[Alexandra Becker]

Listening to the lecture, specifically regarding the Mongols, brought clarity to my own teaching. In my classes we analyze each of the dynasties with regards to territory, power, trade, length of rule, and contributions. I was interested to find out some background about how Mongols orignally wanted to kill all the Chinese and turn the lands into grazing land. I would like to have my students propose ideas why grazing lands might benfit the Mongols, and why they chose to tax the people. I also thought it was interesting to learn about the gunpowder because it is an item that is very recognizable to 7th grade students. We discuss about how gunpowder was used in fireworks first, but it was never really clear as to how it spread, other than due to trade. I will now be able to educate students that the reason why gunpowder made it to Europe is due to the Mongols and their military conquests. The last piece of information that I will be able to use with my students is about the 5-tired system. I have a close reading article I use to explain how the Mongols "opened the door" for other foreigners, but it only mentions that the Chinese were on the last tier. I never knew that that the Northern Chinese were held to a higher regard by the Mongols, due to them already being ruled by the Jurchen previously. My students had asked me why the Chinese were treated poorly within their own country, and we just chalked it up to foreigners being in charge. But now I will be able to clarify that the Southern Chinese were actually seen as the lowest level. An activity that might be useful while teaching this next year, would be to have the students pretend that they were the Mongols. Then we could have all of the different tiers randomly spread out with their descriptions ( Mongols, Muslims, Northern and Southern Chinese, and other foreigners). The students would have to rank each tier according to what would benefit them (as Mongols) and be prepared to explain why. This could be done in pairs or groups of three to encourage collaboration, problem solving and communication.

[Alexandra Becker]

I am really enjoying listening to each lecture because I get to learn more details about a time period I just taught about in class. One such detail that I was excited to see was about the oracle bones. Again, I do not have much backgroundin East Asian studies and had not heard about these oracle bones until a couple of my students had presented them. At the time, I had a ssigned a flipped classroom assignment where my students would be required to research a section of cultural influence on Japan (mostly coming from China, India, or Korea) and have to teach the class about their findings. In a couple of the presentations about the development of Japanese writing and characters, they had mentioned that the earliest form of Chinese characters (which heavily influenced Japanese writing) came from Oracle bones on turtle shells. I was elated to learn more about the origins of these oracle bones during lecture and how scapulas of Oxen were even used. I did not know that a trained person with the most impressive ancestors should only be allowed to ask the questions and interpret the results. I also  found it interesting that someone should come to the ritual with a specific question to be asked. I think the peculiarities of this ritual represent a unique part of chinese uclture, and the fact that it ended up developing into writing, created a lasting impact not only in their society, but as well as Japans! By incorporating this fun tidbit into my lessons, my students will not only be entertained (and listen more intently), but I will also be able to creatively explain how this "interpretation of the future" allowed the Shang dynasty (I believe) legitimized themself.

[Alexandra Becker]

I thought the debate was extremely informative. I had taught Confucianism and Buddhism, but had not thoroughly understood Mohism, Daosim, or Legalist thought. I chose to challenge myself by choosing to be on the Legalist debate side, because I wanted to learn about a different way of thinking (even as ruthless as it was!). In my 7th grade standards, we don't focus too much on the different Philosophies of China except for Confucianism and Buddhism, and it is important ot stress to the students why Buddhism became widely practiced after the collapse of the Han Dynasty. I appreciated the questions posed during lecture about having students think about "What moments have we been most open?" and "When do we feel like we need a solution?" I am looking forward ot posing these questions to my students when I teach this again next year, because it causes them to relate their own personal experiences and build upon pre-existing schemas. This will allow them to better undertand where the chinese were coming from when they turn to Buddhism, and also when Confucianism made a return during the Song dynasty. It will allow them to analyze what the similarities or differences were during both those dynasties that caused such a shift in thought. I also liked the idea of a debate on these philosophies. Although, I would probably only debate about the two (Confucianism and Buddhism), because while we debated, I realized (just like Professor Dube mentioned) that I had book knowledge of my philosophy, but found it difficult to "apply" it to different situations. I think my students would benefit from this, as well as get a kick out of competing against their peers.

[Alexandra Becker]

My father violated the law, willingly. This is the key word, willingly. As a legalist, I cannot condone such behavior. According to Shang Yang (qtd in Dube), "...as the people know the law they would not dare to violate the law and offend the officer" (42). In order to keep a strong state, I must be enforce all laws: "For those who uphold the law are stong...if they are weak, the state will be weak..." (Han Fei Zi qtd. in Dube, 42).  My father must suffer the consequences for the actions he made; for if I show mercy, then my subjects will think I am weak and free thinkers may see this weakness as an allowance for their debates. Once this occurs, all chaos will occur, and dismemberment of the state will lead us to be overthrown by our enemies. The choice is simple: punish the criminal my father is in order to set an example, prove that I have no mercy, and in turn prove that our state as a whole will conquer you with our ruthless power! Muahaha.

[Alexandra Becker]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Alexandra Becker (Alex) and I currently teach 7th grade World History (Medieval Times) at the School of Arts and Enterprise in Pomona. I have also previously taught courses in U.S. History, Modern World History, and Global Issues for grades 9-11. My background and degree is in American History (U.S. and Latin America), as well as World History. I went to undergrad at UC Santa Cruz, and received my Masters from USC. I am somewhat unfamiliar with Asian studies, except for a class I took in college on Warrior Japan, and my own individual research while teaching Medieval Times. I am looking forward to building knowledge in East Asia, so that I can incorporate it into my classroom. I look forward to our interesting lectures and discussions to come!

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