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AnonymousToday we sit and try to learn, we bob and weave
Learning about the East, museums, Dunhuang, Mogao, Ming, caves and art
What! Done! How I wish a hit of caffeine for more enlightenment
edited by martinc on 8/11/2015
AnonymousI was so inspired by the beginning of our session with Jennifer Jung-Kim. I had never heard of a Sijo, for which I felt ashamed because as an English teacher I have taught haikus and tankas to my students for a poetry unit. The sijo fits along the lines of a haiku and tanka but its more free form style and yet strict requirements on content, make it much more challenging to write. I loved that she had us write one of our own.
Exposure to the sijo is what has inspired me for my lesson plans for this seminar because Jennifer mentioned a contest which can be entered by anyone and it is for National Poetry Month, for which I already do a contest. I currently do a Spine Poetry contest to encourage students to come to the library but I think that the sijo will be perfect for International Studies Learning Center because of the international connection. It would also be a great opportunity to work with a teacher on different styles of poetry across different countries to expose students to poetry, firstly, but secondly to poetry they may not otherwise know about.
I also really enjoyed the short story selections provided by Jennifer. "Cranes" and "Lost Names" were so simple and yet poignant and heart-wrenching. "Lost Names" in particular was so moving with so little movement and short, simple dialogue; the emotion comes through so wonderfully. I will most definitely be recommending these stories to English teachers at ISLC to use in their lessons, as well as obtain the collection for the library.
Anonymous"Cranes" is such a great tool to teach the intricacies of the Korean war. Although it is fictional it goes into detail about political allegiances and reasons for joining different parties. It even touches on the economies of north and south Korea and humanizes both. Vignettes of friends picking thorns out of each others bottoms keep reappearing, thereby making it clear there is not a "good side" and a "bad side." This helps students focus on the finer points of the issue rather than simplifying it into black and white sides.
AnonymousUpon doing some research on the background of the movie, I found that a hundred years ago baseball was introduced to America by Korean missionaries. I found this incredible! It is also noteworthy that the formation of the first team (YMCA Baseball Team) coincided with Korea falling under the political influence of Japan. Therefore, this Korean baseball team was a source of great pride for the Korean people. This connects to working at the Special Olympics World Games this summer. We were told that one of the teams had to fly over ISIS controlled land to leave and would have to fly over ISIS controlled lands to arrive. This truly gave us volunteers inspiration that this was not just about a sport, but about much more. This is the main takeaway from YMCA Baseball as well.
clay dubePlease use this section of the forum to discuss the materials shared by Jennifer Jung-Kim of UCLA. What ideas from her presentation can you translate into lessons for your students?