Wednesday, February 26, 2014

PERIOD 2: MRS. ELLIOT

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?

27 comments:

Ashley White said...

Mrs. Elliot was extremely smart for thinking of this lesson. I'm glad that even when people from her town were upset wit her and treated her children harshly, she kept her opinions and lessons without any effect. Seeing how the third graders acted during the lesson and then sharing their opinions on racism at the reunion shows how effective it was. Being raised in an all-white christian community surrounded by fields would typically be filled with a lot of racism. This made me think about racism in a simple way; put yourself in their shoes.

Kelley Falanga said...

While watching the video about how Mrs. Elliot taught her third grade class about discrimination, I thought it was very interesting. It was a good way to teach the class about a serious situation in a way that they would understand. After seeing all of Mrs. Elliot's students grown up and sharing their opinions, it showed me how it was an exercise that stuck with them throughout their whole entire life. The same exercise was given to a group of adults divided into the blue eyed group and the brown eyed group. It was suprising to me how the adults in the room acted as Mrs. Elliot was talking to them. Some people in the blue eyed group were very rude and when Mrs. Elliot did the same exercise with her third graders, they were much more mature.

Kiran Raza said...

I think this is a very clever and ultimately successful lesson plan. I watched fascinated as the 3rd graders turned on each other in a matter of seconds because an authority figure they respected told them that some of them were superior to the rest of their classmates. From a sociological and psychological stand point as well, the kids who were on the top did better on assessments than they did before the experiment and the kids on the bottom did worse. I was surprised to hear those innocent kids say such horrible things, until I realized that they weren't trying to be mean when they said it, it was just natural. I'm glad i got to see this film and I think that everyone should use it because the reason for using it just makes so much sense.

Alexandra Romano said...

When watching Mrs. Elliot's lesson I realized I have seen a part of this before. I enjoyed watching this video and see her experiment that she conducted with 3rd graders. What I didn't know was that she did the same thing with adults and they had the same reaction the kids did. I was amazed at how people of all ages can act the same way in society and take away some of the same lessons. What fascinated me the most was how at one moment kids can be best friends but as soon as they are separated, or different, they acted so mean towards one another. The lesson I took away from the video and her lesson was "to not judge someone from their outside and the way the look, but rather the inside of them".

Nick Snedegar said...

Mrs. Elliot was so smart for this valuable lesson she taught her third graders. Teaching young children the right things pays off in the future which is what she was hoping to accomplish, and succeeded. I really enjoyed when she tried the experiment on the adults and got similar results, but with a little more opposition from some people placed in the "inferior" box of the experiment. I believe that all people should have the privilege of having this lesson. If everyone thought this way that Mrs. Elliot taught, racism would be dramatically reduced.

Courtney Ho said...

Watching this segment on Mrs. Elliot, I realized that what she did was a very effective way to teach children about segregation, discrimination, and prejudice. It is hard to get third graders to learn about the more complex situations outside of school and to fully understand what the blacks were going through. Despite this, Mrs. Elliot took a simple characteristic like eye color and got the students to fully comprehend discrimination. I think Mrs. Elliot was courageous to perform an activity like this especially since she must have known what kind of response she was going to get when it was put on public television. Mrs. Elliot stood up for what she believed in and even went out to teach others to change their perspective as well.

Brianna Greene said...

I thought the lesson that Mrs. Elliot taught was very valuable and smart. Mrs. Elliot's third graders had never really experienced discrimination themselves because there were white children. Since at the time whites were considered to be superior these children never had others looking down on them like African American people did at that time. When the children talked about discrimination they didn't really understand what it meant to be discriminated against. I thought it was so interesting to watch how these children who were all good friends could just turn on each other when they began to believe that they were more powerful over their other classmates due to their eye color. I thought that this documentary did a good job showing how people will conform to the ideas of an authority figure, and be so cruel to people they had once called their friend. I think this a lesson that many people have to learn even today.

Nick Graham said...

I have actually partially seen the film "A Class Divided" awhile ago and now seeing it as a whole, I fully understand what Mrs. Elliot's goal was. I think what Mrs. Elliot did was very brave because she was going against the common thought for the time period and seemed to get many harsh remarks for what she did. Its strange now to think how it was common for a 3rd grader to be using the terms that were shown in the film and how such a hate existed. Although racism is still around today, I don't believe it is as bad as was shown in the film. I think people like Mrs. Elliot turned the way of thinking around for many Americans and taught us a lot about natural human behavior. I'm very happy that I live in an environment where people are judged based off the content of their character not race.

Aishwarya Ganguli said...

The film I saw today really influenced me a lot . Not only it gave us the moral to eradicate discrimination but also taught that one person can bring a great change to the society. The teacher used a simple method of empathy to make the children feel the pain of being segregated by a thing they dont have control over . The best part of the film was that children who grew up into adults still remembered the lesson they learnt at such small age. Mrs Elliot was a true inspiration for them, is an inspiration for us and will remain inspiration for all generations.

Stephen Falvey said...

After watching "A Class Divided" I realize that I have seen bits of that before years ago. Viewing it as a high school student was much different because I now understand more about what she was trying to do. Her work took lots of courage and she had the strength to make her own opinion and share it. She made 3rd graders have to think deep and forced them to think of their own things and ideas. Mrs. Elliot got lots of disagreement from this but knew her that get lesson was valuable. America needed a change and she sparked the conversation for this and has done incredible work. Her lesson is still being taught 40 years later. I learned a lot about how to treat people.

Stephen Falvey said...

After watching "A Class Divided" I realize that I have seen bits of that before years ago. Viewing it as a high school student was much different because I now understand more about what she was trying to do. Her work took lots of courage and she had the strength to make her own opinion and share it. She made 3rd graders have to think deep and forced them to think of their own things and ideas. Mrs. Elliot got lots of disagreement from this but knew her that get lesson was valuable. America needed a change and she sparked the conversation for this and has done incredible work. Her lesson is still being taught 40 years later. I learned a lot about how to treat people.

Scott Radogna said...

I thought that Mrs. Elliot's experiment was incredible and creative. The idea of experimenting with children is very controversial indeed, however she conducted it in a safe manner where no kids got hurt. Kids who were singled out and segregated would only be singled out and segregated for a day anyways so no true harm could be done. It was amazing to view how easily the kids would change their way of thinking simply because an authoritative figure told them to. I believe that a lot of people in this time period and some people in the present who could use this kind of a lesson. Mrs. Elliot proved that you cannot fully understand someone's struggle until you step into their shoes. I feel like this video should be viewed by all people with racist ideology and prejudice with the hopes that their views may change for the better. What made all of this so much better is that Mrs. Elliot would not give in to the immense amount of negative reactions she was getting from her entire community and never gave up on her values.

Scott Radogna said...

I thought that Mrs. Elliot's experiment was incredible and creative. The idea of experimenting with children is very controversial indeed, however she conducted it in a safe manner where no kids got hurt. Kids who were singled out and segregated would only be singled out and segregated for a day anyways so no true harm could be done. It was amazing to view how easily the kids would change their way of thinking simply because an authoritative figure told them to. I believe that a lot of people in this time period and some people in the present who could use this kind of a lesson. Mrs. Elliot proved that you cannot fully understand someone's struggle until you step into their shoes. I feel like this video should be viewed by all people with racist ideology and prejudice with the hopes that their views may change for the better. What made all of this so much better is that Mrs. Elliot would not give in to the immense amount of negative reactions she was getting from her entire community and never gave up on her values.

Samuel Hastenreiter said...

After watching this documentary, I was amazed at how much people can be affected by others and without even realizing the mistake they're doing. Mrs. Eliot didn't only conduct this experiment with her 3rd graders but to adults as well and they had the same results. I thought that it wouldn't work on the adults because they were more wise and more experienced but I guess it didn't matter either because they too were convinced by her tricks. By her experiment it was proven that people can easily be influenced by stereotypes and discriminate without thinking first about being in the other persons shoes. I enjoyed watching this documentary and I've learned a lot from it. I believe it's a good way to teach people about judgment.

Tracey Mugi said...

I thought that what Mrs.Elliot did was a very smart experiment. She really made those third graders and adults what it was like to be discriminated. It really helped in showing that being prejudice is unfair. I think that the experiment was very much needed. The children seemed to take what they learned and apply it to their lives.

Natalie Wolpert said...

I've seen this film once before, but it's still just as moving. No matter how many times I see or hear about this experiment, I will always find it shocking that a group of such young kids can act so horribly towards each other. I also think that it's a really important lesson to be taught to young children. I found it incredible that such a simple experiment worked with all ages in many different situations. The experiment leads to a life-changing lesson that stayed with the students their whole life; I believe that a similar lesson should be taught in schools today. I know that what Mrs. Elliot did is now considered unethical, but I think that young students should put themselves in a minorities shoes so that they are able to witness first-hand the struggles that some people have to go through.

Michael Hachey said...

Mrs. Elliot's message was a very powerful one. She taught her third grade student class and the workers at the correctional facility how life was for a discriminated person and almost put them in their shoes for a short period of time. It was very interesting to see how the children and the workers reacted to the situation because she got them in such a short time to act as a person who had been discriminated against for such a long time. Most of the people who underwent her lesson were impacted positively however it is not known if all of them did. Mrs. Elliot took a very big risk teaching her lesson because if even one parent complained she could have easily lost her job.

Tori Handell said...

During the film "A Class Divided" Mrs. Elliot comes up with a creative lesson plan. I think that she really went out of her box to come up with this lesson. Its crazy how spot on she is with what she was saying. The kids seemed to learn a big lesson from this week activity. It interests me how it doesnt really matter what someones age is.

Chris Eames said...

I saw the experiment that dealt with the third graders before, but i didn't see the one involving the adults. What surprised me the most was how quickly the adults lost their morals and composure just as easily as the third graders, and obviously seemed to be affected negatively by being treated downward from the group. What i am really curious about is how grades and general performance in school differ with how one views him/herself. In the documentary, Mrs. Elliot said how performance of the third graders dropped immensely when they were the ones wearing the collars and becoming the victim of prejudice. It makes me wonder how that is seen in life with older people, and how linked and influenced performance is based on ego or how one views themselves.

Sofia Berg said...

Mrs. Elliot's intelligence as an educator was exemplified by her valuable lessons she taught through this experiment. Implementing these values on young children proves positive outcomes in the future of these kids. I truly enjoyed when she took the same experiment and used it on adults; it says something about the variable of age. You can change the minds of human beings at any age; power changes people regardless of how old they might be. This documentary says something about how race amounts to nothing in comparison to how important actions are. What we do and say can affect who we are more so than how we look to ourselves and others.

Raissa Silva said...

Mrs.Elliot's activity to teach the children about racism, and discrimination was so clever.Its certainly a bit questionable to experiment on children, but her activity did not harm the children. She made the children "walk in someone elses moccasins"and through that simple activity taught them a life lesson that was very mature.I think what stuck with me the most is how simply she managed to convey this complex idea, and sentiment to children who would never have a clue of what discrimination felt like.Also I was surprised to see that when Mrs.Elliot taught the adults the results were very much the same. The blue-eyed adults didn't support one another when there were a few people who were trying to stand up for themselves." A Class Divided" made me see racism as simply as Mrs.Elliot taught it. Its a matter of " walking in a another person's moccasins"

carlos vivar said...

I thought it was so clever how Mrs.Elliot thought These children at a young age about what was happening at the time. She caused the children to change there opinions because of here teachings. I was also amazed how when she did the experiment on the older people it changed some of there views on how they were racist on blacks.

Helena Wright said...

The activity Mrs. Elliot came up with to really inform the kids in her class about segregation and racism was very effective. This was a class full of white kids so non of them really felt what is was like to be discriminated against. When the kids had wear the collars and were looked down upon it had a big impact on their attitude toward how they treat other people. At the end of the two days they children realized you shouldn't treat someone different just because someone tells you they are lesser of a person than you are. Mrs. Elliot proved that it isn't just children you can have an impact on and change the way they think but she also did this with adults and they were just as quick to turn on each other but the overall message and what they got out of it was the same. I think that this experiment is very affective and it can make you take a second look at situations you are in and maybe act in a better way.

Kathryn Hally said...

I was absent today, however I did view the beginning of this film in class yesterday. I found Mrs. Elliot to be a very heroic and noble person in teaching her students about the unfairness of prejudice base on skin color. It was such a smart way to teach young children that everyone should be treated equally regardless of their appearance, and clearly it was very effective. I think the children in her classroom as well as everyone who has watched this film learned a very important lesson: discrimination and prejudice based on physical appearance is wrong. What truly matters in a person is who they are and how they treat others.

Unknown said...

i found that Mrs.Elliot's lesson was effective. when she was arguing with the one lady in the control group that was "worse" she made the whole group seem savage. she started to get frustrated and lash out taking personal attacks at Mrs.Elliot. the third graders had the same kind of problem in there classroom. once divided conflict arose. one of the students punched another student in the gut. in both instances the groups became what they were supposed to be without intending it. such a great way to put yourself into someone elses position.

Dan Zabielski said...

I was absent yesterday but watched "A Class Divided" on Wednesday. Mrs. Elliot found a very clever way to teach her third grade children about the dangers of discrimination and showed each of them what it feels like to be the subject of prejudice. Since the students were all white children and likely had never been subject to any sort of discrimination before, Mrs. Elliot effectively divided the class by blue and brown eye color, and showed them what it was like to be judged only based on physical appearance. When the children, now adults, came back to visit their former third grade teacher, they still remembered the valuable lesson they had been taught years before about putting themselves in other people's shoes before making judgments. Mrs. Elliot taught a brilliant lesson to her students in "A Class Divided".

Nicolas Ross said...

Absent.