Helping the Less Fortunate

In today's class, my students get a choice.

They will get to choose between five topics which relate to the clergy of the Middle Ages.  One of the topics focuses on the subject of the current Pope.  Pope Francis is being referred to as the Rock Star Pope after his debut on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.  However, a further study of Pope Francis, reveals not only his ability to reach millions of Catholics in the 21st century, but also his mission of helping the poor.

Students who choose to read about Pope Francis, will explore worldwide organizations whose focus is on solving the poverty crisis.  I suggest that they begin by exploring a site that many are familiar with, toms.com.  Through this exploration, my hope is that these students will begin to feel a moral tug at their hearts.

Perhaps then they will make their own choice.  A choice to consider how lucky their lives are as compared to the millions of poor children and families living around the globe .

So what who cares about Cathedrals, monks, religion, and Catholicism? Even though they seem like completely different subjects, they aren’t. All four subjects are related to the religion Catholic. Now some people may be thinking, how are monks related to the Catholic church? Monks were actually the highly religious people of the middle ages that had devoted their lives to the study the Catholic religion. Cathedrals were the place of worship for the Catholic’s. The Cathedrals were building that were built just for the worship of God. When you think middle ages most people think about the castles, kings, and queens, however, that is not the cathedrals were more important than any king or queen. Not many people know what the world Catholicism means, I know I didn’t know. Catholicism is a broad term used for describing the specific traditions in the Christian churches. Now why don’t you ask yourself, so what who cares about Cathedrals, monks, religion, and Catholicism? What is your answer now?

Please pass the vinegar.

Hours of silence, simplicity, and devotion; words associated with the life of a medieval monk.  Even today these words can be associated with the clerics of the Church.  Nobles, peasants, and life in the medieval towns -- history.  But, what remains of the Middle Ages?  Perhaps, one should consider the Cathedrals, the doctrine of the Church, and religious devotion?

Life in the Middle Ages was tough. When many children did not live past their first birthday, and 75 million people died as a result of the Black Death; people turned to the clergy for help.  However, the Black Death did not discriminate -- in other words -- neither did God.  

How then, did this institution survive?  Historians have argued that this cataclysmic event was part of the spark that led to the Reformation.  Even so, with the recent popularity of the present Pope, lapsed Catholics have begun returning to active participation.  Catholicism seems alive and well for millions of people around the world.  

Religion - thousands of years old, but taboo in public school.  Is there a safe way to examine the role of such powerful institutions without offending our diverse students?  Or do we continue to use sign language to keep our voices silent, just as the monks did during meals, to tell the story of the past?


So What Who Cares?

Cathedrals

First of all, a cathedral is a Christian church. They are most known for their architecture and the build of them. Each one is very different from another. But they all have a couple of things in common. All of them have arches that come to a point. That symbolizes the image of hands in a praying position. Cathedrals also have beautiful stained glass art. They allow god to come in at any time in need. One that is well known is in a shape of a flower or rose. Here’s a picture of one down below.

Check out the video on this site.

Clergy: Modern Day vs. Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, the clergy were just beneath the Knights in the Hierarchy of Power. They were extremely important to society because all classes of people were widely affected by the church. When bad things would happen during the Middle Ages, they believed it was the wrath of god, and so people looked to the clergy to forgive their sins so that it wouldn’t happen again. They heavily taxed the people to support the church, promising eternal life and happiness in return, however they didn’t have to pay taxes herself. The lower class clergy, the Monks, were scribes and sometimes educated noble’s sons. They were seen as the pathway between God and Men.

However, in recent times, priests and pastors hold a very different role. They hold no political power due to a separation of church and state. In the Catholic Church, they still hold confessions and are seen as possessing the power to forgive people’s sins. The Pope is still a very important figure in society, and leads the Catholic Church. However, he holds less power because unlike in The Middle Ages, society is made up of a mixture of religions spread across the globe. Regular pastors and priests are often associated with the middle class, and still have to pay the expenses that everyone else does. The church still collects offerings, however it is not a required tax.

In conclusion, the Church still is an important part of our society, but no longer holds such supreme power. It no longer hold power in politics, and is no longer forced upon people.

Today's topic - Women of the Middle Ages
Wow, where do I begin?  As a fellow woman, I am of course passionate about this topic.  I could spend the rest of the year relating the role of women in the Middle Ages to all kinds of other lessons that discuss women's history and women's studies.  I could share historical biographies and offer my students debates on current issues relating to women.  My list of activities and learning objectives would be endless.  However, my time is limited and the curriculum calls me back to reality.  Instead, I settled on answering a few questions:
a.  What was the role of women in the Middle Ages?
b.  Are ladies Ladies today?
c.  How has the role of women changed in America's short history?
d.  What does the future hold for America's women?

I wonder which aspect of this lesson will engage my students...most particularly, my male students?

Student Response:

Today’s social studies lesson made me think of modern world gender specific roles. In the society of the 1300’s women (specifically noblewomen) were raised, taught, and expected to bear children, do housework, and be respectful and loyal to their husbands; who of which they “belonged to”. Also, women had none of the rights men had (ex: playing a part in the making of major decisions and voting). In modern society and government, women have nearly all the rights men have, only they can’t play professional men’s sports or take part in gender specific religious activities and so on. Women can vote like men do as of 1920, and women are part of the government. Women today are now taking on roles in society that they used to not be able to, because of “gender boundaries”. However, the stereotype remains in the mindset of many, many people. In the Middle Ages, women were seen as having to be and taught to be emotional, nurturing, affectionate, weak, forgiving, and home-oriented. Men were expected to be athletic, driven, strong, brave. Based upon research, under 3.5 percent of parents who stay home and do housework are fathers, leaving 96.5 percent to be women. Is this because women are still expected to do housework, while the men are being “strong” and doing work, bringing in money to provide for the family? Likely. In the Medieval Times, unless you were a peasant woman who also worked in the fields alongside children as well as doing all the housework, men did all of the providing for the family. Women stayed home and raised the children. I decided to take it upon myself and anonymously ask the general public on the Internet what roles they believe women should take on. Here are some of the answers I received…

Q: What is the role of a woman?  

A: “Different women have different roles.”

“Cooking, Cleaning, Children.”

“Same as a man’s.”

“To cook for her husband.”

“To cook.”

“To be a functional member of society in the western world.”

“To be a wife.”

“Housekeeping and cooking.”

As you can see, many people today believe the stereotype set in the Middle Ages. To end my “post”, I would conclude my study of feminine roles in society show that although women now have most political rights, they don’t necessarily have complete social equality. Much has changed since the Middle Ages but the stereotype of who women are supposed to be hasn’t altered too greatly.

Blogging - so what, who cares?

As the teacher, I try to make the content relevant.  As an ancient history teacher, it becomes more of a task to create a meaningful learning experience for my students with an event that occurred thousands of years ago.  So, how do I find out if all of my creative planning works?

Ms. Chilcoat's students will now be blogging!

This blog will dedicate itself to the seventh grade voice.  A voice of new perspective and understanding.  By visiting this site, you will experience two perspectives on each day's lesson.  One will be me, the teacher. I will post my goals for the lesson and the learning experience I worked to create.  The other will be from a student in my class.  My students will personally attempt to answer the question everyone has asked at one point or another -- SO WHAT, WHO CARES?

For me, this will be an opportunity to assess my student's knowledge of the content.  For my students, this will be their opportunity to personally reflect on their knowledge of the content.  Together, we might learn from each other.

So, to answer the original question - Blogging may just be what education needs; not another test, but an outlet where proof of learning can find it's own voice.