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Published: February 13th 2012
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Last weekend, Lindsay and our friend Matt visited London. I had already been to London last summer with the education class and I loved it when I was there. This time was just as great. We went to all the main tourist stops: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, and the Tower of London. While I had seen all of these places before, this time I got to go into the Tower of London. It was worth all 18 pounds of admission. Since I have recently been teaching British history, I was fascinated with the various towers and the exhibits within them. Ann Boleyn was held captive there by Henry VIII and the Tower of London is famous for the mysterious disappearance of the young princes Edward and Richard. I am going to teach a lesson on the disappearance, so I was particularly interested in this location. Also, this is the location of the crowned jewels with the world’s largest diamond.While the jewels were pretty to look at, I was more interested in the Bloody Tower, where the methodologies of torture used in the castle were on display.
Another place we spent a significant amount of
time was Westminster Abbey. This is by far the best place I have ever been to (and not because it is where Kate Middleton walked down the aisle). The size and beauty of the building is astounding. The vast amount of history within that building makes me never want to leave. It is an eerie feeling staring into the caste of Queen Elizabeth’s face above her grave. While listening to the audio guide, I was excited to make connections between what we learned at Edinburgh Castle and here at Westminster with the resting place of Mary Queen of Scots. However, my favorite spot is Poet’s Corner where many poets and authors are honored. It is also the resting place of Geoffrey Chaucer. I know all of my classmates hated
Canterbury Tales in 10
th grade English class, but I loved it. Even in the 12 hours we spent in London, I was able to pay the memorial site of Florence Nightingale a visit. After 8 weeks of researching her with Professor Baer in the history department last summer, it only seemed right to stop by and take a picture.
Back at school things have been good.
I am teaching a lot of classes now and enjoying it more and more every day. It is a reassuring feeling knowing that I belong in the classroom. I even taught an English lesson last week on American accents. I had the students play a game where they had to try and mimic American accents. The teacher was laughing so hard in the back of the room. Of course, the students did not let me leave the class until I had attempted a Scous (Liverpool) accent. Turns out, I am quite good at it. I also taught a lesson on the American Revolution where I gave the students some skittles to be “money.” For various reasons, I began to tax them and take away their skittles. I think the lesson worked more that I intended when one student exclaimed “I don’t like the British, they keep taking skittles from the colonists.” It was not my intention to turn them into patriots. I tried to explain that not all colonists were mad at the British, but the boy was still upset that his skittles were gone.
This experience has been fascinating learning what areas of study the British education
system includes in their curriculum. Nowhere is the American Revolution in their secondary study. It makes me wonder, what parts of American history we are leaving out because we are not proud of that time. How well do we teach the treatment of Native Americans? How well do we teach the World War II Japanese internment camps? It’s something I will continue to ponder as I continue student teaching here and when I am a certified teacher back in the States.
While school is going well, unfortunately I did get sick this past weekend. They said during student teaching I would probably get sick, but I was unprepared for the high fever that came on so quickly. However, I am all well now and I am currently on break for a week and preparing to leave for Belfast early tomorrow morning. I am excited to see what this trip has in store for me. Belfast holds a lot of history with its conflict between Protestants and Catholics. I will be sure to update you all on my trip soon.
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Lori Maatman
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Adventure
It is great that you are seeing the world from different perspectives. I hear all of the observations that you are making and I think there is so much we can learn from each other. I have also loved English history and the castles are something I hope to see someday.....enjoy your commentary!!!