The First Things You Taught People

[Anonymous]

Okay first of all; Matt- GREAT topic! I'm going to use it the first week of school for a reflection piece: Write a paragraph about what you learned this summer, and another about what you taught someone else this summer. I know, I may be playing with fire with the 9th graders, but who knows, it might be wonderful!

Secondly, I am stunningly aware that I'm following Connie's deeply thoughtful, intellectual ruminations on the state of the intellect in America today, particularly in view of the technology we are graced/cursed with. May I just say that I have taught, for the past nine years, 7th through 10th graders, ELD students, at risk students, budding AP students and immigrants, and I am gratified to report that, given the chance and a stimulating critical thinking exercise, they come through. I'm not saying they all come through; but they do come through. So I have faith. I think we are catapulting ourselves technologically into experiences we had never imagined (I personally will ALWAYS have a savvy 12 year old for a friend) but, really, isn't that why we are teachers? Isn't that 'gray area' where people start to really look at things what makes us salivate when we hear it? Works for me. Nice job on the analogies and metaphors, though, Connie - some killer phrases in there. I'M LISTENING TO YA, BABE! (By the way, I really like pancakes.... 😐 )

Okay, that being said, the first chance I had to teach anything about China was when I sat down with a bunch of friends to watch the start of the Olympics. Everyone was blown away! We started talking about our respective cultures and differences and the similarities between our societies. The spectacle took everyone's breath away, but even more so when they saw things like the people underneath the columns that made the wave. I was the only one in the room that said there were humans under there; everyone else said it was hydraulics. I had the last laugh, of course. The majority of the people there were teachers - if I get to China, my assigned mission is to find out what cultural values teach the amount of focus the athletes have, as wel as the amount of precision it takes for 2008 men to dance in circles and never miss a beat. Incredible.
The next opportunity was Sun. at breakfast when I told my cousin, who is my age, and whose major in college was British and Medieval History, that I finally understand why. He said "It's fascinating." Yes, I agreed, it's fascinating.[Edit by="smontano on Aug 13, 7:00:51 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

There are two things that have really stuck out for me, which I have been sharing. First, I am still stunned by the fact that China and the US are almost equal in land mass - China is actually smaller - yet the Chinese population is so much larger than that of the US. For some reason, maybe the flat maps that I have been looking at all my life skewed by perspective, I always thought that China was physically larger than the US and that was part of the reason they had so many people - they had the room. Well, I was wrong...

The second tid bit that I have been sharing with others is about how technologically advanced South Korea is. I find it fascinating that in such a short period of time South Korea was able to become so economically and technologically successful.

[Anonymous]

Matt Pailes and I tossed many of the experiences of the seminar back and forth on our three hour drive home and I assume this collegial conversation will continue. At registration for school yesterday, a fellow teacher, who went to AVID training and to whom I had given the seminar application, asked if I went and if it was worthwhile. The short answer is that she now wants to participate if the program is offered as a residential seminar.
But there is nothing like family to keep one grounded. My wife asked how the second week went and if the Olympics was a major topic of discussion. I replied that we had lectures before and after lunch, watched film a couple of evenings, and that the opening ceremonies as staged by Zhang Yimou, the director of Raise the Red Lantern, was probably a must see. She responded, "That's good. I'd like to watch the opening ceremonies, but I suppose this means we're going to be watching lots of Chinese movies again."
To take the heat off, I said, No, Korean and Japanese!"
Subtitles are always an issue for someone who almost always spins or knits as she listens to cinema.

[Anonymous]

The Olympics are a terrific segue way into talking about what we learned during our seminar. I was watching some video on NBC with my parents and my stepdad mentioned the pollution and I'm like "Well, you know..." and rattled off some tidbits we heard about pollution. And then my mom was wondering where Beijing is and I told her and then some. It felt great being able to put my new knowledge to work so quickly!

[Anonymous]

I've probably talked China/Asia to the ground with most of my friends; I'm afraid they start to run if I even glance at a pair of chopsticks.

However, while I was helping my daughter, Valerie, set up her 4th grade classroom for the FIRST time, she asked me what her classroom behavior expectations should be. She'd already decided on, "Be Respectful" as her number one rule. But her principal had told all the new teachers that they were required to post five general expectations.

I suggested she follow respectful (which is very close to Confucius' reverence) with generous, truthful, diligent, and kind - Confucius' five criteria for achieving humanity.

The first vocabulary word she is going to teach HER students is "diligent."

[Anonymous]

Where to begin? I took my three lectures of Korean information and basically gave a summary presentation to my five Korean roommates. I was sure to add that, after gazing at the map of Korea for an extended period of time, it looked to me like a rabbit. The reaction was both predictable and classic, containing phrases unfit for this message board. I enjoyed reading off the top 10 list and asking the roommates' opinions about each one. They admitted to yearning for that device that stores kim chee. All were shocked at the "94% are connected to the internet" statistic. The next phase of the discussion, then, was and continues to be the Korean immigrant experience. From the establishment of a close social network among immigrants to participation in local Korean Christian churches, the Korean community is expanding rapidly. How awesome to observe and experience this culture as a bonus to my living situation? I have learned the hangul language as well (so much easier than Japanese... a lifelong effort) and have expanded my foreign movie taste to include films from the rest of East Asia. The real test will be in how I can use this seminar to develop my pre-existing curriculum. Certainly in the areas of art, literature, and ancient history, the possibilities are limitless.
Oh yeah, and no one laughed at the Colbert clips concerning his feud with Rain. Between the style of humor and level of English spoken, the magic sadly did not transfer to San Diego.

[Anonymous]

Well, it has been a little time since my last post for I have been quite busy with lesson planning and coaching soccer, go figure. After finishing my essay for the seminar I thought I might share a little bit of the first lesson I have started, but yet to complete with my students. First of all I decided to start with China this year instead of the fall of Rome. I don't think the students will be harmed severely for me doing so. With the Olympics being in China and my experiences at the seminar I only thought it proper to oblige.

I started with a multi-media presentation of the Tang Dynasty. The first part of the lesson discussed the geography of China and its surrounding features. I find it important, as I'm sure you do, that students need to know where in the world places are that they study, and to put that in context with present day political boundaries. This always leads to an interesting discussion of what students already know of Asia. A mapping activity went along with the Tang dynasty boundaries, geographical features, such as, elevation, deserts, plateaus, rivers, and the North China Plain, and present day population density. It was good to get the kids thinking about why the people lived where they lived, and pretty much continue to do so.

The geography led into a brainstorming activity where five pictures were shown that represented reasons for the Sui's dynasty's extinction. The pictures shown represented war, high taxes, drought, floods, and epidemics. The students had to write down what each picture represented and answer why the think the Sui fell apart before we discussed the Mandate of Heaven. I felt it important to discuss the previous dynasty's demise in order to understand how the Tang came to power. This lead to the beginnings of the Tang Dynasty, their founding emperors, Empress Wu and her intriguing family, and how they kept China unified for nearly three hundred years. I also include the transmission of Buddhism into China to Korea and Japan.

So far so good, and even though I'm not done, I'm already thinking of ways to make it better for next year.

[Anonymous]

I think starting a unit of Chinese civilization with a study of geography is a great idea. I have had a hard time in my life getting into the history of a civilization or a country if I didn't know where it was or what countries were around it. I think it was great to start off this seminar for the same reason. Some demographics, population, and geographic size about countries in relation to ours or England goes a long way.

[Anonymous]

I still think about the Olympics all the time. I watched as many events as I could. I knew Nastia Luikin would win the gold in the women's all around gymnastics. I don't have as much pride in my country as I used to, perhaps I'm too involved in the political process, but I have a huge admiration, no matter what country the athletes are from. I thought the pressure on the Chinese was enormous. The men gymnasts were incredible, the hurdler was injured, and the divers were phenomenal. I think it is impossible that all of the Chinese women's gymnastics team were old enough to legally compete but I guess it's all over now. I liked the woodcut portion of the opening ceremony. The whole thing was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

[Anonymous]

In my first weeks teaching first-year students, I have already discussed how hiragana (one of the two main Japanese alphabets) was derived from borrowed Chinese characters, and how women were the first to learn and use kana, not kanji. Men, on the other hand, used kanji phonetically to construct poetry. Students were interested, and it gave them a little Japanese history as well. The pattern of Japanese civilization borrowing and revising (as opposed to copying) aspects of culture and technology from other civilizations is a theme I hope to revisit throughout the year, specifically with my fourth-year students.

[Anonymous]

Well, one of the first things I talked about was the great food and service at this seminar.

Next was keeping all these countries and their histories, etc. separated in my mind. I am starting to get China and Japan mixed together. I guess there is a lot of overlap.

Some of the first things I've been sharing with my students are all of the images of East Asia. As one of my students put it, I get It you've got an Asian theme. Yes my classroom looks like a combination of Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Koreatown, and Asian import store all jumbled up together. Well, it is a visual arts classroom after all.

I have also been sharing the origins of writing, pictographs and characters from various cultures;how some letters or characters repesent and image or idea while others are related to sound. It' really is a fascinating subject as we work together to get through the elements and principles of art and onto the disciplines of calligraphy, poetry and painting.

The brownies and coffee were so good. I really miss them, can't find any to compare.[Edit by="lgates on Sep 25, 12:51:01 PM"][/Edit]

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