Class Recap 5/28, 5/29

     On Tuesday in class, we went to the computer lab. We answered some quick questions on a worksheet regarding U.S. influence in Central America and surrounding areas. We sent troops in a counted 9 times in 30 years, which I find astounding. After we filled in the sheet, we went to a different website and chose a question to answer regarding Latin America. We read a document and then proceeded to put our 2-3 paragraph response in our blog. I have yet to finish my response, but it will be up in my blog very soon.
     Today in class, we worked on a sheet that organized our thoughts of the U.S. and whether they were a good neighbor or an imperial power. We looked at different amendments and laws that were established during the time period and talked about the U.S.'s intentions through each of the events. It was nice to gather all of the information from the past week or so.

Class Recap 5/22, 5/23

Wednesday's class was basically an extension of Tuesday's class. We continued on with Roosevelt's Corollary. It was interesting to put the Corollary into our own words and pull apart each section. I think it was extremely beneficial to me because now I am confident that I know it front and back, inside and out.
Today, we went to the computer lab and worked on our Smithsonian projects. I hope that we have at least one more class to work because I am close to being done as it is.

Class Recap 5/20, 5/21

On Monday, in class, we focused on Teddy Roosevelt and his influences on the Panama Canal. The class was based off of the Sophia we watched the previous night about how America gained control of the Canal from France. It was interesting to learn that France tried to build the Canal directly through the mountains. It is understandable because the only other Canal they knew how to build was at sea level, and the method for digging it was the only method they knew. America bought the Canal from France after they went bankrupt trying to complete the dig, and America tried to get Colombia in on it. Colombia refused the monetary amount. After some mysterious activity, Panama revolted against Colombia with the help of America and declared themselves an independent country. They went on to accept America's offer, which happened to be the exact same one they offered to Colombia. It was also interesting to learn that the completion of the Canal cut the route from New York to San Francisco by almost two thirds and cut the travel time in half, from 60 days to only 30. After we had a small discussion of the Sophia, we looked at political cartoons with a partner and answered some questions concerning their content. It was neat to see other people's interpretation of Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. After we looked at the comics, we read a speech of Roosevelt's and essentially picked it apart. I liked Monday's class because I never knew the history of the Panama Canal, but it also made me feel a bit sleazy as an American to be associated with Roosevelt's trickery.
Today in class, we gathered into groups of four and interpreted two different documents. We picked out the words we felt were the most important, summarized the documents, and then put them in our words. Then, we shared them "Boggle style" and edited each others' statements on the projected image. It was a pretty simple class as far as classes go.

Class Recap 5/16, 5/17

On Thursday in class, we talked about Yellow Journalism. The night before we had a Sophia tutorial that dealt with yellow journalism. We got into groups of three and read different events that occurred when Yellow Journalism was an issue. We created our own Yellow Journalist newspaper headings.
On Friday, we went around to each category and voted for our favorite newspaper heading. After we discussed Yellow Journalism and expressed which was our favorite, we closed class with discussion.

Class Recap 5/13, 5/14

For the past two days in class we had the period to work on projects or history homework.

Class Recap 5/7, 5/8

On Tuesday in class, we exercised the fishbowl activity. There were four different groups in class that represented different groups regarding the Trail of Tears. The point of the fishbowl was to have a discussion about the Trail of Tears and to come up with an answer to the question of its morality. Was it right to essentially force the Amerindians out of their homes and into the foreign west? Three of the groups, the Christian missionaries, the Cherokee, and the Congress all argued against Andrew Jackson who, in actual history, disregarded everyone else and continued to push the Indians out west. Even though his acts were unconstitutional, he was never impeached. I do not think that is fair at all. The Amerindians had every right to stay on their own land, and our own classroom fishbowl showed that the majority of people in the U.S. did not care either way or believed strongly in letting them stay.
Today in class, we partnered up with someone, in my case it was my buddy Laurel, and read a primary and secondary source regarding the chief Red Cloud. He had a lot to say about what the whites are doing to the Native Americans. It was interesting to read his speech and try to understand his motives when he got up and spoke to the crowd. Laurel and I finished answering the questions with time to spare. We ended class with a discussion about Red Cloud and a prelude to the end of the Indian Wars.

Class Recap 5/2, 5/3

On Thursday in class, we read three separate but related poems. The first poem we read was also the first one written of the three. It was called "A White Man's Burden." It was talking about how it is the duty of the white man to take power and to carry out the idea of imperialism with all of their made-up justifications. It was a confusing poem and even after reading it a few times through, I could not really get a good handle of it. The same went for most of the class. The second and third poems we read were related and written as a sort of response to "A White Man's Burden." They were called "The Black Man's Burden" and "The Poor Man's Burden." They were parodies and shared many similarities with the first. Our jobs were to find the similarities and then write a found poem, which proved to be rather difficult.
On Friday we went to the computer lab and tried to make progress on our Smithsonian projects. It was a good end to the week.

Adventures on the Oregon Trail

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/jsavagexx55/3310643