He says history can be like story telling. He then lists six historic events that students can explore. First Mr. Socol talks about September 11th. He states that these stories are recent and on the minds of every American, but other catastrophes from the past might also give us hints as to how history is told through storytelling. He asks the questions, “How do we understand a previous event or why is an event no longer recalled? Might the event have impacted your community in some way, or the families of other students? How did things change or not as a result of the event? If we were writing history, how would we decide whether to include the event?” He wants the groups to consider how the stories of these other events were “constructed” and how those stories have changed over time.
He wants his students to think of all the ways that events are remembered. Newspapers, magazines, journals, articles include many stories around big events. By comparing what seemed important on the day an event happened and when it was first reported to what we know of it today, will help the students construct a sense of how history is written, and how it can change over time.
1. The General Slocum Fire. This occurred on June 15, 1904, and 1,021 people died when a steamboat caught fire.
2. The Prison Ship Martyrs. During the Revolutionary War, over 11,500 American soldiers and sailors who were prisoners died.
3. The RMS Lusitania. This occurred on May 7, 1915 and 1,198 people were killed when a German submarine torpedoed the British ship
4. Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 and 2,402 Americans were killed in an attack by Japanese aircraft on Honolulu, Hawaii.
5. The Oklahoma City bombing that occurred on April 19, 1995 and 168 Americans were killed.
6. The Attack on Blair House on November 1, 1950. Only a White House Police Officer was killed when two terrorists attacked the temporary home of President Truman.
Mr. Socol has made a very good point. I personally had not heard of many of these events. It makes me wonder how September 11th will be remembered. I think that United States history is very important. This is our country and we live here, we should know the important events that have happened. Even if they happened 10 or 235 years ago.
My second blog post was entitled If school isn’t for collaborating, why doesn’t anyone come? In this blog Mr. Socol talks about how school needs to incorporate ways for their students to “collaborate, connect, build knowledge and understand together. He states that if students wanted to learn by sitting at a desk and only “checking in with expert” when they have a problem, they don’t even need to come to school. With free WiFi everywhere these days students can check in anywhere and anytime. He states that “If school isn't about doing things together, just about everyone has better places to spend their day.” I completely agree with Mr. Socol.
He next says that the work world has moved forward, but the educational structure, slowly crawls along. For companies, it doesn’t matter what they do or make because they are constantly collaborating. They are able to talk with customers or clients across the world, and employees can communicate with each other anywhere also.
Mr. Socol says that educators think the best way to teach in with paper and pencil.
That is best learning environment is quiet children sitting at wooden desks and a huge book in front of them. This is simply not true. Mr. Socol then states what a classroom, and school needs of offer students.
1. First, the students need a learning environment where they can make decisions. They need to ask themselves questions like where they will work, what will they use how can they get help they need and will they work with others. It’s important to remember that this is not without guidance.
2. Second, students need to learn to work with a schedule. He states that we “have to create schools based in Project-Based Learning where students can work toward their goals in a "natural" human learning environment.”
3. Third, students need to have technology that helps with collaboration. He says that if you don’t have open internet access, and don’t allow student devices you are robbing your students of their basic needs. Students need to learn how to function in the world they are living in, not the past. People are using so many different devices these days, Skype, Twitter, Texting, Google Docs, and building their social networks. I am a firm believer in learning is doing. Mr. Socol states, if students are not learning how to do all these things, your school is a failure.
4. Forth, the environment needs to be free of honor rolls, class ranks, and treating some sports as less important than others. If these are not taken out of a system then, a school can become segregated within the students, bullying can start up, and it can prevent students from see the talents of their peers. He states that educators need to let students build their own social networks. Mr. Socol then makes a great example of how when 5,000 people attend a football game and only 50 show up for a Soccer game, we are sending a destructive messages. I thought this was a very good example. Mostly because that is exactly how my high school was. It was also the same with the clubs.
I agree with Mr. Socol that school need to be about collaborating. Students learn so much from school, and it is very important that they learn how to work with other people. Almost all jobs today have their employees working with people from around the world. It is important to know how to do things on their own, but working with others is the way to go.
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