Leaning Process Blog 3

In continuing to read Takaki I have begun to write more things down. I have always had a hard time remembering cold facts and information and so I have learned that I need to find a method for quickly finding the important information after reading. This is why I highlight, but also why I take notes either in the margins or on a separate piece of paper. It is a method that I have taught the students in my practicum. We have been working on leaving behind evidence of coding in the text. We used strategies of summarizing important information, writing questions to something in the text, responding to the text, and connecting using background information. I think that using comprehension strategies such as these are imperative when reading texts that are loaded with facts and information. It helps to organize the information in a comprehensive way and allows the reader to go back to the text and pull out parts without reading the whole text over.

As Takaki continues to describe and present events from a different perspective I hope that when I have to teach social studies that I can find texts that represent many different points of view. I think that many times, children's texts are especially close minded and one sided, so as to not show the terrible side of societies. Although it is hard to express to students some of the happenings of our past, I think that it is only fair to them to give at least a simple understanding of different perspectives. I think that it is very important when Takaki tells words or thoughts from the side of the battle that is being suppressed. Students get to see the creation of uprising and the collaboration of a peoples to fight for their rights. Fighting for one's rights is such an important concept to understand not only for themselves but to use when interacting with others as well. Showing the students that there is always another way to fight for what is fair is imperative in the classroom. This is where they will learn their social and life skills, and this is one that I feel is imperative to know for the future.