MsCoffeeLover
03-15-2008, 08:38 AM
It is spring break for us finally, and the students were engaged and reached yesterday, but I don't know if it is really considered a "warm fuzzy"
We were learning all about the Holocaust, and I had shown several video clips with personal stories from survivors. The students are instructed to jot down a certain number of facts every time we watch a video. Usually it is one a minute.
They have been jotting down facts on the Holocaust all week, and for each video clip, they seem to be affected by maybe on or two things--until yesterday.
We watched a teenagers experience of the Holocaust. Of course, the man is much older as with all of the other stories, but knowing this survivor was twelve (the age of my students now) as he went through the entire thing did a little more to the students this go round.
Everything he discussed was everything a 7th grader would think to themselves in trying to figure out the world. The students seemed to be more engrossed than ever. They had more questions than ever, and they quoted this video clip more than any of the others.
One of them was "Freedom was a forgotten memory." We even talked about it too. The students got to see why he had to lie and say he was fourteen instead of twelve. This particular child was luckier than so many others during this time.
Students mostly write down the required number of facts and stop, but the students couldn't stop yesterday. They were filling out pages front and back.
The content wasn't warm and fuzzy, but the effect on my kids seems to be a warm and fuzzy moment to me. Is that wrong? It wasn't just one or two students this time--it really was the majority of the class. They were all hooked, discussing this particular story withers, had so many more questions than any other time before, and you could just see the actual moment and learning on the students faces.
It was Friday (yesterday), and when school let out at 3:40, it would be spring break. It was nothing I would have ever expected, and I couldn't quit smiling.
Until yesterday, I thought the majority of the students in that class were numb and didn't feel a thing or I sucked at the delivery of this particular content.
This particular unit is over, but I hope and pray the impression that was made was a lasting one.
We were learning all about the Holocaust, and I had shown several video clips with personal stories from survivors. The students are instructed to jot down a certain number of facts every time we watch a video. Usually it is one a minute.
They have been jotting down facts on the Holocaust all week, and for each video clip, they seem to be affected by maybe on or two things--until yesterday.
We watched a teenagers experience of the Holocaust. Of course, the man is much older as with all of the other stories, but knowing this survivor was twelve (the age of my students now) as he went through the entire thing did a little more to the students this go round.
Everything he discussed was everything a 7th grader would think to themselves in trying to figure out the world. The students seemed to be more engrossed than ever. They had more questions than ever, and they quoted this video clip more than any of the others.
One of them was "Freedom was a forgotten memory." We even talked about it too. The students got to see why he had to lie and say he was fourteen instead of twelve. This particular child was luckier than so many others during this time.
Students mostly write down the required number of facts and stop, but the students couldn't stop yesterday. They were filling out pages front and back.
The content wasn't warm and fuzzy, but the effect on my kids seems to be a warm and fuzzy moment to me. Is that wrong? It wasn't just one or two students this time--it really was the majority of the class. They were all hooked, discussing this particular story withers, had so many more questions than any other time before, and you could just see the actual moment and learning on the students faces.
It was Friday (yesterday), and when school let out at 3:40, it would be spring break. It was nothing I would have ever expected, and I couldn't quit smiling.
Until yesterday, I thought the majority of the students in that class were numb and didn't feel a thing or I sucked at the delivery of this particular content.
This particular unit is over, but I hope and pray the impression that was made was a lasting one.