Session Six & Final Blog

1)      If Obama had called me and asked me what were five things that needed to be done about education I would have to first of all really think about the whole picture and then try to let Obama know that this is not an easy task, but here is some starting points. First get rid of NCLB! This system does not promote an educational system; it encourages test-taking skills that are not useful in our communities and the American society. We need to encourage students to think critically and be well-rounded citizens with a deeper knowledge then just English/Literature and Mathematics. To begin to create this, which leads into my second piece, is that we need a National Standards to be implemented across the nation in all our schools. The catch with these National Standards is that they have to be just the basics, not too much, but central themes that every American should know. If a State wants to add to the National Standards they are more than welcome to, but they must follow the basic National Standards. Make it simple and a place to build from, but we do not need every four to five years a revolutionary style of teaching or way to educate the students, its not working. We’ve all seen from the Gates Foundation that just putting money into a new idea doesn’t always work (i.e. small schools), but lets get to the roots of the curriculum and develop what basics are needed and from there schools, communities, counties, states, etc. can add what is need for their population. But again, we need a basic National Standards. With this idea bring me to the third suggest that will begin to help schools and that is equity within the founding of schools. We need to spend money on the youth and not the military, I know that the Republicans will never allow that, but the reality is that as we continue to cut funding from the Federal level and also from the State level towards education, students are not being educated, they’re not able to get a job, and as a result either the state is taking care of them through some sort of well-fare program or taking care of them inside a jail cell. This is not the future we want for our students. The idea of a kindergarten class having 35 students running around with one teacher sounds scary, those children are not getting the attention that they need and deserve at that crucial age level of learning, while the wealthier individuals can afford to take their children to private schools where they can get the proper attention. So, we need more equity within funding of schools, because if we put the money into the schools we can save a ton later on when these children have graduated and have jobs and being productive members of our society. The fourth piece that needs fixing is stop hiring politicians and business men/women to determine what is best for education. The classroom is a separate entity from businesses, it is true that we want success as a business wants profits, but our success can come at different rates, whereas stock holders want those successes to come every quarter, this is not a realist goal for education. What we need to do when dealing with a creation of a National Standards and any kind of educational policies is that we need to look towards the states, communities, and teachers and have them share what is needed and what works. No reason to re-create the wheel, there are practices out there that do work, may not work in all settings, but that is what we need to determine, what style works best for each individual state, community, teacher, etc. Teaching is not an exact science, but give us some basic guiding points (National Standards) and the proper funding and we will begin to see the students more engaged and a nation with less problems and more prosperity. This brings me to my last point; at this current state what is our goal for education as a Nation? Is it to continue to use a testing system that has flaws; is it to continue to pump millions and billions of dollars into the magic cure of charter schools; what is our goal, because right now it is unclear and with an unclear goal nothing is going to be accomplished. So, to assist you in finding this goal we need to recognize that education is first off not a “business” we will produce success, but it takes time and money, an investment that we should all be willing to pay for. As education is not a business and students all learn in different ways, we need to accept a variety of teaching methods and schools; charters seem to be the evil cancer towards public schools according to Diane Ravitch, but in reality the problem in charters is the media around it and its selection process. This doesn’t mean that charters are bad, but what we need to recognize is that we can not go a way from one style of schools, but embrace them all as long as they are following a National Standards and there is an equal opportunity to attend and a equal amount of money being spent on all types of educational systems. Public schools are not the problem; they just need some of the support that all these other types of schools are getting. So, education is a challenging agenda, but there is hope and we as a country can help, we just need to be willing to do so. And one last piece before we start to fix our educational system, we really need to consider looking at other nations from around the world, Ravitch makes points about Japan and Finland and their successes, even though they are not the same size as our nation we can potentially learn some things about how they deal with education, so we need to get beyond the old mentality of the Cold War when we thought that we had to be better than everyone else, but understand that we live in a different world now, a more global one and we can learn and benefit from each other. Thank you President Obama for listening to me rant about how to fix education, but again we can do this.

2)       The thing that has been the most meaningful for me with Ravitch is her whole approach towards the issue of education. I first off like the fact that she recognized her mistake in supporting NCLB, but even more so appreciate how she breaks it down and then breaks down other miracle works and tries to get to the root of education. I wish that other politicians would learn from her and realize when a thing is broken to start to fixing it instead of just ridding it out and being arrogant thinking that it is still right even when data tells you and everyone else differently. With Ravitch recognizing all these flaws, my one concern is that there isn’t too many solutions, not that I have the solutions either, but after reading Ravitch you feel like nothing has really been resolved and you’re still looking for a way to fix education. I like her insistence of creating a strong curriculum and beginning to create a well-educated person as a goal, I completely agree with this. I also found that most of what Ravitch was talking about I had already had similar feelings, but again not too much in the solutions department. So, overall the most meaningful aspect is that Ravitch has addressed these concerns and maybe we can start restructuring this flawed educational system that is hurting a lot of our students and even educators. There is no reason for a good teacher to go to an under-performing urban public school if we base your salary and position off of the test scores of your students. The system is broken, it just needs to be fixed, but our government needs to recognize that it is broken and stop trying to ride it out.

3)      Given the current state of American education the thing that I can do as an educator and as a citizen is continue doing what I am doing. Meaning that as an educator I need to continue to reach as many of my students as possible on the values of education and the need to be productive and active members of our society. As Ravitch puts it we need a well-educated person and to accomplish that I try to have my students think critically and I am always trying to challenge the students beliefs as I hope they do to mine. Playing “Devil’s Advocate” within class discussion helps me understand what the students know about the topic and really challenges the students to look at things from an alternative prospective. As an educator with the current American education system I am not looking for the highest test scores, but I continue to try to build on the ability to critically think and with that power they can take any kind of multiple-choice test. As a citizen I vote, I voice my opinion when needed or appropriate, and I hope that others are too. It all starts with a good foundation built around education, but I have to keep a positive attitude that the system will eventually get fixed, if not any one down to go to Australia, they got good surf and some say they are like the United States, just 40-50 behind.

4)      While looking at national or state associations from my subject area of social studies, the first one that I found was the National Social Science Association (NSSA). This association was founded in 1983 and has conferences and seminars about 3-4 times a year to bring together the different ideas around social science, with new discoveries, teachings, ideas, strategies, etc. Just this past weekend there was a seminar in Lake Tahoe focusing on professional development. Another association that I found was the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). The NCSS was founded in 1921 and has grown to be the largest association in the United States devoted solely to the teachings of social studies. The NCSS framework consists of ten themes incorporating fields of study that correspond with one or more relevant disciplines. The organization believes that effective social studies programs include experiences that provide for the study of:

·         Culture

·         Time, Continuity, and Change

·         People, Places, and Environments

·         Individual Development and Identity

·         Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

·         Power, Authority, and Governance

·         Production, Distribution, and Consumption

·         Science, Technology, and Society

·         Global Connections

·         Civic Ideals and Practices

            This association is holding its annual conference in Seattle, Washington, in November (16-18).

5)      As six weeks was a challenge to collect all the resources that I needed or even wanted to for my capstone project based around the social impact of WWII on the Bay Area home front, I find it even more challenging to come up with an additional 19 with this last assignment. Looking at areas of experiential resources within the Bay Area (5), books (5), journals (2), conferences or events (2), and world connections (5). Here is what I am finding or still trying to find.

a.      Experiential Resources within the Bay Area (5):

                                                               i.      Japanese American Resource Center Museum, in San Jose

                                                             ii.      Japan Town, in San Francisco

                                                            iii.      The Oakland Museum of California, in Oakland

                                                           iv.      Visit Port Chicago and try to get a tour or some more information about the location, in Concord

                                                             v.      Visit San Francisco and walk around and visit museums to gather more information as San Francisco was heavily impacted by World War II, in San Francisco

                                                           vi.      Visit the San Francisco Chronicle to look at their archives of newspaper during World War II, in San Francisco

b.      Books (5):

                                                               i.      Wartime America: The World War II Home Front (1998), by John W. Jeffries

                                                             ii.      The Journey Continues: The World War II Home Front (2005), by Wilbur D. Jones, Jr.

                                                            iii.      World War II: From the Home Front (2007), by Gale W. Day

                                                           iv.      When All the Men Were Gone: World War II and the Home Front, One Boy’s Journey Through the War Years (2010), by Ronald G. Capalaces

                                                             v.      On the Home Front: Everyday American life from Prohibition through World War II (2012), by Mary Jo Ryan Clark & Jack Clark

                                                           vi.      Home Front U.S.A.: America during World War II (Third Edition 2012), by Allan M. Winkler

c.      Journals (2):

                                                               i.      World War II: Defending Park Values and Resources, doi: 10.1525/tph.2007.29.4.15

                                                             ii.      On the Homefront and in the Workplace: Integrating Immigrant Women into Feminist Discourse, retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3317463

                                                            iii.      Utopia, Nostalgia and World War at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair, retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036413

d.      Conferences or Events (2):

                                                               i.      Maybe check out the National Council of the Social Studies (NCSS) annual Conference in Seattle, Washington in November.

                                                             ii.      Maybe even check out the California Council for the Social Studies (CCSS) conference on Teaching for Social Justice in Troubled Times, October 27, 2012, in Sacramento, CA.

e.      World Connections (5):

                                                               i.      Look at Japan’s home front efforts

                                                             ii.      Look at Germany’s home front efforts

                                                            iii.      Look at the Soviet Union’s home front efforts

                                                           iv.      Look at Great Britain’s home front efforts

                                                             v.      Look at France’s home front efforts  

Session Five Blog (MAiT 402-3)

1)      The most relevant part of Dr. Robert’s presentation for me was the look at overall technology use. Where the numbers were in the 10 plus hours daily and then the break down of types of users: low 0-8, medium 8-16, and high 16-∞ (something like that). At first, I associated myself with the medium groups, but after looking closer at my day I realized that I boarder the medium and high types of users. Just the other day (Wednesday 7/25/12) I was doing my homework and realized that I was working for roughly 5-6 hours and during that time I had my laptop out, I had the stereo going playing Pandora, the TV on mute watching the Liverpool and then the MLS All-Star game that was hooked up to my other laptop, and occasional I was on my iPhone as well. I was maxing out my exposure to technology and I had done this many times before in the past, but never really looked at my exposure time to technology. So, I thought how much are we being exposed to technology and just don’t realize it or take it for granted and what effect is this having on us? I feel that I am very limited in my ability to use technology, but in the classroom some of our students are pure geniuses when it comes to using technology and as we discussed at the end of Dr. Robert’s presentation the use of technology in the classroom, we really are not accessing all our students if we do not include technology into our lessons and curriculum. As we have looked at interdisciplinary teaching and other varieties to teaching within the pedagogical aspect, we really need to consider those students that excel when they are given the opportunity to use technology to further their understanding and learning. So, I am definitely in favor of students using technology in the classroom and the fact that we have smart phones and so many students have one it is a great tool to use when the students need to do some research or if there is a question that comes up that we do not have a definite answer to we can look it up quickly. Allowing the students to use their technology to excel is becoming a huge part in our classrooms and as much as we may want to ignore it or deny the place for technology in the classroom, more so in regards to cell/smart phones, it is not going anywhere and we need to incorporate it into our classes or we may begin to lose more of our students engagement and participation for lack of connection between the students and teacher. Lasting point with the regards to the cell/smart phones or even mp3 players, if my class is doing an assignment that requires them to do independent work I always allow them to have the option to listen to music as long as I do not hear it and it does not distract the classroom, and there have been times that I have taken this privilege away from the whole class if they are abusing this rule. So, technology is not going anywhere, if anything its becoming more user friendly and advance and we need to use it as teachers.

2)      NY Times article “More Pupils Are Learning Online, Fueling Debate on Quality” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/education/06online.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

3)      Technology is a great tool, but being the main piece of education as mentioned in the NY Times article “More Pupils Are Learning Online, Fueling Debate on Quality” I do not complete agree. In the Antioch Unified School District we have a course called “Cyber High” and basically it is a credit recovery program for students that are down a couple of units and the class is held after school. The problem that I have seen is that there really isn’t any support for the students when they don’t understand the material and do not know how to ask the questions needed to understand the material, so the student is lost. As mentioned in the article with the need to graduate a lot of students were willing to work really hard, but what was not mentioned is that with that desire/need to have to take this type of online class may lead the student to cheat in order to pass and how are we going to know if the student really knows the material or just regurgitated something from wikipedia? Also as a teacher in a classroom we have the opportunity to ask additional questions to check for understanding and if there is not an understanding we can then offer additional support to understand the material, but that would be limited or none existent with an online class. Also, who is taking the class and answering the questions, the student registered or his/her friend? So, as our school district is playing around with the idea of online classes I see a potential for future problems with the credibility of our graduates and that could hurt future students that might want to get into big four-year schools As our school may not be a credibly one with offering these online courses. For the community they are happy that the schools graduation rate is up, but we are not preparing our students to be a well-educated person as Ravitch would explain in her book The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. So, graduation rate goes up students are getting the credited they need, but what then? Do they go to junior colleges, four-year college or do they find a trade and go to a trade school? Has the online courses prepared them for that? I would say no, because again we have not created well-educated person, but instead robots, that follow a simple task on a computer screen and then give a partial answer to that task, limited critically thinking has been applied and most jobs that require you to do easy task as such on the computer are already outsourced to other countries where we can pay their workers less. Again we are cutting corners for price as was pointed out with the issue to meet the state budget issues to cut teachers and pay corporations to create an online class. What are our children worth, can we put a price tag on their education and fundamentally who they are going to become? Again the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, our current economic cycle is a scary one. With all this said, technology does have a place in our classrooms and online courses can be helpful, but to base everything on online course and get rid of the teachers, that is a horrible idea. It comes back to a key word that needs to be applied to all classrooms and life in general, there needs to be a balance. The schools need to find a balance of how much online course should be offered if any. A great model of this would be to look at how some Universities allow a certain portion of your classes to be taken as Pass/No Pass where the rest have to be taken for a letter grade. It’s all in the balance. But if I am trying to cut corners and raise my graduation rates up be switching to online classes, then the purpose of these classes lose their value. “It’s about getting a piece of the money that goes to public schools… The big corporations want to make money off the backs of our children.”

4)      Technology resources for the teacher; looking at four links and how they can support student learning in my classroom- now or in the future: (1) The first online technology resource that I can see potentially being helpful is Previ, http://prezi.com. I have heard about this and seen it very limitedly, but looking a little deeper at this online source to interact with my students I can see this being helpful for me to lecture with to boost engagement and also for the students to use to allow them to be more creative with their presentations and findings. (2) The second online technology resource that I can see potentially being helpful is Twitter https://twitter.com/. Even though I am sure everyone knows what Twitter is I personally have avoided it for personal use and have never even considered using it, but I can see how it can be a very useful tool with a classroom. Having the whole class set up on a Twitter page where occasionally there are assignments posted on it, kind of like a short blog, or even have it as a tool for the students to use to ask questions, the options are endless I guess, but I really like the idea about the questions, because our students need to be asking more questions. (3) The third online technology resource that I can see potentially being helpful is Chatzy http://www.chatzy.com/. Similar in regards to the idea of blogs with Twitter, this would allow for longer responses and similar to what we do in our program with these blogs, have the students do a similar thing where they respond to the general topic and then have them comment on others and create a requirement of what responses should look like, that way we can engage the students thinking process of our content beyond the classroom and enrich their understanding and learning. (4) The forth and last online technology resource that I can see potentially being helpful is Quizlet http://quizlet.com/. This can be helpful, because even though many people do not use flashcards it is a very helpful tool in memorizing and learning new things. But, looking at U.S. History for example I could assign my students key vocabulary words and have them create these flash cards and associate a picture with the word and definition, that way when it comes time to do a chapter or whole unit review they have all the flashcards and can skim through all the material that we have learned during the period of study. It will serve as a quick reference and the students can have ownership of the definition and picture selection to better understand the terms. This could be helpful for AP too, but there are thousands of words that they must remember and this may take too much time, but it is an option.

Session Four Blog (MAiT 402-3)

Looking at the United States History curriculum one of the key areas of focus in the development of the United States and the making of our modern era is the Progressive Era. This era in American History will change the United States for the better, but with much resistance from the upper echelon of society, such as the Rockefellers and J.P. Morgan’s of the rime period. The Progressive Era will see many people individually and collectively fight for a better society, many of these reformers were journalist and in their effort of uncovering the filth of society they would be labeled as “muckrakers.” Some of the more famous muckrakers are Uption Sinclair, Jacob Riis, and Ida Tarbell.

With so many contributors to the Progressive Era it really allows me as a teacher to use a variety of resources from different academic areas to utilize interdisciplinary teaching and learning. From Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, Jacob Riis’ photography and book How the Other Half Lives, the creation of the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), the creation of the U.S. Forest Service, etc., all these people and organizations made huge contributions to the modern America that we now live in and we can use excerpts and make the connections to other subject areas. For literature the use of The Jungle excerpts help students make that connection to literature/English, visual aids with Jacob Riis’ photos help with the artistic view, and a look at health and science with the creation of the FDA. The FDA aspect is always interesting, because it gives me a chance to talk about health in class and relate it to fast food chains such as Taco Bell or McDonalds, allowing for the students to make real world connections with the Progressive Era.

This era allows for much interdisciplinary teaching and will allow students to grasp the content in many different learning modalities, enriching their understanding of the Progressive Era. I feel that with Social Studies that we get a lot of opportunities to incorporate other areas of study with our teaching and this really helps bring our stories to life for the students and we can reach a larger audience for engagement. Where if we just used the textbook and lectured right out of the book all day these students would be missing out on the depth and passion of history.

Resources:

Jacob Riis photos – google images “how the other half lives”  

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle excerpt – http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/jwb/ap/Progressives/JungleEx.htm

FDA’s origin & function – www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/Origin/ucm054819.htm


Commented on Troy Bristol's Blog -  fatheadtroysmc.blogspot.com   

Session Two Blog (MAiT 402-3)

1)      Two quotes from chapter one of Ravitch’s book looking at her journey through many educational reforms.

·        “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” This is actually a quote from John Maynard Keynes that Ravitch uses near the beginning of the chapter, but it says everything about her journey through educational reforms. The fact that as our evidence may prove a different result then expected it then becomes our responsibility to make any changes or modifications to fix the problem, otherwise what good are we doing. In education and in life it’s a series of trial and errors and we must be brave enough to admit our mistakes and then find ways to fix them as seen here in Ravitch’s first chapter as she searches for a solution and admits where she has been wrong, but also where she hopes to learn from these past mistakes to make the future solution better.

·        “I began ‘seeing like a state.’ Looking at schools and teachers and students from an altitude of 20,000 feet and seeing them as objects to be moved around by big ideas and great plans.” Ravitch begins to realize as she worked with the government to implement the best practices and hold schools accountable by a test that she was flying away from the ground and starting to lose her prospectus of what really was needed. We all can be consumed by a good idea only to later find that the idea was not as good as it was originally proposed, and Ravitch is recognizing this and the whole reform of accountability may in fact not be the best for the students, teachers, or even the schools. There is more to education that meets the eye and as good as it may sound to run it like a business that just doesn’t work.

2)      Ravitch gives a brief definition of a well-educated person and I would have to agree with her definition. A well-educated person is not a person that can pass a test and get a 4.0 on their Report Card, but instead a person that knows how to critically think and engage himself or herself within society. A person that can listen to a presidential debate and realize what each candidate can really offer to yourself and the country and look beyond all the mud slinging. A person that can rationally think about all the possible outcomes of an event before doing it. As Ravitch says an individual that “has a well-furnished mind, shaped by reading and thinking about history, science, literature, the arts, and politics. The well-educated person has learned how to explain ideas and listen respectfully to others.” A well-educated person doesn’t have to know every Standard for United States History in the eleventh grade, but instead understand how issues may affect you and be able to use some examples to explain why things are right or wrong. For example, it would be nice that you remember that the Brown v. Board was a Supreme Court case that overturned “separate but equal” in the classrooms, but if you can remember that segregation is bad and explain why reflecting on examples or experiences and strongly argue your case that would be a who lot more useful then just remembering a Supreme Court Case because someone said it was important. The ability to critically think is far more important then remembering facts to pass a test.

3)      Reflecting on our class discussion on the books first two chapters the one thing that stuck out to me was the fact that we can make mistakes. That sometimes our first instinct or judgment could be wrong, but that as teachers we are in the field of education and we must admit sometimes that either we do not know or that we were wrong. As we realize that we are wrong we need to make sure that we correct that wrong. For example, in the classroom I have made the mistake of giving the wrong information as I was either assuming or mixed it up with other information, but I have always fixed my mistakes to make sure that the students realize that we are all humans and we make mistakes occasionally. So, reflecting on the first chapter primarily of Ravitch’s book and our discussion it’s important to realize that we make mistakes, but it’s how we respond to our mistakes that shows our true character.

4)      One of the gaps that I listed from my subject area that I could help fill would be the post-Vietnam era in United States History. There are so many sources that I could look at to further my understanding of this gap in my content knowledge, to make it more direct and useful I’ll look at Regan’s Presidency as that is the area with the biggest gap. One website that I found that was helpful was http://www.npr.org/news/specials/obits/reagan/timeline.html as this site gave a timeline breakdown of Regan and focused on the major events occurring during his presidency with links to video recordings of him on some issues. An article that I found was “The Reagan Doctrine: Principle, Pragmatism, and Policy” by Chester Pach of Ohio University. This Article goes into depth looking at Reagan’s continuation of fighting Communism and its affects on the United States and his policies. A quote from this document that I thought was interesting was in describing the administration’s position when dealing with Communism globally, “stand with ordinary people who have had the courage to take up arms against Communism tyranny.”  A book that I just looked at the review due to time is The Dead Hand: Reagan, Gorbachev, and the Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race. This book goes into the looks of the ragging war on Communism where after Vietnam the fear of communism still remained, but did not play as large of a role in policy making as it had in the past yet Reagan resurfaces a lot of the fears and what the role of the United States is to this threat. All three of these resources are helpful in understanding the time but the most helpful for a quick reference and a look at some primary sources was the website with Reagan’s timeline and links to recorded video to give a better picture of Reagan and the times.

5)      In the annotated process of my first four sources I have found that the sources that I have found have been very helpful towards my final question and has even made me wonder about re-wording my question to look at the issue of race and segregation within World War II in the Bay Area and how these issues are still present. But, looking at two of my sources and the annotated process I will quickly reflect on the sources and what I have got from them.

·        One source was an article called “Last Hired, First Fired: Black Women Workers during World War II.” This Article I found from the reference page of the book Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in World War II, and this article has helped my better understand the troubles that women faced during World War II and much more the challenges that Black Women faced in the working community. The fact that as a nation need a strong work force many employers continued to find was to not hire women and especially Black women and when they had to do to the how demand for workers that generally they were given the worst jobs possible. Segregation and race and its worst in a time where the country needed to be as united as possible. The references page for the book on Rosie the Riveter I will definitely use to find more resources.

·        Another resource that I found to be very helpful and further my understanding of the treatment of Japanese Americans in the Bay Area after the news of Pearl Harbor was a link on the website of San Francisco Bay T.V. where back in 1991 three Japanese Americans were interviewed on what occurred to them and their lives as residents of the Bay Area during World War II. The fascinating piece that was mentioned was the reference to the fact that many Japanese Americans have chosen to not talk about the incident that occurred to family members or other, a similarity that is heard from Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. It was interesting to see some of the similarities, even though what occurred in the Concentration Camps of the Nazis was by far worse that what occurred in the Internment Camps of the United States. 

6)      Question for Meg: with our Final Inquiry and Question I was wondering if my question based on content how do I merge the pedagogical component into it? My question for content is, “What were the social effects of WWII on the Bay Area?”

Responded to the following blogs:

• Yadira Zapata -http://unahistoriadeunamaestra.blogspot.com

• Mary Jane D’Arcy -http://mjdarcy.blogspot.com

• Troy Bristol - http://fatheadtroysmc.blogspot.com

Mind the Gap! (MAiT 402-3)

Examining the State Framework and CSET Overview for Social Science they seem to be pretty similar, where the CSET is pretty much a wide variety of content from World History, United States History, California History, Economics, and Government/Civics. The State Framework goes into more depth looking at each grade level from K-12 and gives more specific objectives and standards. So, for discrepancies between the two is just the level of detail needed to be covered from each grade level. 

In my teaching experience I have found that the State Framework has been very useful to reflect on my subject and guide me in the right direction of what the major events within my content area are that need to be covered, but beyond that a quick look at the State Framework I pretty much keep the book on my shelf at home. Most of the textbooks that I have used all have the State Standards at the beginning of the text and at the beginning of each new chapter on which Standards will be covered. As for really knowing my content I have found myself within a new subject teaching that I try to follow those Standards as closely as I can, but with experience I start to tweak how the content is delivered and vary a little to deliver the content the best way for all the students to understand and can flow with it.

With examining my United States History teaching year already looking at my gaps coming in the pre-colonial times and post-Vietnam era, I will examine the gaps in other fields that I have taught and most likely will teach again in the future. First starting with World History (tenth grade) I’d have to say that my biggest gap would be the Asian history. And when I say Asian History I am talking about all of Asia; Japan, China, India, Middle East, etc. My gap would be from the time period previous to where most of these countries were independent from European influence, as my interest has always been in European History that I really lack the content needed to explain why a lot of the events occurred within the Asian region. I manage when I teach the subject as World History has more of a Eurocentric viewpoint, but I really want to know more for my personal understanding and in case I have students that want to know more depth and I could be able to share that with them.

The other subject that I find that I have gaps in that I have taught in the past and again could teach again in the future is Government/Civics (twelfth grade). Even though my Major in college was Political Science I feel that this is one subject that I have a lot of gaps in. Looking at the State Frameworks book as the focus is on the American Political System there is a lot on how our government works but you only have one semester to do all of this. A lot of the fundamentals are assumed to have been learned in previous years, such as 8^th Grade U.S. History with the Constitution and then again in 11^th Grade U.S. History, but the depth of the concepts that need to be learned already are not and it’s hard to re-teach all the fundamentals and to then go for much more in-depth with our system of government in the short amount of time given. As for my strengths in this subject is the theory and practice of our government and when I have taught it in the past I like to bring up as much current issues as possible to hold a discussion/debate to practice the key concepts that we need to learn and understand how these issues affect us all. So, I would say that this is one area that I do the most deviations in with regards to the State Frameworks. Another piece that I feel I have a gap in within this subject area is a similar one that I have with United States History is the Supreme Court case in regards to the depth needed to know about all the various cases.

I hope to continue to learn and explore all the fields of history to continue to strengthen my gaps within my teaching and to grow my content knowledge to better prepare my students with the most important and relevant information to all them all to succeed. As an educator I have taken on the responsibility of being a lifelong learner and I look forward to what I still can learn and bridging those gaps in my content knowledge. One thing that I think will truly help with regards to United States History and Government/Civics is visiting Washington D.C., which I have wanted to do for some time now to further my understanding of this country and how it functions from a personal experience. 

Session One Blog (MAiT 402-3)

1)      Outside-school experiences have helped tremendously in deepening my understanding of a lot of my subject area content knowledge. A great example of this is when I have taught World History, I have traveled to Europe twice and been fortunate enough to travel with friends that live in the countries that I have visited and been able to get a better understanding of the culture and history of those locations. When I visited Berlin, Germany and saw the history of WWII and the Cold War really brings to life the content knowledge and having the stories from the locals and pictures have really helped bring my content alive for the students. The ability to step beyond the textbooks and tell more personal stories I have found the students are more likely to be engaged and have the content stick.

2)      Based on the discussion on Ball’s “The Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers” my initial opinion has not changed, but more so been re-enforced. Re-enforced in the prospectus that as a teacher it is our responsibility to be continuously bettering our own personally understanding of the content that we teach. I personally have found that my earlier educational experiences from secondary school and earlier all played a role in setting the foundations for me to be able to succeed in school and life, where it was not until college and post college (outside-school experiences) that my knowledge of the content has grown immensely. So, as Ball tries to prove that most of a “teachers’ subject matter learning occurs prior to college,” I wouldn’t full agree. There is a base of learning that sticks with you from prior to college, but I would say that the majority of the subject matter learning occurs in the years that you decide that you want to be a teacher and continues to the day you no longer care, because as long as you have a passion for your subject matter you’ll always continue to accrue new knowledge. To just point out a passage from the Ball reading, “their own intellectual qualities are critical. Teachers must care about knowing and about inquiry.” As educators it is our responsibility to constantly challenge our students and ourselves.

3)      The question that I am working on developing for my inquiry is based around World War II and the home front within the Bay Area. I want to look at the impact that World War II had on the Bay Area for the different groups of people that the Bay Area represents. Looking at the social inequality of African Americans as represented at Port Chicago, Japanese Americans with the Executive Order 9066 and the Internment camps, and women as seen with the shipyards of Richmond and all around the Bay Area. So, looking at the social impact of World War II on the Bay Area and to look for experimental learning sources I plan on going to Mare Island, Vallejo to check out the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum; Richmond to go to the Rosie the Riveter Memorial; International Museum of Women in San Francisco; and the Japanese American Resource Center Museum in San Jose. I believe that this will give me a good starting point to gather the information needed to tell the story of what it was like to live in the Bay Area during World War II and what sacrifices people had to make in the response to a global war. My inquiry may also lead me to Alameda to research Neptune the boardwalk that had to close during World War II to see what impact the War had on children too.

4)      Some quotes of WWII

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” - General Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom.” - General George S. Patton, Jr.
“I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” - Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, upon learning of the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor


Commented on the blogs of: Andrew Eckloff, Juliana Wegher, & Tom Coughlan.

5 Possible Guiding Questions:

5 Possible Guiding Questions:

1. What were the effects of WWII on the Bay Area? Analyzing the social, political, and economic impacts.
2. How has John Muir impacted California History and what is his legacy?
3. California Boardwalks: What was the impact of the California Boardwalks on the society and how did the closing of so many during WWII impact those regions that lost the boardwalks?
4. How do students look at war and learn it? How can I utilize this knowledge to better educate the classroom the wars presented in history and there impacts?
5. What is the role of the individual and what role do we play in our own history as we analysis past histories?