[Heidi Kwalk]

This is my first seminar with USC-China Institute. I am not sure how I came across this institute, but I think I google searched for a possible summer PD for myself this summer. This wasn't exactly what I was looking for and would be a bit of a drive for me but when I read the description about this seminar, it sounded very interesting and decided to apply for it. Still, I wasn't sure if I would be able to apply anything from the seminar to my class as a 4th/5th grade teacher with very different topics in our social studies curriculum. That proved to be wrong. I came away with many ideas to incorporate what I have gained in this seminar into my class.   Not only did I gain knowledge and ideas for my class but the seminar  lectures and discussions have helpe me understand myself better as an Asian American. I now understand better why my parents have said over and over those "annoying" things to me and my siblings growing up. I come to better understand the students of Asian heritage and their parents. Deeper understanding of my students and their parents will certainly help me as an educator. I am now also better equip to foster understanding of Asian culture and people to students who have little understanding about them. When we seek to better understand one another, we can reduce ugly conflicts and agree to disagree in a more civil manner. 

I was also able to gain a lot more ideas for class from this semnar than I had first expected. First, I was delighted about the idea of incorporating literature such as poetry forms, different styles of paintings/ceramics and what we could infer from them--all of which are important ELA/critical thinking skills to review and practice in upper elementary grades. It is still relevent how philosophy and religion could impact people's behavior and thus history of its people. Technology of the time reflect the time in history. As Dr. Dube emphasized in his closing lecture, "We are all intertwined!"  What has happened in the past impact us today but what has happened in one area in the world, very well impacts people elsewhere in the world, too. Yes, we ARE all intertwined!

[Heidi Kwalk]

As an elementary grade teacher teaching all subjects, I also teach about technology as part of science and STEM lesson. At its most basic level, technology is defined as something that is "human-made that solves a problem or fulfils a desire." I have a lesson in the beginning of the year called a "tech in a bag" which is part of EiE (Engineering is Elementary) curriculum. In the Age of Exploration unit, we have a discussion about how the technology of the time impacted or facilitate the Age of Exploration. Later in the unit, we discuss the question, "How does technology of the time impact people of the time?" and use cellphone as an example. The big idea is that technology impacts people and history.  People's prolems and desires reflect their time in history so the technology lense makes for an interesting entry point to history lesson. 

Spinning wheel, clocks, furnace for iron work, etc., could all be incorporated to teach and have students analyze Imperial China. I might ask the students, "What can we infer about Imperial China with this spinning wheel from the time?" Have students in groups doing the same thing with different items from the era. Students will then report out their analysis to the class. I will then assign the content reading assignment. I find this approach makes students want to read about the time. 

[Heidi Kwalk]

You could feel the urgency in Barbara Finamore's voice when she stated, "We have to dramatically change from fossil fuel at a historical pace." We are at a crossroad and right at that crossroad is China. China built its economy coal and had been the center of global attention to do something to correct their pollution problem. With the world growing ever more interdependent of one another, cooperation among the leading nations is a must. lt is evident from the evidence by Dr. Finamore that China has had a major reversal about their attitude and practice towards pollution and renewable energy.

[Heidi Kwalk]

Another good example of  "twist" in the last line! I hope you don't mind me using this as a model for the mini lesson on "twist." My students really enjoyed working on the "twist" part of sijo. 

[Heidi Kwalk]

These are certainly interesting stats on religions in Asia. For North Korea, I don't think it is even legal to have any kind of religion. I agree with a post (a couple of sessions ago, I think) about how religion is an integral part of a nation's history and how it could deeply divide or unify a country.  Knowledge of the history of religions in Japan would definitely help in more in-depth understanding of Japan.  For example, I found it interesting that women had major roles Buddhism in Japan in the beginning. The early supporters of Buddhism was Emporor Shiomzu who sought to establish nunnery monastery in Japan. He expanded Budhism to build monastery and nunnery in pairs throughout the provinces, places to chant sutras for protection of states. Japan's first monastics were nuns and as teachers and rituals. In earlier times, women were actually doing a lot but women slowly became excluded from monastic practices. Women became more focused on devotional practices of Budhism. The reason women took prominent role with Budhism were more likely because they had prominent role in Shamanism which was important practice in Japan.

 

 

 

[Heidi Kwalk]

Multiple perspectives are definitely something we should all strive to provide for our students. I think Dan's strategy is brilliant where a dominant perspective is introduced first and then complicated by introducing other perspectives. Students could source the material by considering whose perspective it is and also consider how who they are affect their perspectives and why.  A challenge I have experienced this year is that when I provided perspectives other than the dominant perspectives (with which most of the parents have learned growing up) I got a pushback from a parent saying that I am changing the history. It goes to prove that we have a lot of hard work ahead improving the education of history and providing equal voice to all perspectives. 

[Heidi Kwalk]

As an elementary school teacher, I do as much multidisciplinary lessons as possible. It helps students make more sense and meaning this way. When we study historical topic/lesson, I can come up with a list of at least a dozen ELA mini lessons that can be taught with it, e.g., multiple perspective, bias, observation (of details), inferences (based on details/text), motive, etc. Majority of the primary sources I use in class are images of photos and paintings and that is mainly because primary source texts are usually pretty dense/long for upper elementary students. I did not think to use poetry of the time under study. I could ask what does this poem reveal about the time and then go into the history reading. 

[Heidi Kwalk]

Gerlinde, I love this idea of making a "Poetry around the World" book. Besides these you mentioned in the post, haiku, and sijo, I will need to do some research for different poetry from different countries. Thanks for this idea!

[Heidi Kwalk]

 I was delighted to learn about sijo--Korean traditional form of poem--from Professor Jung-Kim. I taught my students about this form of poetry. I used some poems that won the competition on the website as samples. ( http://sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/resources/sijo_links.php ) I also needed to do a mini-lesson about what a "twist" in the last line might look like in a poem. They happily worked hard, especially after seeing the monetary prizes for the winners. Unfortunately, there is one category for grade 12 and under, which meant my students had to compete with the high schoolers. No winners from class this year but I intend to continue teaching my students about this poem. Students are familiar with haiku but sijo lent more challenge for the students and provided fun while working to write in a "twist" in the last line. 

[Heidi Kwalk]

Genocide, sadly, is still a part of our history today. There is a book by a UCLA professor/historian--Benjamin Madley, I believe is his name--who wrote a book titled, American Genocide, about the treatment of the Native Americans by the Europeans/Americans. He had a book talk at Huntington Library a few years back and there were some push back against his usage of the word "genocide" from the audience. By UN definition he cited in introduction of his book, that was simply what it was--a genocide of Native Americans. It is hard to come to terms with the ugliness of our own history.

I found it interesting when professor Hirano said that there are Japanese celebrities who are coming out and publicly and proudly claiming their native heritage when traditionally it has been something they kept to themselves due to societal prejudice. What can we do as educators to encourage people who have been oppressed to feel proud of their culture and heritage? Also, how does a society/country deal with its not-so-proud past? For Americans, the treatment of the Native Amerians, African Americans, etc. For Japan, the treatment of its conquered indegenous people, and much later in their history, treatment of its conquering nations such as China and Korea?  My students are young--4th and 5th-- and I have to be careful about what/how I present when teaching Columbus, Westward Movement and its impact on Native Americans, slavery, etc. It's a struggle for me because I don't want to give my students too-watered down version of history. It would be interesting to discuss with Japanese educators about presenting such topics to the students. 

[Heidi Kwalk]

I am a Confusciast. I am the eldest son of three sons in the family. My mother has been supporting me ever since I could remember and in every way possible so that I, as the eldest son in the family, could study and pass the exam for government official job serving the emperor in the palace. This way, I will be able to bring more respect and pride to the family name. I am currently in the deepest dilemma I have ever experienced; I have witnessed my father knowingly breaking a law. As a Confucian, my filial duty goes to not only my father but also to the emperor of our country whom I am working so hard to serve loyally some day. As a Confucian, however, I believe I am nothing without my father. He is the reason I exist. I cannot possibly bring ruin to my father. How would that make me a good loyal Confucianist subject to my emperor in the future? The best path for me is to give up going into government office. If I report my father to the authority, it will bring the end to our family name in which case, I will not be able to move up in government ranks anyway. If I keep quiet, I will at least be able to keep the family name and remain loyal to my family. My father made a mistake but good Confucist said that all people are able to improve himself.

[Heidi Kwalk]

I never knew I was using Lao Zi's quote in class. I have a collection of quotes that my students respond to in their Writer's Notebook every week. A lot of the quotes are from the US Presidents, some from writers and celebrities. I didn't realize until today, that  I had a quote that originated from Daoism. According to my website source, the quote "A journey of a thousand mile, begins with one step," was spoken by the Old Master, Lao Zi--though he's someone whom scholars doubt that there ever was a man called by such name according to our reading. With each quote of the week, students do a quick little search online for contextual information such as the time the author of the quote lived, who s/he was, where s/he lived and what else was happening during the time of his/her life. With this contextual information, students respond to the quote in their notebooks. I am delighted that I am now much more knowledgeable about the contextual/background information I could impart to my students about the philosopher Lao Zi. I was also able to find more quotes online by other philosophers mentioned in our reading. These will make a good addition to our class quotes along with the author/philosophers background information from the reading materials for this session.  

[Heidi Kwalk]

My 4th/5th graders, too, learned in Native American unit "how natural resources--which depends on where people lived--impact HOW people lived" This big idea of "WHERE people live impact HOW people live" comes up over and over again in social studies. We reviewed it during the study of the colonial period and pioneer days.  Reading your post about ginseng export got me thinking.... I am thinking about adding another layer to this big idea in our class discussion. I could have a discussion about how trading with another country (especially with a country so far away as China) could change and affect people's lives.  

[Heidi Kwalk]

According to the article on demographics crisis, Europe was able to recover from low fertility by closing the "cultural lag." For example,  childcare was more available and men took a more active role in household chores. This made it easier for women to have children and have careers.  I wonder what different obstacles there may be for Asian countries to close the cultural lag. I believe the traditional perception of "the proper place for women" is much more deep-rooted in Asian culture than in the European culture. I wonder if it would be more challenging to close the cultural lag to alleviate the demographic crisis in Asia. 

 

[Heidi Kwalk]

Hello everyone, I am a 4th/5th grade combo teacher in Orange County. This is my 18th year of teaching, all of it in either 4th or 5th grade classroom. I love teaching multiple subjects but love social studies/history in particular. I have attended many workshops/seminars related to US history, but this is my first seminar on the history of E. Asia. I am excited and eager to learn and look forward to discussing and sharing ideas with fellow teachers. Thank you, USC US-China Institute for this opportunity!

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