[Christine Moguel]

I concur!   My conception of the Hollywood blockbuster ideal of the Samurai was completely deflated.  As often happens I suppose filmakers take an idea and romanticize the whole idea, hence, attaining international blockbuster status and misinforming us with no shame all in the name of a good story.

[Christine Moguel]

COming from an art history background, I looked this portion of the lecture.  Teaching a lesson on comparing and contrasting artifacts - that possibly look similar in materials used (clay), motifs painted (geometric designs and some figures) and daily uses for ( cooking, collecting water) with other ancient cultures in the different continents.  You can then move on to compare and contrast what we use TODAY in these same areas (cooking, collecting water etc).  Making a timeline of when these ancient artifacts were dated is also a great cross curriculum idea for a lesson that can help students learn history, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts.  Yay!

[Christine Moguel]

Lucky numebr ten.     Extremely interesting findings Brenda.  Very clearly delineated injunctions/rules/mandates.  

[Christine Moguel]

This is yet another example for the type of art form that was so defining about east asian culture- that we can discover with our students, poetry.  I already mentioned a lesson I was going to enage my students in with regards to poetry.  Sijo style, becasue is extra simplified format and structure might be an easier task for some of my students that have lower expressive abilities.  My students amaze me in that they might say very little one to two words relating to a specific topic, however, they are extremely poignant word choices pertaining to the topic at hand.  I think this style of poetry will suit these students.  They have the ability to express themselves in many areas using few words.  This is brilliant!

[Christine Moguel]

Thank you for the idea.  I plan on adapting the lesson for my moderate to severe special eduaction adults.  I am always looking for ways to make my students taper the fear they have of writing and self sxpression through writing.

[Christine Moguel]

My teaching practice focuses on self expression and self advocacy, as well as, art apprecaiation.  I am a theater teacher that also teaches vocational curriculum for my special education adults. Teaching my students about the syntesized and meaningful words that make up Jueju and/or haiku poetry is a great way to empahasize the powerful meaning of words to express ideas about the self, ones feelings and emotions.  I would have my students work on a poem during class after having listened to verbal examples of chinese poets like Wang Wei (701-761 BC), Qu Yuan (339-278 BC), and possibly even  Shi Nai'en (1296-1372) auther of the four great classical novels, will write out some of the poems on large post its so the structure of the poems can sink in as they are pondering their ideas on their own poems.  I will engage students in verbal, visual, tactile, means using strategies such as word walls, small group work, and hopefully present their work out loud when the students are done.

[Christine Moguel]

In the morning discussion, Clay posed the question what is the diffference between growth and development.  This question is central to how china has become the major economic force it has become, but also the importance of defining these terms for our students, and ultimately how we can generalize these terms to our own ecomomy and in particular our own lives.  Development is key.  Work smarter and not longer is the key.  Development is key and with development there will inevitably be growth.  I will take this concept not only to my students and possibly staff but also, teach this lesson to my son- think of ways we can use tools, time and focus stratiegies to produce more in less time, if possible

[Christine Moguel]

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Ye’s lecture in that he presented the information in a story telling and personal narrative format.  He gave details explaining most information- the “back story” is engaging, highly expressive and entertaining.    He gave clear visuals of Chinese historical figures, territory maps of china, as well as, images of the scholars that have recorded Chinese language and history timelines.  It was a great review of information about the “middle ages” that I found really accessible to understand.   I particularly appreciated the way in which he was able to link Chinas history with western academics and their ideological, historical, and literary references to China- whether it be language, history, religion- Arnold Toynbee and M. Ricci , Helen Vendler etc.  His quoting of the Vendler text, was poignant and enlightening- as an artist myself, I wholeheartedly agree- to use the products of the cultures to be able to teach and expose our students about the historical period you are teaching.

[Christine Moguel]

I was surprised ot learn about the apparent genocide that occured to the the natives during the Yamato state.  These people that were labeled "barbarians" endured treacherous murder during this period in early Japan, simply based on their societal status.  WOW!  

[Christine Moguel]

The article about the treatment of the natives was eye opening to say the least.  As Dr.Hirano stated in his lecture- “conquerors wrote their version of history”, they were able to create a narrative that favored their actions in a superior light.  I would have loved to hear the other side of the story- wherein, the natives told their side of the story.  Untold native narratives could be a lesson activity for my students.  I could read certain modified documents about the story of ancient Japanese native treatment and have the students write out a brief narrative about how this treatment makes them feel.  We could discuss the different feelings, emotions, fears, joys, these natives had regarding the state of their livelihood in the face of the gross inhumanity they faced on a daily basis.

They will be frontloaded with different terminology and I will have different images avaliable for my students to reference.  Tsuchigumo- dirt or earth spiders- are the terms they will learn as derogatory terms for these early Japanese natives.  They will be able to dissect the different horrific actions taken (on record) to these natives- and decipher a distict narrative about their experience.  

[Christine Moguel]

My father broke a law - of a rule that he knew existed.  I witnessed my father breaking the law.  Philisophically and as a Mohist, If my father broke a rule, I would feel very dissapointed in him.  I would try to adopt the idea that we all learn from our mistakes.  My father is a Mohist and he would take his mistake and possibly teach others about the pit falls of his mistake- in short, have others beneifit from his mistake.  We Mohists truely believe all indivuduals possess the ability to reflect, repent, and use their mistake as an example to teach others about right and wrong choices.  It is through this reflection, repenting, and admission to fault in front of the community at large- that we are able to gain a respect again for my father.  I am proud of him.  I am proud of his ability to adhere to our true nature and make a right out of a wrong for all.

 

[Christine Moguel]

Yes thats right!  Thanks for pointing that out! Need to edit before clicking send!  My Appologies!

[Christine Moguel]

I slipped a little in class stating Maoism- instead of Moism , in class without fully understanding the different implications of the two schools of thought.  After reading about Moism- Mojia- the school of Mo-  MoZI (c 470 BC- c. 391BC) I found out that the two not only differed in thought but also happened centuries apart.  The chinese philosophy of Moism was the first makor intellectual rival to Confucius and his followers.  MoZi - was very influencial during the warring periods and was noted as an anti-fatalist- one who practiced love without distinctions (contrary to confucious theory).    His school of thought promoted the idea that people should work hard to change their fate and the inequality of the world.  

Another key concept of the Moist-Mohist (correction) theory was that they thought that offensive warfare was evil and a great cause of human suffering.  Most Mohist followers traveled much throughout warring chinese era offering their defensive war tactics and skills to rulers who were under attack.  They were skilled in engineering devices designed to repel attacks on walled cities and fortresses.  Pretty cool stuff.   Though the groups didnt last very long they made an outstanding impact of the history of chinese philosophy.

[Christine Moguel]

One of the most effective strategies in teaching English Learners and individuals with special needs is activating background information about the content you are teaching.  In creating lessons about East Asia for my students my mind tries to grapple with any sort of ‘background knowledge’ my students might share with East Asia, and the answer is very clear to see and undeniable to claim- we are connected to east Asia because we all share the fact that we have technology created and products manufactured in East Asians countries.  Technology and manufacturing- easy in connect to something tangible and that directly affects my students.  We view CNN/student news on a daily basis, and that too is a great way to deliver current visuals about East Asia- although the content reported on might be difficult to digest for my students.  Once the ‘door has been cracked’ to ideas about East Asian culture, economy and politics I am faced with the task of teaching the importance East Asia has on their lives in so many ways. 

[Christine Moguel]

By all intents and purposes, it is quiet unbelievable to fathom the concept of China’s the decline in fertility or by demographers standards as “Ultra Low” when their population amounts to ¼ of the worlds population.  Low fertility is an ongoing issue in all of East Asia , not only in China.  The stable fertility rate is said to be 2.1 – however the rates have fallen to their “ultra low” status throughout East Asia.  As stated in the article, “Demographic trends like this are often thought to be irreversible, implying that East Asia will be stuck in an endless cycle of decline”- yet history proves that a stabilization in population growth is possible.  During the industrialization era in Europe, the birth rate increased to a stabilization within about a century.   This can happen in East Asia- however, culture is changing in the way that people are marrying later in in life and there is a general family culture shift.

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