What I Learned
This topic was very interesting to me. I believe that this is due to the personal connection that I have with it. I am a descendant of the Cherokee culture on both sides of my family. Although there are other cultures that my ancestors were a part of, the Cherokee culture always intrigued me. I always wanted to learn more about it. This project gave me the perfect opportunity to do so. While I was researching, I noticed that some aspects of the Cherokee culture seemed to interest me more than others. The two main topics that I found myself wanting to know more about was the social organization of clans and the role of women in the Cherokee society. I found the separation of people into distinct clans who worked together for the common good of the village to be intriguing. I loved learning more about each clan and it's characteristics. At several points throughout my research, I found myself wondering what clan my ancestors belonged to. This is something that I intend to investigate more in the future. Another topic that really captured my interest was the role of women. My family is full of strong-willed women who are full of life. As I researched about the role of Cherokee women, I realized that their active role may have influenced the generations after them. Therefore, they would influence my mother and grandmother. Additionally, I was very surprised by how early on the women played a huge role in this culture. I have always heard about how women were stifled in other cultures during this time period. It was refreshing to realize that not all cultures treated their women in this manner. Both of these topics were relatively new information for me that just sparked an stronger interest in the Cherokee culture as I researched. Even though this project is complete, I intend to visit the reservation in Cherokee, NC to learn more about this amazing culture that I am a descendent of.
Connection to the Standards
My project links rather naturally to the National Council for Social Studies Standard of culture. Through this project, I have learned a lot about the Cherokee Indian culture that can be discussed in the classroom. The students would be able to learn about the social organization, religion, politics and women's role in this culture. Many activities could be linked to these topics. In addition, a teacher could even teach about other culture's of the time. Once both cultures have been taught, the students will be able to see that different cultures have different characteristics. For example, the Cherokee women had a more active role in the society than the women of Great Britain. This comparing and contrasting of different cultures could lead to higher order thought as the students examine different perspectives.
As I plan to teach in North Carolina once I have graduated, I used the North Carolina essential standards to find a standard to link with this topic. I found a very easy and fitting connection within this standard: 4.H.1.1 Summarize the changes in cultures, everyday life and status of indigenous American Indian groups in North Carolina before and after European exploration. The Cherokee people inhabited the western part of North Carolina therefore they would be included under this standard. Additionally, I examined things that would influence their everyday life. Although most of the information came from the period prior to the European settlement, there are still a few pieces of information about how European settlement changed their lives.
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As I plan to teach in North Carolina once I have graduated, I used the North Carolina essential standards to find a standard to link with this topic. I found a very easy and fitting connection within this standard: 4.H.1.1 Summarize the changes in cultures, everyday life and status of indigenous American Indian groups in North Carolina before and after European exploration. The Cherokee people inhabited the western part of North Carolina therefore they would be included under this standard. Additionally, I examined things that would influence their everyday life. Although most of the information came from the period prior to the European settlement, there are still a few pieces of information about how European settlement changed their lives.
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Valuable for Elementary School Teacher
As I reflect upon this project, I realized that I learned many things that may be useful for an elementary school teacher. Most of these things fall under one of two categories: content and the research process. Each of these are very important to an elementary school teacher especially with the intermediate level grades.
The content that I learned was all of the information for this project. I learned about many aspects of the Cherokee Indian culture in great detail. I can relate this information to my future students to help them understand this culture as well. It is my belief that if an educator is expected to teach his/her students about a topic, they should know about it in great depth. This allows for their students to become more involved and learn at a much deeper level with the content. They know that they can always refer to the teacher for help if needed. After this project, I can provide this for my students. Any questions that they may have, I probably can answer. If I cannot answer them, I know where and how to find them. This will lead to my students learning at a much deeper level about this topic.
Secondly, I learned a lot about the research process.There is a possibility that I may assign my future students with a project that requires them to research. Through this project, I will have the skills and knowledge to guide them through this process. As it may seem grueling to some students, I hope that my knowledge will alleviate some of the stress of the research process. I can help them to find reliable sources, synthesize information from several sources and appropriately cite their sources as I have had sufficient practice through this project. Hopefully, my skills and knowledge will be able to help my students through a process that I found intensely stressful as an elementary aged student.
The skill and knowledge set that I learned through this project will stay with me for the rest of my life. I am confident that they will prove themselves to be very useful in my future classroom. As my students learn in depth and are able to conduct research, this will prepare them for the rest of their academic lives. I have this project to thank for providing this knowledge and skill to me which I can pass down to my future students.
The content that I learned was all of the information for this project. I learned about many aspects of the Cherokee Indian culture in great detail. I can relate this information to my future students to help them understand this culture as well. It is my belief that if an educator is expected to teach his/her students about a topic, they should know about it in great depth. This allows for their students to become more involved and learn at a much deeper level with the content. They know that they can always refer to the teacher for help if needed. After this project, I can provide this for my students. Any questions that they may have, I probably can answer. If I cannot answer them, I know where and how to find them. This will lead to my students learning at a much deeper level about this topic.
Secondly, I learned a lot about the research process.There is a possibility that I may assign my future students with a project that requires them to research. Through this project, I will have the skills and knowledge to guide them through this process. As it may seem grueling to some students, I hope that my knowledge will alleviate some of the stress of the research process. I can help them to find reliable sources, synthesize information from several sources and appropriately cite their sources as I have had sufficient practice through this project. Hopefully, my skills and knowledge will be able to help my students through a process that I found intensely stressful as an elementary aged student.
The skill and knowledge set that I learned through this project will stay with me for the rest of my life. I am confident that they will prove themselves to be very useful in my future classroom. As my students learn in depth and are able to conduct research, this will prepare them for the rest of their academic lives. I have this project to thank for providing this knowledge and skill to me which I can pass down to my future students.