This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
PERIOD 3 - A CLASS DIVIDED
You have been watching the documentary, "A Class Divided." Please post a reflective comment about the film and make sure to comment on at least one other student's post. Finally, what did you personally take away from the film?
I thought that, as Mr. Gallagher said, Mrs. Elliot was really cool. I thought that she was a leader in that she did something that many others would not, which was take it upon herself to really move people about racism. Despite racist people who may have attacked her for it, or the people who said, "it's a good idea," she did it, and that was special. I learned about racism in a different way, as well, which shows that just by watching the film I learned as the children did. (I'm not racist.)
I though that Mrs. Elliot was very intelligent in the way that she proved that it didnt matter what the color of your skin was. she created a microcosm out of the classroom and was able to demonstate to the children and the people watching the film that being racist was just plain wrong. i agree with what meredith said about how this film made me learn about racism in a different way. what i took away from this film was that there are so many different ways to demonstrate that racism is bad, and that this was by far the most creative way i have ever seen.
I thought that Mrs. Elliot was very bright for implementing to concept of racism into her 3rd grade curriculum. This was a great method to use because it showed the 3rd graders that it did not matter what color your skin was. By using the concept of eye color as a way for the students to understand racism, they were able to see that how they’re own prejudice as well as the other students first hand.
I agree with Connor that her teaching method showed the children that being racist because of someone's skins color was wrong. I was able to see how small things like the color of your eyes can affect your outlook towards other people in a negative manner.
I thought that Mrs. Elliot couldn't have taught the racism issue any better to such little kids. It is hard to get kids at that age to listen to you for a long period of time, nevermind understand the huge issue addressed in the exercises. One thing Mrs. Elliot taught me is that in order to really make an impact you must take matters into your own hands no matter how drastic the event is. She took a huge risk in such a white, small town by addressing a very touchy subject, but she succeeded.
I agree with Meredith. Usually racism is never thought in the perception of you, or in this case me, but this movie opened my eyes in the third person view. Mrs. Elliot has taught me a whole new level of appreciation for the ones that get harassed everyday. I can assure that everyone that saw this movie today also feels the same way.
Mrs. Elliot did make a big impression on me just as Mr. Gallagher said that she would. I think she's a very brave woman for implementing a lesson like this in a time of such rigid race relations. You could see how fast the kids were taught that discrimination wasn't accepted as well. Her lesson was simple enough to be taught to third graders, but it's such and important message that these kids eventually turned into adults and kept this lesson with them throughout their lives. And going along with Meredith I think that everyone can benefit from watching this film.
I really enjoyed this film I thought what mrs. Elliot did was very brave. She acted on what she thought was right in order to make a difference even though it could had gone terribly wrong. For example she didn't know if after the exercise if the kids were going to continue acting the way they did for those two days. Lastly I thought it was cool to see how they kids were impacted when we saw them again as adults talking about their experiences regarding racism and how against it they were.
I also agree with Meredith, the film made me think of racism in a different way mostly because it was the first time I've seen children that age involved with it.
Mrs. Elliott started something amazing when she first taught the lesson on racism and discrimination. She didn't just tell the students about how those that were discriminated against felt, but she showed them. I think that must have been a life lesson for them. Mrs. Elliot was really brave to teach the students like that. Although, I was really surprised to find out that the other people from the town didn't stop her or even protest.
What did I take away from the film?? Well, it's really sad when you think about all the people out there that are getting discriminated against. Yes, the students [and probably the viewers too] learned not to judge someone else by the color of their skin, but it really makes me wonder... will they apply that mindset to other issues?? In other words, it's not JUST about racism. There are other things to worry about. What about discriminating against someone of a different sex, religion, background / national origin, sexual orientation, or disability?? But... putting that aside, I'm just glad someone took action against racism :)
I pretty much agree with everything Pat said. The simplicity of her teaching made the lesson obvious and it really stuck with the students throughout their lives - that's the important part.
I thought this was a really impressive social experiment. The kids were clearly changed by it and influenced their thinking for the rest of their lives. I think this lesson should be taught to be all around the world. If everyone learned like this, then maybe the world would be a little less intolerant. I was all around impressed with Mrs.Elliot doing what she did. She made the children feel what is like to be discriminated against.
I believe that Mrs. Elliott is an inspiring teacher that hold a brilliant idea of how to make a lasting impression on her study. Her 3rd grade students were at the perfect age for this experiment. In this small white town these little kids learned a world-wide issue far bigger than they could have ever imagined. I personally took away the understand that if a person wants to make a difference they need to take it into there own hands and make actions. Mrs. Elliott took that action and changed the lives of hundreds of students.
I also agree with shady on how it was amazing that Mrs. Elliott was able to take little kids in a small white town and succeed and teaching them a lesson that could have turned into a touchy situation.
I thought what Mrs. Elliot did showed how personal life experiences are the best way to learn. All of those kids had been taught that racism waas bad, but they didn't know what it really meant until they experienced it for themselves. What I most take away from this film is that in order to get a full perspective on a situation, you have to experience it from all possible views.
I agree with Shady that she probablu couldn't have done this exersize much better. She truely got the children to understand what racism really was.
I was amazed at how quickly the kids were able to turn on one another. What startled me even more was the improvements(and declines) in test scores based upon which side of the social ladder the child was on. The answers the students gave to some of her questions and the way the students treated others was identical to the way minorities were treated in the US in the 1960's. I respect Mrs. Elliot in taking a risk in the classroom, and also in the community. Many things could have gone wrong with this exercise but she was able to harness it and perfect it.
I agree with Anna and Pat in that the simplicity made the exercise so significant. The racism facing the US during that time seemed complex but when it was broken down in her classroom it was almost humorous at how ridiculous racism is.
I thought that the lesson the Mrs. Elliot tought the 3rd graders was an extremely important lesson, they learned how bad segregation and predjuduce is by experienncing it first hand. This influenced how they grew up, and i personaly think that this lesson should be in all of the curriculum. If people forget what something is like, they will relapse into doing it all over again because they dont remember the lesson they already learned once.
I agree with andrew and think that it was a brilliant idea as well, and i wonder how she came up with the idea when dr. king died. It worked exactly as she wanted it to, and the kids said all of the things that she was hoping they would say when they reflected on it later on.
I enjoyed this film especially because of the outcome the students had. When they revisit the experiment as adults they show that the experiment was affective by how they have lived their lives, and raised their kids. When Mrs.E spoke about we and they, i was really suprised by what the newscasters said. The questions they asked sounded as thought they where talking about 2 diffrent species.
What Sam said about saying people dont understand things until they have been through it, is very important. Most people may say they can realte but its not as affective until you have first hand gone through it.
I was impressed by Mrs. Eliot's lesson. It was an inspired way to show kids living in an all or nearly-all white town about how bigotry feels. It showed me more clearly how hard it can be for someone to put themselves in another's position, no matter how much we try to be open-minded.
In response to Anna I think that since the point of the lesson was that the kids were judged on completely arbitrary criteria as a stand in for skin color, I think that any halfway intelligent person would be able to apply it to all other arbitrary characteristics people are judged on.
I thought that Mrs. Elliot came up with a unique way of teaching children about racism. Many teachers probably taught kids about racism; however, not in a way that probably impacted them as much as Mrs. Elliot's method did. It was great of her to show the kids how it feels if you step in a colors persons shoes. I also thought it was brave of Mrs. Elliot to experiment this new method of teaching racism, not knowing the outcome or how people would react. I agree with Michael that it was a good idea of Mrs. Elliot to do this experiment with eye color. This allowed the students to judge based on physical appearance like they were doing to colored Americans. They were able to see how putting another person down based on their appearance can greatly affect them and hurt them.
I agree with what MEre said how Mrs. Elliot was a genius for even documenting what she did and her examples to America and to the children. I thought this was a great film and exmaple of how easily people can become prejudice and eevn racist. Even the youngest and sweetest children were proven to have racist views to a degree. AFter watching most of the film I thought that Mrs. Elliot hepled to prove a big point in our society at that time period.
It was amazing to see how quickly the kids turned on each other. They totally accepted Mrs. Elliot's authority. They quickly accepted her views on how to make them racist just towards the color of their eyes. She made the ones that were "better" than the others feel on top and she didn't tell them how to do it. They just did it naturally and in their own ways they learned what it was to be racist towards someone just because of the color of their skin. Mrs. Elliot's experiment with her third graders was just amazing because of what it taught them.
I thought what Mrs. Elliot was able to do was amazing and very brave. The fact that she was able to convince the students that one group was smarter, or more superior than the other. This shows how racism can be pulled out of anyone, although its not good. This was definately the most creative way to show it. It was interesting how the students turned on each other even if they could have been best friends.
The social experiment that Mrs. Elliot performed on her third graders was neccesary and flawless. Racist beliefs begin to be implanted in the early years of life. For Mrs. Elliot to teach this valuable lesson of sensibility to young kids at age 9 is vital if they are to grow up and not be racist. While I think that this is an incredibly relevant and important exercise for all kids to participate in, I don't think that there would be many parents willing to let their kids go through the experience. It was very shocking to see how fast the kids turned on eachother and resorted to violence. What I took from the video was that by telling people that they're below you, you can actually have an effect on their performance so that they act as if they're below you.
I agree with brian's comments about the student's test scores, and the effects of being labeled as inferior. It was very surprising to see how the performance of a student could change so dramatically overnight.
Mrs. Elliot's experiment was very interesting as well as intelligent. It was somewhat frightening to see how divided these 3rd graders became when some of them actually believed that they were better than the others. This is a great way for the kids to learn about racism because that lesson she taught gave them all first-had experiences of what racism can be like. If I remember correctly, two of the kids got into a fight at recess because one of them called the other "brown eyes" as an insult. It just startles me how involved these kids became in the experiment. I agree with Mike Doran in that this was a great experiment to show the kids that nothing on the outside matters, what matters is on the inside.
What Mrs. Elliot did was a very impressive experiment with children. The fact that she could recreate a microcosim within the classroom, just by telling her students that a group of them were superieor to another group just because of their eye color.
Как говорилось на Seexi.net непонятную вещь. Я по гороскопу лев и мне по-действительному хорошо только с представителями огненных знаков, я с ними ощущаю себя активной и живой, нам буквально каждый день есть о чем поговорить. Это не столько друзья, но и мужчины, другими словами нам есть чем заняться, помимо секса Темы для диалога не истощаются, даже в случае в случае если только-только познакомились. Какое-то непонятное взаимопонимание, с полу-слова, можно заявить. Знаете, как это бывает - собеседник начинает фразу, а ты заканчиваешь, и просто офигеваешь от такого количества совпадений. А вот с представителями Воды постоянная тупка, вроде диалог идет, но какой-то безвкусный, и ощущаешь себя трупом каким-то. Вроде неплохой человек, а общаться не хочется. Раньше я не думала о гороскопах, а здесь мне друг-овен сказал, что у нас такое взаимопонимание, так как мы из одной "стихии". Задумалась, и правда, все "огненные" друзья у меня на первом плане, потом "воздушные" - так, время провести, а "водные" абсолютно уж на крайняк, когда встретиться не с кем. Вот отчего так происходит?
23 comments:
I thought that, as Mr. Gallagher said, Mrs. Elliot was really cool. I thought that she was a leader in that she did something that many others would not, which was take it upon herself to really move people about racism. Despite racist people who may have attacked her for it, or the people who said, "it's a good idea," she did it, and that was special. I learned about racism in a different way, as well, which shows that just by watching the film I learned as the children did. (I'm not racist.)
I though that Mrs. Elliot was very intelligent in the way that she proved that it didnt matter what the color of your skin was. she created a microcosm out of the classroom and was able to demonstate to the children and the people watching the film that being racist was just plain wrong. i agree with what meredith said about how this film made me learn about racism in a different way. what i took away from this film was that there are so many different ways to demonstrate that racism is bad, and that this was by far the most creative way i have ever seen.
I thought that Mrs. Elliot was very bright for implementing to concept of racism into her 3rd grade curriculum. This was a great method to use because it showed the 3rd graders that it did not matter what color your skin was. By using the concept of eye color as a way for the students to understand racism, they were able to see that how they’re own prejudice as well as the other students first hand.
I agree with Connor that her teaching method showed the children that being racist because of someone's skins color was wrong. I was able to see how small things like the color of your eyes can affect your outlook towards other people in a negative manner.
I thought that Mrs. Elliot couldn't have taught the racism issue any better to such little kids. It is hard to get kids at that age to listen to you for a long period of time, nevermind understand the huge issue addressed in the exercises. One thing Mrs. Elliot taught me is that in order to really make an impact you must take matters into your own hands no matter how drastic the event is. She took a huge risk in such a white, small town by addressing a very touchy subject, but she succeeded.
I agree with Meredith. Usually racism is never thought in the perception of you, or in this case me, but this movie opened my eyes in the third person view. Mrs. Elliot has taught me a whole new level of appreciation for the ones that get harassed everyday. I can assure that everyone that saw this movie today also feels the same way.
Mrs. Elliot did make a big impression on me just as Mr. Gallagher said that she would. I think she's a very brave woman for implementing a lesson like this in a time of such rigid race relations. You could see how fast the kids were taught that discrimination wasn't accepted as well. Her lesson was simple enough to be taught to third graders, but it's such and important message that these kids eventually turned into adults and kept this lesson with them throughout their lives. And going along with Meredith I think that everyone can benefit from watching this film.
I really enjoyed this film I thought what mrs. Elliot did was very brave. She acted on what she thought was right in order to make a difference even though it could had gone terribly wrong. For example she didn't know if after the exercise if the kids were going to continue acting the way they did for those two days. Lastly I thought it was cool to see how they kids were impacted when we saw them again as adults talking about their experiences regarding racism and how against it they were.
I also agree with Meredith, the film made me think of racism in a different way mostly because it was the first time I've seen children that age involved with it.
Mrs. Elliott started something amazing when she first taught the lesson on racism and discrimination. She didn't just tell the students about how those that were discriminated against felt, but she showed them. I think that must have been a life lesson for them. Mrs. Elliot was really brave to teach the students like that. Although, I was really surprised to find out that the other people from the town didn't stop her or even protest.
What did I take away from the film?? Well, it's really sad when you think about all the people out there that are getting discriminated against. Yes, the students [and probably the viewers too] learned not to judge someone else by the color of their skin, but it really makes me wonder... will they apply that mindset to other issues?? In other words, it's not JUST about racism. There are other things to worry about. What about discriminating against someone of a different sex, religion, background / national origin, sexual orientation, or disability?? But... putting that aside, I'm just glad someone took action against racism :)
I pretty much agree with everything Pat said. The simplicity of her teaching made the lesson obvious and it really stuck with the students throughout their lives - that's the important part.
I thought this was a really impressive social experiment. The kids were clearly changed by it and influenced their thinking for the rest of their lives. I think this lesson should be taught to be all around the world. If everyone learned like this, then maybe the world would be a little less intolerant. I was all around impressed with Mrs.Elliot doing what she did. She made the children feel what is like to be discriminated against.
I believe that Mrs. Elliott is an inspiring teacher that hold a brilliant idea of how to make a lasting impression on her study. Her 3rd grade students were at the perfect age for this experiment. In this small white town these little kids learned a world-wide issue far bigger than they could have ever imagined. I personally took away the understand that if a person wants to make a difference they need to take it into there own hands and make actions. Mrs. Elliott took that action and changed the lives of hundreds of students.
I also agree with shady on how it was amazing that Mrs. Elliott was able to take little kids in a small white town and succeed and teaching them a lesson that could have turned into a touchy situation.
I thought what Mrs. Elliot did showed how personal life experiences are the best way to learn. All of those kids had been taught that racism waas bad, but they didn't know what it really meant until they experienced it for themselves. What I most take away from this film is that in order to get a full perspective on a situation, you have to experience it from all possible views.
I agree with Shady that she probablu couldn't have done this exersize much better. She truely got the children to understand what racism really was.
I was amazed at how quickly the kids were able to turn on one another. What startled me even more was the improvements(and declines) in test scores based upon which side of the social ladder the child was on. The answers the students gave to some of her questions and the way the students treated others was identical to the way minorities were treated in the US in the 1960's. I respect Mrs. Elliot in taking a risk in the classroom, and also in the community. Many things could have gone wrong with this exercise but she was able to harness it and perfect it.
I agree with Anna and Pat in that the simplicity made the exercise so significant. The racism facing the US during that time seemed complex but when it was broken down in her classroom it was almost humorous at how ridiculous racism is.
I thought that the lesson the Mrs. Elliot tought the 3rd graders was an extremely important lesson, they learned how bad segregation and predjuduce is by experienncing it first hand. This influenced how they grew up, and i personaly think that this lesson should be in all of the curriculum. If people forget what something is like, they will relapse into doing it all over again because they dont remember the lesson they already learned once.
I agree with andrew and think that it was a brilliant idea as well, and i wonder how she came up with the idea when dr. king died. It worked exactly as she wanted it to, and the kids said all of the things that she was hoping they would say when they reflected on it later on.
I enjoyed this film especially because of the outcome the students had. When they revisit the experiment as adults they show that the experiment was affective by how they have lived their lives, and raised their kids. When Mrs.E spoke about we and they, i was really suprised by what the newscasters said. The questions they asked sounded as thought they where talking about 2 diffrent species.
What Sam said about saying people dont understand things until they have been through it, is very important. Most people may say they can realte but its not as affective until you have first hand gone through it.
I was impressed by Mrs. Eliot's lesson. It was an inspired way to show kids living in an all or nearly-all white town about how bigotry feels. It showed me more clearly how hard it can be for someone to put themselves in another's position, no matter how much we try to be open-minded.
In response to Anna I think that since the point of the lesson was that the kids were judged on completely arbitrary criteria as a stand in for skin color, I think that any halfway intelligent person would be able to apply it to all other arbitrary characteristics people are judged on.
I thought that Mrs. Elliot came up with a unique way of teaching children about racism. Many teachers probably taught kids about racism; however, not in a way that probably impacted them as much as Mrs. Elliot's method did. It was great of her to show the kids how it feels if you step in a colors persons shoes. I also thought it was brave of Mrs. Elliot to experiment this new method of teaching racism, not knowing the outcome or how people would react.
I agree with Michael that it was a good idea of Mrs. Elliot to do this experiment with eye color. This allowed the students to judge based on physical appearance like they were doing to colored Americans. They were able to see how putting another person down based on their appearance can greatly affect them and hurt them.
I agree with what MEre said how Mrs. Elliot was a genius for even documenting what she did and her examples to America and to the children. I thought this was a great film and exmaple of how easily people can become prejudice and eevn racist. Even the youngest and sweetest children were proven to have racist views to a degree. AFter watching most of the film I thought that Mrs. Elliot hepled to prove a big point in our society at that time period.
It was amazing to see how quickly the kids turned on each other. They totally accepted Mrs. Elliot's authority. They quickly accepted her views on how to make them racist just towards the color of their eyes. She made the ones that were "better" than the others feel on top and she didn't tell them how to do it. They just did it naturally and in their own ways they learned what it was to be racist towards someone just because of the color of their skin. Mrs. Elliot's experiment with her third graders was just amazing because of what it taught them.
I thought what Mrs. Elliot was able to do was amazing and very brave. The fact that she was able to convince the students that one group was smarter, or more superior than the other. This shows how racism can be pulled out of anyone, although its not good. This was definately the most creative way to show it. It was interesting how the students turned on each other even if they could have been best friends.
The social experiment that Mrs. Elliot performed on her third graders was neccesary and flawless. Racist beliefs begin to be implanted in the early years of life. For Mrs. Elliot to teach this valuable lesson of sensibility to young kids at age 9 is vital if they are to grow up and not be racist. While I think that this is an incredibly relevant and important exercise for all kids to participate in, I don't think that there would be many parents willing to let their kids go through the experience. It was very shocking to see how fast the kids turned on eachother and resorted to violence. What I took from the video was that by telling people that they're below you, you can actually have an effect on their performance so that they act as if they're below you.
I agree with brian's comments about the student's test scores, and the effects of being labeled as inferior. It was very surprising to see how the performance of a student could change so dramatically overnight.
Mrs. Elliot's experiment was very interesting as well as intelligent. It was somewhat frightening to see how divided these 3rd graders became when some of them actually believed that they were better than the others. This is a great way for the kids to learn about racism because that lesson she taught gave them all first-had experiences of what racism can be like. If I remember correctly, two of the kids got into a fight at recess because one of them called the other "brown eyes" as an insult. It just startles me how involved these kids became in the experiment. I agree with Mike Doran in that this was a great experiment to show the kids that nothing on the outside matters, what matters is on the inside.
What Mrs. Elliot did was a very impressive experiment with children. The fact that she could recreate a microcosim within the classroom, just by telling her students that a group of them were superieor to another group just because of their eye color.
Как говорилось на Seexi.net непонятную вещь. Я по гороскопу лев и мне по-действительному хорошо только с представителями огненных знаков, я с ними ощущаю себя активной и живой, нам буквально каждый день есть о чем поговорить. Это не столько друзья, но и мужчины, другими словами нам есть чем заняться, помимо секса Темы для диалога не истощаются, даже в случае в случае если только-только познакомились. Какое-то непонятное взаимопонимание, с полу-слова, можно заявить. Знаете, как это бывает - собеседник начинает фразу, а ты заканчиваешь, и просто офигеваешь от такого количества совпадений. А вот с представителями Воды постоянная тупка, вроде диалог идет, но какой-то безвкусный, и ощущаешь себя трупом каким-то. Вроде неплохой человек, а общаться не хочется. Раньше я не думала о гороскопах, а здесь мне друг-овен сказал, что у нас такое взаимопонимание, так как мы из одной "стихии". Задумалась, и правда, все "огненные" друзья у меня на первом плане, потом "воздушные" - так, время провести, а "водные" абсолютно уж на крайняк, когда встретиться не с кем. Вот отчего так происходит?
Post a Comment