The Holocaust, Day 4 - Class Recap

A quote on the wall of the Miami Holocaust Memorial. Our discussion today in class had a large part to do with whether or not we believe something like this could happen again. Photo taken in 2011.

Dear class,

This was a somewhat challenging day for me as a teacher, to try and give control over to student discussion. Although there were points where it was quiet and awkward, I still think almost everyone did well and that the conversation was productive. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Behavior LT 2:  I can self-direct my learning.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "Talk" by Coldplay. Selected for today because most of the class was made up of students talking about the rise of Hitler and whether or not it could happen again. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/31/17:
News Brief – Oliver
Socratic Seminar
Ladakh Readings
Ancient Futures, Part 1

Homework: Read the blog. Prepare for finals (see below)! Next news brief: Olivia.

News Brief: Oliver selected an article about this story for the news brief today: BBC.com - Quebec mosque shooting: Police arrest a suspect and a witness. We found Canada on our world maps and noted that we talked about it. I also read a quote from Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech at the start of class. Related to that, we had a good discussion about the weekend and what has happened as a result of President Trump's executive orders banning people from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and Syria from the country.

Olivia was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Socratic Seminar: This was the first time we have attempted to do this in class, and I think it went really well! I was proud of everyone participating.

This was the reading that we were discussing in class:

Google Drive - Rise of Hitler Reading

The questions and answers that I wanted the class to do in preparation for the discussion on this were:

1) What happened so that Hitler could get power?

2) Make three discussion questions (not yes or no answers) about the reading. Try to base your questions on specific quotes from the reading.

I explained that I wanted the discussion to be student led and directed, and then I tried to get out of the conversation as much as possible. Overall, I was pleased with the conversation and I think you touched on some really important issues and questions! Thanks for being willing to participate. We will talk more about this next class. Of course, there were times when I wanted to jump in and provide more information or bring up a question, but that was not my role! Important for me to remember, too.

The Holocaust unit will be graded as a Behavior assessment - thanks for your focus here as we wind down the semester!

Ladakh Readings: As I have been explaining in class, your final will be based on a case study of what happened in Ladakh, which is an region in India. Students will be asked to write about many different aspects of the Ladakh, using almost all of the learning targets we have been through this semester.

To start, here is the reading packet I passed out. Students are taking notes on the back page during the documentary that we will start next class:

Google Drive: Intro to Ladakh Readings

Please treat this as homework. There will be time next class to finish this, and it would also be great to have ready, so you can study after the documentary finishes.

Next class, we will watch the documentary and I will give students final prep time. I look forward to seeing everyone then! Almost there to the end of the semester!

The Holocaust, Day 3 - Class Recap

The Boston Holocaust Memorial was one of the most powerful I have seen. As you walk through the glass, steam comes up from the grates, and names of people that were killed in various concentration camps are on the sides of the glass. Photo taken in 2013.

Hi everyone,

We are getting closer and closer to finals! A couple of more days of learning about the Holocaust, and then  Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Behavior LT 1:  I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Behavior LT 2:  I can self-direct my learning.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2. Selected for today because the song is in large part about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and because today was PRIDE Friday at Westview! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/27/17:
News Brief – Alex
Finish Group Activity
Rise of Hitler

Socratic Seminar Prep

Homework: Read the blog. All late work or revisions due today. Finish reading the Rise of the Nazis article and making 3 discussion questions for next class. Next news brief: Oliver.

News Brief: Alex selected an article about this story to bring in: BBC.com - Beware hate speech, says Auschwitz Holocaust survivor. We found Poland on our world maps and noted that we talked about it. It also is International Holocaust Memorial Day today, in memory of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945. A powerful reminder of why we are studying it in our class and next door in Lit and Comp.

Oliver was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finish Group Activity: After the news, we finished the group activity from last class. Instead of just giving students a reading, I though this was a more interesting way for everyone to learn (and move around, and talk with each other) about some key figures and events in Nazi Germany. Here is the assignment that students filled out:

Google Drive - Nazi Group Activity Assignment

And here is the document of different events and people that students were learning about, in terms of their importance in helping the Nazi government establish and maintain power (the knowledge target for the unit):

Google Drive - Nazi Group Activity Roles

Thanks for doing a good job with this activity!

Rise of Hitler: I asked how the Holocuast was possible, and if we could consider something like this happening to us - either as the Nazis or the persecuted people. I think it is hard to consider ourselves capable of such horrific acts. Which is why the Stanford Prison Experiment is so famous. Basically, it was a psychological experiment based on assigning roles to Stanford students (really smart people) - either as "prison" guards or prisoners. The prisoners were taken and not allowed out for six days (until the experiment ended early). The prison guards turned into awful, terrible people. Here's the clip we watched in class (there are many others out there - do a search if you want to learn more):

After the clip, I came back to the idea of wondering if something like the Holocaust could happen again. It's a difficult question for historians, and for people in general. We want to believe that people are good. If we aren't careful about learning the history and psychology to combat it, I think there is a better chance of something like this happening again.

With that idea, I passed out this reading, which has to do with how the Nazi political party and Hitler came to power in Germany:

Google Drive - Rise of Hitler Reading

The questions and answers that I wanted the class to do in preparation for a discussion next class on this were:

1) What happened so that Hitler could establish power? Could this happen again?

2) Make three discussion questions (not yes or no answers) about the reading. Try to base your questions on specific quotes from the reading and grounded in reality (NOT: what if World War II never happened?).

Socratic Seminar Prep: Next class, we will have a graded (on the behavior targets) discussion on the Rise of Hitler reading, so I wanted to go over how that will work.

Two blog exclusive items that will help in this:

Google Drive: Socratic Seminar Self-Assessment

To go along with the preparation, here are some tips on how a good Socratic Seminar works (it is my hope to sit back and let students run the discussion, so that it is more authentic with participation):

Google Drive: Socratic Seminar Tips

The rest of class was devoted to reading the article and preparing discussion questions. Next class, I am hoping that we can have an interesting, student led discussion on the article and the questions it generates - specifically about if this could possibly happen again.

Thank you for your hard work, everyone! See you next class.

The Holocaust, Day 2 - Class Recap

The barbed wire around Auschwitz I in Poland. Photo taken in 2013.

Hi everyone,

Today was another day looking into more depth on the Holocaust genocide. I showed some of my pictures from visiting Auschwitz in 2013, we finished the textbook work, and began  Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.

Soundtrack: "So What" by Miles Davis. A bit of jazz (no lyrics) to start the day! Selected because I wanted to explain the answer to "so what?" in regards to the Holocaust.

AGENDA 1/25/17:
News Brief – Sophia
My Photos
Finish Textbook Work
Group Activity

Homework: Read the blog. All late/missing/revised work is due this Friday! Check your updated grades and know what to do to improve! Next news brief: Alex.

News Brief: Sophia had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: BBC.com - Prince among seven prisoners executed by Kuwait. We found Kuwait in the world map packet (a new one!) and discussed this story, as well as a bit about the death penalty in general. We also had a good discussion in class about what is happening within our own country right now, too.

Alex was selected for the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

My Photos: After the news brief, I showed students photos from my visit to Auschwitz in the summer of 2013. I wanted everyone to see what it actually looks like, and explain what it was like to visit there. Hopefully this was interesting! I would highly encourage anyone interested in history to visit at some point. Incredibly powerful.

Textbook Work: We finished going through the Modern World History textbook and what it has to say about the Holocaust on pages, 502-505. The assigned work in class was:

Summarize the two sections: The Holocaust Begins + The Final Solution

Write out vocab definitions (words in blue)

Complete questions 1-8 at the end of the Chapter (page 505).

After about 15 minutes of work, we went over the answers together, as I randomly called on students. Keep these papers - they will help you with understanding the vocabulary in the unit and in our upcoming discussion!

Group Activity: This is a teaching activity where students take on the persona of a historical figure or event. In this case, there were eleven different people or events to talk about. I asked that students go around the room talking about their person or event. Here is the worksheet that goes along with this:

Google Drive: Nazi Tea Party Assignment

The directions were to:
1) Write the event or name of the person you were interviewing down on the left column.
2) Write the top 3 most important elements of the story on the slip of paper.
3) Write how you think the Nazis used the person or event to establish or maintain power.

We did not completely finish this in class, so next time, we will talk about where we ended up and go over the events and people together. Thank you for treating this activity with respect. See you next class!