OCTOBER 2 2008 POST WORKSHOP BLOG ASSIGNMENT
The following questions have been devised by Dr. Charlotte Haller for those receiving graduate credits for the Academic Year Workshops.
As they are excellent reflection questions for us all we will use them for the post workshop blog assignments as well. Those taking the course for credit may wish to email their responses to Dr. Haller as well (email: challer1@worcester.edu)
1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.
2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?
3. How would you use this material in the classroom? If you do not currently teach this material, pretend that you do (you may be teaching it at some point in your career!).
4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?
October 2, 2008, American Antiquarian Society. Response is due by Thursday, October 16th.
1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include any highlights for you – new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favorite moment. Be sure to identify the main historical themes and the core documents presented in the seminar.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy these sessions. Having Tom and the other historians lecture is just terrific. The readings we were to do prior to this seminar were a bit daunting but gave some great background information for our discussions. I am continually amazed at the intensity, rapidity and and voracity of the land acquisition. Tom's notes and handouts will be particularly useful when preparing lessons for my students on Indian removal and vanishing Indians. We will be reviewing Manifest Destiny soon and this session will provide me with some good background information for my lessons. The teach back was also helpful in that we were exposed to some interesting ideas from out peers.
2. What questions did the seminar raise for you and how will you follow-up on those questions? Will you need to do further research – and if so, how will you approach that research and what sources are available to you?
As always each session reminds me of what I don't know. Alice Nash's presentation on the occular and secular view of examining the past raised questions for me about how I have been presenting lessons not only on Indians but other topics as well. I think as I continue to develop as a teacher my future lessons will consider this approach and hopefully help me create more interesting and relevant lessons.
As far as conducting research, I plan to use the Mass Archives and the AAS resources more often.
3. How would you use this material in the classroom?
I use lots of documents with my students. Documents like the "Shocking Murder..", "Horrid Massacre..." and the songs usually have a visceral appeal to students. They are good ways to catch their interest. Other information such as the discussion and presentation about Manifest Destiny will be useful in preparing lessons.
4. How does the material presented in the seminar deepen your understanding of the relationship between representation and reality in the history of New England natives?
As I said above, each session shows me how much I don't know and how my previous understanding of Indians was limited and secular. I feel I am gaining a much broader perspective, more grounded in verifiable information and less based on romantic notions.