For
today's blog I decided to write about the education blog entitled
"Speaking of History..." by Eric Langhorst. More specifically, I would like to talk about
his blog post from this Monday "Connecting the story. In this blog, Langhorst discusses a workshop
he attended in Washington D.C. conducted by Model Classroom and the Pearson
Foundation. He discusses the workshop as
being an emotional experience and very thought provoking. During the workshop he had the opportunity to
attend the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which he discusses as being an emotional
experience. I have actually had the
opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. and see this same beautiful memorial
and felt the same way. In fact, one of my
close family friends actually had a brother who was killed during the Vietnam conflict
and his name is immortalized on the wall.
My family and I all took a piece of paper and a black stencil and went
over his name so that we could forever have it to treasure and honor. I couldn't believe all the names on the wall,
over 58,000 men and women died during the conflict that lasted well over a
decade. As a big history buff I found the trip to
Washington D.C. with my family to be incredible. Moreover, as a future history
teacher I plan to talk at great lengths about the Vietnam Conflict and the
Memorial in Washington D.C..
Switching directions a little bit, Langhorst
also visited the Holocaust Museum during his Washington D.C. workshop. I also had the opportunity to visit this museum
with my family and found it to be just as emotionally captivating and moving as
the Vietnam Memorial. Ever since I was a
young student I have always held a deep intellectual curiosity for WWII and the
Holocaust. It's so incredible to think
that something as terrible and deplorable as the Holocaust actually happened,
let alone in the 20th century. Moving
throughout the museum you could feel the intense emotion of what it must of
been like to live and die in a Nazi concentration camp. The inside of the museum is decorated and
designed to look just like a concentration camp and only enhances the emotions
and feelings experienced by the viewers.
I really hope that sometime during my teaching career I will be able to
lead a field trip or study trip to the Holocaust museum and Washington D.C. in
general. Furthermore, I feel that my
trip to Washington D.C., just like Langhorst's, will really benefit me as a
future history educator.
I love travelling to Washington, DC. It is like walking around a giant history museum. During my last trip to DC, I got to take a long walk. I took one of the trains out to the edge of town and then slowly walked my way back to the Mall through about eight miles of the embassy district. A field trip to DC would be fantastic.
ReplyDeleteIt is strange to think of the Vietnam Conflict and the effect it had on that generation. Everyone seems to know someone who fought or someone who lost their life in the conflict. I wonder how our generation will view the Wars in Afghanistan/Iraq 40 years from now.
Thanks for sharing Mr. Sorich! I, too, tend to think of the two world wars and all the terrible tragedies that coincided as something further away than it really was. Not sure the reasoning behind that, but I have also had the opportunity to see the the memorial in our capital. It was a really powerful experience. I think that field trips to places like Washington and other similar museum would really make an impact on the students. I would love to pick your brain more about specific moments in history that interest you. My worry, as a teacher, is that my students won't be interested in the same niches and aspects of my discipline as I. Particularly for history, have you thought about how much emphasis you will put on certain time periods or topics? Thanks for the post.
ReplyDelete