Weekly Reading (6/13-6/17)

Armageddon Science: The Science of Mass Destruction

Science has an essential role in society and civilization, and unfortunately, as this book illustrates, a great potential to end both. However, in using this book to teach students my focus would not be on the devastation of humanity, but rather on the prevention of this possible occurrence by taking precautions mentioned within the book and also by alerting ourselves of the possibilities and technologies inherent within the study of science. Due to the intimate relationship between science and society, we as social studies teachers should elaborate on and explain the great world of science to our students because it falls within the realm of the social studies in that it expands with society. Students need to understand the newest technological sciences in the same way that they need to be literate in multiple medias. It is a growing aspect of knowledge that one needs to be able to master in order to fully comprehend the world around us, even if that is to understand how the world could potentially end. The more we know on the subject matter the more we can do to prevent its happening. Also this topic, of world devastation, can breed many learning routes within the social studies, like the importance of international diplomacy, foreign policy, geography, psychology, epidemics, and the list goes on and on. This book was a very interesting read and has a mass appeal to facilitating several academic debates in the social studies that would be invaluable in a classroom.

From the weekly questions I like the one about the perspective of today's "mad scientists" who is usually employed or encouraged by governments or large corporations rather than being isolated, like a Dr. Frankenstein. To me it seems that since the scientists are prodded along toward discovery by governments and companies that there may no longer be a "mad scientists," but rather a "mad employer" whether that be a government or a company. In the government's case, or most specifically the military's, it seems that there is no greater goal than defending the nation at any and all expense. They want scientists to keep them ahead of the game, even if it seems that diplomacy will never let nuclear or biological war happen. As for the companies it boils down to money, which we previously saw in All the Devils are Here. They employ the scientists to make the newest drug or the fastest processor or whatever so that they can distribute it throughout the world with the sole aim of making money rather than spreading a mutual benefit. In this way they are looking for the next big invention and pushing scientist to create rather than the "mad scientist" working on their own accord in utter isolation.

Weekly Reading (6/6-6/10)

Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity

The topic of celebrity is extremely relevant to the social studies and in nearly every field, with maybe the exception of Geography. Throughout history and especially in politics celebrity has been a key feature to the formation of governments, nations, policies, and movements. In our social studies classes we can use the current concept of celebrity and apply it to historical precedents or use it an analogous sense. Maybe even more importantly we can use the concept of celebrity to expose our students to current events that are indeed relevant to our social studies classes. Celebrity affects politics, culture and society in an unprecedented way in our world and therefore is a valuable topic of discussion and debate. Students could really learn valuable social studies lesson, and also life lessons, from the exploration of celebrity events and scandals. The evaluation of these events have a lasting impression on society, much in the same way that major historical events impact society. However, we need to guide students through the entangled web of celebrity because their minds are not as keen on proper behavior or the propaganda that is embedded in celebrity. Sometimes they take what they are told, or what they see for pure fact, when in the world of celebrity it might be far from the truth.

The question I would like to address is the one dealing with celebrity turned political candidate or vice versa, as it seems to be happening more and more in today's world. However, this is not a new trend. Think back into history, or just look at how many war heros have become American Presidents. This trend goes way beyond America too. Back in those times a war hero was a celebrity and were thus given power because of their fame, some of which turned out to be disastrous. But, when we discuss these things within a classroom we can show students how celebrities of yore were  or were not fit for the job, and then relate those instances to current day candidates, like the Donald Trumps, the Arnolds, and so on. Rather than dwell on the fact that some of these candidates win because of their fame we should teach our students to vote in spite of the fame and vote for the best candidate. There is a great civics lesson in this discussion and one that our students could greatly benefit from.

Weekly Reading (5/30-6/3)

What Technology Wants

I think that this book would be a very interesting topic for classroom discussion. Kevin Kelly brings about a multitude of issues, theories, and thoughts about technology that are open to debate and deliberation. From the title alone, What Technology Wants, a teacher could construct a very interesting discussion focusing on such questions as, Can technology "want" in the same way that humans "want"? Is Kelly assuming that what humans want for technology is what technology wants for itself? If technology can "want" then how do their human creators influence the technologies? Students may have a hard time, initially, but with some selected passages from the book I think students would be able to answer these questions and more. Another really interesting and highly debatable issue that Kelly discusses is the inevitability of technology. In a classroom I would ask students if they were able to predict a technology before it came out, and if they were able to, does that prove its inevitability? Or should we look at this on a larger scale, of regions, cultures, etc.? The questions pertaining to this book so easily fit into a format of discussion about technology, which makes them extremely useful in a classroom and to the exploration of technologies existences and consequences.  

As for the questions of the week I would like to respond to the following: Do you think technology shortens your attention span? As I noted in our discussion I would have to say that technology does shorten our attention span. I have witnessed this in myself. As I surf the web, watching videos, reading blogs or threads, I find that if I'm not amused within seconds I'm on to the next page. However, as others have noted, maybe this is not a bad thing. We are able to prioritize news, events, videos, like never before by using the web and by doing so we are able to get the information and amusement that we desire most in seconds. Maybe our attention span is shorter because we are evolving as media digesters and thus need less time to devour an equal if not greater amount of information.

Weekly Reading (5/23-5/27)

Peculiar Institution America's Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition

David Garland provides a multitude of teaching topics from his book, Peculiar Institution. One aspect of the book that is especially useful in the classroom is its dissection of the American governmental system and its direct comparison to the governments of Europe. A key feature in this lies in what Garland says about the American legislature and the judicial process. He focuses on the localization of American politics and how they are in contrast to a more centralized, top down approach that occurs in Europe. Not only does this partially explain the existence of the death penalty in American, but it also provides students with idea of how our system operates and how it differs from other governments’ systems. Garland takes time to dwell on this point to show his readers how our judicial system can be quite cumbersome, drawn out, and overwhelming with all its processes of appeals. Furthermore Garland displays how localized politics sways the national politics not only in the judicial branch, but also in the legislature. He uses the death penalty to explain this complex idea in a simplified way, and in a way that students could definitely understand and begin to analyze. Students today might not understand the intricate complexities of the American judicial and legislative bodies, but this book streamlines these notions with a compelling story of the death penalty that is at once both interesting and comprehensible.

As for the questions of the week I would like to focus on the following: Should we consider there to be a relationship between education and crime, and if so, should we consider allocating more money into education with the hopes of deterring future crime? I argued that we should do this during the discussion, which seemed to bring up many nuances of the educated criminal or serial killer, like Ted Bundy. I think this is missing the overall picture. When framing this question I do not think of these exceptions to the rule, the cases where someone who is educated premeditates murder as in the case of a serial killer or a two people get carried away with the end result being death. I think about the greater majority of crimes in a America, like robberies. It’s these cases of a smaller crime gone wrong, with the end result being the loss of an innocent life as is the case when a police officer is shot in the field that we need to focus on. This type of incidence in my mind could be greatly curtailed if education had more funding, which if used correctly could reach a greater amount of individuals and not only students, but also adults who think they have no other option than to turn to a life of crime. Education can remedy this by teaching concepts, ideas, and skills to a wide variety of people. Education does have the power to deter crime, it just depends are how we as a society are going to distribute it.

Weekly Reading (5/16 - 5/20)

All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

Through the entirety of this book, authors Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera, highlight several things extremely well. Time and time again, all those involved in the financial system that greatly contributed to the economic meltdown, evaded responsibility, neglected the tried and proven rules of the business, and assumed the best without preparing for or even acknowledging the possibility of the worst. Unfortunately this financial crisis can nearly be summed up with one word: carelessness. With this book teachers can clearly illustrate the values of work ethic and integrity, by showing the end all result of what happened to the financial system when these values were neglected.

Furthermore this book focuses on how what these firms were doing were unheard of in the decades before, and seemed to be defying the rules of borrowing and loaning money. The rules for lending are known as the four Cs and are as follows: credit, capability, collateral, and character (p.23). These are an important set of rules for lending money that firms and banks have used for decades, but were for some reason neglected by these companies that sought out subprime mortgage deals. I had the fortune to teach these rules to an economic class during my internship, and for this reason I know firsthand how important they are to teach and to know since they revealed to my students what lenders look for in a borrower.

Also the book mentions a rule/guideline to obtaining a mortgage of which there are others noted in economic textbooks. The rule is as stated: in order to get a mortgage you should be able to pay 20% down payment on the house, otherwise it would be too expensive and your chances of default increase significantly. By teaching this rule, as well the rules on lending the students get a better understanding of what can happen if the rules are not followed as illustrated by the financial crisis.

In response to my group's questions for the week I would like to focus on the one about homeownership. I have myself always aspired to one day own a home, but if that fails to be the case I would not consider myself less of an American or of less importance. Unfortunately this has been ingrained into the idea of the American Dream and thus exploited throughout the build up to the financial crisis by both the investment firms and the government. Homeownership is a nice idea, but it is not for everyone and some people might even be against it all together. We should not let an idea like this control our behavior because if we do we can be taken advantage of, which in my opinion was one of the leading causes of the financial crisis.

Weekly Reading (5/9-5/13)

Discussing Controversial Issues: Four Perspectives on the Teacher's Role by Kelly
Discussion Methods in an Issues-Centered Curriculum by Passe and Evans

            In the readings I found Passe’s and Evans’s article to be the most useful and applicable. As a teacher I have always wanted to implement personal journals into my classroom and even include them as a part of the students’ overall grade because like this article I think that reflection and writing are an essential component to the learning process. Also journals are a great way to summarize or relearn a particular discussion that went on during class.

I really enjoyed this article’s dissection of discussions, especially concerning the management of the discussion.  Along with maintaining the rule that only one person talks at a time, which I have learned from experience is imperative, the article also talks about letting the discussion flow rather than set up something overly rigid. Although I understand that a discussion needs to have structure and planning, I also believe that once a structure is taught to the students that they will be able to steer the discussion in a way that is beneficial to all and that satisfies the curiosities of those who wish to dive further into the topic.

The role of “committed impartiality” I also find extremely important to having a successful discussion, as reviewed in Kelly’s article. The article notes that students may misinterpret teachers who are vague about their ideas, which may have an adverse effect on the students’ behavior. Although it is also noted that a teacher’s influence may be overrated I would still rather my behavior be a positive example of a democratic citizen rather than be misconstrued and misunderstood. Furthermore our students need to see that we can trust them with our personal ideologies so that they can really get to know us, and so in turn we can get to know them, and thus engage them in meaningful learning. There is a two way street in the classroom that is grounded in trust, openness, and the fruition of knowledge, and  all of these aspects need to be observed by those in the classroom so that both student and teacher can learn together.