"A Lesson from the Holocaust: From Bystander to Advocate in the Classroom"
With this article, Karen Wink addresses apathy in the classroom (specifically, her Coast Guard Academy class). She gave examples of students who attempted to single-handedly elicit responses from their fellow classmates, most of these failed entirely. None of the students were willing to step up and participate, making connections. So how do we, as teachers, encourage our students to break away from conformity in the classroom? Wink defines apathy as "a lack of emotion; lack of interest; unconcern; indifference" (Wink 84). I'm not entirely sure how anyone can read something concerning the Holocaust and remain apathetic about the content. None the less, I liked the teacher's use of her personal experiences. Reading from her journal was an awesome way to get her students engaged.
"Beyond Tolerance: Teaching English in a Post - 9/11 Classroom"
My first thought reading this article: Who is the patron saint of English teachers? :D
Beyond that, I loved that she designed her World Literature class as a trip! This is exactly how I would like to do it when I am a teacher. She used literature that was not even close to the pieces I typically see in a world lit class. Furthermore, she used pictures and the commentary of two different countries to initiate deeper thinking and better conversation/open thinking in her class. When I teach a class like this, I think I'll have a poster-sized map of the world displayed somewhere in the classroom to show where we are, where we have been, and where we may go next. And maybe even give the students an opportunity to show where they would like to go in their own literature.
Maus I
Maus is one of my all-time favorite graphic novels/stories about the Holocaust. I think what I like best about it is how Art Spiegelman chose to represent the different nationalities.
Jews = Mice
Germans = Cats
Poles = Pigs
It enables the reader to experience the book from a different perspective. The reader isn't viewing the characters as human beings, but as animals. We actually just talked a bit about this in my Rise of the Novel class with Dr. Harrow. Plus, it's a graphic novel; the reader is experiencing both the written text and what they individually interpret from the pictures.
With this article, Karen Wink addresses apathy in the classroom (specifically, her Coast Guard Academy class). She gave examples of students who attempted to single-handedly elicit responses from their fellow classmates, most of these failed entirely. None of the students were willing to step up and participate, making connections. So how do we, as teachers, encourage our students to break away from conformity in the classroom? Wink defines apathy as "a lack of emotion; lack of interest; unconcern; indifference" (Wink 84). I'm not entirely sure how anyone can read something concerning the Holocaust and remain apathetic about the content. None the less, I liked the teacher's use of her personal experiences. Reading from her journal was an awesome way to get her students engaged.
"Beyond Tolerance: Teaching English in a Post - 9/11 Classroom"
My first thought reading this article: Who is the patron saint of English teachers? :D
Beyond that, I loved that she designed her World Literature class as a trip! This is exactly how I would like to do it when I am a teacher. She used literature that was not even close to the pieces I typically see in a world lit class. Furthermore, she used pictures and the commentary of two different countries to initiate deeper thinking and better conversation/open thinking in her class. When I teach a class like this, I think I'll have a poster-sized map of the world displayed somewhere in the classroom to show where we are, where we have been, and where we may go next. And maybe even give the students an opportunity to show where they would like to go in their own literature.
Maus I
Maus is one of my all-time favorite graphic novels/stories about the Holocaust. I think what I like best about it is how Art Spiegelman chose to represent the different nationalities.
Jews = Mice
Germans = Cats
Poles = Pigs
It enables the reader to experience the book from a different perspective. The reader isn't viewing the characters as human beings, but as animals. We actually just talked a bit about this in my Rise of the Novel class with Dr. Harrow. Plus, it's a graphic novel; the reader is experiencing both the written text and what they individually interpret from the pictures.
I completely agree with your question about how to go about getting students to step up and participate in class. I was one of those students in school who sat back and didn’t like to really get involved. I have learned that this does not always help you to learn your best though. I think that by making sure that your classroom is seen as a friendly and open environment however can help. Also, I think that it is important to have students socialize with one another from the start of the year so that they can build up relationships and connections among each other and then it might create a more accepting environment in which students would want to speak up and share their thoughts. I think that if my teachers would have forced me to work with the students in class and form a bond, that I would have felt less uncomfortable in sharing.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed the fact that the author incorporated her own personal experiences into her classroom. I think that students really enjoy this and learn a lot more this way. I would love to use this in my own class. From other observations that I have done, students seemed really interested in the content being learned that day when the teacher would share their own experiences or bring in their own materials relating to what is being studied.
I loved how she set up her classroom as an adventure-like experience as well! I also would like to incorporate this into my classroom and think that it would really go a long way with students. I really liked the idea you had for your classroom too. It sounds like a lot of fun! I would have loved to experience that type of environment in school!!
Nicole: I love your idea of having a big map in the classroom to show where you've been and where you're going with your literature, and where your students would like to go. I'm still struggling with this "journey" idea and comparing it to the "tourist" idea, but I am slowly starting to see some differences.
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of having a map in the classroom to show where you have been, where you are, and where you will be going. It would also help the students think about where they want to go.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it would be very difficlut for students to be apathetic in the classroom when discussing the holocaust. It was such a major event in history that means a lot to predujice and racism. Although I think when a student is being apathetic they are not talking because they think it is nerdy to participate or they just couldn't care less about school. We will run into students like this and hopefully we will have the power to at least try and make them less apathetic. By the time students get to the middle school or high school level, most students are already very apathetic and would be very hard to convert them completely.
Nicole: I also like your idea of posting a large map in the classroom. In another class we just discussed how most students don't even know all of the 50 states (seriously?!!) which for me was saddening, so a map in the classroom is a great way to introduce different disciplines and emphasize their importance. I really liked the second article... it's very much how I would want my English or History class to look - you can incorporate so much into one 45/90 minute class!
ReplyDelete"So how do we, as teachers, encourage our students to break away from conformity in the classroom?"
ReplyDeleteThis is the question to end all questions!
A former teacher gave me this simple (yet loaded) piece of advice: Make the students forget that they are in a classroom. Get them engaged in the process so that when they get to the end, they look back and say: "Wow! We learned something, too!"
It circles back to your original question: how? But I am confident that with the passion that we all have and the strategies and ideas that we are learning, we will be able to move our students beyond conformity and apathy to an engaged and active desire to learn.
Nicole, you can just tell you're going to be a great teacher by the way your blogs sound. I also have a hard time believing that students can remain silent for issues like 9/11 and the Holocaust. To me, those are the easiest things to talk about because there is SO MUCH to talk about. Your idea about the map is really interesting and a "Nicole idea" if I have ever heard of one. It really gets students engaged and gives them a visual about their class. it also shows them that the class is worthwhile and that they are accomplishing something. Maus is a good book but I still think it needs a supplement when being taught; however, I am not going to get in to that again. The use of animals really does help but it can be distracting as well. For me, not being a history buff, the animals got a little confusing because I only picked up on the cats and the rats. The other animals just got in the way of my understanding. I think it will hard to try and get students to talk about uncomfortable issues. There will always be students who are hesitant. However, if we share our opinions and information then hopefully out students will feel more comfortable doing the same.
ReplyDeleteI want to comment on Maus I, it's like continuing our literature circle 4 days later. I really enjoyed this novel too. I have to say at first I was kind of indifferent about how he used animals. I thought, at first, it would evoke more emotion and meaning if he had used real people but as continued you the novel the I started to really like that the author used animals instead of humans. First they all symbolize something (and as English majors who doesn't like some symbolism?)and it gives you something to analyze and think about. Why are the Jews depicted as mice, the Nazis cats? Also I think that would give students a different stand point than the typical depiction of Jews and Nazis.
ReplyDelete