This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Friday, March 1, 2013
PERIOD 4 - A CLASS DIVIDED
You have been watching the documentary, A Class Divided. Please post a reflective comment about the film. What did you personally take away from this documentary?
34 comments:
Natielli Mendes
said...
I was amazed at how quickly the kids were able to turn on one another. I was very surprised to see how the test scores based upon which side of the social ladder the child was on, if they where in the better side they did better then those who are said to mot be as good as them. The answers the students gave to some of her questions and the way the students treated others was very interesting to see. 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 teach her students a very important lesson.
The movie as a whole was very eye-opening and to see an elementary school teacher be able to pull off an exercise like that and get that many little kids to cooperate both shows skill as a teacher and a sense of righteousness. Those kids from that day on will always remember that activity and what it's like to be in other people's shoes. I enjoyed the film
I thought the teacher of this 3rd grade class was so smart to think of an activity that not only showed the kids what it feels like to be segregated but also learn a lesson that they will keep with them forever. It was amazing to see how quickly the kids absorbed the role of superior or inferior and how quickly the superior kids began to put the inferior kids downs and how quickly the inferior kids felt like they were less than the superior kids. It was also very wise of the teacher to use a tangible object (the collar) to represent who was to be segregated. At the end of the documentary it was interesting to see how the kids reacted towards the collar by tearing it up. Overall i really enjoyed this documentary and thought it was a great way to teach a group of kids who might not fully understand all the horrible aspects of discrimination.
I agree with Natielli, she brought up a good point that Mrs.Elliot was not only taking a risk in the classroom but the community. Some people in the community, even the school could have been extremely opposed to how she taught segregation to her 3rd graders.
i was very surprised at the kids test results. that was the thing that struck me the most, their poor performance was very much psychological. i was also surprised by how quickly they were able to judge each other especially their friends. like the one day they blue eyed children were said to be better, they became violent and even started using brown eyed as a derogatory term. and it was only on that day. that's why i thought the whole experiment was interesting.
I agree with Abby in terms of how surprising things took shape over the course of two days. Each "superior" group of third graders, on their own day, acted out in demeaning ways. It was surprising to see the quick turnaround in how the blue eyes/ brown eyes succumbed to their roles. Likewise, I wonder what would have happened if the same precautions were in place for the adult's experiment. I would be curious to see if the adults acted the same way as the kids after they would have been told that the other group was superior, etc.
I think that this documentary was very surprising because I didn't really think that third graders would be able to really grasp the lesson that Mrs. Eliot was trying to teach them. I was also very surprised about the communities backlash about the experiment that Mrs. Eliot conducted with the students. I agree with Jack in that those kids from that day on will always remember that activity and what it's like to be in other people's shoes.
I most agree with Nick and Phoebe's posts. Nick took the words right out of my mouth; I'm amazed that the test was so successful on adults and that people became suddenly nasty within the course of less than an hour. Some of them were nasty enough to the point where I thought they were acting to simply keep up the act. Phoebe also touched upon how intelligent Mrs. Elliot was. I was personally especially impressed with how people's scores changed depending what group they were in. Intelligence seems to be very psychological. I would wager that people with higher self esteems will perform at a higher level in most aspects of their life.
I agree with Phoebe that it was very smart of the teacher to perform this experiment on her class. It is amazing how quickly the two groups of children (brown eyed and blue eyed) reacted to being in power and being inferior. Even though Mrs. Elliot and her family were ridiculed by the community, I thought that this experiment was very effective in teaching the students about discrimination.
I thought this film was very interesting and shocking because of how Mrs. Elliot's experiment worked so well. I thought that it was amazing to see how quickly the kids turned on each other when they were segregated. The thing that surprised me most was how by simply making one group inferior, their time for the card sets decreased greatly, and when they were superior it increased. This just shows how effective the experiment was. I also could not believe how much it changed the adults who went through the process. I think that the lesson was successful and it really made the kids and adults experience partially what it was like for the blacks.
I agree with Melissa that it was very shocking how quickly the children turned against each other. I think that Mrs. Elliot's experiment was risky because it could have easily confused the children a lot but luckily it had a positive effect. I think Mrs. Elliot was very brave to stand up against social norms.
I think that Mrs. Elliot did a great job teaching a class of third graders about racial prejudice. It was a great way to show the kids first hand what it is all about and was able to put the children into the shoes of those being discriminated against. I agree with Abby in the fact that the bad test scores when the students were the "bad" kids, they did worse on the test because they were distracted by the discrimination that they were facing.
The documentary was very interesting. I agree with Natielli on how quickly the kids were able to turn one another. I thing Mrs. Elliot was very amazing and changing the world. This movie is very important.
I thought Ms. Elliot wasn't just smart to think up this activity, but also brave. She received, in my opinion, a lot of unnecessary grief for continuously running this event each year. I was slightly horrified to see the polarizing reactions she caused in people...how do they not recognize the value in what she's doing? She's teaching children from a young age the true value of equality, love, and friendship, and how it's more valuable than power or domination.
I think that everything that Ms. Elliot did with her third grade class was great. I feel like the kids were able to take away a lot from the experience. Especially because they actually “went though it” instead of just talking about it. They were able to feel what discrimination feels like to some extent. Even though it was not to the full extend, I do think that the children will be able to feel what the African Americans were feeling like. What I took away is just how amazing of a job Ms. Elliot did. Also I cannot believe that people were not okay with her experiment. I think that if more teachers had done something like this way before, there would be a lot less discrimination.
I agree with Kevin in that what Ms. Elliot did was brave. She did receive a lot of unnecessary grief, but in the end she did a great job teaching a group not to discriminate. Anything is a start.
The results of Mrs. Elliot's experiment didn't have as much of an impact on me as much as Mrs. Elliot's audacity to perform the experiment. In the film, Mrs. Elliot said herself that there was the possibility that children could experience psychological damage if they went through the experiment but she performed the experiment on 3 of her 3rd grade classes. I agree with Natielli when she says "Many things could have gone wrong with this exercise..." and I'm wondering what made Elliot perform the experiment with the knowledge that she could be dealing permanent psychological damage to the kids that she experimented with.
I personally took away from the film that it was a very brave for Ms. Elliot to put the children through that activity especially during that time where racism was so prominent. It showed how easily well mannered people could turn against each other just based on the color of their eyes and what they were told was true. Although, just moments before being told one was better than the other, they treated each other as equals and saw no problem with having different colored eyes. But within moments they were unable to look passed the fact that their eye color was different.
Although I was only able to see the second half of the film, I was amazed at how quickly people in the prison were able to accept that they were superior only based on physical appearances and how mostly everyone just accepted it. It really opened my eyes about racial discrimination
I agree with Jeff's post, I was surprised at how quickly the way the adults acted had changed due to the comments Mrs. Elliot had made. It was also very interesting to see how the children reacted towards each other during this exercise. Although this exercise was seen as unethical by some people, I personally admire the effort and risk Mrs. Elliot took to prove an extremely valid point that eye color or skin color have no significance in one's intelligence.
What I found most interesting about this film was not necessarily how quickly the children changed their opinions, but the lasting impacts the experiment had on them. As third graders it was only natural for them to listen to the authority of their teacher. At the time, they didn't have the maturity to understand that none of it was real. However, twenty years later they still remembered what had happened and explained how they incorporated their beliefs into their everyday lives. That is what really shocked me about the film. I think it is really interesting that Nick brings up the point about the children being psychologically damaged by this. For me, a two day experiment just with eye color does not seem like it has the potential to do much damage. The rewards far outweigh the risks on this one.
This is by far the most eye opening film I've seen in all my years in being in school. I think what Mrs. Elliot did was a remarkable movement in teaching the youth to stop discriminating. I think she was very smart to start teaching the younger generation first because children tent to learn faster and will keep the values they learn. That being said, I didn't expect the 3rd graders to learn the moral of the lesson so quickly. It was truly surprising to see these little kids feeling superior and inferior than their friends and classmates in less than a day. I agree with Natielli that Mrs. Elliot was taking a very big risk but it was definitely a risk worth taking because she changed the way these children view minorities.
I agree with natiellie i was amazed with how in 3 hours or less the children were able to change there affection towards one another because of the teachers influence
i agree with jack it was very shocking that an elementary school teacher could have the courage to pull off such a risky exercise. in the documentary she talked about how it isn't for every child and it can be easily damaging so i think that it took more than the average amount of courage and dedication to truly pull off this exercise successfully
I agree with Jack and Natielli. The movie was very eye-opening. It was interesting to see how Mrs. Elliot was able to pull this exercise up, also how quickly the kids were able to turn on one another. I thought it was a good way to teach children about discrimination. I was surprised that her town was not as supportive of her work, because I found it to be very effective.
I agree with Abby. I was really shocked at how the experiment impacted test scores. This reminds me of the story "the Bear that Wasn't." In the story, a bear was repeatedly told by a majority of people (and people in power), that he was not actually a bear. Eventually, he grew to believe that he was human. Similarly, Mrs. Elliot's experiment suggests that if you are told that you are inferior, you begin to operate as if that was true. I think this is one of the reasons that the older generations in Birmingham were less willing to join the movement. After being told that they were dumb, incapable, and inferior throughout their lives, they truly began to believe that they were not capable of inciting any great change.
34 comments:
I was amazed at how quickly the kids were able to turn on one another. I was very surprised to see how the test scores based upon which side of the social ladder the child was on, if they where in the better side they did better then those who are said to mot be as good as them. The answers the students gave to some of her questions and the way the students treated others was very interesting to see. 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 teach her students a very important lesson.
I agree with Natalie
I agree with Natalie
The movie as a whole was very eye-opening and to see an elementary school teacher be able to pull off an exercise like that and get that many little kids to cooperate both shows skill as a teacher and a sense of righteousness. Those kids from that day on will always remember that activity and what it's like to be in other people's shoes. I enjoyed the film
I agree with Jack, it seems like it would be very difficult to get these kids to cooperate.
I liked how the activity simulated all of the conflicts and results of the racial prejudice and discrimination of the real world.
simulated accurately
I thought the teacher of this 3rd grade class was so smart to think of an activity that not only showed the kids what it feels like to be segregated but also learn a lesson that they will keep with them forever. It was amazing to see how quickly the kids absorbed the role of superior or inferior and how quickly the superior kids began to put the inferior kids downs and how quickly the inferior kids felt like they were less than the superior kids. It was also very wise of the teacher to use a tangible object (the collar) to represent who was to be segregated. At the end of the documentary it was interesting to see how the kids reacted towards the collar by tearing it up. Overall i really enjoyed this documentary and thought it was a great way to teach a group of kids who might not fully understand all the horrible aspects of discrimination.
I agree with Natielli, she brought up a good point that Mrs.Elliot was not only taking a risk in the classroom but the community. Some people in the community, even the school could have been extremely opposed to how she taught segregation to her 3rd graders.
i agree with Jack
i was very surprised at the kids test results. that was the thing that struck me the most, their poor performance was very much psychological. i was also surprised by how quickly they were able to judge each other especially their friends. like the one day they blue eyed children were said to be better, they became violent and even started using brown eyed as a derogatory term. and it was only on that day. that's why i thought the whole experiment was interesting.
Whoops, wrong button, that comment at 3:32 was me.
I agree with Abby in terms of how surprising things took shape over the course of two days. Each "superior" group of third graders, on their own day, acted out in demeaning ways. It was surprising to see the quick turnaround in how the blue eyes/ brown eyes succumbed to their roles. Likewise, I wonder what would have happened if the same precautions were in place for the adult's experiment. I would be curious to see if the adults acted the same way as the kids after they would have been told that the other group was superior, etc.
I think that this documentary was very surprising because I didn't really think that third graders would be able to really grasp the lesson that Mrs. Eliot was trying to teach them. I was also very surprised about the communities backlash about the experiment that Mrs. Eliot conducted with the students. I agree with Jack in that those kids from that day on will always remember that activity and what it's like to be in other people's shoes.
I most agree with Nick and Phoebe's posts. Nick took the words right out of my mouth; I'm amazed that the test was so successful on adults and that people became suddenly nasty within the course of less than an hour. Some of them were nasty enough to the point where I thought they were acting to simply keep up the act. Phoebe also touched upon how intelligent Mrs. Elliot was. I was personally especially impressed with how people's scores changed depending what group they were in. Intelligence seems to be very psychological. I would wager that people with higher self esteems will perform at a higher level in most aspects of their life.
I agree with Phoebe that it was very smart of the teacher to perform this experiment on her class. It is amazing how quickly the two groups of children (brown eyed and blue eyed) reacted to being in power and being inferior. Even though Mrs. Elliot and her family were ridiculed by the community, I thought that this experiment was very effective in teaching the students about discrimination.
I thought this film was very interesting and shocking because of how Mrs. Elliot's experiment worked so well. I thought that it was amazing to see how quickly the kids turned on each other when they were segregated. The thing that surprised me most was how by simply making one group inferior, their time for the card sets decreased greatly, and when they were superior it increased. This just shows how effective the experiment was. I also could not believe how much it changed the adults who went through the process. I think that the lesson was successful and it really made the kids and adults experience partially what it was like for the blacks.
I agree with Melissa that it was very shocking how quickly the children turned against each other. I think that Mrs. Elliot's experiment was risky because it could have easily confused the children a lot but luckily it had a positive effect. I think Mrs. Elliot was very brave to stand up against social norms.
I think that Mrs. Elliot did a great job teaching a class of third graders about racial prejudice. It was a great way to show the kids first hand what it is all about and was able to put the children into the shoes of those being discriminated against. I agree with Abby in the fact that the bad test scores when the students were the "bad" kids, they did worse on the test because they were distracted by the discrimination that they were facing.
The documentary was very interesting. I agree with Natielli on how quickly the kids were able to turn one another. I thing Mrs. Elliot was very amazing and changing the world. This movie is very important.
I thought Ms. Elliot wasn't just smart to think up this activity, but also brave. She received, in my opinion, a lot of unnecessary grief for continuously running this event each year. I was slightly horrified to see the polarizing reactions she caused in people...how do they not recognize the value in what she's doing? She's teaching children from a young age the true value of equality, love, and friendship, and how it's more valuable than power or domination.
I think that everything that Ms. Elliot did with her third grade class was great. I feel like the kids were able to take away a lot from the experience. Especially because they actually “went though it” instead of just talking about it. They were able to feel what discrimination feels like to some extent. Even though it was not to the full extend, I do think that the children will be able to feel what the African Americans were feeling like. What I took away is just how amazing of a job Ms. Elliot did. Also I cannot believe that people were not okay with her experiment. I think that if more teachers had done something like this way before, there would be a lot less discrimination.
I agree with Kevin in that what Ms. Elliot did was brave. She did receive a lot of unnecessary grief, but in the end she did a great job teaching a group not to discriminate. Anything is a start.
The results of Mrs. Elliot's experiment didn't have as much of an impact on me as much as Mrs. Elliot's audacity to perform the experiment. In the film, Mrs. Elliot said herself that there was the possibility that children could experience psychological damage if they went through the experiment but she performed the experiment on 3 of her 3rd grade classes. I agree with Natielli when she says "Many things could have gone wrong with this exercise..." and I'm wondering what made Elliot perform the experiment with the knowledge that she could be dealing permanent psychological damage to the kids that she experimented with.
I personally took away from the film that it was a very brave for Ms. Elliot to put the children through that activity especially during that time where racism was so prominent. It showed how easily well mannered people could turn against each other just based on the color of their eyes and what they were told was true. Although, just moments before being told one was better than the other, they treated each other as equals and saw no problem with having different colored eyes. But within moments they were unable to look passed the fact that their eye color was different.
I agree with Danielle that this film is very important and eye-opening. It was amazing to see how the kids easily turned against each other.
Although I was only able to see the second half of the film, I was amazed at how quickly people in the prison were able to accept that they were superior only based on physical appearances and how mostly everyone just accepted it. It really opened my eyes about racial discrimination
I agree with Jeff's post, I was surprised at how quickly the way the adults acted had changed due to the comments Mrs. Elliot had made. It was also very interesting to see how the children reacted towards each other during this exercise. Although this exercise was seen as unethical by some people, I personally admire the effort and risk Mrs. Elliot took to prove an extremely valid point that eye color or skin color have no significance in one's intelligence.
What I found most interesting about this film was not necessarily how quickly the children changed their opinions, but the lasting impacts the experiment had on them. As third graders it was only natural for them to listen to the authority of their teacher. At the time, they didn't have the maturity to understand that none of it was real. However, twenty years later they still remembered what had happened and explained how they incorporated their beliefs into their everyday lives. That is what really shocked me about the film. I think it is really interesting that Nick brings up the point about the children being psychologically damaged by this. For me, a two day experiment just with eye color does not seem like it has the potential to do much damage. The rewards far outweigh the risks on this one.
This is by far the most eye opening film I've seen in all my years in being in school. I think what Mrs. Elliot did was a remarkable movement in teaching the youth to stop discriminating. I think she was very smart to start teaching the younger generation first because children tent to learn faster and will keep the values they learn. That being said, I didn't expect the 3rd graders to learn the moral of the lesson so quickly. It was truly surprising to see these little kids feeling superior and inferior than their friends and classmates in less than a day. I agree with Natielli that Mrs. Elliot was taking a very big risk but it was definitely a risk worth taking because she changed the way these children view minorities.
I agree with natiellie
i was amazed with how in 3 hours or less the children were able to change there affection towards one another because of the teachers influence
i agree with jack it was very shocking that an elementary school teacher could have the courage to pull off such a risky exercise. in the documentary she talked about how it isn't for every child and it can be easily damaging so i think that it took more than the average amount of courage and dedication to truly pull off this exercise successfully
I agree with Jack and Natielli. The movie was very eye-opening. It was interesting to see how Mrs. Elliot was able to pull this exercise up, also how quickly the kids were able to turn on one another. I thought it was a good way to teach children about discrimination. I was surprised that her town was not as supportive of her work, because I found it to be very effective.
I agree with Abby. I was really shocked at how the experiment impacted test scores.
This reminds me of the story "the Bear that Wasn't." In the story, a bear was repeatedly told by a majority of people (and people in power), that he was not actually a bear. Eventually, he grew to believe that he was human. Similarly, Mrs. Elliot's experiment suggests that if you are told that you are inferior, you begin to operate as if that was true. I think this is one of the reasons that the older generations in Birmingham were less willing to join the movement. After being told that they were dumb, incapable, and inferior throughout their lives, they truly began to believe that they were not capable of inciting any great change.
Post a Comment