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Rob_Hugo@PortNWI thought it would be interesting to start a thread about the very first things you shared with others when you got home. It would also help in getting everyone to the number of posts they need.
AnonymousI was away from my wife and kids for 12 days. The first thing they all learned about was Zheng He during the Ming Dynasty, and yes, I also explained to them about eunuchs. I love this story, and I think it is a great way to show that China was more than capable of exploring than any other country at that time. We teach the age of exploration, but we also need to mention this great sailor, as well as China’s ability to explore had they chosen to further that path. I also noticed quite quickly that my sister-in-law had a clay Haniwa figure in her bookcase. I explained to her and my wife that they were found outside huge tombs in Japan. I further mentioned that at least one of those tombs took more man power than that of the great pyramids.
AnonymousThe first opportunity that I took to discuss just some of the vast amount of information we learned was while watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics; for those of you that watched it you know exactly why! Because Zhang Yimou represented China's past through different stages of the program, it almost seemed as if I was watching a visual review and interpretation of our lectures on China. As the commentators would inform the viewers of the symbolism behind each Act of the ceremony I was able to elaborate on their facts and details. I am not sure if my friends were impressed or annoyed because their was already so much going on that it was almost too much to take in.
If you missed out, I provided the link for the official website of the Beijing Olympics; if you search their multimedia gallery you can see some great images... You should try and see if you understand what the images are symbolic of!
AnonymousInteresting that you would start this thread. My son having taken world history in High School has some information of East Asia. I was discussing with him about South Korea-he comments " Yes, mom power comes through economics, economic power gets you ahead." We watched the opening of the Olympics and I was talking to him about Confucianism and the early Chinese writing.
AnonymousGood idea Burditt, always thinkin'.
Well, my parents live next door and I saw them soon after I got home. They heard all about it, including stats and all. I am able to remember large amounts of numbers and recite them. I told them about the enormity of the population of China and the increase in population from 100 million to 450 million in a little more than a century and the rule of 72, and how it is easier to earn your second million $ than it is to earn your first million $ (the same goes for population because of the compounding factor). I also went into great detail about the importance of these Olympics to China and that they had wanted to send a team, medal, and host the Games since the late 19th century. The opening ceremony was one of the most amazing spectacles I have ever seen.
AnonymousChina and USA are about the same size, not hugely bigger and overwhelming in terms of physical space. This is one bit of information I had to prove to my parents and husband. In fact, on our first seminar day when Clay went over the maps, I was really amazed with that particular fact. I'm especially proud of the fact that I have my father and husband "looking China up." My children listen to our discussions which I know will then be discussed with their friends during this era of Olympics 2008.
On the topic of the Olympics, that opening ceremony was mind boggling. How beautifully choreographed. I too felt like I was watching an animated review of the nine days we spent learning and cramming China's vast history, it was exciting to have a sense of ownership of that knowledge.
Now, as I prepare to begin my school year, I'm full of ideas for my students. How lucky are we that the Olympics are in China, I'll be able to immediately use this information to begin dispelling the billion stereotypes carried around by many of my student (and colleagues.) I do feel like I need to review my notes to make sure that I impart accurate information.
AnonymousI had a wonderful time explaining how important hosting the Olympics is to the Chinese people as my family and I watched the Opening Ceremony. I ended up incorporating “Asia” into every conversation started. My husband ended up making a running joke about it; no matter what topic was brought up, no matter what idea was shared, there was always going to be a Chinese or Japanese or Korean connection. But it was fun and exciting, and I felt so empowered with the little knowledge I was able to consume in a mere nine days. Sharing with my family prepared me for being able to share these things with my students later.
The Opening Ceremony was phenomenal and beautiful and I felt a since of pride watching them. It’s odd, but true. I was so excited, and it felt like such an honour to watch these people, in more ways than one, exuberantly ratify themselves, their place in all of this, their right to be hosting the Olympics. They feel like they have so much to prove; and I believe they did that one hundred times over with just beauty, and skill, and talent exhibited in the Opening Ceremony.
clay dubeMatthew, great topic -- and endorsed by another Matthew even.
I am looking forward to hearing still more on this from everyone else. I'm fascinated by what sticks and what needs to be shared.
I'm not surprised that the Olympics opening has special relevance for many of us. Did you see the flag go up (and subsequently be made to wave by a fan)? Ｆor me it was an instant reminder of the scene in Zhang Yimou's Not One Less where the students raise the flag.
NBC has web video of the raising of the Olympic flag near the end of the ceremony, but I've not seen web video of the raising of the Chinese flag at the start of the opening ceremony. If anyone has a link, please share it.
AnonymousWell as you know my husband accompanied me and sat outside sometimes listening to the lectures. As soon as we finished we went to the beach to take in the sights. It's his first time at an American beach, he's from Eygpt. Anyway, wegot home and the next day while helping my mom cook we were talking about the satelite pics about North and South Korea. Then we got into China and how they were hosting the Olympic Games this year. I got the kids excited that they watched it with me til about 10:30p.m. I was able to explain most of what was going on, although, the announcers did a good job. Now they want to go to China too.
AnonymousThe first thing I taught my beloved was never to take a nine day class that covers thousands of years.
The second thing I started thinking out loud about was Mao and McCarthy and similarities between the Cultural Revolution and the Red Scare in the U.S. And, I thought about Russia and the posters I was given by a mom who was there in the 1950s. They show the evils of and ignorance of a grandmother passing down the "superstitions of the Church" to her grandchildren, and posters of slattern American girls tempting young, upright Communists boys. I recalled the movie I MARRIED A COMMUNIST made in the same decade in Hollywood with a blond bombshell on the poster. We run in fear from one another and cloak the enemy in moral degradation.
AnonymousHi Folks! (Japanese translation) みなさん
I told my famliy about Zhang Yimou when they were talking about the Olympics Opening Ceremony. I learned a lot about him at the seminar. After watching the ceremony, I made good comments about Zhang Yimou, and wrote a Film Review on our "Asia in My Classroom" forum. I found a connection! This is one of the rewards I received from the seminar.
Thank you folks!
😀
AnonymousWell,
After being away for what? nine days? I was greeted by my four sons and husband. My eighteen-year-old is the most inquisitive one and thus asked me, "Mom, what did you learn?"
We had a long chat and there were many things that I told him I didn't know about Asia for example: that there are more Chinese web users than Americans (200 million web users), Korea has the highest internet connection (10x faster than the U.S.), Carafor is the equivalent of Walmart in China, that in 1990 there was an immigration wave from Asia to the U.S. (3 million didn't return to their country), and I also told him about our debate on the four prominent philosophies in Asia during the Warring Period.
It's been nice watching the Olympic Games with him; he's a little upset with me because I told him I was betting on China winning the men's basketball game. I kept saying, "Go China!!!"
The only downfall about the seminar was that there was just too much information to digest. I am still going over my notes and going back to some assigned readings to make sure I have my facts right. I am sure that as my knowledge on Asia grows I will be able to share what I know with others.
Go China!!!
Yao Min is cute 😛
AnonymousThanks Matt for giving us the opportunity to share and learn again from our classmates.
My dad got back from a business trip from Japan the same day I got home so we were talking about doing business in Japan and the dress code. He brought up that this was the first time in 20 years of business travel to Japan that the Japan office shared with him that he didn't have to wear a tie and jacket to work. They told him that in order to conserve power, and to decrease the air conditioning they have modified their dress code for the months of June, July and August. Apparently, when he returns in October he will be expected to wear the tie and jacket again. I told him that we had talked about this in one of our lectures in class and I had a lot more background knowledge to his experience.
My dad is leaving for S.Korea next week for another business trip (he is in the semiconductor industry so now I understand, from the lecture, why he goes there so often). I told him about the amazing Korean pop culture, told him the architectural reason why he gets such great high speed internet when he goes there, and shared with him how involved people are in their civic duty to protest. I also talked a lot of about RAIN, :-). I gave him a list of Korean pop CDs I now want from Korea.
I also made my boyfriend watch the stuff on Colbert Report again with me and showed him the music video of the Big Mama's Breakaway. I have been thinking more about how that video is a great video to show high school students about the body image obsession that spans the entire world. Students do a research project on world problems in my class and that can be incorporated into the discussion while exposing them to amazing Korean pop.
After watching the Chinese gymnastics team win the gold metal last night my sister and I had a really interesting discussion about human rights in China and the expectations that the Chinese government has of its people (I had also read an interesting article on Yahoo News that is asking Yao to finally say No to the Chinese government which had us thinking about what the Chinese have done to some of their people in the name of winning). Though my sister loves Chinese people she said she was really upset at China right now and is nervous about living in a world dominated by China because of its influence on everyone's ideology specifically how the government treats the individual. Because of the information we studied the last two weeks I was able to bring up some of the historical reasons why China makes some of the decisions it does today. I also explained that the population of China creates challenges and they have been trying for hundreds of years to solve. They have had to try very different ways than the Americans and Japanese to become efficient and developed. I also drew upon Korea's change from a dictatorship to a democracy to show that if China is going to change it does not have to go through the violent upheaval that France went through. I don't know how to solve the problems of the world but my bit of exposure to East Asian History has given me a better understanding of how to develop the discussion, which is the first step.
AnonymousYou almost stumped me Matt. I have shared so much about China I really had to think about the first thing I shared. Many of you know I had to go to Oceanside to take care of my daughter after her knee surgery, which went well by the way. So I was lucky to have my daughter and granddaughter to talk with. They are both very curious and well read. The first thing I rememeber sharing was a synopsis of Twilight Samurai. Now my daughter wants to see it. We talked about the different glympses of China we saw in the opening ceremony and the history depicted in the ceremony. One of the things that impressed me was the drums. Did I hear correctly they were authentic drums found outside an ancient tomb? My dad and I were also impressed by the fact that most of the show was implemented manually, we were sure it was electronic. The percision was incredible. Great topic Matt. [Edit by="mlgibbon on Aug 12, 12:03:55 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousIs Google making us Stoopid? It’s not a spelling error. It’s the title of the first Ideas Issue of The Atlantic July/August 2008. Why? Because the forum has taught me something: almost no one that I know of is reading what I am writing and I learned today that my thirty posts will be “browsed,” and probably “power browsed” at that. This reminds me of the article “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?”
I had this horrible feeling that I was talking into a vast darkness, the Internet, and that no one was listening. At least in a class I can tell when my students are asleep and I can tell if my colleagues are distracted at lunch. But, here in this vast void, pregnant with electronic fetus who may never develop because they are not nourished by human interaction of a more accessible and personal kind, who knows what will be born? Rosemary’s baby?
So, here I sit, typing my ideas into space wondering if these little thought seeds will end up implanting themselves into anyone’s head.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about since the Asia and New Media in My Classroom Seminar: What’s the quality of the thoughts we are sending in our minimum of thirty posts (and Matt was kind enough to give us a new thread so we could do that many)? Is it just so much blather? Senseless chatter to meet a requirement? And, do I do this to my students? Are we “pancake people,” spread too thin and too wide? Maybe, but…
Something extraordinary happens each year when I teach one of Emerson’s essays: a meltdown in the brains of my teenagers, a remolding, re-structuring and enhanced ability to think much more deeply. They become more patient, more attentive and able to concentrate longer. They have never tackled such dense and complex prose. And, I am there when the panic set in, holding their hands, but loosely, giving only what they absolutely need, letting them get frustrated, but not so much so that they give up or become disheartened. By the end of the readings, group work and presentation of ideas, most of the students feel a sense of satisfaction that I rarely see anymore. They hitch up their intellectual pants and swagger. They know they have accomplished a Herculean task. The same thing happens when I teach Hawthorne’s THE SCARLET LETTER.
Nicholas Carr, the author of the article in The Atlantic quotes a few folks who weigh in on this issue of deep reading for deep understanding:
"We are not only what we read; we are how we read." The net, Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University and author of PROUST AND THE SQUID:THE STORY AND THE SCIENCE OF THE READING BRAIN says that we read in a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else and that we have become “mere decoders of information.”
Carr quotes Richard Foreman, in an essay the playwright recently wrote:
"I come from a tradition of Western culture, in which the ideal (my ideal) was the complex, dense and ‘cathedral-like’ structure of the highly educated and articulate personality—a man or a woman who carried inside themselves a personally constructed and unique version of the entire heritage of the West. [But now] I see within us all (myself included) the replacement of complex inner density with a new kind of self—evolving under the pressure of information overload and the technology of the ‘instantly available.’"
Who to blame or congratulate? Perhaps, Fredrick Winslow Taylor, the Industrial Revolution’s philosopher and point man whose treatise PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT published in 1911 broke down every factory worker’s job into discrete steps, turning the workers into automatons, but dramatically increasing productivity. I have had a factory job and I have been a field worker. It’s true. It’s deadening work. It was my well paid, but mind-numbing work at a cannery in Oregon where I picked rotten beans off an assembly line, packed frozen vegetable boxes into crates and stapled cardboard into boxes at a dizzying and dangerous pace that cemented my resolve to get through college. And, now, decades later, I witness the same deadening, dizzying and dangerous superficiality overtaking society and working its way ruthlessly into academia. We create a lot of stuff and stuffing. Junk, if you ask me. Nobody’s asking.
Just a side note. The article mentions that :
"Experiments demonstrate that readers of ideograms, such as the Chinese, develop a mental circuitry for reading that is very different from the circuitry found in those of us whose written language employs the alphabet."
Can they, just maybe, think not only differently, but also more deeply? Depends, I suppose, on how many characters they know and the density of the ideas that the characters convey. Clay, you out there? What do you think?
Well, anyway, I’ve long suspected that my younger classmates and my students do not have the same wiring in the brain that I do. It has been and is just as frustrating for me to rewire my brain to accommodate the new technology as it is for my students to hold their focus through the twists, turns and side roads of an Emerson sentence. Facing the four hundred pound Japanese wrestler across the mat is just as intimidating as facing technology at my age or my students facing Emerson or Hawthorne at seventeen. (Just a thought: I’ve noted a sort of patronizing impatience on the part of those who teach technology to us older persons; it’s to tell you, “Gee, you’re kinda retarded, aren’t you?” Ever noticed this? My students are my teachers in this arena and I prefer them to others I asked help from.)
Well, just to test this theory of mine that no one is reading these gems I’m writing, I’ll ask those of you who do to email me at [email protected]. I’d love some feedback, but a simple, “Read it” would be great too
One more thing. Taylor said, “In the past man has been first, in the future the system must be first.” Well, I say, “Rage Against the Machine.” The cries of an aging Luddite, you say? Carr adds, “There’s been little consideration of how, exactly, the Net is reprogramming us. The Net’s intellectual ethic remains obscure.” Does the net have an ethic?