Londons Calling

The Queen Mother says hello to all of her former subjects in the U.S. At least I'm sure that is what she would have said if I hadn't been too busy to go see her! While in London, my housing was provided by a family that I met last year, Bernard and Carmel Miel. Last Thursday, after stopping in at Starbucks for  an esspresso and free internet, I made my way to the South Bank where I at lunch at a little hole in the wall, it was named, Hole In the Wall. After lunch, I rented a bike and rode up and down the Thames for the rest of the afternoon; it was chilly and windy, but fun.

I must go now, I do not have the time to upload anymore.

2013–Happy New Year!!

     In America we say "Happy New Year!, in France they shout "Bonne Année!" for Sylvestre (New Years) to as many people as possible. For the second year in a row, I was in Paris for the new year and it was a blast! I was already in Paris for a young adults conference, Muchan. I had made a diverse group of friends including people from Israel, Switzerland, Holland, and France. We spent New Years eve at Trocadéro, near the Eiffel tower. It was such a fun and dangerous experience! The Paris metro was free of charge for the night, in other words, it was busy beyond capacity. At Trocadéro, we climbed atop the roof of an unknown building which had pyramidal metal grates for a roof, that if they had broken, I was later informed we would have fallen 20 meters! Thank God they did not break. At midnight, the Eiffel tower, which was decorated for the night, lit up with thousands of twinkling white lights and a few fireworks were set off. We had brought with us several bottles of Champagne which we uncorked at midnight and we drank several glasses to celebrate. Atop this roof, we met Gio, a doctor from Italy who was in Paris for New Years, he joined our group for the rest of the night (and morning).

     At the time of this post, I am sitting at a Starbucks in London near the Kings-Cross/St Pancras train station. Since the "Bux" offers free internet, I have, for the first time this trip, had ample time to respond to my e-mails, Facebook, and put some thoughts together for this entry. London will be my home for the next four days until I return to Paris to begin orientation for my study abroad. I am ready to be done with this writing and get about town a bit. So, here I go. Until next time. Mind the gap!
         

Preparing to Leave

     It is December 24th 2012; after dinner with my family and going to watch The Hobbit for the second time, at home I am continuing the Herculean task of moving out of my room, packing, doing laundry, and wrapping Christmas presents. All of this needs to be completed by 5:30 am on Wednesday at which time my parents will pick me up and take me to the charter bus stop at Bradley to catch my bus that leaves at 6 am . With so much to do in preparation for my trip to Paris and study-abroad in Rennes, it is critical to make time for the important things in life. So, I took a break to watch an epi of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This epi was appropriately named, We'll Always Have Paris. 
     Preparing to leave is a bittersweet moment. On one hand I am eager to embark upon this adventure, on the other hand, I will be leaving everything that have been my constants in my life. This journey is planned for six months, the longest that I will have ever been away from my hometown area. Much can change in six months. What will Peoria be like when I return? What will America be like? How will my friends have changed? Who will I be? In this moment I choose to not give way to doubt, anxiety, and fear, but to throw my life once again into the hands of God and step out in faith. 
    In the book of Isaiah it is written:
         Fear not, for I am with you;
         be not dismayed, for I am your God;        
         I will strengthen you, I will help you,         
         I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.(1)
Already, in preparation for this trip the Lord has opened up doors of unexpected blessing and financial provision. One of my testimonies is that I have a person to sublease my room for this Spring semester! Since I am one of the signees on the house lease, I am responsible for my portion of the rent, $200 a month. Though this is a good price, it stinks to think you will be paying for something of which you are not benefitting. So I had been looking for a person to sublease my room for a semester, not a likely prospect for the Spring semester, yet I held out hope.
     About a month ago, there was a possible candidate from Purdue who was thinking of subleasing. He is  member if Chi Alpha on that campus and was graduating this December. He had been hired at Caterpiller in Peoria and it looked like this would be the answer to my prayers, yet, in the end, Caterpiller helped him find more a more permanent housing situation. My hopes for finding someone to sublease withered on the vine. But, a little over a week ago, Kyle (one of my roommates), told me of someone from Bradley that he has been getting to know that has been commuting and wanting to get closer. This person was thinking he would move into the dorms. Living here would be vastly cheaper than the dorms while still providing for his need to be closer to campus, and after viewing the home last Thursday, told me on Saturday that he would move in for January-May. What a great answer to prayer! How good is my God! In the words of Michael Scott from The Office, it's a win-win.win.
     In the spirit of travel and new beginnings, I was inspired this afternoon to shave my beard. (part of it) As you can see I have been taking excellent care of my skin underneath that beard, which is baby smooth!

   December 24th, 2012

1. Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

Weebly

Well, in the spirit of 21st century education, I will be using Weebly to post my second unit plan. Check it out at: http://koldwar.weebly.com/
Please let me know what you think!

Loewen: Chapter 13

Reflection:

"If knowledge is power, ignorance cannot be bliss."
                                                                                – Loewen, 342

      We have made it to the end of this book, and we finally find out the answer to the problem of bad history, and it is:...ask more questions. I was really hoping for a more definitive ending after we had been taken through 12 chapters of critiquing and finger-pointing social studies and textbooks. I really wanted a concluding action plan, so I read the afterward only to be told to ask five questions: when and why was something written, whose viewpoint is presented, is the account believable, is it backed up by other sources, and how is one supposed to feel about the America that was presented?
     The best point, in my opinion, that he brings up is that emotion is the glue that causes history to stick. We remember most vividly things that emotionally affected us, ie., 9/11, fights with friends, etc. So, in the end, my practical take-away question is, "How can I get my students' emotions involved?" Apparently, it will be different for varying personalities, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, etc. As a teacher, part of my responsibility is to assess how to get each of my students emotions involved in our studies. Not an easy, one-size-fits-all task!

Japanese atomic bomb victim

Source: http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120618212214/fallout/images/8/83/Japanese-atomic-bomb-victims-47.jpg

Big Question: Loewen says history textbooks are too big already (and they are), how can we teach more in-depth when we cannot even cover all the material we need to as it is?

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJMf1Y9GBrA&feature=related
     This video could be used to expose students real people from a different viewpoint to give a broader understanding of peoples American experiences.

Cantù: Chapter 13

Reflection:

" Social studies teachers effectively use technology by engaging students in the use of primary sources and the inquiry approach"

                                                                                  –Cantù, Chapter 13, Section 2

     The final chapter of this e-book, chapter 13, informs of best practice in social studies by using primary and secondary sources in conjunction with technology. There are several sites and suggestions for finding and using digitized primary sources. The author of the book is involved with a grant to promote students and educators creating projects and learning using the Library of Congress online. In my ETE 371 course we created a Weebly website and student project to promote Teaching With Primary sources (TPS). My group and I found the LOC site to be difficult to navigate. As well, at least for our project, the resources that were digitized and available we slim.

     At the end of this book, I can look back and say happily that it has been very beneficial to me. I have already been able to incorporate several websites, such as the LOC, into my projects. From the host of technology sites I have used wordle, timetoast, Prezi, and pbWorks. Creating a digital book to teach social studies for a digital classroom is "putting your money were you mouth is" so to speak, and has been a great experience. It is so simple to visit websites for lesson plans, or watch videos by merely clicking on the link rather than having to type in the web-addresses.

Source: http://alwayswearacitation.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/primary-source.png?w=500

Big Questions: How can society prevent class differentiation on the basis of access to technology?

Link: http://atomicbombdrop.weebly.com/

     This is a webquest our group created on weebly for primary source learning using the Library of Congress.

Cantù: Chapters 12

Reflection: 

"Two primary reasons why students should study anthropology: 1) the subject matter is 'intellectually exciting,' and 2) it provides global information and builds critical thinking skills."
                                                                                         –American Anthropological Association (ASA)

     Chapter 12 focuses on the behavioral sciences of: anthropology, psychology, and sociology. It was not too surprising for me to see that there are little to no national standards for these subjects. Though they are intensely interesting, they do not generally fall within the STEM curricula that receives the lions share of attention in the educational world.
     In my high school, sociology and psychology were elective courses for upperclassmen. We had no anthropology class. So of the most interesting class discussions were in these classes. It is here that students primarily can question and be challenged with topics and questions that are critical to daily life. It is unfortunate that this domain is undervalued.

Source: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zJd%2BDyodL._SL500_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-big,TopRight,35,-73_OU01_SS500_.jpg

Big Question: How can psychology be rescued from the monicker of "kooky" science?

Link: http://www.tutis.ca/Senses/index.htm
     Site contains tons of flash, video, pdf, and links about the physiology of the senses.