[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I am very interested in the story of Marco Polo and his adventures. I never knew that he hadn’t written the book himself. I remember learning about him in the fifth grade but I was under the impression that he wrote the book. I also never questioned what I learned in school, or what information could have been left out therefore I just took it for what it was. I on the other hand, now that I am a teacher, I love it when my students question things. Therefore, I would like to bring that project to my students and present it as a research project/writing assignment. I would have my students research, did Marco Polo really go to China? It would be an opinion writing piece that has to be supported with evidence. They would have to research the silk road, the great wall of china, and of course Marco polo’s book.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I love the difference between modern history of japan and ancient history of japan. It really puts into perspective how long Japan has been around, but also, the fact that its not the same Japan that you think about now a day. It causes me to really think about the importance of history books, to think that when you only teach the history of “modern” _____ there is a big chunk of the story that is missing. When you have control over the history books, you also have control over the way your story (or the story of the country) is presented. The fact that there are certain things that are off limits for research purposes is also very limiting in terms of history. I want to know if the first emperor was Korean, I want to know what is in those off limit rooms and temples. This also causes me to reflect on our own history. Currently, I feel as though we are rewriting history by bringing in more stories, and more perspectives. Our history books share limited perspectives, and it is our job to go to those “off limits” rooms and bring those stories into our classrooms. I love that in Japan history is presented as literature, because it leaves room to see it as slightly objective and allows us to read/learn other perspectives and still see both as truths.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I did not know that china had the largest affect on the greenhouse affect. Which on the upside makes me glad to know that they are now on board with working towards decreasing their effect, and be more environmentally friendly. However, this doesn’t really make me feel too excited about the fact that the current president has pulled the country out of the Paris Agreement. I found it interesting that there was a difference in what GHG requirement were enforced based on whether they were considered developed or developing countries. I believe that this is a big reason as to why this problem exists at such a large scale. It is so common for developed countries to take their machines, or tools that no longer meet the requirements, and sell them to developing countries. That doesn’t help, I think that in part those countries selling those machines to other countries are still in part, responsible for those green house gas emissions.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

The history of Buddhism in China is so interesting because it is so interconnected with so many other things in history. I believe the history of china in general is complicated because, like the history of any country, there are so many factors to consider. However, they do not line up in this neat time line. You have the dynasties and separation and union of the country, this is ongoing throughout most of the history of china (the fact that we even know this is amazing, I wish we knew more about the native Americans). Then you have the religious schools of thoughts that interconnect with these dynasties but it is almost as if you’re going back and forth, like how Daoism played a part in shaping how Buddhism was introduced to China. Not to mention the connections with neighboring countries and the roles that plays. For example, the spread of Buddhism because of the silk road. While initially this sounds a bit overwhelming, it also leaves so much room for integration.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I’m going to start off with a major side note and not to do so much with the classroom but I love alien theories and I love how he mentioned the Mayan ancient civilization, the Egyptian ancient civilization, and the Chinese ancient civilization and how they are all very close to the 30-degree line of longitude. I want to look into that and learn about it a little more.

I love how history includes everything, politics, facts, arts which include literature. That really came across today because it was emphasized by the fact that we had two sessions back to back. Growing up I always separated literature and history, I saw literature as a form of art, and I saw art history separate from mainstream history. I love the obvious connections made with both in this lecture. I remember disliking history in school until I got to college. I want to incorporate the arts more in history so that my students enjoy it and learn from it.

Also, when we talked about chanting poems I thought about lyrics to songs and I want to make a strong connection with this in my class. I want to talk about poetry, including haikus and songs.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

Dennis had an idea regarding artifacts and primary sources really gave me an idea! I used to teach second grade and they have this whole unit on primary sources and archaeologists. I would love to show that yellow golden looking pottery that is cone shaped but its pointed on the bottom. I think that’s so cool because they will see a lot of potter in other cultures but I think this one will really make them think, especially because of the shape. I’m sure I can find a way to integrate this into 5^th grade curriculum as well because we also talk about primary sources, but I just think it fits so well with what is done at my school because they talk about archeology specifically.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

Okay so I got really excited about some of the things I got from this lecture.

1) he asked us what our students know about Japan and we started talking about anime, and then we talked about some history books that are anime. So here's my idea lets have students show what they know about the history lessons by creating an anime magazine. This would include talking about the features of an anime comic book.

2) We talked about how history is always changing, and that really stuck with me. I feel like because it includes dates and facts, history is rarely seen as objective and it is important to present history through that lense.

3) Japanese history is so complicated, but its not the only country like that, we can easily say that about every single country. I really like how Japan refers to their history as "modern Japanese history" and "ancient Japanese history" it honors the history of the past, while simultaneously teaching the modern one (the one usually found in text books). I wish more countries did this, this I something I want to teach and then have my students reflect on comparing how Japan presents their history versus how we present ours.

 

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I am a young Daoist girl who just saw her father break the law. But as a true Daoist I must ask, what is law? Is it not just man’s attempt at being civilized, which in Daoist beliefs, is wrong? And this law that he broke, was it even a right law to begin with? Who made this law? If it is not the law of nature, then does it really matter? And if it is the law of nature, then nature has probably already taken care of it, in which case what is the point of turning him in now? Wait, what if the law he broke was that he followed or attempted to follow Confucianism or Maoist beliefs? In which case he must be stopped or else he might be brought to a violent end (or so we are told but this wont happen yet, at least not during this school of thought). I am so confused now, I’m just going to let things be. What ever is meant to happen will happen, and that’s how it should be, because no Daoist really knows.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

I recall learning about Confucius in elementary school and for some reason it stuck with me for a long time. I would love to present these ideas to my students during our classroom meetings. Bring it at least one idea from each school, and then get their opinion on some of these teachings, can we still follow them today? 

I would also love to teach about the oracle bones as primary sources and have them compare it to other writings that are found in different ancient civilizations like the writings on the walls in caves, the Egyptian hieroglyphs and have them compare and contrast them. There is so much to analyze and talk about, the way these artifacts were created, the purpose of these artifacts, the locations. Then maybe have the students analyze and compare how we preserve our writings now, and the evolution of writing in general.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

There were so many things that popped into my mind as I read this. Right off the bat in the beginning of the article I compared older Chinese families to older Mexican families. The article mentioned families that have two grandparents, two parents, and one child. I’m thinking this is how its been for years because in class we talked about how the "child limit" was barely done away with two years ago. I compare it to the families in Mexico, where some people were having up to 14 or more kids. This came out of necessity, because they had land to work and they needed free labor, which would be having kids. Except its not free right because you have to feed them, but the profit had to have outweighed the cost or else they wouldn’t have done it right? Then I think about how in Chinese families their need limited them to have only one kid (or maybe not so much their need but their government).

Also, while there were no statistics about American demographics, I began thinking about how its both a good and a bad thing. Good thing because due to progresses made in medicine our life expectancy has increased, so maybe our resources can last longer if birth rates are down, Then there's the other side of the coin, if most of the population consists of elder people that can’t work as much or as well, we still have the same need but less work force. This would not be something I discuss with my students but maybe high school students can look into this. I compare it to the issues with social security here in the United States, and also our impact as humans on the environment. How do these demographics affect all of those topics? What is a solution?  Was what the Chinese government did by limited how many kid’s families could have an appropriate solution?

This article brought up so much that you can talk about, cultural differences, gender gaps, social expectancies. All things that can be good topics to look into.

[Stephanie Rodriguez]

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to begin. My name is Stephanie Rodriguez and I am a 5th grade teacher at Eucalyptus Elementary in Hawthorne, California (not far from LAX). This is my fourth year teaching and I am so excited to learn so much more about it. I got my teaching credential and masters in teaching from USC so I am really excited to be back. I love teaching traveling the world and teaching (history is one of my favorites, my students really enjoy it). I look forward to meeting you all and sharing resources and experiences, see you tomorrow!

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