1) What are the misconceptions with the Mendez case?
2) Did the Mendez case end segregation? 3) Was the Mendez case successful? 4) Why is the Mendez case oversimplified? Answers to Andy's Santiago Reading 1) I think its easier for historians to link together the Mexican-American experience with the African-American experience. Also, since both movements were focused around gaining equality and equal rights many people feel as though their end goal was the same so therefore their movement was the same. However, its important to remember that everyone's journey is different and should be remembered as such. 2)The teacher failed to explain that the Mendez case was pretty much useless in gaining equality for the Mexican-American students in California. This was because instead of creating equal schools that were desegregated the state decided to claim that the schools were already desegregated and not separated based on race. 3) Language segregation is very heavy in southern states and states like California. However, here in Michigan the language segregation is still prevalent. My roommates work in elementary schools in Lansing, and experience a language barrier every day in their school. I think our ESL program is working to solve it, but I think its important for schools to focus on teaching all of their students not just the students who speak English. It would also be a big step for all teachers to get a background in ESL, especially those who are working with young children. 4) I think America always conceptualizes history in terms of progress because everyone is always looking towards the future. Also, its extremely uplifting for students to hear of history in terms of moving forward and not just learning about information that happened in the past. Its important to gain the attention of the students and help them learn why the past is still relevant.
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My personality is more introverted than extroverted and more observant than intuitive. I am more feeling than thinking and more judging than prospecting. I am also more assertive than turbulent. I believe my results show that I am confident in what I believe and don't tend to go back and forth on my beliefs. Overall, I was not surprised with my results and actually took the test three times to see if my role would change at all.
I got the role of a defender for my personality test. I do believe it was pretty accurate because I feel like I'm a mix between an introverted and extroverted person. Also, as a future teacher I believe my characteristics will be extremely helpful. For instance, I let things go easily and as a teacher I think this is an important trait to have. Altogether, my role described me as a person and helped me learn where my strengths and weaknesses are. For example, I am a very empathetic and caring person. However, one of my biggest weaknesses is being too lenient. I will definitely be working on this trait during my internship year. These characteristics are that of a teacher and I hope they will help me in my future classroom. As a teacher Mr. Appleton focuses his time on preparing lectures and making sure the students are taking notes. After this is done students are given a quiz on the readings and a study sheet to help them with their exam. Mr. Appleton's classroom focuses heavily on the material and information. Mrs. Baker has a different teaching philosophy that focuses heavily on engagement and activities. For instance, the students can bring in food from Rome and dress up as people from the past. Also, her class focuses on how the information can relate to outside ideas like architecture, language, and laws. This is different from Mr. Appleton who has his student focus on just the information and not the overarching themes of the class. Finally, Ms. Cassell is a very organized teacher who has formed her lessons based on essential questions and organization of topics. As a teacher she focuses her students on goal setting and thinking like a historian.
Differentiated instruction is a way for teachers to educate many different types of learners. That is, using different teacher methods in order for the students to stay focus and engaged. For example, incorporating activities and higher order thinking skills are examples of differentiated instruction. Differentiation is not placing students into groups based on ability and thinking. This is because differentiation is meant to help every student by focusing on different aspects of learning so that all of the students can succeed. Social Responsibility is the idea that it is the job of the people to act in a way that will eventually help society. This takes courage because you have to tell students to be concerned about everyone and that the outcome of the world is a part of their job too. The process that I believe is the most important and impacting is for students to grow up in a caring environment. Whether this be in the classroom or at home. I believe this because in order for children to care about society as a whole they need to grow up as a caring and respectful person.
Different people do disagree about what values are more important and what to pursue. For instance, the US is more focused on the individual and pursuing a good career for yourself. This is in contrast with other areas of the world which focus more on the whole. Both options work if society has rules and structures. Also, a big impact is how a person is raised and whether or not they believe in their impact on society. As a future teacher I will make sure that my students are aware of their importance within their community and the world as a whole. Young children need reassurance of their value and want to feel accepted by adults in their life. Not every student will receive this reassurance at home, so teachers must step in to help the future generation. 1. Why was denial so persistent among the Jewish community? optimism? 2. Why does Eli lose his faith? How do suffering and loss of faith correlate? increase or decrease? 3. Why are the roles of perpetrators so difficult to understand in the book? victims may be the same. 4. Why does Eli become mad at his father instead of the Kapo when he is beaten by an iron bar? on page 52 Response to Adam Our questions were basically the same as both focused on how suffering can lead to a loss of faith. However, mine focused more on how faith can either increase or decrease depending on suffering and not how it can aid someone through suffering. These questions are important for students to focus on because it forces them to put themselves in the authors shoes. Only then will they know how their own faith would be tested. Also, faith is reiterated many times through the beginning of the book and influences Elies decisions. I took an entire class on how to teach difficult topics within the classroom and Night became a central focus throughout the entire semester. This particular book forces students to look at the dangers of genocide and feel empathy for the main character. It is important when teaching topics like the Holocaust to have students realize the suffering and mistreatment of others during this time. As a teacher I definitely want to focus on creating a classroom in which the students are not afraid or nervous to talk about such difficult topics. Sacrilization is the idea that a topic is so sacred and important that it is given an air of awe. This means that people surround the topic with hushed tones and seriousness. However, this is also a very dangerous idea. This is because it creates a fear of investigating and questioning as the public is afraid of appearing insensitive. On the other hand of the spectrum is trivialization. Trivialization is the idea of making a topic seem less important or significant. This is also dangerous because it can downgrade the difficulties of the past. For instance, the Holocaust is a very difficult topic and therefore should be more of a serious discussion in class. It would be very inappropriate to turn this particular event into a game within the classroom. This topic is discussed in length within the article Holocaust Fatigue: Teaching it Today where the author, Simon Schweber, claims " Where I once worried that the sanctification of the Holocaust stifled learning, I now worry that trivialization of the Holocaust impedes its understanding".
Within many areas of the world the role of Israel is vexed in public opinion. This means that discussing the country can be problematic and difficult. This is because there has been a lot of criticism surrounding Israel and their governments role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the middle east. As a result, teaching about the Holocaust has suffered. This is because teachers are afraid of discussing the topic in fear of seeming supportive of Israel. Teaching the Holocaust is also linked to current middle eastern conflict. Textbooks are useful for making lesson plans, especially for first time teachers. This allows them to know which material should be covered and which details are important to incorporate in the classroom. Also, textbooks are extremely organized. However, one of the most important reasons why a textbook is so useful is because it is chronological. Seeing all of the information in order is very useful for teachers when making a lesson plan. Textbooks also have their downfalls with inaccurate or left out information. Also, some teachers may depend on the textbook too much when teaching their students.
The standard 6.2.1 Political Revolutions- analyze the age of Revolutions is the one I used for my micro-teaching. I came up with an interesting question surrounding that standard and the Haitian revolution. This question was what success factors led to the slaves victory? This was important because the students would need to know background information and be able to use this to make inferences. It is very important for teachers to focus on essential questions in the classroom because this helps frame the unit or lesson plan. Also, looking at a question can help students see what knowledge they need to achieve by the end of the unit. Reading is a form of citizenship because it keeps the people informed and gives them the ability to make accurate decisions. Without reading the next generation will not be able to contribute to the future and change the world. Werner's piece makes me question whether or not the information I have been reading is worthwhile to me as a citizen. The perception we have of history is important in order for the future to learn from the mistakes of the past. An accurate recording is needed to make the necessary decisions. Therefore, it is an important part of citizenship for the people to read unbiased and accurate information.
Many schools and institutions criticize textbooks because they feel that the information being represented may be inaccurate or outdated. Therefore, there has been a big push within the teaching community to make schools more hands on and creative. I personally believe that their can be a balance between using the textbook and making sure the kids aren't too bored in school. For instance, its important for the students to learn all of the little details and dates in the textbook, but the teacher should spend a large majority of class on the overall lesson. If there was one thing I could change in the world it would be for people to be more open-minded. Recently, I have really noticed a low tolerance of others and their ideas. It is really frustrating to see so much division between people because they fail to see issues from another's perspective. With the election over I have noticed so many people making nasty and rude comments on various forms of social media. This really surprised me because in the recent years cyberbullying has become a really important issue. That's when I really noticed that so many people are very closed off to new ideas and do not want to hear opposition to their beliefs.
As a teacher and citizen I think its important to teach the next generation about how to be empathetic and open-minded. Also, in terms of debating and knowing your opponent students should be more open-minded in learning two sides to the story. That way they could make a clear estimate on what they believe in and then defend it while also taking note of what there opponent believes in. In terms of social media I noticed that many people kept clear of political issues before the election, but then caved after the results were out. This may also be an issue of acting on anger, but a more open-minded student would think twice about posting something insensitive. Even some classes here at MSU are very closed-off and professors even divide the class by being so open and judgmental with their viewpoint. In the past Autism was not viewed as distinctly in the classroom as it is now. Teachers are more aware of their students and how to help them with their work. I also think that medicating students too much can be dangerous, but ultimatley I think parents and teachers should work together to help a student if they are struggling.
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