflect back as much as possible on my educational experiences and the wonderful teaching that my teachers did. The memories of my school days inspire me more and more everyday to continue on my journey to becoming a teacher. As I wind down my undergraduate studies, I am more excited than ever before about having students of my own to help inspire through the social sciences the same way that many of my Social Studies teachers did for me.