Holocaust and other diasters....

I began this weeks reading with Wink's article about the Holocaust. Previously before reading it, however, I have had an urge to visit Poland to see the harm that such genocide could cause. In tenth grade, my English teacher brought in pictures from her travels to Auschwitz and we had a long lesson on the topic. In that unit, I wrote my research paper which was 4 pages (at the time that was intense!) on the Warsaw ghetto, and the treatment the Jewish people endured. Like the students in Wink's observations, I lacked emotions for such a subject and "sat back" and listened to what needed to be heard. However, I never really put a place to those emotions, and maybe that is why this subject hit me harder as a college student. Wink suggests that educators need to encourage full participation in a classroom, but when teaching such horrific material it's a question worth asking if the students are being apathetic or not. A lack of emotion towards something so important to humanity is dangerous, and we need to teach students to question, be curious, and have emotions responding to the subject matter we teach. I thought it was really interesting that many of Wink's students were unable to relate to such implicit ideas such as freedom of speech because of their personal experiences in a military academy. Throughout much of the article, there is a lot of comparison between connections vs. analyzing and participation vs. witnessing. I believe that connections being made would relate to the idea of reader response where the analysis of a poem/story/idea would be the new critical approach. As talked about previously a good balance, in my opinion, would be best. Additionally, I do believe that a classroom is more successful and worthwhile if students are active participants. Saying that, lectures should not consist of a whole class period. Student involvement is crucial! We have to ask the questions that make them uncomfortable, make them think beyond a few second response. I really liked this idea from Wink's article. It's good advice, and it makes for a more interactive, student based classroom. Even though the students might not be as willing at first to be pushed out of their comfort zones, education is all about pushing your students to the best of his or hers ability. In relation to, I read "Night" for this weeks literature circles. After being inspired by an adult non-fiction recap of the Holocaust, I did some research on the author. Below this blog I have posted an interview with Elie Wiesel on the Oprah show in Auschwitz. It's in several parts, however, I only put up the first ten minutes. It's really interesting, and if you have time check it out. I believe that showing a clip of Wiesel's experiences on the Oprah show before introducing the book would place a picture or visual in the minds of the students before reading such an honest memorial for a lack of a better term. Like Wink suggests, giving the students a place to connect what they are reading upon makes for better connections, rather than just analyzing the words on the page. It also allows for them to build upon this idea, and to make their own opinions. A level of discomfort is needed to be felt before one can understand or correct their personal biases. This is the case in both educators and students. If a teacher is willing to show their vulnerability, like reading a new book in a lit circle or expressing their own journal entries, it shows the students that it's okay to think outside the box and question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slZMOkYJFO0 <------ this is the interview with Oprah and Elie Wiesel

I also added this clip from the "Boy in the Striped Pajamas" to show how cruel and mysterious the holocaust can be from different points of view. For those who have never read the book or saw the movie, it is in the eyes of an 8 year old boy named Bruno whose father is a Nazi leader. He befriends a Jewish boy in a concentration camp. This short clip is also about ten minutes long, and what I would want my students (or you) to get from this is how the Jewish man is treated and how Bruno responds to him. Also take note to the sisters reaction and compare it to Bruno's. His sister is 12, and she has a different opinion than her younger, naive brother. Then I would expect my students to be able to compare Bruno to Elie. How are their experiences different? The same? There is a lot to be taken by visuals along with books- both fictional and non-fictional. I believe that journal entries and prompts would be the best way to approach this at first, and maybe by adding a formal essay comparing the book, "Night" to the movie. I believe that there are a lot of comparsions to be made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tHe3fZFPAA <---------- Boy in Striped Pajamas


I guess you could say... the second time around looking at the holocaust from the literature stand point rather than the typical history class stand point stood out to me. I found myself questioning how this could have happened and how could we as a nation let this happen. BUT! I think it's also important to look at the holocaust from the other point of view, in Hitlers. In the eyes of the German Nazi's he was a terrific leader. In all honesty, he was a great leader with a sick mind. He brainwashed people into this thoughts, had many followers, and was pretty successful in his ideas. Although what he had done was horrific, it's interesting that he possessed such leadership skills. In a recent RA interview we had to pick our staff members we would hire from descriptions given, and at the end found out that our number one employee was Hitler. There was a twist... the people being described were people in history and it just so happens that our first two picks were Hitler and a serial killer... they don't look so bad on paper do they? We felt bad, and honestly laughed at ourselves, but they had qualities that every employer would want to hire. Just a thought.

"Beyond Tolerance" was also inspirational. It home more for me because I lived in the era that the 9/11 attacks occurred. Someday soon, though, our students will only remember such acts through historical texts and stories told by ourselves. It doesn't seem like but it was almost 11 years ago- I was a fourth grader. The main point I learned in this text was that education was the key to understanding and communicating with the world. Cook contrasted a lot with Hade's idea that multi-culturalism was not to build tolerance like Hade suggests but to question and understand. She wanted to spark curiosity rather than acceptance. Saying that, I thought her idea in her World Lit class took more of the tourist route. I thought she had a lot of really good ideas, but I thought that she used it more as a way to visit and return rather than understand completely .What I did like was that she allowed her students to pick anything they wanted to do in that particular culture. This allowed student participation and interest. This then allows for them to begin making connections rather than just analyzing. Once again we see visuals being used. I've come to the conclusion that visuals are a necessity in a classroom and plan to incorporate several aspects of them in my classroom daily or weekly. I've posted two visuals in this blog because I think that they get the point across that the holocaust is trying to teach us from two different perspectives. 

Additionally, I continue because this subject really interested me. I found this website   http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/guideline/  really helpful. They have a list of reasons why we should teach it WITH THE RIGHT INTENTIONS, and what to avoid. It's a good resource and I would suggest it to anyone to use. Somethings I really liked from it are the ten guidelines for teaching the holocaust in a classroom. It also explains whats usually accepted for each age group. For me, being a 4-8 grade lit teacher I paid more attention to those in my age range. Check it out, it's from the Museum in D.C.