Welcome! Let's get acquainted...

shauna rae
english 8h,8 foshay learning center

I am thrilled to be taking this claas sand feel blessed that it has come my way. . . .

I lived in Thailand once for 3 months and that, along with the beat poets, and, of course, Kerouac's On the Road. Also, I wrote an MA paper on Salinger, whom I believe to be, at least, a lay-Buddhist. My proof would be his last work: Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters. [sorry--underlining is not working in the program]

Thus, I began my studies in Eastern philosophy over 30 years. Buddhism's Way of seeing the world has given me throughout the years, something to hold on to--metaphorically--in this often pretty-darn difficult thing known as life. And enriched me intellectually--

sr

Hi all,

I'm Christy North and I teach at Carson High school in Carson, which is very ethnically diverse (both city and school). About 20% of the population is Asian, predominantly from the Phillipines, and about 5% is Pacific Islander, predominantly Samoan. I teach English, 10th and 12th, including AP English Lit and World Lit. I am also the Head Coach for our Boys Volleyball team, which is made up of mostly Filipino and Pacific Islander athletes.

Three things that mainly drew me to this class (other than the obvious rewards):
--the diverse population and number of Asians at Carson
--my own fascination with Zen, Buddhism, and the powerful grace of the haiku
--teaching world literature without a sense of the Asian world

I guess I'm just really very curious about it all, and then that increased ten-fold during the two weeks I was hooked up intraveneously to my television, watching the Beijing Olympics at all hours of the day and night. Maybe this is just the right time.

My name is Charles Mayfield, but I go by "Chuck." I teach at Foshay Learning Center in Los Angeles Unified School District.

Foshay is one of the few "Learning Center" schools in LAUSD, which (at least at Foshay) means that school educates students from Kindergarten through 12th grade on one campus. (Actually, for security and pedagogical reasons, the elementary school students are in a separate building across the street from the rest of the Foshay campus.

Foshay is actually three schools in one. The elementary school and the high school are operated as magnet schools that select the students that are allowed to enroll in those schools. The middle school, in which I teach, is open to the general public in teh same way that any ordinary LAUSD middle school is.

Foshay is a multi-track school whose student body is divided into three tracks of (more or less) 1,000 students per track. Foshay operates under a year-round academic calendar, partly because Foshay has approximately 3,000 students but can accommodate only about 2,000 students at a time.

I know for a fact that admission to Foshay High School is very competitive. I have been in the main office and overheard the receptionist tell a caller that applications to the high school were not being accepted at that time because the high school was full. Also, application to Foshay High School includes an evaluation form from two middle school teachers. Of the five students for whom I completed an evaluation last school year (my first year of teaching), only two of them were accepted to Foshay High School.

I'm especially glad to teach at Foshay because it implements a unique and impressive academic curriculum. A student can enter kindergarten at Foshay, remain at Foshay through 12th grade (if grades and behavior are up to par), and begin his or her freshman year of college at U.S.C. under a partnership that Foshay and U.S.C. have with each other. (I think five other LAUSD schools have a similar path to U.S.C.) Fortunately, this path is not theory. My understanding is that several students graduated from Foshay High School a few years ago after beginning there in kindergarten. Also, I believe there is a sophomore at U.S.C. who entered under the partnership between Foshay and the university.

I teach Algebra I and Algebra Readiness (so far), which means I teach only 8th graders. LAUSD (and now the State of California) requires 8th graders to take Algebra I, which is the level of Algebra that high school students must understand in order to pass the CAHSEE exam that is required for high school graduation. A significant number of LAUSD students, however, fail Pre-Algebra in 7th grade and, therefore, are not poised for success in Algebra I in 8th grade. They are not allowed, however, repeat Pre-Algebra during 8th grade.

As a result, such students are routed to Algebra Readiness to become ready for Algrebra I. Algebra Readiness covers both Pre-Algebra topics from 7th grade (and more) and some topics from Algebra I from 8th grade without all of the pacing and complexity that exists in Algebra I. Last school year, I taught two Algebra I classes and one Algebra Readiness class. This school year, I'm teaching only Algebra Readiness. I like it because I get to teach a class that helps students gain the foundation they need to succeed in a course in high school that is ultra-critical to their future: LAUSD students who don't pass Algebra I in 8th grade must take it in high school (usually 9th grade), and students who don't pass the math portion of the CAHSEE don't receive a high school diploma.

I am taking this seminar for two reasons. First, I need to satisfy a multi-cultural requirement as a condition of my employment with LAUSD. Second, I have always be fascinated by East Asian societies, and I in graduate school, I gained a few personal acquaintances with fellow students who were from China, Japan and South Korea. I found my classmates to be very interesting people, and a few were genuinely nice people who were immensely likable. As, a result, I've become more interested in learning about their part of the world.

Although the importance of this class to my employment motivated me to take this seminar, I have been enjoying my learning so much that I'm not thinking about that part of my picture. Actually, I'm becoming increasinly desirous of the trip to East Asia even though that was not part of my original motivation for taking the class. I'm very glad to be a student in this semiar.

Hello Colleagues,

My name is Phaebra (or Phaedra) Croft. I teach at Glenn Hammond Curtiss Middle School - Math, Science and Technology Magnet in District 8 - LAUSD. I've only recently worked in public schools (three years) as I worked twenty plus years in Catholic Schools. I love my assignment of teaching Sixth Grade English Language Arts and Social Studies (Ancient Civilization) - History Alive!

I am taking this course to always be on the cutting edge of transferring current and accurate information to my students. I am a produc to of the UC system - Go Bruins! - and appreciate hearing from the professors of both UC's as well as USC whenever possible. I also know that the students that I teacher don't always have the privilege of hearing from an African American teacher and her experiences touching a world that their neighborhoods most times don't share with them. I need to take what I learn from this seminar, back to my classroom, in the hopes that my students will move into action to follow my interests. I want my interest to become so interesing to them that they will be moved to move beyond the confinds of their crime ridden neighborhood to explore how large the world is.

Lastly, I look forward to traveling to a world that I speak about in my classroom on a daily basis.

The Zen Teaching of the Bodhidharma. Trans. and Intro. by Red Pine. North Point Press, 1987.

“Unless you see your own nature, it’s not zen.

Even if you can explain a thousand sutras and shastras, unless you see your own nature yours is the teaching of a mortal, not a Buddha. The true way is sublime. It can not be expressed in language. . . .

Someone who sees his nature is a Buddha. . . . The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting. . . . If you know that everything comes from the mind, Don’t become attached. If you are attached, you are unaware. , , ,

The Ultimate truth is beyond words” (29-30).

s.rae

Hi, my name is Mike Clancy and I am way behind on this post. I am a second year struggling teacher at Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School. I teach world history, economics and government as I am working towards my masters at the University of Notre Dame (hence the late post, my master's classes take up the majority of my non-work free time.) The reason I am taking this class is because I love history and I want to share that love with students. I graduate from Boston College 2 years ago with a degree in History and Middle Eastern Studies, and did my thesis on the impact of the Armenian Genocide on modern Turkish politics, so my command of East Asian history is poor. After this class I feel far more confident in my understanding of the subject and I will continue to build my knowledge base.

Sophia Lee

John Marshall Sr. High School

Grades 9-12

Music: Choir, Keyboard, Guitar

I decided to take this course because I have an interest in East Asian cultures. As a Korean-American, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, I feel that I have lost out on learning a lot of the roots of East Asian culture. I've been to South Korea once as a child and twice as an adult and Japan as an adult and I still don't feel like I've satisfied my curiosity for East Asian cultures. I've acquired a great interest in China and would love to visit someday, especially since it's history is also intertwined with Korean history and interacting with my culture.