BLOG #2

As I'm reading my classmates' blog posts, I'm realizing that I'm not alone in wanting to understand how we can impact young students in the classroom.  It is there, and at home, that children really begin to develop their own identity and to understand their roles in the world around them (and the roles of others).  For my project, I think that I want to create a tap into both of those environments.  I want to create a curriculum unit (or a few specified lessons that can be tied into an established curriculum) that facilitates students' journey toward self-discovery and self-actualization and, though it will be done in a classroom environment, the major cornerstone of the course will relate directly to their homes and families.

Some of the ideas that I have for potential lesson plans involve interviews of family members, a research component that involves a family tree and/or timeline, the creation of a family documentary (and presentations of those), and an ongoing journal that documents students' personal feelings about the journey itself.  Dr. Zamora suggested that in order for my lessons to move students toward reaching that goal of discovery and actualization, that I should experience them myself.  I actually had the opportunity this past weekend to do just that.  My grandmother passed away two weeks ago and we held her memorial service on Saturday in Dundalk, Maryland, where my father was raised and where his side of the family still lives.  Because we live pretty far away, I didn't really get as close to her as my cousins and I heard some stories at the service which really opened my eyes about the person my grandma was and what her life was like.  I didn't know that she didn't speak English until she was five- she was a little Finnish girl that was sat down in the back of the one room school and told to "learn."  That's how she learned English.  I never knew that. That is just one of the stories that made me recognize the strength of my grandmother.

I think that the stories of the family history is just one main component of what I'm imagining my lessons will involve, and I definitely need to flesh it out more.  I'm warning you all that I will be asking for help!!! :)  See you all tomorrow!