CRAAP 2. The Iroquois Nations of the Northeast

Title of the resource you are evaluating: The Iroquois Nations Of the Northeast
Currency: The timeliness of the information
Is the information (while perhaps historic) current or out-of-date? Has it been revised or updated?
For example, if an historical text refers to a minority group using what would be considered derogatory language, rate it not current.
Somewhat Current 3
Explanation: This information was published in 1998. So it has not been updated or revised enough. The links function perfectly and there is great information in the site.


Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.
Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? Is the information at an appropriate level?
For example, an elementary textbook would not be at an appropriate level and therefore not relevant.
Not Relevant 2
Explanation: The intended audience and is the person interested in this tribes. I would feel a little uncomfortable using this site because its not been updated. The topic branches off into different topics. It helps to understand the site a little better, but it is still a little fishy because you have no updates. 

Authority: The source of the information
What are the author’s qualifications to write on the topic?
For example, an anonymous author on Wikipedia has far less authority than a named author on a website sponsored by a university.
Authoritative 4
Explanation: The authority of the website is great. It has the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. I feel like this website has a great authority because a museum has created this, but I don’t see any contact information or a publisher or where to email questions. So that makes me question about the authority.


Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.
Where does the information come from? Is the information supported by evidence? Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
For example, information found on About.com is somewhat accurate because it is not supported by evidence and it is unclear whether the information is reviewed.
Somewhat Accurate 2
Explanation: The information seems to be very accurate and believable. The information is coming from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, but it’s still a little weird because there is no information that says it has been reviewed, revised and no evidence is being shown.


Purpose: The reason the information was published
Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda? Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
For example, an anti-Semitic website has an inappropriate purpose that shares biased opinion with the goal of disseminating hate.
Appropriate Purpose 3
Explanation: The purpose for the website is to inform. There are no authors though. The information is actually facts and is not biased in any sort of type. It’s main purpose is to inform.

CRAAP 1. Iroquois Indian Tribe History

Title of the resource you are evaluating: Iroquois Indian Tribe History


Currency: The timeliness of the information
Is the information (while perhaps historic) current or out-of-date? Has it been revised or updated?
For example, if an historical text refers to a minority group using what would be considered derogatory language, rate it not current.
Not Current 1
Explanation: This website has been published since 1998. It’s been about 12 years since it looks like has been updated. There is no revisions made and it doesn’t show the revision if any has been made.


Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.
Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question? Is the information at an appropriate level?
For example, an elementary textbook would not be at an appropriate level and therefore not relevant.
Somewhat Relevant 2
Explanation: The website has great information but it has so many dates and some of them are not in a chronological order. That makes the text hard to follow and it includes a lot more information that its not necessarily important or goes with the text.


Authority: The source of the information
What are the author’s qualifications to write on the topic?
For example, an anonymous author on Wikipedia has far less authority than a named author on a website sponsored by a university.
Somewhat Authoritative 3
Explanation: There are sources for this website it is the Handbook of American Indians, 1906 this does not make the whole website. That is the only source that they have. There are no authors, sources, or sponsors.


Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.
Where does the information come from? Is the information supported by evidence? Has the information been reviewed or refereed?
For example, information found on About.com is somewhat accurate because it is not supported by evidence and it is unclear whether the information is reviewed.
Not Applicable 1
Explanation: We don’t know for sure where this information is coming from and the only supporting evidence we have is the book Handbook of American Indians, 1906. I do not feel that is enough evidence.


Purpose: The reason the information was published
Is the information fact, opinion or propaganda? Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
For example, an anti-Semitic website has an inappropriate purpose that shares biased opinion with the goal of disseminating hate.
Somewhat Appropriate Purpose 3
Explanation: The main reason for this information to be published was to sell. It’s from a company who only publishes to sell. SO I don’t see an educational or good intention when publishing this content

What did i do???

Well...this week has been a get caught up week. I've caught up on some of my readings for this class and others. I got a chance to chit chat with my children's lit group and also work on my year long plan. Other than that it has been pretty hectic because everything is been happening so quick. I feel like the semester is close to being done and I still have a lot of things do. Anyone feel like that??

I still have troubles putting up the CRAAP assignments. I converted it into a PDF file and see if I could upload it like that but its not possible. Any ideas anyone??

Respect but not Value??

When we were talking about values and respect in class it was intense. I understand that teachers might not get the best pay, they might not get treated with respect and they would not get all the cool things that other people do [like engineers], and they are not valued enough.Teaching it's still a job. However, the only thing I agree on is that the teachers are not valued enough, I see it as a cultural thing. I'm from Mexico, when I was still living there, there was no way that a parent could complain about their teaching. A teacher is seen as a respected and valued person that is actually teaching their children. It would be very hard for a student to raise his/her voice to a teacher, a teacher is also very valued. Parents always value the time that a teacher put into the students lives. Parents are also very involved and usually they get along well with the teachers. I'm speaking from a small region perspective. I think it's a region or cultural thing about all the issues that sometimes pop into a teachers lives. I never heard of any of these issues when I was in Mexico...However, I'm not saying that might not exist. It might exist....but I have yet to see it.

Year Long Plan!

This assignment has given me lots of headaches but I think I'm doing much better now. I separated and clump together certain objectives from different standards that seemed to make sense and that would go together. This made it a lot easier to handle.. from then I wasn't sure where to go, but A.J helped me to organize it and follow a pattern. I think it gets a lot easier after this step...How's everyones' plans going?? 

Somebody's New Pajamas

Jackson, Isaac, Somebody's New Pajamas, 1996, Dial Books for Young Readers.

Keywords: Traditions, Friendship, Different backgrounds, sleepwear, family life.

Brief Summary: This book does a good job telling the reading that class and color are not always related. Jerome the main character is friends with Robert a new boy at school. Jerome lives in a small house while Robert lives in a big house and has lots of nice clothes. Jerome learns that there's more than money to a family, there is always the fun, love and respect. He also learns that families are different and they do things different.
This book is great for children ages 4-8. 

Teaching Suggestions: We can teach about social diversity, social class, traditions, culture and family altogether. It is also a good way to experience and learn new vocabulary and not have students talk about poor and rich, it leads us to a good way to talk about things that we can afford and things that we can't afford. It gives a sense of more equality and less restrictions between rich and poor. 

Uncle Rain Cloud

Johnston, Tony, Uncle Rain Cloud, 2000, Charlesbridge.

Keywords:  Mexican-American, Translating, Family and culture, speaking English.

Summary:  Carlos tries to help his uncle, who is frustrated and angry at his inability to speak English, and adjust to their new home in Los Angeles. Carlos loves it when his uncle tells him amazing stories of Mexico, and the myths of gods and goddesses with weird tongue-twisting names. 
This book would be great for ages 4-8.

Teaching Suggestions : This book its a good source to understand the things a child goes through when the parents or guardians don't speak English. The children often end up being the translators and interpreters in the store, classroom and with official letters.  This book emphasizes the responsibility that a child has when he or she becomes the interpreter of the house. I used to be the interpreter in the house...and still am. I related a lot to this book.We can use this book when learning about overcoming misunderstandings, difficulties of living in a society where you don’t know the language, communication between persons. This book also helps to clear up misunderstandings that people don't want to learn the languages. It helps to see the reasons on why some people are afraid to speak up.

Sarah, Plain & Tall

MacLachlan, Patricia, Sarah, Plain and Tall, 1987, Harper Collins Publishers.

Keywords: Family, Places, Letter writing, maps.

Brief Summary: This is a  tale set in the late 19th century. It is about a widowed midwestern farmer with two children, Anna and Caleb. The farmer advertises for a wife. When Sarah arrives she is homesick for Maine, especially for the ocean which she misses greatly.Their mother died during childbirth, when having Caleb,  She goes on a trip to town and when she comes back she explains to the children that even though she misses her home, "the truth of it is I would miss you more." 

Teaching Suggestions: I think that students will clearly have questions regardless if they like or don't like the story. This story helps the students understand of things that happened back in the day and they will also learn about cultural things, as to ask for a wife.

I'm not sure how i feel about this story. It is a joy and then blank...Maybe because of my beliefs or my background, or maybe I'm just old styled...I can't feel good because he's asking for a mom for his children, but then i feel good because the children will finally have a mom... I'm not sure how to approach this.

Learning to live with stress!!!

So i just want to rant about my life...
So I got 2 jobs and I'm a full-time student while I'm planning a wedding...:D yay!!!.....please tell me that's not crazy??!!! I know...so i go to the doc and he says..."well...you might have anemia...or you might have a problem with your thyroid"....so he makes me do some labs and they turned out great!! So now I'm stressed out because I got a bunch of things to do.. but they all seem to interconnect somehow!! Oh and FAFSA is coming up!! wow!! and then scholarship season is coming up!! oh and then I didn't pass the Praxis II tests!! so I got to pay again for these tests and since I'm doing the bilingual and reading endorsement I got two extra Praxis II tests to take!! Blah like seriously Blah!!! :D

How can I become....

I was talking to one of my friends today about history... we came to the conclusion that since we are first generation students, history doesn't really concern us because of the fact that our history didn't begin here and most of our parents don't have that connection with the U.S. Am I being wrong? I really only passed history in high school because of worksheets...read and fill in the blank... How can I help myself feel interested a lot more in history? It is interesting to learn all this new facts, but...really now i don't see myself sitting down to relearn the things that I once "learned" How can I make myself feel otherwise? Any suggestions??

Let's talk about History...

How good can I do will all the information that I'm finding? Loewen talks about lies and lies and more lies!! Wow!!! For me it's been an eye opening. I came to hate history at a certain point...well...I'm still not sure if I still do or not...because of a simple fact that nothing relates to me. Loewen talked about this and this made me realize that I might be self-centered or that I really don't care...or maybe history is just not for me. Who knows!! I do understand that while I come to a more precise understanding of what history is all about it intrigues me and makes me wonder of all the truths that we still have to find. I do, however, realize that history is important. It's our background...I like the quote that one of the girls said in class...

"Those who do not know history are due to repeat it"

I know for sure I don't want to repeat the same mistake my teacher did to me. I do want to be prepared. I came to a conclusion that history has to be important, for me, for you, for anyone and everyone. History has a little of each one of us in it.

Social Studies...

...WORDS ARE POWERFUL AS OUR ACTIONS...

As our actions become powerful so do our words... how can we make sure we know what to teach and what we are teaching if we don't understand our material. Our students deserve so much from us and we owe them that...our preparation...