[Billie Johnson]

I like the three categories that you laid out here: Established; Maintained; and Challenged.  I think this can be the focus of a unit and is certainly worth exploring.  Thank you for the idea!

[Billie Johnson]

Hi Cynthia,

I wasn't sure what I was in for, but certainly glad I stuck with it.  The movie was not predictable and creative in its retelling of history.  I hope other people will take a look at this one.

[Billie Johnson]

Hi Brigid! Schindler's List was incredibly heartbreaking but only told part of the story. I like how you posed these questions as a means to drive conversations and research. I saw this film on Amazon Prime and it was eye-opening.  

[Billie Johnson]

Thank you for the feedback!  I do want to cultivate a class of students who are aware and compassionate critical thinkers. Your idea for a learning unit is spot on. It would be a deep learning opportunity to explore and to hear the feedback from my student groups. The hardest thing I have found in my class is just getting my students to care.  They care about many things, but I want them to learn how they can really change the outcome of our futures. Your feedback is very helpful. Thank you.

[Billie Johnson]

I really liked how you would tie this in.  It is a good way to find a linkage across continents and similarities instead of differences.  I like sharing images as well and video so they can experience lessons in different ways.  Something like this would be a great learning opportunity for History and English for sure.

[Billie Johnson]

Hi Samantha,

I have never written a class constitution with my students and it is definitely something that I want to do next year.  Next year will be my third year teaching and each year has been something different so I usually just launch right into expectations.  I would like to share this constitution with students, discuss it, and then come up with our own. Now, the accountability factor has been vague with my admin team...will there be consequences when expectations are not met?  Maybe. However, if we are to function as a unit then I think getting off on this note is an excellent start.

[Billie Johnson]

Such a great idea!  I am curious what my students would come up with if I asked them to write their own version of their births. Leave it open to mythology, culture, religion, and they could decide on their own definition of 'birth'.  I am tempted to assign this as a writing activity during the first 25 days as a narrative/mythology combo. I think this creative writing opportunity will be enjoyable and get the creative juices flowing...perhaps share an origin story and then launch this.  Anyhow, thank you for getting my creative juices flowing.  

[Billie Johnson]

Hi Mario!  I don't have much wiggle room in my curriculum overall, but I enjoy research projects and presentations integrating ELA, Art, and Social Studies.  Perhaps in the end students can create a call to action as well.  Thank you for sharing this project idea and I hope you don't mind me borrowing it.

[Billie Johnson]

I found these lectures most intriguing and detailed in honing in on Classical Japan and onward. I was captivated by Professor Yamashita's lecturing style and his wealth of knowledge. It is truly a shame that we were not able to experience this in person. It's difficult to pick one thing to focus on that I would be able to incorporate into my classroom.  I do think it is possible to cover a vast topic like we see in these lectures, but it would take lots of preparation and know-how in where to find the most accurate information. It was enlightening to hear about the origin of Japan and that the Japanese were on the mainland dating back in history. How the language and writing was influenced by many different other languages is compelling as was the composition of fingerprints of the North and South. I like the incorporation of primary sources, The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book, in the active lesson to just drive discussion. Also, I like how he asks leading questions which can make people uncomfortable but forces you to think. Analyzing structures and what they signify is a great point of discussion for students.  Looking at artifacts and what they say about a civilizations and what it says about how societies were organized is an important point of discussion as well. I too enjoyed the segment on mythology because we discuss origin stories and how mythology is used to represent something sacred about a society in 6th grade. This year, students wrote myths based on a theme that represented America, which was kind of confusing for them at first and I think extending that lesson would be much more interesting if we incorporated themes outside of the US and lift the red tape. Asking students to write an ambiguous vertical or horitzonal cosmology story would be really cool. I'm always amazed with what my students come up with. I do like the discussion about the Samurai in more depth and brevity outside of just focusing on the warrior. It is important to understand the inner workings of this class and how they were organized. After listening to the brief history of Christianity, I don't think we would do a deep dive on that topic. 

[Billie Johnson]

I truly hope that any type of action will not be too late.  It would truly be a shame to see these people with their rich culture erased from history if even it is only erased from that part of the world.  There are so many battles to fight all over the world that I do believe the "each country for themself" attitude is pervasive. I just wish there was something that can be done right now.

[Billie Johnson]

Like Mario, Dr. Kurban's presenation/lecture had the greatest impact on me.  I think about the political will that it would take to address these atrocities, the economic impact, and even if there would be any transparency to address what is happening to the Uyghur people.  The images that came to mind when she was telling her story in incredible detail were scenes from the book The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson. Just that experience from when life was seemingly normal to all hell breaking loose.  My questions were not directly answered but I think the reasons for inaction are economically driven, so as Dr. Kurban stated she will need our help.  It was tough listening to the cultural history, lessons on geography, and then watching Dr. Kurban look so deflated.  However, it is important that something is done to preserve this history and cultural while it is actively under assault. The reeducation camps or concentration camps as they are more appropriately named are, as Dr. Anderson mention, where many products are manfuctured for use around the globe. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/china-83-major-brands-implicated-in-report-on-forced-labour-of-ethnic-minorities-from-xinjiang-assigned-to-factories-across-provinces-includes-company-responses Also, when WhatsApp was mentioned and how some people are living in an open prison made me think of Jingjing and Chacha. When this was first discussed in a previous course I thought silly and ridiculous but seeing its impact firsthand has certainly left an impression.  I think what I am left with is how long will the world wait?  That is my question for so many countries who mistreat its people for whatever reason.  Thank you for the top caliber scholars who shared illuminating information with us this morning. I remember we briefly touched on the Uyghur's plight in China but taking this deep dive certainly made me more reflective about my job and mission as an educator.  Thank you.

[Billie Johnson]

I agree with you about the Holocaust.  That is exactly where my mind went when hearing the stories and lack of political will to do something about it. I'm too foolish to recognize that there are atrocities happening all over the world and the US cannot inject itself and try to be the police for the world.  Yet I think that action for human rights violations must start at the grassroots level.  In a perfect world, I wish people would just mind their business and leave others alone.  

[Billie Johnson]

East Asia Origins - 1800 has really helped my teaching practice and improved my thinking process on how I want to integrate outside sources to enhance student learning. I continue to learn how to present information to students by studying the exemplary examples of the instructors and guest lecturers. Once I have the ability to resume teaching in the classroom I have a process I will follow very similar to how the information was presented in our classes. Holding students accountable for their learning by pausing and posing questions for them to answer will promote critical thinking, but again will hold them accountable for their learning and focusing during the learning process. Much of what we covered in class has been helpful especially with learning about and teaching ancient civilizations. Although the year is nearly over, I do hope that I will have the opportunity to teach this subject again so I can incorporate some of the stories about the Buddha and looking at history from multiple perspectives, architecture and the purposes of design, and one that I am really excited to explore and discuss with students is learning about women in history; perhaps a comparison of women in ancient history between geographic regions. Something that appears basic such as the importance of water and how it drove trade and agriculture is worth discussing and incorporating as well. I think more than anything this course has made me realize how much is left out because of time constraints, but we can always add this additional information in as mini-lessons, extension activities, or just carve out time because it is important. Collaborating with peers and listening/reading through their thinking process was helpful as well.  That is another major reason why I enjoy these professional development opportunities because we are in a space with like-minded individuals who share in our quest for becoming more informed educators for our students. One of my highlights is visiting the East Asia museum exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art when I thought I was going to miss a session. Of course this was everything changed with the virus.  However, I found that it is important to incorporate travel and experiencing as much as to bring in genuine experiences to share with students. I am bummed that we were not able to meet in person, but am so grateful to have had this opportunity.  Looking forward to the next one.

[Billie Johnson]

I applaud you for being a math teacher.  While I am a matter of fact type of person, I can't do it. As a math teacher, are you able to incorporate lessons that are primarily discussion based?  Perhaps talking about longitude and latitude or less being more at times?  I suppose you could also discuss math origins and show examples, visual artifacts, of what this looked like. I think this would be great at the beginning of the year as I doubt many other teachers incorporate this into their lesson planning.

[Billie Johnson]

Thank you.

[Author]

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