Matthew+Drause

My name is Matthew Drause. I am a Senior, who has been pursuing a degree in History, with a minor in German for the majority of my undergraduate life. I recently decided I would also like to get a Biology minor, adding variety to the my coursework. I find a great deal of interest in the interconnection between disciplines. My main areas of interest are colonial history and turn of the century American labor movements.

Academic pursuits are the main focus of my time during the school year, but during the summer, holidays, and occasional weekend I work as Transporter and Emergency Room Clerk at Crittenton Hospital Medical Center, where my peers cease being college seniors but rather legal seniors. I have been employed there for the past four years and have learned a lot from dealing with a variety of ailments, from broken tibia to tuberculosis, and patients, from the pouting pediatric to the jovial geriatric.

Outside of the workplace and study space, I enjoy reading, hiking, the occasional 5k, and quick stints in the kitchen. I find myself doing a lot of pleasure reading about evolution and anthropology, as well as satire. My favorite books are //Guns, Germs, and Steel// by Jared Diamond and //Player Piano// by Kurt Vonnegut. On nice days I like to go hiking or mountain biking. I like to spend as much time outdoors as possible.

I would love to find a teaching job in a small mountain town in Appalachia or the Ozarks. I would love to work in an underserved area. I find a good education as the most important way to cure all the social problems currently consuming the News every night. I want to make a difference in teaching and want to do it somewhere, where I can climb mountains.

I believe that the 2 most fundamental problems in the world today is a disparity in quality education and healthcare. I believe that if both health and education are the best ways to empower all of human kind. Both are fundamental human rights in my opinion. I do my best to direct my lesson planning towards teaching for critical thought and social justice, and outside the classroom I am active in several volunteer organizations involved in public health, with a special interest in Malaria (its epidemiology, as well as societal factors contributing to its spread). Below is a video, which helps to describe some of my outlooks on both issues: media type="custom" key="10430406"

I had mentioned the Blood Battle in class. MSU won for the first time in 5 years. More importantly over 11000 lives have been saved! 1890 units donated1996 units donated

=**9/11 Lesson Plan:**=


 * Of Pride and Perspective: September 11th, 2001 from an objective context**
 * Purpose:** Students are to understand the differing factors and perspectives contributing to 9/11 from both terrorist and American points of view. Students are to develop their own informed beliefs about the causes of terrorism.


 * Materials:** PowerPoint including key terms and short historic timeline, dry erase board and markers.


 * Introduction (5 min)**: A brief overview of 9/11, including what occurred, who did it and their rationalism. This will include a list of other Al Qaeda attacks, and U.S. response to the attacks (Afghanistan).


 * Why the Middle East (10-15 min)**: a lecture guided discussion of the current politics in the Middle East, including American influence in Afghanistan ( funding/training of mujahedeen), history of colonialism and intervention, U.S. support of Israel, and heavy poverty. Ask students periodically to insinuate the benefits many of these policies might have for the U.S. and how it might influence how the Arab world views the USA. Have students draw own conclusions from information provided.


 * Why Muslims? (10 min):** Continued lecture guided discussion shifting to role of religion historically in uniting people and/or justifying conquest. Highlighted events: Crusades, Conquest of America, Northern Ireland, and India/ Pakistan conflict. Discuss the role of religion in nationalism. Discuss the deviation from dogma to fit purpose. Ask students to draw upon their knowledge of history to think of other examples of religion being used to unify a people, for good or bad.


 * American Response (5-10min)**: Further presence in the Middle East (Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq), strengthened American nationalism, and some xenophobia against Muslims. Discuss importance of presence for stability and protecting region, but also how it further affects Arab sentiment. Analyze idea of all Muslims as terrorists compared to all Americans as Infidels.


 * Group Venn Diagram (10-12 min):** As a class, compare/contrast 9/11, its causes and reactions from an American and Terrorist points of view. Draw this on Board as a Venn diagram. What is similar and what is different about the two perspectives (focus on differences: Religiously based (terrorist), Ethnocentric (terrorist), Economic (America), indirect (America)). Similarities (Nationalist motives, many deaths, in reaction to injustices against them)


 * Wrap Up (Rest of Class):** Reiterate the heinousness of 9/11, but go over the factors leading to the attack. Go over how American policy and actions abroad have real affects on real people and how we can alienate whole groups. With perspective 9/11 is not a simple atrocity but a very complex series of them. Foreign policy and different cultures interacting is complex, as the semester goes on we will further look at both sides of players in U.S. history in order to fully understand the past from a historic outlook, not simply an idealistic myth.

**Sample Five-Day Unit:**
Model K-W-L chart with students, as they fill out their own individual sheets during the class discussion to identify what they already know about the war, what they wonder about, and what we intend to learn about. Read first section about America in 1810-1812, so there is a context for the time period in which the war took place
 * Unit Title: the War of 1812**
 * __Day 1__**
 * Topic:** Introduction/Background
 * __Objectives__**__: 1.1, 1.2__
 * Event:** Think-Pair-Share about what students already know from previous history classes about the War of 1812.
 * Assessment:** Diagnostic and Formative recording of knowledge (K-W-L charts)


 * __Day 2__**
 * Topic**: Causes of the War
 * __Objective:__** __2.1__

Students will then engage in small group discussions about what they read, filling out as a group a list of questions about how they interpret the causes of the War (whether they were rational, opportunistic, foolish, or war was necessary)
 * Event:** Students will fill out a worksheet as they read a section in their textbook.
 * Assessment:** Answers on worksheet are correct, group questions show examples and logical interpretations of the information provided in the textbook.

__**Day 3**__ Topic: The American Assault
 * __Objective:__** __3.2__

The class with further go on to analyze why America was able to be so aggressive initially, writing down their own answers to be turned in before class’s end.
 * Event:** Students engage in a group discussion to accompany a lecture on the early years of the war. Students will be questioned about American fear of an Indian Nation ( British backed) to the West, the invasion of British Canada, and British involvement in the Napoleonic Wars in Europe at the time.
 * Assessment:** Formative observation of students participating in discussion, as well as their use of logic in their written responses.


 * __Day 4__**
 * Topic:** The British Assault
 * __Objective:__** __3.2__

Students will read a firsthand account of the occupation of Washington DC. They will discuss the importance of this event from a military perspective, as well as a national pride perspective in small groups.
 * Event:** Students will participate in a guided reading about the final years of the war. Students will be asked questions at random about the reading/their interpretations of it.
 * Assessment:** Formative observation of Students engaging with the reading and discussing the different implications of a single event.


 * __Day 5__**
 * Topic:** The Legacy
 * __Objective:__** __3.5__

Students will choose two of the options to write about on their own, using examples from the textbook, as well as their own inductive reasoning.
 * Event:** Students will be given prompts to discuss how the war was important from a Foreign Relations standpoint, Canadian unity standpoint, and a U.S. pride standpoint to discuss in groups.
 * Assessment:** Students are demonstrating an understanding of the events, which occurred during the war, but also using their understanding of the events to put their effects into a broader historic context and understanding.

**Elective Course Description:**

 * Course Title: Age of Empires**

No force on the planet earth has played as active a role in shaping the map as empire. Empires are directly responsible for discovery, development, and diffusion of many of the essential aspects of a civilized life, from language to technology to agriculture. Empires have served to connect the world through trade and conquest. Though the character of empire has changed over time, the ultimate functions of the civilizations have not. Empires serve as leaders in their times, on the grounds of military might, political philosophy, cultural dispersion, trade, and political influence.

In this course students will study empires ranging in time period from 500B.C. to the present. Students will address the features common in empire and features that differ in them. They will be taught the historic context, in which the empire existed and how that empire affected its time period. Students will also look at the long lasting effects of empire, such as the diffusion and interaction of cultures, technology, and the concept of citizenship. Militarism and diplomacy of the great empires will be addressed and analyzed by the students to understand how empires grow and remain stable. Students will ultimately be able to address the character of empire, including its benefits, costs, and dangers. Units: 1. The Classical Empires (Persian and Greek) `Students will learn about the Persian and Greek Empires and their roles as the first super-empires. The lessons will focus on the two empires at the height of their reign. The Persian Empire controlled much of the Arab and Persian world, playing a major role in the regions development. Students will then learn about Alexander the Great and how his empire expanded so quickly. They will discuss the factors that made it so prominent at the time and why it ultimately declined. 2. The Roman Empire Students will learn about the history of the Roman Empire including important dates and events. They will learn the extent of the Roman Empire as well as its interactions with other nations, such as Carthage. Students will also analyze the shift from democracy to empire and see how totalitarianism affected conquest. Students will address the reasons the Roman Empire fell, including too much territory, political instability, corruption, and Students will look at the colonial powers from the 16th to 19th Centuries. The discovery of America and its conquest by the Spanish will be discussed, explaining the role of disease and technology in the conquest of the new world. Students will also learn about the partitioning of Africa in 1885. Students will focus heavily on the legacy of colonialism in the world.Students will address the areas as are colonial powers still influential, and what colonial powers fizzled completely. They will discuss the reason some past colonial powers are still thriving, while some are largely in decline, but still better off than many of their former colonies. Students will learn about mercantilism and its role in the economics of empire. Empires still exist today, but in a different shape. Powerful nations are still hugely active and influential in nations far from their own. The United States will be the primary example of informal Empires. Its role in Latin American politics will be the primary venue from which hegemony will be discussed. Students will discuss the character of Empire and how powerful nations foreign policies compare to that of empires. Students will address how economic interaction between the United States and the third world compare to the empires of old.
 * 1) 3. Colonialism
 * 1) 4. Hegemony (Informal Empires)

Students will have many texts available to them in this course. The primary text will be a world history textbook, but supplementary readings will be provided. I like the idea of using excerpts from Jared Diamonds book __Guns, Germs, Steel__ as thought provoking supplements. There are also many primary resources available from diaries of explorers and elites to illuminate on what empire meant to people at the time of its existence. As far as films are concerned, there are thousands of documentaries addressing individual empires and conquest to choose from, but I think using clips from Star Wars might be the best way to connect with students about what “Empire” actually means. It will help students to think outside of the box.

Students will be assessed by homework done in conjunction with the readings, in order to insure they read the book and had a fundamental knowledge of the empire we would be speaking. Homework would comprise about 12% of the grade. There will be short (1-2pg) essays due after each unit addressing the students opinion about an abstract question relating to the material taught. These will be about 10% of the students final grade each. Students will also have written tests over the concrete details of the Empire (Events, Important Figures, Examples addressed in class, etc.). The tests will be multiple choice/short answer. They will be specific, but this is more to motivate students to know the details about the topics that they are discussing. I think tests are a good motivation to look at what their learning with a more content centered approach. This will give students a bas of knowledge to draw from, when they address more abstract connections and ideas. Tests will be worth 7% each. The final assessment will be a 5ps essay comparing and contrasting the empires we learned about. Students will ultimately pick and defend the empire they felt was most influential and why it rose to power. This will be worth 20% of the students grades.

**Sample Study Guide for Chapter 3 of the //Instructional Strategies Handbook://**
~Note: I believe strongly in students being their own guides in learning/studying. This involves having concepts first taught to them by book or teacher, followed by their own review. I believe such review (in this case study guide) should be straight forward enough to be easily completed, but also comprehensive enough to encompass the entirety of a lesson. I think the following study guide serves to give any student a guide to what to know form the text, but also relies on them to reread and rethink about the concepts from the text. In rewriting (should they choose to) the main concepts from the text, they may internalize the main points of the reading, through repetition, and thin about it as they do it, in order to facilitate higher thought. The learning from this comes from repetition and acquiring a **base of knowledge** from which to think and in which to engage.
 * Study Guide:**

A.The Lesson Plan
 * Making it Work in the Classroom: Study Guide for pp.67-88**
 * Be able to define/summarize the following key concepts from the text**
 * a.****Components**
 * i. Lesson Objectives**
 * ii. Assessments**
 * iii. Initiation or start of lesson**
 * iv. Teacher Activities**
 * v. Student Activities**
 * vi. Closure**
 * vii. Materials and Resources**
 * viii. Reflections**
 * How are the following components of a lesson plan connected?**
 * Are any of the following preparations more important than others (if so, then why)?**
 * Are the templates provided on pp. 70-71 well organized in their content and clear in their objectives?**
 * How specific should the plan be in your opinion?**


 * B.****The Importance of Reflection when Planning**
 * a. Reflection-in-Action**
 * b. Reflection-on-Action**
 * c. Reflection-for-Action**
 * In your own opinion, how can the above “Reflections” better a lesson plan?**
 * Will the “Reflections” be consistent from class to class? Why or Why not?**
 * How do the purposes for the “Reflections” differ from, one another? Are they all serving a common purpose or are they have different results?**
 * d. Action Research**


 * C. Motivation and Its Relation to Planning**
 * a. Flow Experiences**
 * i. Anxiety**
 * ii. Apathy**
 * iii. Boredom**
 * iv. Flow**
 * Understand the chart on pp. 77**
 * b. Self efficiency**
 * c. Locus of Control**
 * Are the 3 concepts listed above strongly connected/complimentary?**
 * What part of lesson plans should student motivation/perception affect?**


 * D. Guiding Principles for Classroom Management and Discipline**
 * a. Management**
 * b. Discipline**
 * c. Relational Teaching**
 * d. The Ten “Truths” (Why are they effective)**
 * i. Reduce Student Group Size**
 * ii. Visual Stimuli to Promote Thinking about Behaviors and Contents**
 * iii. Spend Time with Student Outside of a Classroom Role**
 * iv. Rewards and Appreciation for Student Effort**
 * v. Interact with Students, Other Teachers, and Parents**
 * vi. Don’t Sit While Teaching; Interact!**
 * vii. Make Lessons Real and Hands on**
 * viii. Use/Develop Sense of Humor; Avoid Sarcasm**
 * ix. Establish High Expectations, but Teach Piecewise (In Small Segments)**
 * x. Look for Opportunities to Develop Strong Rapport with Students**


 * E. Approaches to Classroom Management**
 * a. Behaviorism**
 * b. Canter’s Assertive Discipline Model**
 * c. The Dreikurs/Albert Model**
 * d. Ginott’s Model**
 * e.Glasser’’s Model**
 * f. Jone’s Model**
 * g. Kounin’s Model**
 * What points are consistent in all models?**
 * What are some examples of when the models would work best and how they work best?**


 * F. Take Away Points**
 * a. Strive for a __Suitable Level of Generality__**
 * b. State Guidelines __Positively and Clearly__**
 * c. __Specify__ your __Expectations__**
 * d. List the __Positive__ and __Negative__ __Consequences of Not Adhering to your Guidelines__**

**Portland Middle School Lesson Plan:**

 * Lesson Plan: The Peopling of the Earth**

2) I can identify when early human communities populated major regions. ||
 * **CLASS: 7th Social Studies ** || **DATE: Monday, October 17, 2011 ** || **UNIT: //Peopling the Earth// ** ||
 * **ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: **What will my students be able to do or understand by the end of class? ||
 * 1) I can identify when early human communities populated major regions.
 * **ESSENTIAL QUESTION: **What 1-2 major themes/ideas do I want to explore with students in this unit? ||
 * 1) Was civilization an inevitable outcome of human activity?

2) When does a group of people become a civilization and opposed to a mere band/group? || 1) W 1. 1. 1 2) W 2.1 3) ||
 * **MICHIGAN ****<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;"> HSCE: **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">Which three state standards does my plan address?


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">HOOK/INITIATION: **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">What will you do to get the students invested in the lesson? ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Show students a clip of Geiko “So Easy A Caveman can do it” commercials and a short clip of caveman battling dinosaurs. Us this to play Myth-busters, having the class give their preconceptions about early man and then giving real facts about man. ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">TEACHER ACTIVITIES: **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">How will I convey the knowledge/skills of the lesson to help my students understand? ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">I will provide students with facts about early hunter/gathers during Myth-busters to counteract misconceptions (emphasize no farming, no dinosaurs)

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">2. I will provide students with a short 10-15 minute presentation via Prezi about the lifestyle of early hunter/gather groups. This will emphasize vocabulary words migrate, populate, and land bridge. This will include basic facts about the prey they hunted and provide a map with the approximate times of their habitation of the continents. I will highlight the dates, when it is accepted that people began to populate the continents. Images of the mega fauna will be shown to show the differences of species in the past. It will be emphasized that there was no such thing as farming or domesticated animals at this time.

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">4. I will write on the board feasible answers to “Why hunters would migrate to new lands?” on the board.

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">5. I will provide students with some example of how hunters “might” travel (boat, walking, always there)

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">7. I will provide a concise list of theories about how the continents were populated, with scientific/anthropological evidence of why the theory exists. This will also provide an introduction to Clovis culture.

<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Hook: 10 min. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Student Group work: 3 min. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Presentation: 10 min. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Student discussion/student presentations: 17 min <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Presentation of established theories: 5 min. || <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">2.They will listen to the presentation <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">3. They will pass their list to the next group over, and they will discuss and choose whether they believe the ideas people move today were similar or different to today. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">4. Students will share aloud reasons they believe hunter/gathers traveled from place to place. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">5. Students will then be asked to devise a theory of how early man got from one continent to another. They should give evidence of why they came to conclusions. <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">6. A group representative will share their evidence with the class ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Time: **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">STUDENT ACTIVITIES **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">What will the students do to demonstrate their understanding? ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">1. In groups of 5 students will come up with the 3 reasons people move today.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">CLOSURE/SHARE BACK: **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">How will the students share/interpret knowledge for others in the class? ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Students rank the rationale for migration listed on the board earlier in order from what they consider the most likely reasons for migration to the least likely. ||


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">BELLRINGER: **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">Students will be asked to write a short chore list for what they think a “cave man” would have to do.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">TICKET OUT THE DOOR: **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">Give me ranked list of reasons hunter/gathers might migrate || **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">ANNOUNCEMENTS: ** ||
 * ^  || <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Bagel Day on Wednesday ||
 * ^  || **<span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">HOMEWORK: ** ||
 * ^  || <span style="font-family: 'Garamond','serif';">Read short article provided about Clovis culture. ||


 * Outline for Lecture on the History of Halloween**


 * A. Introduction**
 * a. Halloween is celebrated on October 31.**
 * b. The holiday involves dressing up in costumes and "trick or Treating" in the united States**
 * c. The holiday is not a worldwide phenomenon, but in the UK children dress up and "guise"**
 * ~Thought Question: Why is Halloween celebrated at the time of the year it is?**


 * B. Samhain**
 * a. Celtic holiday marking the end of the Harvest/Summer, celebrated during the 7th and 8th centuries and likely before**
 * b. Believed to be a day, when the dead walked the earth**
 * c. People would dress up as the dead, in order to fool the spirits and the dead**
 * d. Believed to be a day to communicate and experience the supernatural**
 * ~THought Question: Why might this time of year be a good time to celebrate the harvest and what might the weather have to do with the dead?**


 * C. All Saints Day**
 * a. A Christian holiday celebrated on November 1st**
 * b. Celebrated by a feast at night, after worship and recognition of saints, often specific ones**
 * c. Originally All Saints' Day was celebrated around the christian world on different days ranging from November to May**
 * d. The date November 1 was standardized by Pope Gregory in the 8th century**
 * e. The 8th century was also a time of great Christian expansion in the British Isles**
 * ~Thought Questions: Why might this time of year be appropriate or the best time to celebrate the saints?**
 * What other motivations might have been factors in selecting November 1st for the celebration?**
 * E. All Souls Day**
 * a. Celbrated on November 2nd in many Catholic countries.**
 * b. Seen as a day to remember/communicate with dead loved ones**
 * c. In Spain/Portugal children go door to door and receive cakes.**
 * d. In Latin America (largely in Mexico) it is called Dias de las Muertos**
 * - This is a very large celebration, including parades, feasts, and visiting of relatives graves**
 * - Children given sweets from neighbors homes**
 * ~ Thought Question: Is All Soul's day related to Samhain at all?**
 * What might be the reason All Souls Day is celebrated different in Mexico and Latin AMerica, than elsewhere in Europe?**


 * D. Halloween as an American affair**
 * a. Trick or Treating became popular in America in the 1910's, in New England and Canada**
 * b. It occurred mostly in communities with late Irish, English, and Scottish immigrant populations**
 * c. Jack-o-Lanterns are carved pumpkins, used preferably to the turnips carved in Europe**
 * -Their glow is associated with mythology regarding willow-wisps from Ireland/Scotland**
 * d. Halloween was used as a good chance for children to escape sugar rationing during the Great Depression**
 * e. By the 1950's the Holidays popularity had spread country wide.**
 * f . Association with corporate culture (candy, cards, costumes)**
 * Thought Questions: What did immigration patterns have to do with the spread of the holiday and why?**
 * At what point in history did Halloween, cease being an import and become something distinctly American?**
 * Is modern Halloween more closely related to Samhain or All Saints Day in your opinion?**

**Lecture Outline:**
//Subject: 10th Grade United States History//

[[image:unitedstates1830.jpg width="400" height="320"]] [[file:Lecture Outline.pdf]]




Political Cartoon and Questioning Strategies:



 * Questions*:**


 * What time period do you think this poster is from?**


 * What is the character supposed to represent? Why?**


 * What does the sign say?**


 * What does is mean?**


 * Why are the traits on the character supposed to represent?**


 * Is this how people actually look?**


 * What would be the benefit of making an enemy such a way?**


 * Is is okay to use racist messages if we are at war with another nation?**


 * Does this same apply for peacetime?**


 * Would it be acceptable to use such images today, for instance in a reference to the War on Terror?**


 * I turned in my original list of questions, so this is not my actual questions used in the microteaching, but the questions were derived from a similar line of thought.

**Concept Attainment Example:**
Avner Segall argues about the idea of a map as a narrative. According to him, a map is never neutral, but rather a very subjective depiction of data. He argues that map makers are often attempting to depict certain values and assumptions. He believes teachers need to embrace the idea of a map being more than a fact. I found the section on interrogating a map to be consistent with the ideas about concept formation in Bruce Larson and Timothy Keiper's book //Instructional Strategies//. Segall claims students working with maps need to question what the cartographer was seeking to show with the map and how is this value being expressed. This idea embraces the bias of a map as being a concept. Students can list attributes regrading the map, find example and nonexamples, and develop data to support their idea of what the bias is. The map can serve as the overarching concept and students will develop factual information in order to support and critique the concept.

Sandra Schmidt argues for the importance of understanding the role geography plays in human/political interaction in her article "Who Lives on the Other Side of that Boundry". She cites the importance of understanding where a nation is in its own development of culture. geography affects how a place identifies itself, but also how it views other nations. There is a great deal of assumption, which can be made about a place based upon where it is in regards to other places of interest. For instance, a nation surrounded by Spanish Speaking nations would be assumed to speak Spanish. Schmidt argues that it is important to understand how these borders are drawn in order to understand the validity of assumptions we might make about a nation. One needs to look critically at geography to understand how it can culminate as a venue with which populations develop their charqacter. I think this relates to "Concept" in many ways. It is the ultimate culmination of concept. The way a map looks is a itself a concept. Students need to understand what factors go into making a map and why it looks the way it does. This approach advocates the map as being a fact rather than opinion as Segall posited but remains very similar in the use of a map/geography as a concept.

Pamela Wasserman finds geography to be more of a tool to understand a concept than itself being a concept in her article "Our World of 7 Billion". She argues it is important to first understand what a concept really means, in this case how much 7 Billion truly is, and then apply that concept to the real world. She still utilizes geography, because it helps to depict how the concept affects the world and, more directly, why the concept is important and relevant. Understanding where population grows the most and what it means is the main concept she looks to inform about and everything else is datat to do with this concept of &million. Geographic data is relevant for understanding what population means, what it looks like, and what its effects will likely be. I find this to be a more pragmatic way of adressing a concept, rather than having a cartographic concept. Here she explores a different way of framing a concept, but how she intends to inform about it applies the same stage Keiper and Larson advocate and is analogous to the stages Segall and Schmidt might use to advance their concepts.

Geography is a subject with a great deal of depth and durability, though it is often seen as a very simple concept. I find that the first two articles by Schmidt and Segall were both applications of the concept of geography in a classroom. They both involved examples of how to guide students to appreciate the way geography can be a dynamic issue and how maps can mean far more than merely borders. The article by Wasserman, on helping students to understand what a population of 7 billion means, focused more clearly on the need to help students understand what figures actually imply and how they show a narrative as well. I find all read ins to be constant with the concept of a //concept// given in our //Instructional Strategies// book. I think it is important to get students to compare and contrast issues when thinking about them in order to actually understand the multiple dimensions of a concept. I think this is an important tool in geography. If I were attempting to guide a student to understand the concept of religions in regions across the globe, I think this tool of comparison would be very important. It seems the book highlighted the importance of questioning to understand a concept. In dealing with a concept, the questions should be of a convergent nature, because I think (at least in early stages) concepts should be heavily concrete. One cannot begin to draw their own hypothesis and beliefs about a concept before they first understand it, and thus it must be concrete, thus the product of convergent questions. In the case of discussing religious geography one might compare where certain religions exist, then compare the same religion in different regions. A students would also look as dispersal patterns and question why religions exist where they do, how they spread, and whether it seems logical. They would look for outliers as well. After understanding the basic concept, they could further analyze it, deciding if regions were truly homogeneous as they might pear on a map. This concept could draw upon their own background knowledge of their own communities or current events dealing with the issue. Ultimately this could lead to a discussion about how religions within one region interact and how different regions interact. This idea leads to further analysis of what realigns actually mean to the identity of a culture. Culture can be a larger concept stemming from the original concept of religion. These concepts all stem from the basic idea of a map of religious areas. Concepts can be derived from very simple artifacts and be full of learning. They need to be coaxed and formulated in a student however. Concept formation is fundamental to critical thought, as a concept serves as a basis for such thought. If we are to facilitate higher learning in students, we must first develop skills to help them develop the concept about which they will be thinking.


 * My Span of Lesson Plans:**