Entry 4 - Black Ants and Buddhists Chapter 7

After I read the chapter once I was not sure what I understood then after reading it a second time it clicked. The author was not writing for us to see how students are learning social studies but how to teach them history in a way where they connect with it. It does not necessarily have to be a text to self connect, but a connection that touches them. I liked the part about when the student could not believe that there were slave owners on our money. I had never really thought about it until I read it. It seems crazy to have people who were slave owners on our money. Like the teacher told him though, at that time it was common for rich, white men to own slaves. It was considered almost a norm for them to have slaves. They did good things for the country but they were also slave owners. That little section made me realize how even at such a young age these connections can be made. I feel like sometimes as teachers we try to protect them and not expose them to so much when they are young. They can handle the information though, as long as it is appropriate of course too. The first and second graders learned about the Native Americans and getting their land taken from them, then about slave owners. It was appropriate information for their age, but it let them understand the main picture which got them curious. They were making connections to even other parts of history.

I liked the part of Paulo Freire's quote when it says, "Students must play an active part in the learning process". This goes back to letting the students learn the truth and allowing them to connect. I feel like when they start making connections they gain a deeper understanding which leads to curiosity like the student with Jefferson. He found out he was a slave owner and asked how he could be a slave owner when in the Declaration of Independence he said all men were created equally. He knew what he meant in the Declaration and knew what it meant for slaves to be owned. After he processed the information and began to question why. I think as teachers no matter what we teach we should have a goal in mind that we want our students to make connections and question why something is the way it is.