Bullying in schools has become pandemic. And with the rise of technology, bullying extends from school and into students' homes. Several anti-bullying measures have been implemented but are students being informed, supported and active in the anti-bullying movement?
During the spring semester, schools' curriculum includes a Holocaust unit. Teaching middle school English, I will need to teach a literary perspective about the Holocaust. Teaching a Holocaust unit is essential in schools, especially for secondary, because the social tension of the world is rising and middle/high school is not an easy time to be confused about your mind/body, social hierarchy of the lunchroom and social unrest around the world. I want to use technology for students to research the Holocaust and be exposed to literature from the different perspectives. Using a character from the book, I want students to create a virtual compare and contrast of their lives with the life of the character from the selected text. Being able to analyze the similarities and difference and researching the history, the author, and the origin of the story (autobiographical or fiction), students can evaluate the Holocaust and today's bullying side by side and see the threads of similarity. I want students to reflect on what the Holocaust and bullying represents to them and then create a personal mantra to digitally share what they will do to stop bullying in their home, school and community.
I think this unit is within the redefinition tier of the SAMR model because students are reading external sources about bullying and the holocaust in conjunction with the Holocaust unit's text. Students are analyzing and evaluating what they have read and will be creating a personal mantra to share with the world.
This is a great way to bring the past and the present together, Bethany . The Holocaust represents some of the worst bullying in our world history. Consistently tying together the topics helps our students see the relevance from the Holocaust with their experiences in school.
ReplyDeleteI found a great website for your students about stopping bullying online. This seems to be where many students are having their worst experiences.
http://endcyberbullying.net/online-resources/
There are many resources online for the holocaust that help students experience their research virtually. I visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC and the way that it brought history to life was intense. Here is their website.
https://www.ushmm.org/
That's a great sample lesson plan for how to apply the SAMR model to a topic for teaching.
I love your idea Bethany!
ReplyDeleteHow are you going to tie in the relevance of the Holocaust with bullying? What comes to my mind is that a student who is actively bullying other students may not be able to relate their actions to those of actions taken place in the Holocaust. In other words, they may not think what they are doing is so bad or wrong and especially wouldn't think that what they are doing relates to the Holocaust.
How would you help those students realize that bullying is along the same lines as antisemitism? Maybe help them realize that it could be a starting block towards even more aggressive harassment or actions?
This is really interesting, Bethany. I'm also apparently exploring the Holocaust with students via several literary texts related to infliction of suffering on others at the systemic levels. I think it'd be really interesting for you to bring in texts related to other human tragedies similar to the Holocaust. I know there is a great deal of fiction related to the Armenian genocide as well as to the Cambodian genocide. It'd be interesting for students to explore the similarities and differences of these texts and how they may reflect larger sociocultural similarities/differences. If you want some recommendations I'm happy to help out.
ReplyDelete