[Sandra Flores]

My Reflection 

I really enjoyed this class.  I heard about this program through a colleague last semester.  She said that she really enjoyed it and that I should take it.  At the beginning I was hesitant to take the class because I didn’t believe that it related to my subject matter.  I decided to give it a chance this semester and I fell in love with the class since Day 1.  

 

The main reason that I enjoyed the class the first day is because we were in a classroom and had more interaction than any other day.  I am not the best student online, that is one of the reasons I enrolled in the course.  I was told that it was going to be in person and I enjoy going to school.  Professor Dube, is one of the best professors I have ever met.  He makes the class interesting and knows how to capture the audience’s attention.  After my first day, I got home and told my roommate, “I actually enjoyed that class and learned something new”.  I was disappointed when I learned that the classes would be a combination of asynchronous and synchronous.  I know my learning skills and was aware of the challenging this was going to be, but I didn’t leave the class because I enjoyed it the first day.

 

Through this class I learned so much about Eastern Asian that I didn’t know.  One of my favorite classes was the last day.  The testimony given by Nurnisa Kurban was so touching that I decided to research the topic myself.  I also enjoyed the learning about Japan’s agriculture and the importance of wood in their society.  From China I enjoyed reading “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow” and learning about the empress.  I am currently watching the series “Empress of China” on YouTube.  

 

I believe that I can use everything I listed in my class.  Although I teach Spanish, one of the standards for World Language class is to compare and contrast two different cultures.  The standards do not specify the two cultures.  I can have my students compare traditional Japanese homes with homes in a Spanish speaking country.  Students can also discuss and compare the Uyghur’s concentration camps with the genocide of the Mayan community in Guatemala.  Lastly, students can analyze the poem of “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow” and compare it to “The Legend of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihatl”.  Both, include topics such as love, sacrifice, death and sorrow.  

 

Thank you for offering this class and the opportunity to modify my curriculum. 

 

[Sandra Flores]

Hi Jessica, I like your idea of using the comics.  I read some of them myself and they are so disturbing.  The situation with the Uyghur community reminds me of the Holocaust.  As teachers we know that the Holocaust is taught in school and I believe that we should also add these concentration camps.  The comic also reminded me of the Museum of Tolerance, when you first enter you receive an ID card and that is the victim you learn about.  At the end of the tour you insert your card in a machine and it tells you their story.  Students can each be assigned a person before the lesson, then after the lesson they can go and investigate their person's life and share it with a smaller group.  

[Sandra Flores]

First of all, I would like to thank Ms. Nurnisa Kurban for her bravery and her testimony.  As I mentioned in the webinar, it is different reading an article in the third person about a current issue and listening to a survivor.  Before this class, I was unaware of the different religions in China.  I was surprised to learn that many people practice different religions, but I hurt when I learned that people are sent to concentration camps because of their believes.  It disgusts me what they are doing to the Uyghur community.  People should not be forced to eat in order to prevent fasting.  People should not be force to work during religious holidays, people should not be force to drink alcohol and eat pork and sing songs.  What happens to people if they do no obey these "rules"?  Why is this going on? Did we not learn from the Holocaust.  They are doing the exact same thing.  China is trying to get rid of an entire population, they are not trying to "educate" this community.  

[Sandra Flores]

Hello Hilda, I too found it devastating that parents had to sell their children in order to survive and help the rest of the family survive.  That is probably a difficult decision for a parent to take.  I watched the documentary "One Child Nation" and I learned that many Chinese families gave out their children for adoption while others just left them at a market and waited for them to be picked up or die.  This documentary was very disturbing, but I learend a lot of history and politics about China.  At that period of time, they believed for this to be the best thing for the country, but now there is reprecussions and that one child policy is no longer in order.  Instead they are promoting for families to have two children instead.  I also learned that Chinese families would sometimes give up thier daughters, the boys were more important and useful.  Female babies were seen as a burden.  

[Sandra Flores]

Hi Billie I agree with your post.  We do not know what other's intentions are for migrating to a country. And like to mentioned above, religion is probably the most dangerous weapon in the world.  Religion has been a debate and a controversial topic for a long time and although religion is very old, many people are willing to kill to defend their beliefs.  I recently learned about the Pastafarian religion and the how they are trying to convert people.  One good thing about being open, is that different cultures come in contact with each other, learn about each other, learn to appreciate and respect one another.  I enjoy travelling and I have learned more about a culture by visiting a country and communcating with locals than from a textbook or movie.  

[Sandra Flores]

I am intrigued to learn more about the story of the Great Mirror.  Usually when we think of a mirror we think of our reflection.  We use a mirror everyday before leaving the house.  We use mirrors at malls when trying on clothes.  We use mirrors when we drive to avoid accidents.  Mirros are used by everyone on a daily basis.  Mirrors have become part of our dailylives and can be considered unnoticed.  As I was reading the "Great Mirror" I learned that Japanese believed that mirrors represent our past, our present and also our future.  I understand how they represent our past, our present but not our future.  

I can see this story applied in my identity unit.  Students can discuss what their reflection in the mirror says about their ancestors, what it says about them and how they invision themselves in the future.  Today, we have phones and a mirror is not necessary, although I like the idea of having students staring at themselves in the mirror while they jot down what they see.  

[Sandra Flores]

I love your idea of incoorporating Korean women into the curriculum during Internationals Women Day.  We can also include the women oppression and religion.  Because as explained by professor Jung-Kim, before Confucianism established in Korea, women had more freedom and rights.  I usually incoorporte haikus for Earth Day, but I can see how I can introuduce Poet Ho Nansorhon and role of women in society.  Students can write Sijo poem centering around women in current society.  

[Sandra Flores]

It seems that China's history is very contradicting.  I keep thinking of Confucianism and how family is the based of society, but according to placard #7"if an elder commits a crime, all elders and lijia shall hold a meeting and inquire into the facts.." Although the consequences of commiting a crime are not deadly, I found it surprising how the elders, will also have to go through "trial". On the other hand, placard #16, states that elders are role models and that every adult must work.  

[Sandra Flores]

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/north-korea-song-dance/index.html

Hi everyone.  I came up across this article and thought it went with what we are currenty learning: Arts and Humanities.  As we read in the articles attached, arts are universal and Korea has a history of creative women and men.  This article explains the importance of music in North Korea and the political influence it carries.  Koreans also used music to speak about social issues.  The song "The Sea of Blood" is about the guerillas and "The Flower Girl" is about feudal oppression.  The majority of the songs are very patriotic and North Koreans are restiricted to the music they can create.  Very different from South Korea, whose K-Pop is now listened to in the entire world.  

[Sandra Flores]

Confucianism was introduced to Korea during the Koryo Dynasty and surprisingly this was a negative change for females.  Before Confucianism women had power, they had the opportunity to learn and their class status was more important than their gender.  Once Confucianism was introduced to Korea, women were oppressed and had to abide by the "neo-confucianism" virtures of diligence, frugality and chastity.  Women who wanted to read literature or write literature would bring dishonor to the family.   A woman by the name of Ho Nansorhorn, disobeyed this rules and became one of the best poets during the 16th century.  She was able to do this because she was born into a family of poets and scholar officials.  Although, her father disagreed, her brother supported her.  Unfortunately, she was married off and she was seeing as a bad wife and bad daughter in law for writing.  Her main topics after she was a wife were pain and sorrow, she was often referred to the poet of tears.  

I would consider her a feminist and in the class have a discussion of how religion subordinates women.  Students can compare her poems to other feminist pieces.  

[Sandra Flores]

The neighboring countries had great influence in Korea.  Shamanism and bronze was adpated from Siberia.  Korea has a strong foundation in Shamanism since the Neolithic period.  They believe that spirits can either be evil or good. As for the bronze, it was introduced to Korea in 1500 BCE.  The bronze was used for tools during shaman rituals.  I am wondering how much of Shamanism is still alive in the Korean culture. China introduced iron to Korea in 300 BCE and they influenced their architecture.  The majority of thei iron was for tools used in agriculture. The capital of Paekche constructed a building that shares architectural aesthetics.  Like the Chinese, Koreans also practiced buddhism, confucianism and the common language among the aristocrats was classical Chinese. 

I can use this information in a lesson of how we influence each other. How we learn from each other and we need to be concious of how are decisions can affect (positively or negatively) other people.  My students can also work on a project in which they will identify other cultures' influences in their community.  They can also research when and how they were introduced.  

[Sandra Flores]

I like your idea of comparing the history of Buddha to the story of Jesus.  I teach AP Spanish and one of skills tested on the AP test is a cultural comparison.  I can divide the class into two different groups (Jesus and Buddha) and have them research the history of both.  I can have them present to each other and then, as a class, we can compare and contrast both.  This would be perfect because religion is a topic that needs to be covered in this class.  After the presentations and the class discussion, I can have each student write a comparison and have them present to the class.  The test allots for four minutes to write donw notes and two minutes to actually present.

[Sandra Flores]

I agree with you on cultural appropriation by the outside group and in doing so disrespecting a culture.  I like your idea of having both Buddhas side to side and having the students research each Buddha.  This can be an introduction to a more complex assignment,  Who are our heroes? Who do we celebrate in this country? Who are are unsong heroes?  Why is this a recurring behavior in history? Who do you think should be a hero?

[Sandra Flores]

Hello Mario, I agree with you about the recent introduction of the concept of mindfulness in schools.  I worked for Catholic school for four years and the entire school would meditate on Wednesdays for 10-15 minutes.  I noticed that the younger students would not participate because it was new to them, but the older students or the studnets who attended the same middle school, were open to the idea and would actually be uspet if  meditation was canceled.  Now that I am working for LAUSD, I also noticed that the entire school dedicated a week to Mindfulness and Mental Health.  I believe that this is important because our students have many problems and many of these problems are emotinal and mental. I think we need to focus more on their emotional and mental health because we cannot expect our students to succeed in the classroom if they are not mentally stable. I think the Districts should give the opportunity for more professional development on this topic. 

[Sandra Flores]

The Forbidden City, now located in Beijing and a museum for people to visit, has symbolic meanings hiding all over the architecture.    The Forbidden City was constructed under the Ming Dynasty and it was a city for the emperors and the empire.  This city was only to be used by emperors for 500 years.  Its yellow and red palaces and buildings covered 178 acres.  Every building in the city was built with precise measurements and detail.  Every measurement was symbolic to the Chinese culture.  

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