Response to workshop

1. A brief summary of the seminar. Include highlights for you--new information, a particularly useful exercise, a favoreite moment. Be sure to identify the core documents presented in the seminar.
During this session, we were introduced to various ideas about the first Thanksgiving and Manifest Destiny and how those are depicted. Also, the idea of occular and secular was very interesting. It was extrememly helpful to think about whose ideas were being portrayed and why. Sometimes, we believe we are saying things from a Native stand point but in reality it is our point of view for them.
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?
The most important question is how can I apply all this information to a 4th grade student. Some of the information we discuss is out of their league so to speak but many of the pictures and articles can be used to focus on different areas. In 4th grade, we teach native cultures of the various regions of the US so there is a lot of opportunity to bring information into the classroom.
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!).
The easiest way for me to use this information is by using the primary sources as a way to deepen the students' understanding of what we are laready learning. I would like to try to get my students to see things from an occular point of view by using these materials as well.
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?
It is definitely interesting to see how the history of Native Americans has been depicted throughout history and how it is then used to increase our own history. The secular and occular ideas were very interesting to hear and made me think about how I teach certain things in class.