Blog (History)
These blogs are intended to NOT be summaries of what we do in class. Instead I am asking you to talk about what you are learning (20%), reflect on what you think about it, how it makes you feel, what else it leads you to (80%). If you need inspiration use the BIG6 "My Ideas" worksheet.
What scares me the most is that the Final Solution was that it was planned and implemented by humans. It would have made more moral sense and much easier to digest if some outside force conducted such horrific crimes against humanity. Hitler was a human, along with the bystanders of the community. They had emotions similar to our own: they loved, laughed, and lived similarly to us. So how were they able to commit such heinous crimes? How were they able to dehumanize individuals? How were they able to put a price and number on a human life? It worries me about the human capacity. Yes, we can boil these emotions down to day-to-day events: have you ever seen someone trip and not help them up? Have you ever ignored someone struggling to open a door with their hands full? These are simple examples but still get at the point that humans are naturally inclined to be bystanders. As a result, I wonder "How do we change this?" How do we make people understand their actions can multiply in consequence? This is what I am currently struggling with while teaching about the Holocaust. How do I portray this to students? Am I teaching it the correct way to get this point across? I know that teachers are supposed to have the right answers, but this seemed impossible. My goal is to create compassionate learners. I will continue teaching about alternative history and about the hard truths of the Holocaust in order to help my students understand the impact that one human has on another. In the end, my hope lays within their ability to listen, converse, and learn from the past.
In addition, last week's blog is still floating around in my head. I really like poetry and letters from the war. It adds a beautiful perspective to the sometimes overwhelming numbers and content. I found a couple more poems that I thought were inspirational on the website below. Today is one of the first days in the unit where the facts hit hard. When I prepare for this day, especially reading the poetry, it takes time to mentally prepare on how to teach the topic. As I explained in class, we don't study the battles, the different types of gun, or trench foot; however, we use World War One as a precursor to the Holocaust. I don't try and put on a shock and awe production; but I feel as though the topics naturally have that affect. Death in war is never an easy topic to discuss; but I feel as though the poetry approaches the topic with the most effectiveness. "Dulce et Decorum Est" is a very powerful poem that demonstrates just one of the perspectives of war. It puts an experience to the numbers; 7.5 million deaths (the number) means little because of how large it is, but one poem can give you a true experience on one person's view. It goes without saying, war is horrific. I remember reading this poem for the first time during college. It was startling, disturbing, and its gruesome tale of a gas attacks makes my heart sink. I can hardly imagine that desperate clinging to life, and it still saddens me. One of the more powerful lines in the poem, "But limed on, blood-shod. All went lame; all bling; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots" explains the physical and emotional toll that war has on a soldier. The soldiers trudge through the mud, unaffected by the exploding "hoots" (exploding shells), and too tired to even recognize/notice the carnage around them. This poem always reminds me of some of the photography I've seen before on the topic; for example, some of the photography included in an exhibit I saw at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Canada. If you ever happen to be up in Ottawa, stop by the museum. It is top notch, and has a great World War One exhibit (while your there visit the Canadian Museum of History too!) Below, although lengthy, is a great video of World War I videos. I'm so glad that BBC put this together for future generations.
This morning I created a timeline to visual represent how the work is spaced out over the net month and a half. In the video above, I walk through how to read the diagram.
This is my first time embedding a video, so I'm hoping that it works. I searched on Google, "How to embed a video onto Weebly" and the following link popped up: http://kb.weebly.com/embed-audio-and-video.html I then followed the directions using the left tool bar. It seemed pretty simple, but unfortunately the video doesn't show up in this editor mode, so hopefully when I press "Post" on the top left corner it will magically appear! If not, I'll head back to the drawing board. The reason why I tried to post a video was to show you how you can make your website more interesting. I could have simply posted a link and made you click on it, but I imagined it much more impressive as showing up in my post! Last note, before I press any buttons I also Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C to copy the content...just in case anything were to happen to it. Consider this your warning! Historically speaking, today is the infamously discouraging introduction day. I alway try and approach it with a fresh mindset, but after five years It is a day I get to introduce an amazingly fantastic opportunity linked to a thought-provoking and candid topic. When planning this day I can almost see the eyes rolling and frustration building. Usually on this day I get to bring to the students something I have been working on for months. Mrs. Fitzpatrick and I prepared this project especially for them. The Connect Projects were dwindled down from about 20 possibilities to the best 12. The IDU projects have been changed over the years in trying to get the best experience for the students.
Am I frustrated by the reaction? Yes. Do I take it to heart? I can't. Instead I will keep pushing the students to do even better. I will do my best to guide them through the process. Tonight Steven dropped by the hall wile I was on duty and we spent 10 minutes clicking around his newly made Weebly website. He was cautious at first, not wanting to make mistakes; but by the end of the time together he had made such considerable gains. He is now an ambassador for others. He was able to understand the basics and now he can teach others. I'm sorry, I would like to stretch your skills beyond what you think is possible; or as I should put it, #sorrynotsorry. |
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