I read the following two articles:
Lincoln, M. (2007). All but her life: Holocaust survivor Gerda Klein shares with learners, young and old, the lessons of history. School Library Journal, 53(11), 52-54.
Johnson, M.J. (2004). Primary sources in the library: From object to inquiry. Library Media Connection, 22(6), 18-20.
From the Lincoln piece, I learned that primary sources can be very powerful in inspiring students and teachers to seek more information on a historical topic. A couple of exhibits on the Holocaust inspired teachers and students to read more about the Holocaust, and one of its survivors. When students become excited about primary sources, teachers need to offer them opportunities to build upon that enthusiasm. I am thinking that the power of primary sources is in their authenticity. They make history real to present-day eyes. Educators took advantage of students’ enthusiasm by giving them the idea to read the memoir of Gerda Klein (who nearly died in the Holocaust).
The power and authenticity of the Holocaust and Klein greatly motivated students to read her book, talk about it (through an online blog), and to go to great lengths to hear her speak. The students’ enthusiasm seemed to rub off onto educators, organizations, and citizens. Everyone started talking about what they knew and read about the Holocaust. I think that occurred because adults and students want students to be excited about learning. I think that people enjoy talking about what they know and are more likely to talk if they know there is demand for their words. When students are excited about primary sources, they need to be able to talk about their excitement and build upon it by having the knowledge and support to seek more information on the topic (primary and non-primary sources) and analyze (and share) the information they find. A great way for students to share the information they find is through the creation of their own primary sources based on what they learned (Johnson, 2004). The use of technology to display those new creations could greatly inspire new ideas, positive feedback, and great amounts of motivation to continue reading, thinking, and researching (Johnson, 2004).
Students can practice identifying and analyzing primary sources by looking at various primary (and non-primary) sources in the classroom (Johnson, 2004). That seems like a great idea because it could get students excited about primary sources and give them the motivation to seek more primary sources (and non-primary sources on the topic) on their own. That motivation could help them get through the process of learning how to search for primary sources. When teachers and librarians work together to share ideas on how to research, analyze, and help students make primary sources meaningful to themselves, powerful learning can result (Johnson, 2004).
As I tried to search for certain documents in the James Madison Collection, and as I examined the assigned slave documents, I realized that the text within such scanned documents are generally not searchable and may not be searchable for a very long time (if ever). I fear that today’s youngsters may be becoming too dependent on online text-searching tools in order to find information within texts. I am thinking that my job as an educator is to tell students ahead of time that many primary source texts cannot be analyzed in that manner. The best “shortcut” is to use one’s brain to analyze texts critically, and to do research in order to have more information with which to search for such documents using the limited search options they offer. For example, if I want to search for primary source text (as related to James Madison) that focuses on a certain event, it would be good for me to do my background research (by possibly using other resources) in order to know the dates and relevant persons associated with that event.
The request for 2 questions that required analysis and synthesis (in the slavery assignment) has me seeing that it is not only important for students to be able to read and understand texts in primary source documents, but it is also important for students to realize that there is yet a higher level of thinking and application. They must be able to put themselves in historical situations. They need to be able to connect with the words and consider their meaning from the time they were said (or written), through today, and into the future. I am thinking that it is generally up to the teacher to get this line of thinking started. This line of thinking helped me make the reading more real and more applicable. Application makes things memorable, especially when applied to one’s own life and interests. In the future, I plan to utilize the technique in order to give students the great feelings of responsibility, power, and achievement. By reading, analyzing, and making contemporary meaning of old texts, those texts remain alive. I am thinking that they remain powerful because the needs and interests of Americans have basically changed little (even since Revolutionary times). Students may not be writing an actual constitution, but anyone could learn general communication and planning skills from a Founding Father, such as Madison. A person does not have to be a slave in order to learn from, and connect with, a former slave’s feelings of being scared, being poor, feeling dominated, and feeling overworked. I think that a key lesson is for students to learn that such lessons are not necessarily about finding exact matches with today and tomorrow, but instead, can be about generalizing and cultivating proportional and parallel relationships to what has been read. In other words, one may not know what it’s like to lose a parent, but reading about that may make one think about the concept of pain and loss, how losing that puppy years ago still greatly hurts today, and how losing a parent might feel in comparison to that.
Similarly, one must consider what the photographer and subject(s) are thinking when a photo is shot. What might be going on around them? The photo analysis tool seems very helpful in providing guidance to students in asking questions while looking at photographs. I think that the key part of the photo analysis tool's 3 part process is the "Reflect" step, which asks the viewer to move beyond simply listing what he or she sees in the photo. It asks him or her to consider the bigger picture of synthesis. How can the image help one connect the past, with the present, and with the future? How and why did individuals create the pictured environment and how did that environment (along with other factors) cause them to change that environment later? I learned that it is a good idea to move between the 3 steps as necessary (not necessarily in order). The key is to keep looking at the image, asking basic questions, and expanding upon those questions by looking at wider implications of what is seen in the image. I learned to keep digging. There is so much more to most photographs than what initially meets the eye. In one class photo, I did not see a pipe in a man's mouth until I looked at the photo for quite a while. Therefore, I think it's a good idea to ask students to look at a photo for at least a certain amount of time. That should help them have an experience like I did with finding that pipe. I am thinking that five minutes would be a good amount of time for many photos (but more for photos that have more subjects in them).
Before beginning the last three modules, I had not really thought that so many handwritten letters by Founding Fathers could be seen so easily online. I also had not thought that so many slave-related documents could be seen online. The impressive things about the documents is that many exhibit clear print and that actually understanding them is not terribly difficult if one devotes some focus, re-reads, and raises some questions. English has not changed a whole lot since Revolutionary times. The assigned slave readings are great examples of how students need to learn that research includes making connections and highlighting differences between sources. The readings helped me to understand that no two documents are exactly alike. Nothing should ever be stereotyped. One should always consider both what a document says, and, what it does not say (and why). When looking at documents, one must always consider reasons for why one spoke, why they said what they said, and why they did not say certain things. Students could be asked about examples when and why they decided to say things that were not exactly true, forgot information, and deliberately left out details when describing something.
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