1. How do you analyze documents with a partner? We bounce ideas off of each other and choose whichever one we like best.
2. What is useful about working with a partner when you analyze sources? You have a 2nd opinion.
3. What did you not like about working with a partner? Why? It makes it go slower because you actually have to voice all your opinions instead of just thinking them.
4. Did working with a partner help you better answer our essential question? Why or Why not? No, because I’m pretty sure I’ve already figured the essential question.

• What role did your character play in causing the Civil War? He actually was a cause for delaying it. He was great at compromising and without him the civil war may have happened earlier.
• Did your Character believe in slavery? Why? Why not? No, he wanted to completely abolish it in Kentucky.
• Do you like the character you were assigned? Why? No, he was pretty boring.

How did the experiences of slaves first hand compare to what we have read about in the past? Were our secondary sources accurate to the slave experience? Explain.

They compare pretty well. It gave us some information that we didn’t see in the first packet. It also told us what they were thinking. Our secondary sources were pretty accurate to the slave experience.

What was one new thing you learned from reading these stories?

That there was a slave auction.

Did reading these stories from slaves change your perspective? How so?

Not much. My perspective on how they lived their lives was already so bad it was hard to get much worse.

How do you think that the stories of slaves relates to our essential question of “Why do people move?”?

Because one reason people move might be because they are forced into slavery here.

Why did slaves move? Be specific in your answer.

Because they were forced to.

What about this project went well for you? Explain.

I found all my research pretty easily. Everything I needed was easy to find.

What about this project did not go well for you? Explain.

I could not get my video working. I couldn’t present to the class.

How can you create a better project next time?

Talk slower in my video. Make it clearer.

How did you think the planning process went? Were you able to find all the information you needed?

Yes, it was all easy to find.

What could Adon Kaufman and Gev. Noorlander do differently next time?

Be clearer on how big a project is so we know how we should pace ourselves.

What impact did explorers make?

What do Midterm Elections decide in the government?

The people who are in the House and the Senate. If the conditions are right either can be flipped making it so the president will have a harder time passing bills.

How are citizens impacted by Midterm Elections?

They’re a chance to flip or keep both the house and the Senate the same. Instead of giving Trump and republicans free rein and majority in both, the Democrats can make it so it will be a lot tougher for Republicans.

What can citizens do to get people they want to be elected?

Get the word out to other citizens. If a citizen sees something saying “Vote for this person!” the citizen is more inclined to vote for them.

Why do Midterm Elections exist?

So people have a chance to change things in the white house before the president’s 4 years are up. Since people in the Senate and House serve 6 and 2-year terms, some terms end in between presidential votes.

Why is it important for different groups of people to run for government positions?

So there is more diversity. Also, that way everyone has someone they can connect to.

How do you think you have grown as a learner since the beginning of this unit?

I have learned a lot about the native Americans since the beginning of the unit that I had no idea about.

What topic this unit has been most interesting to you? Explain.

The mascots. I’m a huge sports person so I’m interested in anything involving sports.

Think about our school values.

• What has this unit made you wonder? What other bad things we did to Native Americans.
• How has this unit made you feel empathy? It made me feel empathy to the Native Americans for hating Americans.
• How has this unit strengthened your feeling of Tikkun Olam? I now want to go out into the world and help this stop.

What can we (your teachers) change to make this unit better in the future?

Nothing.

Some Native Americans do not like the term Native American. Explain why they reject this name.

Because Native American still has the word Native American in it.

One person in the BBC Video said that living in poverty does not mean they are poor. What do you think he meant by that?

Some of them still have money, they’re just living in a bad area.

Some Native Americans approve of the team name Redskins. What is their reason for approving this name while others do not?

Because the football team has been around for a while and they think it should be kept that way.

In the CNN segment, there was a story told about a woman who used to approve of the name Redskins, and now does not. What changed? Why does she no longer approve of the name?

She saw a bunch of non-native Americans using the term and having no idea what it meant. She decided that it wasn’t a great name if people are saying it not knowing what they’re saying.

How can non-Native people help others learn about Native Americans current issues? What can we do to help?

For one, we can just open their eyes to what their life is. The average American has no idea about any of the harsh living conditions for Native Americans. If they could just learn about it I think they would be much more inclined to help. 

Explain why or why not Mascots meant to resemble Native American people should be changed.

A few should definitely be changed. If the mascot is not rude or stereotypical in any way why does it need to be changed?

Should Native American people be given something in return for these mascots? Why?

It would be nice but it is not really needed. Do pirates get something from the Pittsburgh Pirates? Do brewing companies get things from the Brewers? 

Do you think it would be important to you to change these mascots if a mascot was made of you? Explain.

No, because I would be completely alright with a mascot of me. I would actually be the one inside of the mascot controlling it. That would have nothing to do with Native American mascots.

Should these teams and the government give Native Americans reparations? Why?

Not unless the mascot is inappropriate and rude.

Explain how your group worked together before the debate (during research). Did you work well together?

I wasn’t  there for most of the pre-debate research so I don’t really know.

Explain how your group worked together during the debate. Did you work well together?

I think so because every single person got to say their lines and we had fun.

What can you do differently next time? Why will this help you and your group improve?

I can try to be there for more of the research and planning. This will make me more prepared for the debate.

Explain how this debate influenced your opinion on Columbus.

It didn’t change my opinion really. I had always known Columbus wasn’t really as good as he was supposed to be. I also knew that Spongebob celebrated Leif Erickson (the actual discoverer of America) day and not Columbus day. True Fact.