Perspectives & Pedagogies for Trauma, Resilience, & Healing
The resources listed and linked below are my trusted sources for content, pedagogy, materials, and professional development.
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This is an important resources for teachers who are new to Holocaust education and for veterans. It continues to help me articulate my own pedagogical choices and provides a foundation for planning lessons and units about the Holocaust. |
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I've used the first four chapters of this film since 2013 to provide historical context. Though I am an English Language Arts teacher, I think it's important that students understand the global events and circumstances that led people to make such profound choices. The first twenty-four minutes of the film allow me to contextualize the Holocaust memoir we are studying in a concise way. (*This film is intended for adult viewers, but selected segments may be appropriate for younger audiences.) |
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Lesly Culp and Kori Street of USC Shoah Foundation introduced me to IWitness when I attended Auschwitz: The Past Is Present in Poland, a professional development program for educators in January 2015. In July 2015, I attended IWitness's Summer Teacher Fellowship program at USC. IWitness is powerful resource for students to engage with survivor testimony, not only of the Holocaust, but of other genocides. IWitness is also doing great work in educating students in media ethics and literacy. |
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In 2015, I attended my first Echoes & Reflections in-person program through Greater Southern Tier BOCES. Impressed by the content and materials included in their free resource guide, I went on to participate in the Charlotte and Jacques Wolf Educators' Conference in New York City in 2015 and the Advanced Learning Seminar at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel in 2016. Echoes & Reflections is another foundational resource. The units are thematic and aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The lessons are easily adaptable and able to be differentiated for a variety of learners' needs. I use all of Unit 2: Antisemitism prior to teaching a Holocaust memoir as well as several lessons from other units. |
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This is the most comprehensive resource I've found for teaching Elie Wiesel's Night. The resources included in the guide are specific to Wiesel's experience and provide detail about his hometown of Sighet, Transylvania. |
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Laurie Schaefer introduced me to this 2014 documentary film by Edet Belzberg at the Belfer Conference in 2018. The film is based on Samantha Power's (former US Ambassador to the UN) book, A Problem from Hell. It's the story of lawyer Raphael Lemkin and his efforts lobbying the UN to establish the Genocide Convention. Though I only show a short clip of the film, it's a wonderful way to wrap-up my Holocaust studies unit. |
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USHMM's website has been a powerful resource for me since I started teaching about the Holocaust. Their encyclopedia is a great reference for students who just starting to learn the language to talk about the events of the Holocaust. I also use their site for my own historical knowledge. |
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I've had the opportunity to visit the museum as a teacher for professional develop and to travel with students. On both visits, the docents emphasize the importance of the notion of the museum as a "living memorial." I feel that this message is important for our students to hear as they learn that Holocaust studies is also about life and the living. |
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I first visited the memorial and museum in January 2015 during the 70th anniversary commemorations with Auschwitz: The Past is Present. I returned in 2018 with my husband to further study the memorial. While I am lucky that I have my own photos of the site, the website offers a variety of great resources, both visual and textual for teachers and students. |
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Located in Warsaw, Poland, the museum celebrates the history and culture of 1,000 of Polish Jewry. Having visited twice, I think the museums emphasis on Jewish life before the Holocaust provides important historical and cultural context. This is a place I hope to take my students someday. |
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After visiting Auschwitz-Birkeanau Memorial and Museum, I knew that I needed to visit Israel to understand more about Jewish life after the Holocaust and about the theme of "return to life." I just had no idea how I was going to get there. In 2016, I was accepted into Echoes and Reflections first Advanced Learning seminar in Israel. Studying at Yad Vashem brought many aspects of my teaching and learning about the Holocaust full circle. From this experience, I was able to articulate my philosophy of Holocaust education, use a wider variety of materials and resources, and implement new pedagogical strategies in my classes. |
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While this lecture series is local to my town of Corning, NY, it has profoundly impacted myself and my students over the years. Each year, the lecture committee of which I am now a part, brings a local survivor to speak at the Corning Museum of Glass. This opportunity has helped my students see the profound local impact of the Holocaust on their own neighbors. |
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This annual conference at USHMM is designed for secondary and community college educators with fewer than five years of experience teaching about the Holocaust. I attended the English Language Arts track in 2018. (The conference is divided into ELA and Social Studies tracks.) I gained a variety of new content and materials for my students. It's also a great networking opportunity for teachers to make connections with other educators and museum staff. |
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Echoes and Reflections now offers two Advanced Learning Programs, one in Poland and one in Israel. I highly recommend these opportunities to teachers interested in Holocaust studies and social justice. The applications typically open in late winter/early spring and the trips take place during the summer. |
Globalized Unit Plan & Lesson
The following unit plan is one that I have revised and updated to reflect the global competencies. I've been using Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold as a whole class text for several years, but my focus has been on developing students' close-reading and writing skills. This unit still addresses those literacy skills, but it also incorporates the concepts, skills, values and attitudes, and behaviors that students need to be successful in the 21st century.
International Project-Based Learning Opportunities
Project-based learning allows students to contribute and work to solve the real-world problems humanity faces every day. PBL encourages understanding of diverse perspectives, creative problem-solving, and collaboration with students and professionals. Students who participate in PBL are better prepared for college and career because they are already contributing to and working in the "real world."
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"Fearless hope through radical empathy." The main methodology of Narrative4 is story exchange, the premise that if two people can exchange their stories and then tell his or her partner's story as their own, walking in his or her partner's shoes, then he or she can really empathize with the other person. This method emphasizes not only narrative techniques, but also critical listening skills and interpersonal skills. |
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IDEA gives students a voice through debate and raises awareness of global issues. Resources include a "Debatabase" guide, teaching tools, and professional development. This is a great resource for teaching argument as well. |
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News ELA is a nonfiction literacy resource for teachers across grade levels and content areas. Articles are organized by date, subject area, and text set. For English Language Arts teachers, the nonfiction text sets for literature are especially helpful. |
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The Learning Network is a site dedicated to teaching and learning with the New York Times. Free activities include article of the day; student opinion and writing prompts; quizzes, word of the day, and crosswords; and what's going on in this picture and film club; and student contests. Lesson plans are available in all content areas. I've used "Getting Personal: Writing College Essays" with my English 12 students for several years now with much success. |
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This twenty-seven minute webinar shares guidelines and links to resources for using the United States Institute of Peace Global Peacebuilding Center's educational resources. The webinar also provides examples for using the resources in the classroom. |
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Generation Global connects students from around the world via videoconferencing. Students engage in dialogues about culture, identity, beliefs, values, and attitudes. |
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The GLOBE Program is a worldwide science education program that connects students and teachers in scientific research to understand, protect, and improve our planet. GLOBE projects help students understand their local environments from a global perspective. |
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An interactive way for students to collaborate online with peers from across the globe. Students work together on projects of global significance. |
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The UN Sustainable Development Goals website includes explanations, resources, and lessons about the seventeen global goals as well as ideas for students to take action toward achieving these goals. Resources are continuously updated. |
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GCED empowers students of all ages to face the challenges of our global society and to contribute to creating a more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, and secure world. Their focus areas are global advocacy and policy dialogue, peace and human rights, preventing violent extremism through education, and education about the Holocaust. |
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NCTA, funded by the Freeman Foundation, is an initiative to foster teaching and learning about East Asia through intensive 30-hour seminars, webinars, and study tours. I completed the 30-hour seminar last winter at Union Graduate College (Clarkson University) in Schenectady, NY with thirty teachers from a variety of grade levels and content areas. The seminar was divided into six five-hour sessions led by professors from local colleges and universities. For me, who knew very little about East Asia, participating in NCTA increased my global competence and inspired my interest in this area of the world. |
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The Cloud Institute prepares students and their communities for a sustainable future. They provide programs, e-learning opportunities, and professional development to transform teaching and learning. |
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National Geographic Society's education site includes free activities, lessons, and unit plans for teachers in a variety of content areas with an emphasis on geography. The site also provides intensive resources about mapping to improve students geography skills. Finally, the site also highlights current issues. |
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C3 Teachers emphasizes the inquiry design model (IDM) in their approach to preparing students for college, career, and civic life. Though the focus of their inquiries is social studies, there are many interdisciplinary opportunities in their framework and units. |
Local Community Resources
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This is my school district's homepage. |
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This site provides a basic overview of what it means to be a Title I school. |
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In 2016, I participated in Proaction's Poverty Simulation on one of our conference days. In many ways, the simulation helped educators in our district empathize with our student population and better understand the challenges our economically disadvantage students (and parents) face. |
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Eric Jensen's book, Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It, is a great resource for teachers in any district but especially those working with significant economically disadvantaged populations. The book breaks down the nature and effects of poverty and outlines the "success factors" for supporting economically disadvantaged students in the classroom. |
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EF provides a variety of educational tours for students in the U.S. and Canada. C-S students will have their first opportunity to travel internationally with EF in Spring 2017. |
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People to People International offers a variety of immersive travel programs for students. PTPI's mission is to enhance international understanding and friendship. In addition to travel, PTPI also offers a variety of international education resources. |
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Rotary Youth Exchange is a study abroad opportunity ranging from a few weeks to a full year for students ages 15-19 who exemplify leadership, flexibility, openness, and willingness to serve as an ambassador for their country. Interested students must apply with their local Rotary clubs. |
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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University offers a lending library of culture kits for students to learn about Southeast Asia. Each kit includes fascinating objects, maps, outfits, cooking implements, picture books, music, posters, puppets and other cultural artifacts. |
Intersections with Common Core State Standards (Update to NextGen coming!)
English Language Arts Common Core State Standard 1 for Reading Informational Texts in grade band 11-12 states, “Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. a. Develop factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for further exploration of the topic(s).”
Heidi Hayes Jacobs points out in her TEDTalk that the Common Core State Standards are “an opportunity to start to modernize curriculum.” In 2016, modernizing curriculum starts with globalizing it. For example, CCSS.RI.1 can be integrated with students investigate the world beyond their immediate environment to globalize it.
To modify the lesson, I would start by having students create their own factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for informational texts about global issues to investigate the world beyond their immediate environment. Students can begin with questioning and analyzing an anchor text and then research and self-select a text about the same (or similar global issue). The anchor text will provide students with a model for their own investigation into the issue as well as another resource. Then, by asking students to self-select texts about the issue, they can use a variety of international sources, including media, as evidence to support their analysis.
As a formative assessment, students should submit their questions in Google Classroom. Students will respond to one another’s questions using textual evidence from the anchor text as well as their own research to support analysis of a global issue. Ultimately, through their questions and responses, students should demonstrate the following skills: explore a wide range of informational texts and media, domestic and international; use these informational texts to develop questions to further explore the topic of global significance; and cite textual evidence to support analysis of the global issue.
English Language Arts Common Core State Standard 1 for Writing states, “Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Explore and inquire into areas of interest to formulate an argument.”
Like Standard 1 for Reading Informational texts, Standard 1 for Writing is an opportunity to globalize curriculum. Standard 1 for Writing can be integrated with Global Competencies 1-3: Students investigate the world beyond their immediate environment; Students recognize their own and others’ perspectives; Students communicate their ideas effectively with diverse audiences.
To modify lessons for globalizing this standard, students will research an issue of global significance using a variety of sources that represent multiple perspectives from around the world. Students will analyze the perspectives and information to draw conclusions about the global issue and potential solutions. Using their conclusions, students will write an argument using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence to support potential solutions. Students will choose multimedia to communicate their arguments with one another and the community.
Students will demonstrate mastery of Standard 1 for Writing in their multimedia argument. Students will demonstrate valid reasoning and use of relevant and sufficient evidence to support their argument. Students will demonstrate global competence in their multimedia arguments by using a variety of domestic and international sources that address various perspectives about an issue of global significance. (At least three perspectives should be addressed.) Students will communicate a potential solution(s) to the issue with one another and the community. Students will use feedback from one another and the community to revise their arguments before submitting their final drafts.
Heidi Hayes Jacobs points out in her TEDTalk that the Common Core State Standards are “an opportunity to start to modernize curriculum.” In 2016, modernizing curriculum starts with globalizing it. For example, CCSS.RI.1 can be integrated with students investigate the world beyond their immediate environment to globalize it.
To modify the lesson, I would start by having students create their own factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions for informational texts about global issues to investigate the world beyond their immediate environment. Students can begin with questioning and analyzing an anchor text and then research and self-select a text about the same (or similar global issue). The anchor text will provide students with a model for their own investigation into the issue as well as another resource. Then, by asking students to self-select texts about the issue, they can use a variety of international sources, including media, as evidence to support their analysis.
As a formative assessment, students should submit their questions in Google Classroom. Students will respond to one another’s questions using textual evidence from the anchor text as well as their own research to support analysis of a global issue. Ultimately, through their questions and responses, students should demonstrate the following skills: explore a wide range of informational texts and media, domestic and international; use these informational texts to develop questions to further explore the topic of global significance; and cite textual evidence to support analysis of the global issue.
English Language Arts Common Core State Standard 1 for Writing states, “Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Explore and inquire into areas of interest to formulate an argument.”
Like Standard 1 for Reading Informational texts, Standard 1 for Writing is an opportunity to globalize curriculum. Standard 1 for Writing can be integrated with Global Competencies 1-3: Students investigate the world beyond their immediate environment; Students recognize their own and others’ perspectives; Students communicate their ideas effectively with diverse audiences.
To modify lessons for globalizing this standard, students will research an issue of global significance using a variety of sources that represent multiple perspectives from around the world. Students will analyze the perspectives and information to draw conclusions about the global issue and potential solutions. Using their conclusions, students will write an argument using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence to support potential solutions. Students will choose multimedia to communicate their arguments with one another and the community.
Students will demonstrate mastery of Standard 1 for Writing in their multimedia argument. Students will demonstrate valid reasoning and use of relevant and sufficient evidence to support their argument. Students will demonstrate global competence in their multimedia arguments by using a variety of domestic and international sources that address various perspectives about an issue of global significance. (At least three perspectives should be addressed.) Students will communicate a potential solution(s) to the issue with one another and the community. Students will use feedback from one another and the community to revise their arguments before submitting their final drafts.