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 Eye color Movie 
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Hello! I just wanted to comment on the movie we watched at the end of class last tuesday. I REALLY liked this movie. I thought this teacher took a very very sensitive topic and really provided clarity for her students. She took a rish and succeed. You could see that the students really truely understood what it meant and felt like to be different. The lesson they learned in the third grade remained with them the rest of their lives and i thought that was amazing. What did you guys think?

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Margie Jackson


Sun Mar 05, 2006 1:09 pm
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This movie shows that teachers should take risks in the classroom if they truly believe that what they are doing will teach their students about hard to teach subjects. The eye color activity was such a creative way to teach her students about discrimination, and I can only hope that teachers now are still trying to test the boundaries so that students won't just fall into a stupor of ignorance.

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Karl Rahn


Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:02 am
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I thought this movie was amazing. I really admire the teacher for her courage to take such a risk in a time of high tension between whites and blacks. I think the kids in her classroom learned probably the biggest lesson they could ever learn that day.

However, I would be really afraid to conduct such an activity in my classroom. I think teachers should really know and understand their students and the dynamics of their classroom before having their students take on these roles. I am going to teach middle grades, and I remember that time of my life being very difficult because my classmates were trying to find reasons to put others down. I could see this type of activity getting out of hand, and giving some students more reasons to harass others.

I am not saying that I would never try this type of activity to raise awareness in my classroom, but I am going to be careful. The third graders in this movie were very quick to truly take on the roles of the discriminators, and I think it would be the same for students of any age. I want my students to feel safe in my classroom, and I have to make sure that this type of activity wouldn't damage the safe environment of my classroom. I think there is a difference between having students come out of their "comfort zone" and making students feel unsafe.

Does this make sense? I just know that middle schoolers can be mean, and as I reflect back on my middle school experience, I can see how some of my classmates would have loved the opportunity to be mean and then justify it because they were "trying to take on the role of the discriminator."

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Kourtney Huffman


Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:10 am
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I see where you are coming from Kourtney.
I have seen this film twice now and both times I really enjoyed. I feel that it is something that should be done more in schools, but as Kourtney said you must take caution because it can easily get out of hand. I am actually planning on using it, or some form of it, next semester with my freshmen in Freshman Seminar. We are supposed to discuss diversity and what it would be like to "walk in someone else's mocassins" and I think that this would work really well with them, but we shall see.

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Brekke Bell


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Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:17 am
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If there were issues in my classroom where an exericse like this could be used as an appropriate means of helping my students to understand racial or any diversity issues then I would definitley want to use it... however, I think it would only be ethical to first consult with the principle and parents because this is a very powerful exercise that will leave such a lasting impact on the students along with some serious feelings and questions.

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Macie Elizabeth Baswell


Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:43 pm
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I also agree that this was an awesome lesson on diversity and discrimination, and I believe at the time they were in elementary school this activity had a profound effect on these students; however, something makes me question whether or not they were sincere that this made a lifetime difference for them. It sounded to me like they were trying to give the answers that the teacher wanted to hear. I don't know....I am just throwing that out there.

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KeishaGordon


Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:34 am
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I agree with what everyone has said also... SURPRISING, I KNOW!!! :)

This teacher took a great approach at presenting diversity to her students. I hope that as a future educator I won't need to do something such as this to prove to my student's how it feels to be discriminated against; however, I'm confident, unfortunately, that I probably will deal with similar situations. Hopefully, I will be able to come up with something similar to demonstrate how it feels to be different. I think that we all have a better understanding and outlook on how to handle diversity in the classroom. I am grateful for having the opportunity to watch this film!!!

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Jenna Holland


Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:16 pm
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I too agree! haha Anyway, Diversity was always a huge topic that was talked about in my schools and the other schools in Charlotte. I attended a conference on diversity and a lot of the things that were talked about in the video were talked about at our conference. This was in the past few years and we did a similar activity and included many other races. It opened our eyes as high-schoolers the same way that it opened the third graders eyes. It would have been hard to do the activity that I did with any younger group because of the words that were used and the ways that people were treated which is where the point of the activity being proper for younger grades comes in. I agree that it would be hard for children to not let the activity get out of hand, especially if the teacher does not know her students and their personalities very well.

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Kristina Bleynat


Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:22 pm
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I showed this video in a class of mine and actually did the activity with a groups of college peers. It was a great sucess, even with college age students. Although this is a great activity, it could be risky. It is an activity that would involve not only students, but also the principal and parents. Parents would need to be informed of the activity to prevent any backlash. I encourage all of you to check this video out from the library and watch the second half in which the same exercise is performed with prison staff (adults). It is very interesting to see how adults, who you would think would catch on and understand the purpose of the acitivity, react.

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Hayley Wieber

"That's what a class is, a swarm. And you're a warrior teacher...ready to face the swarm"
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Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:24 pm
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I also really liked this video and thought it was such a wonderful thing to promote at the time. The teacher was so courageous to teach such a lesson in the time period that she did. I hope that as a future educator I can be as strong and brave as to provide my students with such a life-changing lesson. The idea was genius, it was the perfect way to present the idea of prejudice in a classroom without using skin color. This lesson also seemed to really touch the kids and they learned what it was like from both sides. The video was really great!

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Leigh Ann Burleson


Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:50 pm
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