Kate G. Assignment #4c Blogging

In Monday's class we learned about the Indian Education For All Act. Each group was given a different topic which they would teach the rest of the class about. Katie and I taught about the Boarding School Era. One thing that I remembered from this topic was that the whites told the Indians that they lost their land because they were uneducated so they should send their children to the boarding schools. Some things I learned from the other groups were that most tribes used sign language, facial expressions, pictures etc. to communicate with other tribes. The thing I found most interesting was that Native American students learn better doing hands on things. Some activities I would like to do with my class would be to have them all write a short story and draw a picture about a time when they were away from home and might have felt the same way the Indian children felt when they were taken to boarding schools. The second activity I would like to do would be to have a prominent native from one of the local reservations come in and talk to my class about what their culture is and anything they can share to help the children understand better.

Stephanie Sharbono

I learned about all of the seven different reservations in Montana. Also, I learned a lot of information for each reservation including the tribes that live on each reservation, size, population, location, and economic activities. I also learned about how they communicate through pictures, sign language, and smoke signals. If I was teaching a health enhancement class I would find some games that have cultural meaning, and have them play these games as a warm up in class. If I was teaching an art class I would have the kids draw something that would tell a story by using some common symbols from the tribe.

Mike Rider IEFA 4c

The IEFA learning lesson was a valuable one. There are two things that I learned last week that stick out in my mind. The first one is that there are 12 tribes located throughout Montana. It is crazy I did not know that considering I have lived here for 20 years. The second thing that sticks out in my mind and is something I learned is the idea of boarding schools and getting rid of native american culture and such. I was completely unaware that they tried doing that and I now have a better understanding of the subject.

As an elementary teacher, I would do two things as far as IEFA. I would teach my kids about the particular tribes that are located in their state and show them a video of a pow wow so they can get a feel for the music, culture and environment. Both of those things would spark their interest and stil be a learning experience.

Amber Y. #4C

Class last Monday was very interesting. I learned many new things including, Montana has 7 Indian reservations and that the government took Indian children from their homes to "educate them". Growing up in Upper Michigan where there is one Indian Reservation, I was amazed at the number of reservations here and the percentage of Montana land that is Indian reservation. I had also never heard that the government had taken Indian children from their homes to educate them.

As a future elementary teacher I would divide the class into 7 groups and have each group research a different reservation and then have them present each reservation to the class. Another activity I would do would be to have each child write a brief story of when they were away from home and how they felt and how it was similar or different.

Michela T 4c

I think that it is pretty amazing that I have lived in Montana my whole life, and I did not know that Montana is home to 12 different tribes. I knew that Native American children were sent away to boarding schools, but I had no idea that so many children were sent away. I feel that it is very important for students to learn about Native Americans and their culture and their history. As a future high school History and Government teacher I will have many opportunities to teach my students about Native Americans. One activity would be to have students map out the territory of the 12 different tribes before the reservation system, and then to map out the territory of tribes after the reservation system. Then as a class we would discuss how drastic the change was, and how it impacted the lives and culture of those tribes. Another assignment would be to research how boarding schools also impacted the culture and life of the Native American children.

Chelsea Lehner assign #4C

I thought that Monday’s class was extremely eye-opening. I had no idea how many young Indians were taken from their families to go to boarding schools. The atmosphere that they were put into must have been very difficult to endure. The idea of “killing the Indian to save the man” is such a racist ideology. Another thing I thought was interesting was that the war dance was actually a representation of each mans encounters during their battle. I think it is critical to incorporate technology when we teach children about Native Americans. I know I wouldn’t have had the faintest clue as to what the war dance looked like without the different videos we found on youtube.

Grant Geiger Assignment #4c

I learned that there are twelve tribes that still exist today in Montana. I also learned that the Navajo tribe is the biggest in the United States.

You could help your students learn about the Native American cultures by learning how they communicated from music and why there are so few tribes left in the United States. I think that by teaching them about why there are so few tribes left would be a very important thing to learn.