In my Humanities class we learned about, arguably, the most important war to occur in the past few decades. The Cold War held tension between 2 of the greatest superpowers of that time, the United States and the USSR. Both countries having the materials to send the world into a nuclear snowday, but neither one of them wanting to be the cause of such catastrophic events. This war brought about an event known as the Cuban missile crisis. One of the tasks we completed that was related to the Cuban missile crisis was a simulation in which myself and 3 others would pretend to be members of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, also known as ExComm. As members of ExComm, we were tasked with creating a “solution” to the built up tension between the U.S and USSR. We obtained “top secret files'' that we had to analyze and use to base our solution upon. My group decided that the best option would be to have a civil conversation between the nations. We found out that the actual solution ExComm decided on was a full naval blockade to stop any and all imports from the USSR.
Why did you choose to show this work sample on your Portfolio?
I’m not really a fan of history. I personally find history boring and depressing, but I LOVED this exercise. It was a very unique way of getting the students engaged in this task and I’m all for it. I also love group work, it tends to keep me on task more than if I was working alone.
How does this work sample represent a 21st Century Skill?
This task was a good example of my Civic Literacy and Engagement 21st century skill. I participated in an exercise that simulated a governmental crisis and I was tasked, along with my groupmates, to find a solution.
How does this work sample demonstrate your growth? Is there something you could've improved on?
I feel like the only downside of this project was that we had to have at least some prior knowledge to the Cold War. Although we did learn a little about this war through the task itself, I can tell it would have helped had I been listening a little more during the other parts of class. I feel like we did perfect otherwise.