"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." "Not to transmit an experience is to betray it." "Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds." "I decided to devote my life to telling the story because I felt that having survived I owe something to the dead. and anyone who does not remember betrays them again." "I write to understand as much as to be understood." |
DIRECTIONS: Affirmation and encouragement are a plus, but remember that the bulk of your posts and responses to one another should address the subject matter of the week and its impact on your learning. In the pre-writing stage, you are advised to use KWL charts (What you knew. What you wanted to know. What you learned.), your daily reflection journals, and tree maps to generate and organize your content. Remember that you must Tell. Tell. Tell. Type your draft into a Word Document. Edit for focus and conventions (spelling and grammar). Then, and ONLY THEN, post. Each time you write an entry, consider the above quotes of Elie Wiesel, survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp. How are your words combating genocide? How are they attaining the quality of deeds? How are you gaining understanding...being understood? ***As it is an academic site, this is not a forum for evangelizing or criticizing the faith of others. Respect for diversity is to be adhered to at all times. |
I can’t believe that this semester is almost over. We have learned so much, and it seems like there is an infinite amount left to study. We made Mixbooks this week that were written about current genocides. Looking back, I have learned a lot in such a short period of time. Books; they're like a movie on pages, great for letting you picture how people feel and see.
I have never used Mixbooks before, and it was a fun project to do. Making the Mixbooks was a difficult task because of the slow computers, but beneficial nonetheless. One really interesting thing I learned was that there were child soldiers fighting their parents' war. They were even being accepted by the government to fight. Now they have been pulled out of South Sudan and they are allowing them to go to schools. I also never knew before the class that there were more Genocides than just the one over in Darfur. This class is more than just an encore class. I can’t believe the amount we have covered in such a short time. First entering this class, I was thinking that this would be a history class focused on the Holocaust. We did learn about how the Holocaust happened, but that’s not all. I was able to experience once in a lifetime events. Who would have thought that we would be able to see Elie Wiesel and hear him speak? He was very wise and surprisingly down to earth for all that he went through. You should look into making this class year-long, there is just too much to do in just a few months. I think I read the most books this year than any other. It was almost overwhelming reading 2-3 books at one time with English 4. The book choices were excellent, and I would have to say that my favorite was Milkweed. The Sunflower equipped with its question would cause you to think for hours. Once you thought you knew the answer someone else could tell you wrong. Recently, I haven’t been reading a lot. Being in this class showed me what I have been missing, so I picked up a few books such as East of Eden and The Knife of Never Letting Go. Next semester just isn’t going to be the same. Our last project had us working on Mixbooks in groups so we could see the current Genocides in the world. This class is more than just a normal class, no matter where I go I will be able to use what I learned. I haven’t been reading much, and because of all the great books we read in class, I will start reading some more books on my own. |
I'm glad you got the fever for reading, Jesse. That's something I'm passionate about too. There's just not enough time to read all of the great books I want to read; muchless read all of the ones I want to read again! |
I, too, thought that this was going to be a History class. But, fortunately, that was not a reason for taking the class. When I heard it was an English class I wasn't really that disappointed. I do wish that this class could get more credit towards it, because you most definitely get more out of it that an Encore class bargains for. But then again, what Parker class is ever justified by credits? I really enjoyed reading as well. I'm sure the class has come to realize my favorite book was clearly The Book Thief. However, I am thankful that we have these books that we can read. Milkweed was my least favorite, but I'm not complaining that I had to read it because I know there are countries out there that don't even know what a book looks like. We are very fortunate. |
"Books; they're like a movie on pages..." I think that's an excellent way to put it. I would have to agree that we have read some great books this semester in Holocaust. It may be that I'm far more invested in this subject than say....Shakespeare? ;D But I haven't enjoyed a book list more. My favorite had to be The Sunflower with such a thought-provoking outcome. Thank you, Mrs. Parker, for a great semester  |
Using the Mixbook got me too. We did take in a lot this semester. I do think the two things if nothing else that will really be remebered are having the opportunity to listen to Elie Wiesel and all the wonderful books. Not only did I read more in this class but enjoyed more and got a whole heck of a lot more out of it. There was a lot expected out of this class, and everything that was expected I think we got. But I wish this had been a year-round class. There's still so much that I know many of us wanted to look into. |
Thank YOU, Borders for being a contributor to the great semester! I'm so glad I have you one more time...More great books to come! |
