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.
