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Mario RuizThis was such a fun read through. Skimming through the different articles that makeup the Kenmu code was inspiring. The warriors that followed the Kenmu code seemed to have the respect and honor for everyone around them. Those who followed the Kenm code were warriors for the people. They denounced many things like bribery, roberry, and infidelity. They also promoted giving back to the people such as giving back vacant lots to their previous owners, prohibiting comandeering private homes, and promoting frugality as not all people could afford the same riches and material possessions that the wealthy possessed. I see this closely related to a PBIS system. Being able to take some of these principles and creating some kind of school code would be an amazing way to show other students that we need to help each other out and work with one another.
Mario RuizYou both bring up great points. It's interesting to see how birth rates can affect climate change in positive or negative ways. More people means more man power, but more people means a bigger carbon footprint even if measures are put in place. Less people could help to lower the carbon footprint, but we all know that many politicians' are about maintaining a thriving economy regardless of the risks. It's definitely a tough situation to be in...
Mario RuizWow this is a great resource, especially now for distance learning. I teach students with Moderate/Severe disabilities and one of the components of my Life Skills class is assisting my students on Community-Based Instruction (CBIs). We go into the community to practice our life skills such as taking the bus, grocery shopping, going to the laundromat, etc. One of the things that I do to prep my students is walk them virtually through the intended route of where we're going. For example, if we were going to the grocery store, I would pull up the street view on Google Maps and show them which streets we would walk and mark exactly where we would be practicing certain safety skills. It's very similar to the museum walkthrough you presented! It's not too often on the Google Maps streetview that we get to go inside actual buildings, so it's cool that this building shows you the actual interior of the museum. Thanks for sharing!
Mario RuizI’ll be honest, prior to taking this seminar, I saw it as an easy way to earn some continuing education credits to help me advance through the steps of my school district’s salary schedule. It was free and it was easily accessible to me. It was a no-brainer, but it definitely ended up being a lot more than what I was expecting.
First and foremost, the content in the seminar and our lectures was intriguing. Clay did an absolutely wonderful job in presenting the material and it didn’t take long to realize that this man has a deep-rooted passion for the subject matter presented to us. We all know that as educators, if you don’t have the passion for what you’re doing, it shows. It shows in both your delivery and in your students’ engagement. Thank you, Clay.
When I stop and think about the class meetings and the content presented, I immediately gravitate to one specific topic: the four Chinese philosophies. This unit was incredibly captivating to me because it seemed like something with which everyone was able to make a connection. Prior to having our discussion/debate about the four philosophies, we were able to choose which philosophy we’d like to defend. I gravitated towards one philosophy because it resonated a lot with my actual beliefs and how I try to live my everyday life. So it seemed easy for me to defend it during the discussion.
I’m Mexican and was raised practicing the Catholic religion. Unfortunately, I am not a practicing Catholic because there are many aspects of the Catholic religion with which I don’t agree. So it amazed me to see that there are different cultural philosophies and ways of living that resonate so closely to what I believe in. Although I don’t go to church on Sundays or believe in all of the Catholic principles and teachings, I still try to live my life with some kind of faith and spirituality. Prior to this seminar, I never thought that I would resonate with the philosophy of another culture from the other side of the world. It’s inspiring and makes me wonder what else is out there to which I could connect.
Mario RuizHearing Nurnisa's story was chilling. I'll be frank and honest, prior to this webinar, I knew nothing about the Uyghur ethnic group. Not only that, but I knew nothing about the prejudice that they faced. It got me to thinking: how many other ethnic minority groups are there that I am unaware of that have faced such harsh prejudice and persecution in their history or currently in this day and age? That would be an interesting project to present to students. Maybe have each student/group research an ethnic minority group and how they faced some kind of injustice. My level of students might have difficulty in completing a project like that, but presenting them with the material so that they may be aware of prejudice and injustice in the world would help my students to become more compassionate and understanding of others and their unique stories.
Mario RuizWhen asked to identify the values of the proclamations of the Hongwu Emperor, I would definitely say it is "honor" and "integrity". I would choose these two values because after reading and hearing about the justice system they had in place, they appear to have the "innocent until proven guilty" mentatlity. When someone commited a serious crime, they were not immediately punished or reprimanded. Instead, an inquiry took place and even an interrogation could not take place without proper authority.
Mario RuizI'm a big fan of symbolism. My girlfriend and I really enjoy watching a movie or the next big Netflix series and trying to identify all the symbolic aspects of the show and how they tie in together or how they give us hints of what is to come next. The Tan'gun myth definitely has some symbolic meaning behind it, but I haven't been able to decipher it just yet. Why 100 days and not 365? Why a bear and a tiger and not a monkey and a horse? Why did the tiger give up after 21 days and not 14 days? It all has to mean something.
Teaching symbolism in a special education class can be a little tough, but definitely something that can be done. Maybe having the students do something as simple as choosing their favorite animal and researching what those animals represent in different cultures would be a good starting point.
Mario RuizOne of the tasks that I have me studeents complete now that we have moved to a distance learning model is going to "visit" some of there favorite places through Google Earth. my students often elect to visit plaecs that they are familiar with like Disneyland, the McDonald's down the street, or even their grandparents' houses. I try to explain to them that with the power of Google Earth, they can literally visit ANYWHERE in the world. I try to get them to broaden their horizons by giving them a list of five places to visit such as Time Square or Big Ben.
Virtually visiting parts of East Asia to see some of the architechture would be another great way for them to become global citizens. I can include such places as the Five-Storied Pagoda in Japan!
In fact, I just looked it up. Here's the link if interested:
Mario RuizRight Mindfulness was not surprising to see on there as one of the steps. It seems that just recently society has begun to put the idea of mindfulness in the forefront, especially with teaching. I've been to a couple of different trainings where mindfulness was the topic of the training. I had gone to a training that was four hours long and I remember thinking to myself, "How can it take four hours for them to tell me to focus on my breathing?" right as I was going in. I was sorely mistaken. There was so much more to it then just that. Mindfulness creates this sence of balance and tranquility that some of my other outlets, like sports and music, sometimes just can't seem to produce.
I work with students with moderate/severe disabilities and being able to practice mindfulness in the classroom has worked wonders for some of my students. Some of my students have significant behaviors that range from verbal aggression to physical aggression and teaching them some simple mindfulness techniques has been EXTREMELY helpful. I can recall two students from a previous year who DID NOT get along with each other. The mere sight of each other would cause them both to verbally assault each other. I couldn't take it. I asked one of my classroom aides to run an art lesson so I could have my lunch. When I returned to my class, all was calm and well. I couldn't believe it. I asked her what she did and she told me that prior to the art lesson, she dimmed the lights, played some calming meditative music, and engaged the students in a breathing exercise. I was blown away! All of the students were engaged and the two students who couldn't be asked to sit in the same room with each other were all of a sudden ignoring the other person and focusing on the art activity.
Mindfulness can have a real impact on the classroom environment and it's great to see that different mindfulness practices are being taken more seriously.
Mario RuizThe fisherman found some sort of peaceful community that resented the ideas of war and were seeking protection from it. I think the value that the story conveys is that a comuunity or place such as this peaceful one might never be found. There may never be any sort of utopia such as this unless it's dreamt. The fisherman was drinking copious amounts of wine prior to finding this place and so perhaps he fell asleep in a drunken state and dreamt this entire experience. It may also convey the idea that there is no running away from war, turmoil, and conflict. We can't go to some magical placce where we can simply forget about this.
Mario RuizPrior to reading the article "China Has Reached It's Environmental Tipping Point", I knew that pollution in China was an issue. It's common knowledge that the air quality in China can pose harmful effects to an individual's health and wellbeing. However, I never considered the correlation between levels of pollution and levels of business profits. An excerpt from the article reads:
“When I’ve spoken to factory owners they say ‘Well look, if I choose to not do this and not discharge the heavy metals but my neighbours do then I could be in a difficult situation in the market because the profit margins are often so tight.’ “And then to add insult to injury, the owners say, the big national brands come in and care only about the cost. They just buy from the cheapest. They don’t care at all about the environmental pollution. If we have a high cost, we lose the contract. We collapse. So how can we act in a responsible way?”
I find this to be an interesting point because as consumers, we are constantly searching for a common characteristic in a product: the lowest price and for us to get the lowest price, manufacturers and businesses can cut corners and ignore safety regulations to give us that characteristic in their product. We often see China's pollution problem as simply that: THEIR problem. But maybe we, as consumers, are also to blame. We want the lowest price for a quality product. I know I'm guilty of this...
Mario RuizHey! My name is Mario Ruiz and I am currently a Special Education Teacher with the Glendale Unified School District. I am in my 4th year of teaching Special Education, but I am currently in my 9th year of working with students with special needs. I'm looking forward to this seminar and learning some cool things about Asia!
