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Creativity is Necessary in order to gain a Unique Perspective on History

In world history this year, I thought we would learn about about a new topic every quarter, turns out we would learn about a new topic almost every week. From Religion to Revolution to Colonization we were always reading articles, watching videos, or doing worksheets. We gained a unique perspective on past events and current events through research and inquiry. I found myself in a difficult position during trials and roleplays, I had to abandon my personal opinion and become an entirely different person during the French/ Haitian Revolution Roleplay.

“Slaves cannot be free. Slaves are.... slaves. They’ve been slaves since before I was born. They think that they can... what? Live in society like the rest of us? They’d never be accepted, the only job they would get would be working as a servant. Which is what they are already! What would they do if they didn’t have us? We give them a purpose to be here! We give them jobs and food and a place to sleep. If they fight, they’ll no longer have the things they need to survive in life.” For the rest of my responses click here

It was very hard for me to write this, in the beginning. I didn’t like being that person, but after I started writing I thought to myself ‘what would a privileged, naive women during the French Revolution sound like?’ and the ideas just started flowing. This is one example of being put out of my comfort zone, and instead of seeing things from my own perspective, I was seeing things from multiple peoples perspective. Which ultimately provided the unique perspective I mentioned before.  

I think that the creativity required for this class was something that was not essentially talked about, but was something that was required in order to gain an understanding for the class. Almost every day we wrote a response to a quote or how we felt about a certain topic, and with every journal our minds grew. Another example is during the Cortes trial, we had to put aside our personal opinions and work hard to defend our given group. For my reflection on the trial click here.

Sometimes we were given the opportunity to really explore our creative sides and write plays, poetry, letters, we went on our own and created these things. We usually wrote the poetry as an opposite to something we had already read, for my poem The Somebodies, a response to The Nobodies click here. For my poem Modern Day USA, a response to The White Mans Burden click here

“Life moves fast. As much as you can learn from your history, you have to move forward.”-Eddie Vedder. Eddie has a point we do learn from our past and we learn from our mistakes but it’s always good to move forward and learn more about yourself. In Mr.Block’s history class we learned more and more about the worlds past and even ourselves. You learn more about yourself when you learn more about your past. We had many units where we got to discover more about ourselves.

I learned that I have a knack for writing. I would express myself in our journal prompts and really go into detail how I felt about the topic of the day. One of our journal prompts  was about fighting for what you believe in and whether you would sacrifice yourself my answer “I mean I don’t really believe in anything enough to die for it... I guess I can say I would die to save my family or loved ones, because they mean the world to me.. But if a random person asked me to take a bullet for believing in the chupacabra I’d be like, you got the wrong one.”After writing that I development a new idea. As we went deeper into our units and learned more about history my opinion on a lot of things change. I felt one way on something but after doing more research and understanding more I would the complete opposite of what I did. Like the Keystone XL Pipeline at first I was up for the pipeline because it would make more jobs, but after our pipeline unit I learned that this pipeline would not only be relocating a lot of people whose homes are in the path, but it it leaks it could a lot of animals and ruin the environment. I wrote three monologues about the Pipeline teaching people about the dangers of the pipeline, here’s a sample of one of the monologues

“Dear Mr.President,

If you do read this, I want you to know that it’s time to make a decision. This pipeline that’s supposed to “help” America is actually tearing us apart. My dad was one of the many protestors who was thrown in jail the other day. He is facing a lot of time for standing up for what he believes in. This pipeline, if made will force a lot of people out their homes My dad was standing up for those people who don’t have a voice. Their voices wouldn’t be heard if it wasn’t for him. I’m just asking for your help, can you just let my dad go please? You knew what it’s like not having a dad around. All I want is mine. I hope you actually read this and help me.

Margaret Brownwood”

To read the full monologue and the other two click here

To read more writing by me click here

One of my favorite units that I really related to was our unit on female scientist and the empowerment of females all over the world. Where we discovered that women all over the world don’t have the same rights as men, and that we don’t have enough females in the science field who make a difference in people's lives. I wrote on one of our worksheet’s from The Cyberschoolbus site that “If women are empowered they’ll start going to school, and we can have more empowered females in the world” and if we have more empowered women maybe we can be seen more than just sex symbols.  I wrote more on that in my journal entry number 46 “Girls were born to be pretty and sometimes used as sex symbols while guys were born to be masculine and be the breadwinner for the family.... When really it doesn’t matter who does what..... well society doesn’t think that”

An important get to know yourself unit was Revolutions and Colonialism. In class we talked about the French and Haitian revolution, the Colonialism of the Aztecs in 1520’s, the Egyptian revolution of 201, The Industrial Revolution. During these units we would have mock trials were you get to play a certain character to defend yourself against the people who did you greasy. During the trials you do background information on the certain person you got and you put yourself in their shoes and it’s was interesting learning about past lives that affect you know.

“The vast universe is a wheel circle of life, birth, death and rebirth”  -quote from sacred text reading, and that’s how our history is people went through what they did so I could be on the path that I’m on now,which is going to school and getting my education to better myself. “Things can happen all at once and little changes can make a huge difference” my response to Science Revolution Worksheet. And I feel as those putting myself in their shoes, I grew a better appreciation for the people who did what they did, but at the same time I learned from their mistakes and how not to repeat history again good or bad.

Overall Mr.Block’s class was interesting.... His teaching was hands on wich made a real impression on me. It was a comfortable learning environment where we could debate anything for hours and still not get out point across, (which has happened many times). We got to express ourselves through journaling and iMovies and songs and at the end of the day we still learned about our past. It wasn’t your average history class with any average history teacher.  

It’s July and my mother and father and I just finished traveling all the way from our home in Georgia to my grandparents lake house in Vermont. Every summer we come and stay up here for a week or two. It’s usually the most torturous week of the entire summer. All I think about is all the shit my friends are getting into back home. It sucks here. Nothing but trees, trees, a lake, and more trees. Where are the people? It’s a deadmans land up here for sure. I miss my friends and I’ve only been here for not even an hour. I was dreading unpacking my suitcase. I don’t wanna be here, if I unpack my stuff that’s just ensuring that I’m gonna be here for a while.

Stressed, and depressed I was out in the back of the house having a smoke when my grandfather comes out. “Mariella?” I threw the cigarette on the ground.

“Are you out there? Come here I have someone I want you to meet.”

Who the hell could my grandfather possibly want me to meet? The only people out here are in their 70’s and on the verge of dying. While walking up the steps I see a shaggy haired boy sitting on the front patio. Who the hell could my grandfather possibly want me to meet.

“Mariella!” Said my grandfather.

“This is Sid! I’m so excited for you two to meet. You guys are going to get along so well.”

“His grandfather lives in the big yellow house down the road a ways. He’s up visiting his grandparents for the week as well!”

The shaggy haired boy put his hand out to introduce himself.

“It’s nice to meet you Mariella.”

“Nice to meet you too Sid.”

Once the whole introduction was over I decided it was time to go finish that smoke that my grandfather rudely interrupted. I was sitting on a tree stump thinking about this “Sid” kid. He actually seemed pretty chill. He was pretty cute too. Shaggy brown hair and green eyes are my favorite. Maybe this summer week won’t be so bad after all. Out of nowhere the kid slops down on the stump next to me. “Hey.” He said.

“Jesus Christ you almost scared me to death.”

I hate when that happens. I feel like everytime I’m thinking about someone or something they pop up at that exact time. Almost as if he knew I was thinking about him. He pulled out a smoke as well. “Okay maybe this kids gonna be alright.” I thought to myself.

“So where are you from?” He asked.

“Georgia. You?”

“I’m living in Denver right now. Originally from Vermont though.”

We sat on that stump for nearly 2 hours talking about the weirdest things. Trading stories about our lives at home and all the crazy things we’ve done, and the crazy things we want to do.

The next morning I woke up to a knocking on my window. It was Sid. What the hell could he possibly want from me at this early in the morning. The sun was barely up and I’m used to waking up around noon back at home. I crept out of my bed and opened up the window which made the loudest most painful screech. “Top of the morning.” Said Sid. “Uh top of the morning to you too.” top of the morning? I thought to myself. Who says that. “I was just wondering if you happened to be busy today? I’m going on a little adventure and would love for you to join me.” He had such a evil, yet welcoming grin on his face. “Uhhhh I don’t have any plans at the moment.” I said. “Okay well we leave in 10. Meet me down the trail by the dogwood tree. I will be waiting.” Without giving me time to respond he quickly walked away. A little confused, I quickly put on clothes and hurried to the trail.

When I got to the trail Sid was carrying a giant backpack of who the hell knows what. “Hey.” I said.

“Are you ready to have the best time of your life?” In a almost cocky tone of voice.

“I mean I don’t know if it’ll be the best day of my life, but I’m ready to have a good time, for sure.”

We walked for about 30 minutes before we got close to our destination. Our destination being a tree house built on top of a giant oak tree. I’ve never seen something like this before. It was actually beautiful. We climbed up the trunk on a wooden rope ladder all the way to the top where we sat for hours with a pair of binoculars watching all of the animals roam around the land. We got on the topic of partying and how both of us were probably missing the best parties of the summer while we were in the middle of nowhere with our families.

“Man, why didn’t either of us bring a bottle of whiskey or something.” I said. Sid looked at me with an uncertain, anxious glare.

“What.. why are you looking at me like that?” I said to Sid to break his glare.

“Uh. I don’t know. I uh. I can trust you right, Mariella?”

“Is that a serious question? Tell me!” I yelled.

“Okay well, the other day a few of my buddies and I were hanging out around this lake that the kids at my school always throw parties at.”

“Andddd??”

“And there was this guy there selling this stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“I’m not exactly sure. He said it was some new kind of drug. Everyone was buying it so figured why not. He gave me this piece of paper along with the little vial.” Sid handed me the little draw string bag and rolled up piece of paper.

I’ve never done an actual drug before. I didn’t know if I should have been nervous, excited, or scared. Inside the drawstring bag was a tiny little vial of a blue liquid, and what looked like a tiny little turkey baster. On the piece of paper was a list of instructions on how to do it and what to expect after taking it.

“So what do ya say?” Sid said in a devious tone.

A million thoughts were running through my head. Should I do it? What is I die? What if it’s the greatest night of my life. What if my grandparents find out? What if my parents find out?

“Come on it’ll be fun I promise?”

“Idunno Sid. I mean have you even tried this stuff before? What exactly does it do?”

“I haven’t tried it yet, but everyone I know that has said it was amazing. Apparently it gives you the power to travel back in time until the drug wears off in about 24 hours.”

“Wait so you’re telling me that if we take this blue stuff we’ll be able to travel back in time?”

“Yeah, I think that’s what I’m saying..”

“And you’re sure that I wont die?

“I’m not trying to murder you Mariella. I just think it would be fun, and I think you would enjoy it as well.”

He was so convincing. Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe there really wasn’t a reason for me to not do it. I mean I have nothing better to do, right? Finally after 30 seconds of me blankly staring at a tree I came to a decision.

“Whatever let’s do it. But where are we gonna go?’

“What’s one thing that you weren’t alive for but you wish you were?”

One thing that I wasn’t around for. I thought to myself. My god, there’s a million places and things I wish I was around for. How am I supposed to pick one.

“Let’s go back to George Washington’s time.” I said jokingly because that would be awfully boring.

“I was thinking somewhere cool. Somewhere we can do whatever it is that we please.” Sid said with a devilish smirk across his face.

“And where is that?”

“Woodstock.”

‘Woodstock? What is that? Or where is that I should say?” Is Woodstock something I should know about? I thought to myself.

“It’s the greatest music festival to ever happen. It was in the late 60’s. My grandparents went when they were teenagers. They’ve told me stories about it ever since I was a little boy. I used to dream about being there.”

“A little boy dreaming about a music festival. Those stories must have been pretty crazy.”

“So what do you say, wanna go?”

“I’m game.”

What happened next was a bit confusing. In order for this all to work the instructions said we had to follow them very precisely. Step one was to use the tiny strips of paper that came with the little drawstring bag and write down the place, date, and time of where we wanted to go. Sid scribbled in little letters.

“Woodstock, August 16, 1969.”

“Okay so what do we do now?”

“You have to do the same. Write down what I wrote on another tiny piece of paper. Make sure you don’t misspell anything, ‘cause then we may not end up in the same place.”

I was a bit confused as to how this was going to make us travel back into time. Anyway, I copied down exactly what Sid wrote on his piece of paper. The next step was where it got weird.

“So for the record, once we travel back into time we will be gone for what is an hour in reality, but will have an entire days worth of time to spend at woodstock.”

“So our grandparents won’t even know that we were gone, you think?”

“Definitely not. We’re golden trust me.”

“Okay so what do we do now?”

“It says to drip 3 drops of the blue liquid onto the pieces of paper. Says they should dry instantly.”

Sid proceeded to drop 3 droplets onto each piece of paper. They really did dry instantly. It was almost as if the liquid wasn’t really a liquid.

“Now put it in your mouth and hold my hand.”

“Pu-p-put it in my mouth?”

“Yes Mariella hurry.”

We both threw the pieces tiny pieces of paper into our mouths and joined hands. The taste in my mouth was crazy. It tasted like a mixture of rusty nails, dirt, bleach, and I don’t even know what. My mouth started to tingle. and then my throat started to tingle. After a few seconds the tingling sensation took over my entire upper body. Especially my head. A few more seconds later the tingling sensation completely took over my body. The suddenly everything went black. I could still hear and feel, but I couldn’t see. 30 seconds later my vision came back. But it sure as hell wasn’t a vision of what I was seeing before everything went black.

“We made it! We actually made it” Sid shouted.

“Oh my gosh where are we!”

“We’re at the greatest place on earth, that’s where we are. Come on, lets go have some fun.”

Sid put his hand out and grabbed mine and started running through the mass amounts of people.

There was people everywhere. In tents, laying in the grass, dancing, singing. It was

“Where do you wanna go? There’s a list of groups and what time they’re playing over there. Lets go check it out.”

“Joe Cocker!” I shouted.

“Oh you like Joe Cocker? Let’s go!”

We went to the main stage and were swarmed by good vibes and love. Being here felt different than any other place in the world. At times I felt as though I wasn’t in the real world. Well I guess I wasn’t? I dunno. All I know if where ever I was I loved it. We spent the entire day dancing and singing and talking to the most interesting people. I wish that I never had to leave that place. But I knew it was going to come to an end soon. I can’t believe that in order to get here we only had to take a few drops of this blue liquid that seemed to have no negative or drug like effect on our bodies or minds. It was amazing. And then suddenly once the sun went down, my eyes started to do that thing again. My mouth started to tingle, then my throat, and then my upper body, and then my entire body. But Sid was nowhere to be found. What if he doesn’t make it back I started to panic. And then suddenly I was back where I started. And Sid was with me.

“Sid! I thought you weren’t gonna make it back!!”

“Haha. Nope I made it. Would you believe how fun that was?”

“I kinda feel like it was just a dream. But then again I kinda feel like we were actually there.”

“That’s because we were actually there Mariella. And we can go back any time you want.”

We made our way back to the house and everything was perfectly normal. Out grandparents weren’t concerned and I don’t think they even noticed we were gone to be honest. Sid and I left on a note that every summer when we’re visiting our grandparents, were going to take a trip back to woodstock. It will be our version of  summer vacation.

What I learned and was most interested in this year in World History was: people of all races, culture, gender, religion, age, etc should be treated equally. I also learned that there are many ways to create change and that ideas can turn into big things. An example of this would be when we started working on our revolution unit. We learned about how revolutions work, how they are formed, and what causes revolutions. I did a lot of research in my own project in my Digital Revolution Guidebook. Through this project I learned the effectiveness of violent vs. nonviolent revolutions. I compared the Libyan and Tulip Revolution to portray this and explained what occurred to teach people the effectiveness of these revolutions. Revolutions don’t happen overnight, they require time, dedication, commitment, and sacrifice to see or create a change.

Another example of what I learned would be in our Religion unit. In this unit I learned about different world religions to gain a better understanding of each. I explored Christianity and Judaism in my benchmark. I use prayer as my overall theme. I learned and taught how prayers are in both religions and their meanings. I also tried to show how they are similar in a sense even though they are two different religions, they are closely related. This taught me more about the people around me and different belief systems.

This connects to a journal entry I had written when we started exploring the religion unit. We discussed how certain things influence our thinking and our lives. There are societal standards that is already placed for us to follow. We had a small discussion on how women are portrayed and how they too see themselves the same society has set these standards. For example in journal #27 I discuss the concept of women being sexualized and that they too are brought learning that they must be sexualized beings. This important issue of how the things around us like media influence our daily lives.

This leads into journal #49 where this idea is delved into deeper where gender the difference if gender is discussed. We live in a world where  our gender separates us from our abilities, dressing, and even the way we talk. Gender is a label that separates from female or male. It doesn’t represent who we are as a person or our abilities to do certain things. It’s only the genetic and physical interpretation of what we came out as into this world. I learned that there isn’t a difference between genders, the difference only exists because we make it exist.

Further into the school year we get to a more general idea of society. We discussed the issue of the rich vs. poor, in the response to Pathologies of Power. In the world today the rich see are enjoying the benefits of life while the poor think that they have no reason to exist.There is such a huge gap between these two social classes in the way they live. I have learned that the lack of money makes a huge difference. While the rich are feeding off the luxuries the poor are the ones watching or creating those luxuries through labor. We need both of these social classes in our world to work. Without the poor the rich cannot keep benefitting and without the rich the poor cannot support themselves without their money. It’s a twisted system that requires for there to be a balance of the bad and good.

In conclusion, I have gained a better knowledge of the world and how it operates. I understand the conflicts and struggles that we all face whether its with race, gender, religion, culture, etc. There are so many issues in the world that we can learn about or find ways to help. Concluding this year I feel like I have a deeper understanding of different people, societies, and countries.

In the beginning of the year when I entered world history class, I expected to learn about history dealing with world issues such as poverty. Not only did we learn that but we also learned a lot about culture, religion and beliefs of different people. During this time, I realized that belief systems should not influence basic human rights. While doing my religion benchmark during the second quarter, a really interesting quote I wrote down was this bible verse “Leviticus 20:13 - If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” This quote was showing how the bible viewed homosexuality. This showed that the bible states that most people disagree with the concept of homosexuality. I compared this quote from the bible to how Wiccans and Atheist viewed the subject. While looking at both the Wicca and Atheist religions I came to the conclusion that both their views aren’t too far from each other about homosexuality. A meaningful quote I gathered from searching a number of sites involving Atheist was this “Homosexuals and Atheist support each other because they are both looked down upon”. I found this interesting because I never came to the conclusion that Atheist are looked down upon. Another quote that I found intriguing was “based on information provided by the jordanian department of health, it states that there is an epidemic of homosexuality and the minister of health warning the population to “protect their children” from this disease.” Even though they found this quote, they still accept homosexuals so they don’t let this quote influence their beliefs. Atheist are mainly accepting people because both communities are looked down upon. The atheist community are believed to be devil worshippers and hate god, while the homosexual community are looked down upon because of them liking the same sex which is a sin. According to the Wiccan religion “Sexuality is valued. Wiccans generally accept the findings of human sexuality researchers that there are three normal, natural, and unchosen human sexual orientations: heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality.” The wiccans don’t believe in discriminating against anyone and likes to acknowledge that everyone should be viewed as equal and not outcasts. The wiccans belief systems don’t affect how they view basic human rights. Wiccans appreciate diversity in any way especially sexuality. They believe that everyone should be treated with respect at all times. Some wiccans believe that homosexuals lack spirituality now according to this quote “It is foolish for those who consider homosexuality lacking spirituality. In ancient times we were the priest, the sacred ones who blurred the lines of gender and sexuality.” Even though a major number of homosexuals today aren’t priest, ministers, etc because of the fear of being judged, we still are very spiritual and go to church a lot and are very active with church events.  This quote shows that people’s belief systems does not affect how homosexuals are spiritual because they were priest at one time.

Links:

Religion Benchmark

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1wccHx9VjNy-qQhGDMcnIiAgzk2Yqv87rnM6fpKWIGLk/edit

Battle for god

https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1jEzPeFjK_jCN9t7VjHoQszSw-xLURMOBuNOjjQTVI20/edit

Presently, the systems that make up every government are based solely off of corruption, greed, and social gluttony. Racism no longer exists because of hatred for one another. Instead, it is brewed out of the struggle for a superior social class. People oppress the different groups of the world to gain an advantage in life. Evidence of this stems from the theory that the education  system is purposely weak to send more lower class minorities into the grasp of the judicial system. It turns into a cycle where each new generation has no degree of acceptable education and must turn to a life of crime if they are to survive. Higher levels of education are granted only to those who are born into the superior social class. Our world segregates because of the need for power, not because of the need to hate.

During the second quarter of my World History class I was assigned to write a play that emphasized the meaning of social struggle and change. I decided to base my play off of the idea that our society works in a pyramid structure of class that depends solely on somebody’s race. The play was about the different ethnicities of the world banning together to defeat a greater evil. At one point in the play, a character declares, "The oppression of a race has nothing to do with racism or hatred, it has to do with the struggle for superior social class" (Play, Brek Carlier). Brek hit an understanding here that people have to be taught to hate and are never born with hatred. What they are born with is a struggle to survive in a world where there is no social equality. This is what could drive people to oppress another race even when they know doing this is wrong. Of course, there are people born into ignorance and begin to oppress merely because that is what they know to be true.

At first I found it hard to believe that the entire world could operate in this way. After completing a worksheet called “Scientific Revolution” I realized that an idea, no matter how good or bad, can spread globally because of the amount of success it has. I wrote, “An idea works like a virus. It starts out in the deepest reaches of your mind and spreads like a framework until every last inch is infected by it. When corrupt views move like a ripple through socialism it is not very unlike an epidemic. When these views are accepted globally that is when it turns into a pandemic" (Scientific Revolution Worksheet). By this I mean that ideas are infinite and can control the minds of many if they fit people’s needs. When the world is separated by class it must have seemed appealing to be able to fight for your betterment even if it is out of corruption.

I researched further on how people segregate different social classes without seeming too openly racist. I even took it out of the World History class and into the English 10 class. I found out that our education and judicial systems co-align so that more people fill jails while less people with schools. On a worksheet I stated, "A country's crime rate is solely dictated by that country's education system. It works in a cycle where you can only invest in one. Investment in education leads to a more peaceful country while an investment in the amount of jails drastically drops the quality of education the citizens of such country receive” (Global Education Worksheet). Members of superior social classes want to keep the minorities at the bottom of the food chain so there is no sharing or equality. They do this by providing a poor education system which leads to high crime rates which then eventually leads into the incarceration of many.

As unfortunate as it is, our society works in oppression. In my opinion, the only way to fix this problem is to spread empathy and awareness amongst the public. Then and only then will we have the encouragement to try and make a difference. I wanted to focus solely on the idea above but below is some other quotes that lead me to different general understandings. I will not go into depth on them for the sake of keeping your attention. Instead, I’ll let you make what you want of them.

Additional Thoughts:

"Without the attention of the world the people of revolutions would be left unsupported. Social media can be the most effective and yet the least helpful way of communicating change globally." (History Digital Story Script)

"Religion is not a road to happiness for people. The sole purposes of religion are to lend structure and reassurance to lives." (Journal #10)

Throughout my year, I’ve learned many things and have increased my knowledge on various topics. One class especially would be World History. I’ve learned things about the past as well as the present. We focused quite a lot on change as well as equality. When I say change I’m talking about revolutions today and years ago. When I say equality I’m talking about how women aren’t paid as much as men, human rights, and sweatshops. There is so much that I’ve taken into consideration after stepping into the classroom. I looked at my daily life through a new lens. I looked at the clothes I wear today and wonder why I’m wearing it. I wonder why I’m wearing the clothes that someone in another country made that is underpaid and living in harsh conditions. I wondered about how technology has changed the way other changes take place, such as the Arab Spring. There is so much to touch on yet, so little time.

The first thing I want to talk about is the Arab Spring. This topic was introduced near the beginning of the year and was one of the first to introduce the topic of change in the classroom. I learned how technology helped spread the awareness and support for the revolution. The people in Egypt did not accept the way they were treated, therefore, they fought for independence and are still fighting at this very moment. There is violence and many have died. In one of my journal entries, I address the idea of nonviolence and violence.  A specific quote that stood out to me and summarizes the whole idea is “Nonviolence shouldn’t have to be trained, but just present all the time.”

Click here to view the full version of this journal.

The second thing I want to talk about is just revolutions in general. Later on in the year, we were assigned a digital story benchmark. For this benchmark we had to focus on multiple revolutions and revolve them around a certain point. I studied the French Revolution, Arab Spring, and much more. The certain point that I decided to focus on was “What is the importance of spreading awareness with the use of social media in a revolution?” I constructed an iMovie with my partner Javier on the subject. A quote that stood out to me in the video was “Outside help can and will be the difference between a gallant victory or a dreadful defeat.”

Click here to watch the full video.

Now, I would like to touch on the subject of equality. Equality plays a major role in our lives today. Just being a woman is a major factor of equality. Women are paid less than men and aren’t treated as equally in the justice system as well. The same can be said for particular charges against men and women, but that’s another topic. When I was writing a journal entry one day I had to think of a woman scientist off the top of my head. The sad thing was I couldn’t. A quote from that journal is “I could imagine a woman’s idea in science being rejected based on their gender.”

Click here to view the full journal entry.

During the year, we’ve had many trials where we can debate with our other peers on matters that are important in the world today. Towards the middle of the year, we began a trial about sweatshops and the class was divided into about 5 sections. Each section being a different part of the chain to the making of sweatshops such as U.S. consumers, Corporations, etc. After the trial was over we had to post a reflection on how we can change the global economic system. One part of the reflection that I’d like to highlight is “Companies began to be questioned and pressured to make a change in the factories they produce their products in. Some have made a change, but not enough. There is still a fair amount of factories and companies out there that are under the radar and continue to abuse their workers. Suicidal nets are set up outside of some factories to prevent people from jumping out the building to their eventual death.”

Click here to view the full reflection.

The final piece I’m going to talk about that will wrap this up nicely is the Human Rights Benchmark. For this benchmark, we got the chance to work exclusively with Kate McGrath who works for the Philly Young Playwrights. She came down to help us make our plays and give us tips as amateur playwrights. I focused on the unfair conditions in china’s factories and took readers on a journey through the eyes of a man named Minho who escapes the factory and seeks help in America. There are many twists and turns in this play, but a quote that sticks out to me is

Click here to view the full play.

I enjoyed my year in world history due to the fact that I've learned so much in such little time. I've taken many things from this class such as morales, values, and life lessons. I've learned through the perspectives of those thousands of miles away from me. Those who got to experience this class is to be envied for.

Joseff Filamor

Copper

June 9th, 2014

History Portfolio

As the year comes to an end, I have come realize my strengths and weaknesses that I still need to work on for next year. I have always been bad under even the smallest bit of pressure. As we were introduced to Sophomore year’s history class, it forced me to do things I wasnt entirely comfortable with. First off; working with groups. During the Cortez trial, we were given groups and put in a courtroom to be prosecuted. My group, the Cortezs, were obviously the most guilty which made it all the more difficult. I volunteered to be a prosecutor and I went up with my knees shaking. Presenting in front of a group is one thing, but prosecuting against a group is another thing. Knowing that I am not the smartest person in the class, I was feeling the pressure. It all ended smoothly, although I wish I was a bit more organized when I went up. From doing the trial, I have come to understand that collaboration requires patience and organization. With a little more organization, I would have been able to execute the prosecution more properly. My main weakness is speaking in class. I am not exactly sure why I have the biggest fear or expressing my own opinions, I guess I am just afraid of embarrassing myself or being proved incorrect. Although, I feel confident when it comes to making video projects. In the beginning of the year, we were assigned a project to make a monolog about a pipeline. (VIDEO HERE) I am not under pressure when making a video, it is a lot more relaxing and stress free. I felt I did well on that video. Also, in the middle of the year we were assigned to research different revolutions along with an essential question to elaborate off of. We also had to make a video for that project (VIDEO HERE.) I feel like I did a solid job with those videos, I was organized and well prepared with my research. Lastly, for my journal entries. I have always loved creating journal entries because I am able to express my own opinions and not have anyone see them except the teachers. I am able to get constructive feedback and not have to worry about others seeing it. On journal 55, we were given a small sheet entitled “Does Process Matter?” A small part of my journal entry reads; Process matters in the sense of organization. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, the process can determine how ready you are and how organized you need to be. Another journal we had to write was about why religion causes conflicts. I wrote; Religion would not cause conflicts if we understood each religion. It’s because we are uninformed or not educated in every religion. We are brought up knowing if not one religion, no religion at all. If we a brought up knowing only one religion, the only we will truly understand is our own. If we understood other’s beliefs, maybe we can understand each other.

Throughout my 10th grade World History class, I have learned a number of things. I learned about things that I didn’t even know was a thing or things I didn’t know I was capable of doing. For example, during the second quarter we started writing plays. My play was titled Fight to the End. It’s not finished but I would say that I’m very proud of this particular assignment. At first, I was like I don’t want to do this because I’m not a great writer. Luckily Mr. Block was prepared for those who didn’t feel too confident. He partnered up with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, that’s when Kate came in and helped every student with the revising process. She also gave us great ideas when we were stuck.

This class isn’t not just a class where the teacher talks and the student listens. We were given journal entries a lot and we would write what we thought. I remember writing a Journal Entry on the topic, Criticizing Another Culture. I had never really thought about this topic. I just thought criticism was wrong but in some cases it is needed. I also remember the religion unit very well. This is also something I hadn’t really thought about. Our question that day was, What is religion? As you might be able to see, I was not too fond of religions but after this unit, i discovered why I believe in a higher power.

The Revolution unit was also one of my favorites. That unit, I researched and learned about several different revolutions in addition to the one we learned as a class which I believe was the French Revolution. We made guidelines based off of opinions we made and what we think would be a great revolution.

I have so many favorites from this class I can’t choose one over the other. But if I did have to, now I would probably say the first Mock Trial we did about Cortes. I was put into the shoes of a prosecutor. Luckily I had time to prepare. From that link are all the notes I took to prepare myself for what was to come. I really did my research on Cortes because I found him the most guilty. Well because of my great prosecuting skills, the system came in second place as in second less guilty. It was very hard to beat the Aztecs who didn’t do anything but greet Cortes with happiness and riches. It was Cortes who took advantage of them.

World History, although most commonly believed is only about things that happened in the past, is more than just stories of deceased people. I believe that world history is the study of things that affect the world and the future. In this school year, we have learned so much. As a class we explored many different topics, one that most interested me was the when we learned about social change. Through many different topics, we have studied how social change happens when people make a difference, or when they’re sick of what’s happening.

In the beginning of the school year we learned about the Age of Exploration. We began the unit by studying the Age of Exploration. As we were focusing on the Spaniards and how they were conquering different parts of the world. However controversial it may be, the Spaniards wanted a social change. Cortez and his men wanted to eradicate the “wrong ways” of the Aztecs, so they stood and decided to make a change. Although it was immoral and very fast paced, they made a social change. In class, we did a trial where the class was divided into different groups. We discussed as a whole and then the deliberations started. It was a very interesting jury, and one of the most engaging ones we had all year.

The religion unit is also something that supports the social change. In this unit, we explored many different religions and saw how they changed people who followed them. We did a benchmark in which we had to compare two or more religions. The religions I focused on were Judaism and Hinduism. I also studied how these two view the apocalypse and the hereafter. By doing research on these two religions, I was able to get a better understanding of them.

Another example of how social change makes a difference is during the revolution unit. Everyone in the class was expected to make a Digital Revolution Guidebook that compared two different revolutions. For my project, I did extensive research on both the revolution in Egypt and Cuba. Although the outcomes for these two revolutions are different, they both started with a similar cause. The people of Egypt were tired of having to follow a government that only seemed to bring them harm. The Cuban people were first against the ruling of Fidel Castro, however they received much more benefits than past leaders.

This leads to the final thing we learned about this year, colonialism. We explored the ideas of how colonialism can affect a group of people. For this benchmark I decided to focus on South Africa and how colonialism had affected their culture. This can be tied in with social change because of how the country was affected. Most people believe that with colonialism comes the change of an entire nation, however, the people of South Africa did not let that happen. They accepted bits and pieces of the change, but not the entirety of it.

Nonviolence has been said to be the better option. It is also said to be the harder and longer option. Throughout history people try to say that with the power of nonviolence you can and will get more respect, power over others, and people will not go against you. All year I have made it easy see that I’ am without a doubt all for violence when it comes to needing or wanting something. I personally feel that one; it is a faster method than nonviolence, two; people will give you more power, three; people know that the died for immediate change and not  just so the next step of the plan can be put in action.

Within the debate between violence and nonviolence a lot of people side with nonviolence because of the well known nonviolent protest leaders. People like Martin Luther King and Gandhi always are brought up into conversation based on their horrendous and outstanding nonviolent revolutions. When I join into these type of debate and I ‘am asked about my opinion I always side for violence when something needs to be done. One thing I always throw into the conversation is the fact that those two men were the  leaders of some of the greatest revolutions ever but not only our most known but are most important revolutions were fought with the help of violence. Before nonviolent revolutions the only type of revolutions were revolutionary wars. Revolutionary wars not only freed the blacks but it also freed our country so we could be our own nation.

Most people argue that nonviolence is more powerful because they think it can get your point across better. Well there is an old saying that “if you aren’t willing to die for it than there is no point in fighting for it. Now there are quotes to go against violence one of which is “nonviolence is a weapon of the strong.” -Gandhi. In one of my journals I talked about my stance on violence vs nonviolence. I also talk about how much faith I have in nonviolence. When completing that journal I was reading a piece from Gandhi and that is also where I got the famous quote. I feel like Gandhi thinks that only those who can wield the power to use nonviolence as an answer has a powerful mind. I believe that it also takes a lot of strength to decide that you actually want to use violence.

Another thing people like to argue is that the process of nonviolent revolution is easier than the process of a violent revolution. In another one of my journals I talk about how process does not matter. In the journal I go on to make the argument that if someone has a 100 man army and they succeed while I have a 10 man army and I also succeed what makes us different. Well one thing is that I will get more respect because I made a bigger impact since I did exactly what they did with less people. It is also the same thing as 100 being nonviolence while 10 is like violence.

This is just a small example of the type of work I was able to complete throughout the year. Because of my work and some time I was able to give my classmates another view on violent protest and revolutions. I believe that my work has deeply impacted the minds of my peers.

SLA takes a different approach to teaching History than most other schools in the city. At most schools the students are taught and forced to memorize meaningless facts and dates, then tested on their memorization capabilities and how well they know the facts. In my History class at SLA, however, we explored and discussed various topics, both historical and present day, through readings, videos, discussions, and other forms of media and communication, then applied those topics to modern day politics and events. We were then assessed, on application and knowledge, not on meaningless facts and dates, through engaging projects instead of tests. I leave the year thinking this: learning about historical and contemporary topics and ideas then applying them to present day, and learning through projects, is a much more engaging, enriching, and meaningful way to teach history than through irrelevant facts, dates, and tests. The best way to understand and learn history is through applicable ideas, not facts.

I feel that from this learning approach that SLA poses as a whole, I have taken away more from and learned more from this World History class than if I had been in a traditional World History class. So what I take away doesn’t have to do with the material and the topics, but rather with the way the material was presented and the learning style of the class and SLA as a whole.

Over the course of the year, we completed several projects on areas or topics where most classes or teachers would have given us a test. One such example is at the very beginning of the school year, our first unit was on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. We learned all about it, facts, stats, opinions, everything essentially. But at the end of the unit, instead of being tested on the material, we were assigned a project: to write three unique monologues that showed different sides to the story and how it would affect different characters and people. In one of my three monologues, which can be found here, I wrote from the perspective of a rural fisherman whose river was threatened by the pipeline. My character says, “Not only are they [Trans-Canada] not allowed to get away with this stupid and careless idea [Keystone XL Pipeline], but we most certainly will not relocate from generations of tradition so they can build their goddamn pipeline!”. However, in another monologue of a conservative senator about to address senate on the issue, my character says, “We are basically being given a freebie: no financial drawbacks with many benefits that stack up and up. Tax revenue, job creation, the list goes on and on”. This type of learning teaches its students how to think, not what to think, like how this project taught us how to think about controversial and contemporary issues by challenging us to think about different perspectives and aspects of it. With more traditional ways of teaching, we would be taught a one-sided, historically warped opinion or stance on the issue, but with this way of teaching and learning, I feel the students learn more and attain a stronger understanding of the material and its historical and modern day relevance.

Another example project and idea based learning is a play that I wrote over the course of a couple months in collaboration with a professional playwright, found here. While studying struggle and revolution around the world, we explored general ideas about the issue, but also were exposed to a variety of different materials that allowed us to form our own opinion on the topic. We then were assigned to write a play based on this broad topic that showed or addressed our opinion or stance. This form of assessment, rather than a test, resulted in more creative students and learning, and is shown in the variety of each student’s respective play and the issue they related to. My play is about the importance of ambitions and dreams in a person’s life, and the main character, Gordon, says to his son, Matthew, “You just take your dreams, and your grades for granted? Well I have news for you: you are a junior in highschool now! You’re not just some little kid with his whole bright future in front of him.” I think that learning through projects allows for more abstract and complex thinking, like how in a unit on struggle in hope I wrote a play about future and ambitions.

The comprehension fashioned by this style of learning, and my overall understanding and ability to think and connect can also be shown by looking at some of my journal entries from the year. I think the journals are a prime example of the types of students, learning, and learning environment project-based learning creates. When looking back on some of my journals I wrote over the year, I saw improvement in my complex thinking, and also complex and unique ideas. One of my first journal entries of the year, Journal 3, found here, posed the question, “When is it okay to criticize other cultures?”. I responded, “It is only acceptable to criticize another culture after we have walked in their shoes.” I feel that this response shows abstract and complex thinking. That is the goal of education, is it not? As the year progressed, my journal entries became more knowledgeable and more applicable. Much later in the year, Journal 47, found here, which related to the book Things Fall Apart, posed the question, “Can traumatic experiences ever be an excuse for negative behavior?”. In an excerpt from that entry, I responded, “Traumatic experiences can never be an excuse for negative behavior, it only makes it more understandable as to why someone behaves a certain way.” The journals showed how my ideas were changing and developing as the year progressed, and how the project based learning was shaping how I thought.

Looking back on the year, and how far I have come since September, I leave the year firmly believing that there really is no other way to teach World History other than through projects, discussion, media, and everything I already mentioned. At school you are supposed to learn how to think, not what to think, and I look back on the year knowing and understanding World History topics and ideas, and will carry them with me in their essence and application to modern day life as I progress on through high school.

Learn, change, lead. That is the motto of the World History class. This year was very tough for me as a student. However, coming into the World History class has really changed my perspective on global views and societal problems. It was also very relieving for me to be in such of a prestigious course. My general understandings of the course are that creativity is built with experience and imagination, and in order for one to understand oneself, they must step outside their comfort zone to build a better self-sense of everything around them. Those two general understandings has changed me forever.

When you have seen all kinds of things and had many experiences, it has really made my work shine. In my play, The Rolling Spray Paint Cans, It tells the tale of four young teenagers trying to survive in the 1980’s graffiti-clogged New York City. This was my idea for the playwriting project where I worked with Ms. Kate for several months. “Oh. I didnt realize you were going through decline. Im sorry. Lets just finish this tag.” That is a line from my play while the two was working on a piece of art in Harlem. While I was working on this play, I had done further research on graffiti art, specifically on the New York subway trains in the late 70’s to the mid 80’s. I also took an opportunity to work with spray paint in The Philadelphia Mural Arts Summer camp program. It was awesome. I combined the history with graffiti and street art and the experience of spray painting into account when writing this play.

During the first quarter, we wrote monologues about the Keystone XL pipeline. This time around, we had to perform our monologues as well. I was usually not the person to get up in front of a crowd of people and perform. But, for the fact that I felt comfortable to do it made all the difference. In my monologue, I play a father on his way home to see his daughter in her senior year of high school. He is on the phone while riding the train. “I'll be.., Dinner? Might have to order pizza again. I know it’s the 3rd time this week, but Its all we can afford at the moment.” He is also struggling to pay bills while working at a low-pay job as he noticed the opportunity to get the job if the Keystone XL pipeline project is passed. But then he noticed that the real jobs are far out and he would have to move. But he knew that there was a chance the pipeline would not get approved, so he backed out of another business scheme.

What is a good student? How do you become a better student everyday? By collaborating? By participating? Becoming a better student for me is definitely by learning. I must admit that my biggest highlight in this year of world history has been a great learning experience. It wasn’t much of the informational facts, it was more as personal aspect as how you look at the world. One of the biggest accomplishments, if not the biggest accomplishment of this year in history class has been without a doubt the play I wrote about stereotypical views in societies. This play has definitely changed the way that I view myself as. Women and A Touch of Trophy is a play about the latin women stereotypes, and latinos in general.  Scarlett Castillo is a Colombian beautiful young girl who wins Miss Universe and tries to fight stereotypes while finding true love, forgiving her mother, and reliving her past. This play is a very long one, Kate McGrath has contributed immensely with revisions and has made the play better. It was my favorite thing to do in history class this year. Not only did I like writing this play, I now realize that I love writing plays! One of the quotes inside the play that I really liked was  “Coming from a Hispanic culture. When we think of trophy wives we immediately see an image of a rich old white man with a beautiful young woman on his arm”.This was a quote that gives a controversial side to the play. 

• click here to view original copy
  

​In one of the units of world history class we studied revolutions.  We learned quite a lot of information about revolutions. We used guiding questions like; “What causes revolutions? What determines a successful revolution?” “Why are revolutions made?” From those guiding questions came a great project. We were assigned to make a digital story about revolutions. I decided and chose two guiding questions. What determines a revolution's success? How does media interact with a revolution? Based on these two questions I decided to focus on the way that leaders are interpreted in revolutions, and the censorship that plays in media. This project was definitely one of my favorite! Many of the media that saw during this project was that life changing and eye opening. 

• click here to view
  

The unit of Religion inside world history has been one of my favorite. In the beginning of the unit I thought that religion was just a mindset that was meant to be followed. I now realize that religion is a very touchy subject that many of us live of. “It’s a way of life”. To most of us it’s extremely important. Personally as being a catholic believer and follower it was very interesting to learn about the many religions out in the world. For this project I did a wiki page on Morals/Sins in Hinduism and Confucianism. Two completely different religions. This was a project of where I gained tons and tons of knowledge. I also enjoyed every aspect of learning, and the different views that are out in the world. 

• click here to visit page
  

 Also, another part that I enjoyed in history class was journaling. The journal prompts were varied in topics. Some of the topics didn’t even relate to school, and it was interesting the way that others shared their ideas. One of the journals that I enjoyed the most was about a reading called My Faith in Nonviolence (journal 28). I selected a quote and wrote about it. “Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong.” I really liked the way that the word nonviolence was being presented, as if nonviolence were  actually an object you could use to harm someone. Another journal I enjoyed was about how ideas become popular (journal 22). “Social media definitely plays a big role, when it comes to making something popular”. This quote was definitely the most important one I wrote inside my journal. Overall this year has been a great learning experience in all aspects. It was a very comfortable environment that I really enjoyed.  

• Click here to view journals entries