Legacies of WWI Module 1: The Why of WWI

Module One of the Legacies of WWI class covered the "Why of WWI." Here is my introduction of myself and my reflection for the first module:

Introduction

Hi everyone,

I am a passionate High School Social Studies teacher in a rural area of western Wisconsin, very close to the Mississippi River. I just moved to a new district but I spent four years teaching a variety of different classes at my last district (7th Grade Geography, 8th Grade Early American History, 10th Grade World History, 11th Grade US History, 12th Grade Government, AP US History, and AP American Government and Politics). 3 years ago I revived the NHD program in my prior district and I am happy to say that they are continuing the NHD program with the 8th and 11th graders in that district. In my new district, I will be teaching only high school classes: US History, World History, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology. This district has been doing NHD for a while, so I am happy to be continuing that tradition. I never had any exposure to NHD until I was in college when I volunteered as a judge for UW-Stevens Point's NHD contest. I loved the program since then and was excited to implement it with my students.

In addition, I have coached and coordinated Odyssey of the Mind (a creative problem-solving extracurricular activity), advised High School Student Council, and served as a member of the building's Leadership Team and PBIS Team.

Personally, I greatly enjoy photography. I just bought a new camera and a couple of new lenses that have reignited my interest in taking photographs. I am also an animal lover and an avid traveler. My goal is to visit all 50 states, and I have currently visited 38/50. All of the states that I haven’t visited (except Alaska) are in the northeastern part of the United States. I got married this summer as well, and my husband Clint and I went on a Caribbean cruise. We had an amazing time and I have some amazing photographs from the trip!

I’m really looking forward to learning more deeply about WWI through this class as well.

Classroom Application

The "event" that I want to focus on with my students is imperialism as a whole. Though not one particular event, imperialism is a theme that is weaved throughout world history and which reveals a great deal about the development of a nation, whether it is the empire or the territory.

To approach the concept of imperialism, I would work with my students on interpreting both perspectives and analyzing primary sources from both sides of the story. It is also important to understand the dichotomy between the drive to conquer and the drive to be autonomous, and connect past events to those occurring in the world today.

I have an activity from my American History class that I could adapt to help students understand different perspectives on imperialism leading up to WWI. In this activity, students, in groups, research a nation and the nation that has "conquered" it. The students must create one analogy to describe how the empire views its territory and another analogy to describe how the territory views the empire. Some students have come up with the analogy that the empire is the parent and the territory is the teenager. To the territory (teen), the empire (parent) is overbearing and takes away their freedom. To the empire (parent), they are trying to do what is best for the territory (teen), and the territory does not appreciate the empire's efforts. This is an interesting way for students to delve deep into primary sources to determine how each side feels about the situation. Once students understand both perspectives, they can make a determination for themselves not only about whom to empathize with, but they can also determine the impact of such imperialism.

Webinar

The webinar for Module 1 is posted below.