During our 20 minute daily meeting at my after-school, I decided to bring up the importance of Veteran's Day. I asked, by a show of hands, who knew what this holiday was. Many of the older students (third grade and higher) raised their hands. I chose a child to answer, "for people in the war." From here, many voiced joined in and explained what it was. One of the other teachers, a college graduate and first grade teacher, responded by saying that it was a day to remember all the people that served in the war, ones that died and ones that are still alive. I had to interrupt and explain that although all veterans are important, this day is for living Veterans only. She corrected herself and remembered that Memorial Day was for men and women that have served in active duty and have passed away. This showed me that not only children are uninformed, adults are as well.
After the group came up with a definition, "A day to honor all of the living veterans in the world." I asked if anyone knew someone that was in a war, aunt, uncle, father, or grandfather. About six children raised their hands and only two were able to tell me what war they served in.
I made it an assignment to go home and ask mom, dad, sister, brother if anyone in their family is a veteran. They were asked to write down that person's name and which war they were a part of.
Tuesday when the students gathered for meeting, they were all anxious to share what they have learned. Almost fifteen children had their hand up when I asked if they knew a veteran. We spent over 30 minutes talking about veterans. Most children were shocked that they had veterans in their family and they did not even know.
One first grader said "My granddaddy is a veteran, but he died, so we celebrate him in Memorial Day." I was so impressed that the brief comparison of Veteran's Day and Memorial he understood the difference. He was able to understand that his grandfather is extremely important, but this particular holiday focuses on living veterans. I was very impressed.
The more I heard these children talking about veterans and the holiday, the happier I was. Even children that did not personally know a veteran, were involved. I was extremely satisfied with how this activity went. Although it was mostly conversation, I believe a lot of children learned from it. Even if they may not remember exactly in a year, they conversed, found similarities between each other, and learned about their family history. All in all, I would call this a success and continue doing it every year.
I enjoyed the service learning project more than I thought I would. I was apprehensive about it, but once I got into it, it was much more enjoyable. I would have students create a service learning project but would definitely let them choose the topic. I think it makes you care more about it and want to learn and research.
War has always been a global issue, but in the last few years, the aftermath of war has become a main focus. Post traumatic stress disorder has affected an increasing amount of service members. War has devastating effects on the world but especially on our troops because their memories can linger on forever. Not only do these experiences affect the troops, they have a lasting effect on their family members.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Final Service Learning Project
For my project on Veterans, I went on the website VFW.org. I noticed that the top stories on the webpage were about Veteran's Day and how most Americans have forgotten the significance of this day. I figured this would be a perfect place to start for my Service Learning Project.
As I grew up, I feared that the importance of this Veteran's Day was diminishing. I know from personal experience that some children never understood the importance until they were older, and some not at all. One article states, "To help counter this trend, VFW has long promoted Veterans Day as an opportunity to educate the public as to the meaning of this significant time each November." I decided to use this upcoming week to inform the 48 children in my after-school about Veteran's Day. I decided to do this because unless I take initiative and explain the importance of this holiday, who will? Most children know that Veteran's Day is a day off from school, but there is so much more. It is not the child's fault if they do not understand the severity, it is our job to teach them.
I will post pictures and a blog about how everything went later this week.
Here is the story I got my idea from, http://vfw.org/News-and-Events/Articles/Restoring-Veterans-Day/
As I grew up, I feared that the importance of this Veteran's Day was diminishing. I know from personal experience that some children never understood the importance until they were older, and some not at all. One article states, "To help counter this trend, VFW has long promoted Veterans Day as an opportunity to educate the public as to the meaning of this significant time each November." I decided to use this upcoming week to inform the 48 children in my after-school about Veteran's Day. I decided to do this because unless I take initiative and explain the importance of this holiday, who will? Most children know that Veteran's Day is a day off from school, but there is so much more. It is not the child's fault if they do not understand the severity, it is our job to teach them.
I will post pictures and a blog about how everything went later this week.
Here is the story I got my idea from, http://vfw.org/News-and-Events/Articles/Restoring-Veterans-Day/
Monday, October 11, 2010
Critical Attributes
1. Critical attributes strategy is that focuses on conveying the procedural knowledge of identifying the main ideas of a concept without allowing children to form inaccurate concepts, ideas, or beliefs to be efficient citizens.
2. -Soldier-A person who serves in Military services
- War- A conflict between parties by force of arms
-Aftermath- Something that follows or results from an event
-PTSD-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, a mental disorder that occurs after a horrific event
2B. Non critical attributes would be content that is not needed to understand topic
-weakness
-scared
3. My topic is on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in soldiers. Since my best friend was in the Marines and went overseas three times, I have a high level of passion for the topic. I feel very strong about this topic and care about the issue. Although I feel strong about it, I have not had a friend or family members who suffers from PTSD after the war, so my opinions are not as intense. I think I could balance my personal feelings and not be bias. Although I do feel strongly, I think I would be much more passionate and aggressive if it has affected me or my family negatively.
4. A level of passion absolutely gets you fired up for a lesson. When someone loves or feels for a topic they are talking about it, they are more inclined to have be passionate. I think when someone is familiar with a topic, and has formed some sort of opinion on it, it gets them more involved.
I believe being passionate about a topic leads to better discussions, but can also leads to disputes. It is important to remind students that everyone has an opinion and it needs to be respected. A teacher must lead by example and hope her class follows.
5. In order to avoid discussions turning into debates, teachers need to lead discussions with students and make sure they understand there are many different views on an issue. Also, make sure they understand that any comments should be thoughtfully considered before they are said.
6A. Has anyone ever thought of joining the Military?
6B. Have you ever thought of how it would be as a soldier?
6C. Do you think it is hard for a soldier when they come home?
6D. Are soldiers important to the world?
2. -Soldier-A person who serves in Military services
- War- A conflict between parties by force of arms
-Aftermath- Something that follows or results from an event
-PTSD-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, a mental disorder that occurs after a horrific event
2B. Non critical attributes would be content that is not needed to understand topic
-weakness
-scared
3. My topic is on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in soldiers. Since my best friend was in the Marines and went overseas three times, I have a high level of passion for the topic. I feel very strong about this topic and care about the issue. Although I feel strong about it, I have not had a friend or family members who suffers from PTSD after the war, so my opinions are not as intense. I think I could balance my personal feelings and not be bias. Although I do feel strongly, I think I would be much more passionate and aggressive if it has affected me or my family negatively.
4. A level of passion absolutely gets you fired up for a lesson. When someone loves or feels for a topic they are talking about it, they are more inclined to have be passionate. I think when someone is familiar with a topic, and has formed some sort of opinion on it, it gets them more involved.
I believe being passionate about a topic leads to better discussions, but can also leads to disputes. It is important to remind students that everyone has an opinion and it needs to be respected. A teacher must lead by example and hope her class follows.
5. In order to avoid discussions turning into debates, teachers need to lead discussions with students and make sure they understand there are many different views on an issue. Also, make sure they understand that any comments should be thoughtfully considered before they are said.
6A. Has anyone ever thought of joining the Military?
6B. Have you ever thought of how it would be as a soldier?
6C. Do you think it is hard for a soldier when they come home?
6D. Are soldiers important to the world?
Friday, October 8, 2010
Are more soldiers suffering from PTSD now than in the past?
When my best friend joined the Marines, war became more real to me. It was effecting me personally and made me have a different view on war. The first time he came back from bootcamp, he was different, not in a bad way, just different. I assumed it was because he has not been home in a while so I tried to ignore it. The next time he came home, he just served 8 months in Iraq, and was even more different than before. He was quieter and not himself. I started to get nervous that this would be an everlasting effect.
After four years of the Marines, he is home and is himself again. For a while I was nervous about his mental health but he is doing excellent. Although he is alright, it doesn't mean everyone who serves deals with the traumatic experiences. Therefore, I wanted to research if the number of soldiers suffering with PTSD has increased in the past several years. I have heard more about this disorder now than ever before, I wonder if it just more publicity now, or it is actually affecting more people.
After four years of the Marines, he is home and is himself again. For a while I was nervous about his mental health but he is doing excellent. Although he is alright, it doesn't mean everyone who serves deals with the traumatic experiences. Therefore, I wanted to research if the number of soldiers suffering with PTSD has increased in the past several years. I have heard more about this disorder now than ever before, I wonder if it just more publicity now, or it is actually affecting more people.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
A Man's Daily Struggle
Psychological Scars
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after one has seen or experienced a traumatic event. Therefore, soldiers are more likely to suffer from this illness.
Psychological Scars
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after one has seen or experienced a traumatic event. Therefore, soldiers are more likely to suffer from this illness.
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