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AnonymousHello,
I'm Benjamin Ho, and it was nice to meet you all last Monday. As per my introduction last week, I'm a high school English teacher at Monrovia High School, and I've been employed at the Monrovia USD for the past 3 years. I have experience in accelerated, continuation, as well as regular school settings, and each one presents its own challenges. Being enrolled in this seminar is a really great opportunity for me to get my feet wet as a student again as well as to learn a lot about my family's historical and cultural backgrounds. China is huge, not to mention Korea and Japan, and I'm excited to learn not only the varying nuances of each region, but also their individual perceptions on each other as well as the wider world in general.
As a person, I suppose I can say that I'm an emerging motorcycle enthusiast. I've always been interested in mechanics from a young age, and were it not for the incessant pushings of my parents, I may very well have gone to a trade school to work on cars and motorcycles. To be honest I still wonder what life would have been had I taken that path instead. I'm fairly up to date with major professional motorcycle racing organizations such as Moto GP, World Superbike Champtionship, and Isle of Mann TT. Anything on two wheels and goes fast pretty much captures my attention! Admittedly there is an element of danger to riding amongst cars and other larger vehicles, but I believe it's that inherent risk that drives many to ride. But, when you're all by your lonesome and it's just you and your bike carving through winding canyons with nothing but the sound of whistling winds and thundering exhaust belting music to your ears, that equilibrium of excitement and calm that floods your senses is a catharsis like no other.
AnonymousHello Everyone-
Some technical issues- this forum seems to work much better with Chrome than with Firefox. Also I am proud to post a profile pic but it took me a while to figure out how to adjust photos to 100 pixels in Picasa.
I teach Independent Studies in an LAUSD program. Part of that means teaching World History, Geography, and Asian American Literature. This is my second course through the US-China Institute. The first course (to 1800) was very informative and I believe both courses will influence my teaching.
I look forward to working with this group and I guess I'll be seeing everybody this Saturday.
AnonymousHello Everyone,
I am a 7th grade World History teacher in San Fernando at PUC Nueva Esperanza. I live in Pasadena with my boyfriend Edward, we just celebrated 5 years together
I majored in History from Cal Poly Pomona, I also received my teaching credential at CPP. I grew up in Victorville but have recently become unaccustomed to the extreme desert weather up there. My family lives in Victorville I try to visit them at least twice a month. I'm really into attending concerts. Most recently I went to FYF and also just saw Kanye West at the Hollywood Bowl.
I'm excited to take this course my knowledge in East Asian (or any Asian) countries is very limited. I hope to learn enough to feel comfortable doing more research on my own and to be able to travel to these areas.
I have no idea how to post a picture but I'm attempting to add one from my google drive, let's see if it works...
AnonymousHello everyone. I teach 7th grade English at John Burroughs Middle School Magnet. I've been here since 2010. Before that I taught in South Gate at International Studies Learning Center. I taught English and French. I've studied and traveled in Europe and Mexico, but not in Asia--yet. I'm excited to learn more about Asia and am planning to teach Red Scarf Girl later this semester. I am also interested in The Chinese Cinderella. I love writing, traveling and languages.
AnonymousHi! I am Elizabeth Rosales,
I have worked for Riverside Unified School District since 1999. I currently teach all subjects in third grade, but over the years I have taught almost all grades K-6. One of the subjects in third grade is Riverside history, which includes people from East Asia who were an integral part of the development of Riverside. I am looking forward to rounding out this subject area for my students, both present and future.
I look forward to getting to know all of you a bit better over time,
Elizabeth Rosales
AnonymousHello everybody
I am Salvador Ochoa and I teach World History and Economics at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. I've looked forward to this seminar and others like it for years, the first session was very informative and look forward to the others. This course is perfect for my field; I teach the emergence of modern Asia as part of the World History curriculum. I'm always looking for opportunities to expand my knowledge and polish my craft. This course is perfect, as I've said, and perhaps the next one as well.
edited by sochoa on 9/28/2015
AnonymousHi! My name is Katherine Venturoso and I teach fifth grade at Hoover in Whittier City school district. My school is a fine arts school and we are trying to integrate multi cultural literature and art into curricular areas. I am excited to learn about new information about Asia to weave through my teaching on a daily basis. Asia is important for every aspect of our culture and economy. It is important to make our students ready to become global citizens and participate in the world economy. My students have traveled very little. Including the Asian culture will help my students enjoy and understand the contributions of Asian culture and the immigrants who come here.
AnonymousHello everyone!
My name is Talin Darkjian, and I'm an 8th grade US History teacher at Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy in San Fernando. This is my second year teaching there. Before that, I taught 8th grade English in Washington, DC. It's been a while since I've studied any form of Asian history, so I'm really excited to refresh what I know and take my understanding deeper. I'm looking forward to finding ways to incorporate what I learn in this course into my classroom. I think it's really important for my students to understand that the themes we are studying in US history are global and I hope to present some of the information from this course to help them make those connections.
AnonymousHey Guys, I'm sorry I wasn't able to make the first meeting, but I was glad to see meet you guys on our second meeting on Sept. 28. My name is Jose Sanchez and I teach US History & AVID at Alhambra High School. This is my 11th year at Alhambra High School and I am glad to be part of this seminar on East Asian studies because it will help me understand the history and culture of East Asia and help me understand my students. At Alhambra High School, about 50 percent of our student population is Asian, but predominantly Chinese. I hope that my participation in this seminar series will not only provide me with a better understanding of East Asia, but hopefully instill in me a newer appreciation for Asian history and culture and help me understand my students' history and culture. I also hope that I can create lessons and use many of the information I learn and resources in my classes. I hope learn more about East Asia and work/learn with fellow educators!
AnonymousHi There!
My name is Natalie Jaurequi and I am so pleased to be a part of the USC US-China seminar with all you wonderful individuals. I am a teacher at Alhambra High School and am a part of the Social Science department. I currently teach AP Human Geography, World History and the College Prep/Leadership class. I teach primarily ninth grade students and have one tenth grade class. I have been at AHS for three years and look forward to many more generations of students. The Asian population at AHS makes up about 50% of the student body. This session is so valuable to my students and me in helping me understand my kids better as well as gathering resources for all my classes. I look forward to the following months and what's in store for us all!
AnonymousHello! On the path of, "Better late than never" I will get started. By way of introduction, I, Andrew Carrillo, have just had a letter to the editor published in the September UT titled "Why Teach". It is basically a vindication of my choice to leave the private sector/corporate world to become a teacher, which is to make a positive impact on as many people as possible.
My father joined the Navy at the beginning of WWII and fought in the Pacific on a destroyer. When he returned he finished high school and enrolled in UC Santa Barbara where he got a degree in east Asian studies. He then went to USC and got a teaching credential and a Masters in Education, beginning to teach in LA. He had also joined the Naval Reserve for some extra cash, which led him back to the Pacific for Korea. During that conflict he was able to spend time in Japan. Somewhere he left the Catholic Church and Republican Party, and picked up a love of Buddhism and the Tao. I guess he hung with a very Bohemian crowd in Santa Barbara. In any case, I grew up reading his books, looking at the neat things he brought back from Japan including prints, wooden chests, and chop sticks. It took me awhile to do anything about that interest.
In the mid-nineties I was running a night-club in L.A. and hooked up with some people that wanted to open up a country-western club in China to be named The Buffalo Saloon. The president was a man named Chao Li Chi. He was an actor whose most lucrative role was as a house cook in Falcon Crest. He was also in The Joy Luck Club and Big Trouble in Little Chinatown, to name a few. However his father was a major judge in the Nationalist government. He told me about having to get up one night, as a child, and leave home, by car, and drive west through Asia and into Europe. The family eventually made it to New York. While he studied acting, his older brother studied economics at Columbia University, earning a PhD. This brother also secretly joined the Chinese Communist Party in New York. He eventually went back to China and joined Mao. When the Nationalist fled to Taiwan they took all the gold from China with them. This made the currency fall flat. Chao Li's brother came up with a solution. At that time all currencies were backed by the gold reserves each country had. He decided that the most valuable thing China had was its rice production, so he instituted the Yuan backed by rice! Mao made him the first Secretary of the Treasury and his "signature" is still on the bills today, or so I was told by Chao Li.
So today I am teaching fifth grade and want to know more about the history of east Asia. The Tao will lead me to find a connection between the two.
AnonymousHi everyone!
My name is Judith Gonzalez Baruch and I am a Special Education teacher at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. I am currently teaching autistic students in the Moderate to Severe setting. I am looking forward to meeting you and learn about the history of East Asia. I am sure it will be an exciting seminar and my students will benefit from it as well. I will incorporate materials from this seminar to my teaching and will share my learning experience with my students. I have never travel to Asia and I hope to go there in a near future. Hope you guys are enjoying the rest of your weekend and I will see you tomorrow.
AnonymousHello classmates,
My name is Niru Parmar and I teach a variety of English classes at Northridge Academy High School, including English 10, American Literature and AP English Literature. As an Indian-American of South Asian descent, I have always been fascinated by this region of the world. Many of my high school students are also Asian. Most of the Asian students I teach are from the Philippines but many are from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. As an English teacher I am most fascinated in learning about the historical context of literature from a particular region. I want to expose my students, particularly in AP English classes, to literature from around the world, including writers from Asia such as Haruki Murakami, Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Rabindranath Tagore.
cgaoHi Everyone,
Welcome to the forum. We are very much looking forward to meeting all of you in person, but in the meantime, please use this thread to introduce yourselves. Be sure to include a picture of yourself!
Best,
Catherine
AnonymousHello!!
My name is Adebola Afolabi and I teach second grade at Mid-City Prescott. I am interested in learning more about East Asia. I enjoy learning about different cultures. Plus, I would like to travel to different parts of Asia, I think this will be an enhanced learning experience for me, I took the first part last Spring. I think learning about other cultures will make me more relatable to some of my students. I look forward to to this new learning journey.
