Oct 11 2009
Blog 5: Do you think social experiments, like the one we did in class last week, are effective ways to help people understand what the holocaust was like? What role did you play in class? What was your experience like?
[I'm still working on the blog leading issue- stayed tuned for that part.]
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71 Responses to “Blog 5: Do you think social experiments, like the one we did in class last week, are effective ways to help people understand what the holocaust was like? What role did you play in class? What was your experience like?”
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I think te social experiments are effective to help people understand. I am a hands on kind of learner and to be in scenarios helps me think more. I played the part of a poll and to just be in situation like that made me ponder on a lot of things about the holocaust. I felt like a total aarogant fool being in my situation and having people sit on the floor while I ate my chocolate was not so comforting but, at the same time it made me think about what happened. It’s one thing to read about something but, it’s another thing to kind of see things play out and have a very light hearted “experience”.
I didn’t really see any point to the experiment last week. There wasn’t an explanation before or after to why we were put into our groups. I played the part of a sneaky devil Jew who tried to play as a Poll (which worked most of the class). My neighbor even offered me some chocolate. I guess the treats were good, just not so much the educational experience. We read Maus. We know how badly it sucked. Living it in pretend accomplishes nothing.
I think that it could have helped out to show what the Holocaust was like but there wasn’t enough discipline from the students who were Nazis and from Joy. I was a Jew sitting on the floor, one of my fellow Jews and I did a lot of things that during the Holocaust we would have been shot, the same for everyone else. The idea with the crackers and the chocolate was pretty good to show that the Jews were treated really badly. There should have been more involvement from the class.
I thought actively engaging in our lesson helped to better understand the topic. I feel I learn better when I am participating, also when switching from lecture to participation is a good way to keep students interested and entertained. During the lesson, I was a Jew and the experience was interesting because all through out the class, we were not to speak, move around or have any type of belongings with us. I found this to somewhat illusterate the holocaust because it displays the discrimination and torment felt by the Natzis.
I thought the activity was neat but I feel it would have been more affective if more was done with it. Instead of the whole period being played out we should have addressed and discussed the holocaust and feelings we felt. I felt I lost out on a day of class and I really did not learn anything I already new.
I thought the activity was fun and educational! It has a lot of potential to be more influential though. It could have been taken to a higher level and made more of an impact. It was a good twist for just a regular class day!
I think if the activity would have been made more dramatic it would have been better and more effective. The fact that we took it lightly and just laughed at it kind of made it pointless. Also, it was frustrating being a Jew in the class because I couldn’t take down the note’s and I had no idea what was going on in the class. And I do get that that was the whole point of the activity but it was frustrating because knowing what’s going on in the class helps me get a good grade, which is more important to me than the activity. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun, but it should have been made more dramatic. Because sitting in the circle with the rest of the Jew’s was kind of fun and stealing the pole’s chocolate made me laugh a lot, which I’m sure wasn’t how the holocaust was at all.
I think if the experiment was more dramatic it would have made it more fun. The cookie, kisses, and crackers were a good example but for our class the jews pretty much had the “life”. a couple times they were told to shut up but they just layed there and pretty much had a free for all class. I know back in 8th grade when we were learning about the holocaust my teacher took the students to the back of the school and locked us in the fence with the dumpsters. We had to ask or trade things for her to let us go but if it wasnt good enough for the teacher then she would take her ruler and smack the fence and tell us to get away. I thought that was more effective learning and more experimentally fun than what we did in class. I was a pol in class last week and i felt like we all had the same rights except the jews just had to sit on the ground and they got crappyer food.
I really thought the the social experiment can work for some people, it worked for me particurally. I ended up being one of the Jews, and it really gave me a feel of what they felt like in the social world. Firstly, we got the stars to show that we were different then the others. Then we ended up not being able to sit in cozy chairs, so my bum hurt at the end of class. It sucked cause everyone got chocolate except the Jews, we just got salty crackers. Yuck! Especially our comments were not put in all considerations, and we were the last to leave class. It really gave me a feel, and made me think of the real bad crap that the Jews had to go through.
I was not in class. However, I think that role playing may be helpful but people need to understand that nobody, except those who went through that experience, will understand. My therapist told me once that no matter how many times somebody goes through EXACTLY what you’re going through, they will never understand because they are not you. Things are different for everyone. Role playing may play a part in comprehending the tiniest portion of the experience, they will never fully understand the experience.
I don’t know what social experiment your talking about, but I think it’s the debate. I think social experiments are always a lot easier to understand because there more of a hands on kind of thing. I played the role of judge, really fun to slam that gavel.
Yeah im not sure what this social experiment is but ill go with it being the debate also. I think social experiments are an extremely helpful tool in our learning experience. They help us get out of the normal rut of thinking and have to sometimes defend something we don’t believe to necessarily be true. It helps to stimulate our minds and help us learn to view all sides of an argument not just the one we instantly believe to be true.
Other than the debate i don’t know what social experiment our class participated in. the debate helped us to see different view points and it also showed us how different groups of people think alike. the debate did not really help us to understand anything about the Holocaust. The role i played was just to help plan our strategy on how to rebuttal against the other team. My experience was fun but I was almost forced into participating in the actual debate.
I agree with Roz. It was a neat experience but if we would have done more with it, I think that it would have showed more of what they have been through. I played the role of a Jew. It did show a little of what they had to go to and it showed how badly they were actually treated.
Well, I think it was a good example of how things are for people who are being repressed and I saw that it was a minor frustration for some. We worried about getting down what was put on the board and we didn’t get any candy. We had 1 cracker short of a good share. I kept the baggie because I thought maybe i could use it to keep my future rations fresh. Ha-ha. We stole things from the Germans and hid them under some desks. One girl took some candy we had a fight about sharing it and then lost it to another girl. It was really hard to take it all seriously but in the end I had a bit of a reflection on it. I found that pain isn’t just physical. I am really interested in democracy being spread to the world. Genocide is everywhere, still.
New pic HAHA
I agree with coltongadd. It was fun and entertaining, but I dont think that we can grasp what it would be like in the holocaust cause we arent being killed or beaten for no reason. I think social experiments work in school they just have to be done right and they take time to plan and get it to where the student actually fells the way they are supossed to.
I completely agree with silkedayley, I was also absent, but I understand what the point of the activity was because of other role playing scenarios I’ve been involved in. Like Silke said, even if we’ve been through the exact same experience, we will never know exactly what the other has been through. We can learn empathy, but we will never truly understand the terror the of the Holocaust, because it was so real for them, and even if we did recreate it, we would know it was just pretend. In my opinion we shouldn’t even try to “recreate” it because it is such a hallowed event in history.
I think social experiments like we did in class are effective ways to get people to understand what the holocaust was like but I think the excercise we did in class last time could of been made more effective than it was. I was a Jew and I thought the different food items was a good way to express the ways of how the Nazis, Poles and Jews were treated in the Holocaust but I didn’t think it was fair that we couldn’t even take notes during class because we are their to learn. I think it would of been more effective if, as a class, we took the notes beforehand then you split us up and explained to us why we were doing the excercise and, as a class, we could of all talked about how we felt.
Well we had a debate but not a social experiment! I was one of the debaters and it was nice to hear what the other side brought up because there were a lot of points that they brought up that i never would have thought of. Plus the judges decided that our team was better and we won, so that made it a lot more fun!!
The class social experiment was really different. But I did learn more from it. How the people were treated during that time. That class made me realize just how they were treated at the first of the war.
I think social experiments are a good way to learn how to look at things from another person’s perspective. I was a Jew in class and kept trying to sneak up to where the Nazi’s were which was kind of fun. It was a good way to see firsthand what it would be like to not be treated equally.
I think that they help to a degree. It gives us a taste of what kind of mistreatment that the people edured but it is pretty hard to relate 45 minutes to around 5 years of abuse. I don’t think that we can ever truely understand what the people of that time went through without going through it ourselves.
i do believe it demonstrated a FANTASTIC point. no, i do not believe it was as harsh (obviously) but it definitely proved its point. i was a jew and i think the hardest part for me was sitting on the floor. it was very uncomfortable. it got me to thinkning how much worse it must have felt for the jews sleeping in their own yuck and on hard floors. it was FOR SURE a very thought provoking activity.
Although I was sick that day and couldn’t participate in the experience of being assigned a role as a Jew or a Pole, I think I understand what some of the reasons for the assignment were. I believe that it probably made more ideas run through the minds of students actually acting the roles out, as opposed to just reading about how they felt or even being described how they felt by someone who actually lived through the experience. These new thought-processes would allow people to think of a more obscure idea for our papers. Actually experiencing something gives us, as students more empathy toward the actual survivors and victims of any holocaust which is always a good thing.
I think that the role play a very effective way to help students kind of understand. Its help with a little bit of empathy, but not fully, we didn’t get starved like the actual people of the holocaust (granted i was a nazi). It helps us feel the way they were treated food wise the nazi’s and poland got good food cakesters, and hershey kisses, where as the jews, got crackers, and back then i think the jews were lucky to get even a cracker that big!
I also am not sure what social experiment we did in class other than the debate. I thought the debate we had was a fun way to see all points of view. I was on the team that had to debate that Art was justified in lying to his dad. Although I didn’t actually agree with the side I was supposed to argue, i still got to see both opposing sides. I think activities do help us understand the things we are learning about a little bit better.
In my class we had a debate on whether or not Artie was justified in lying to his father about puting the story of Vladek’s affair in the book. This debate helped me to understand different views people had about how the Holocaust can changed people and their relationships with others. I think it was a very good learning experience. Debates help us to see the views of those around us so we can better understand our culture.
I feel that the example in class made me feel how unfair things were during the holocaust. I was a Nazi and i felt kind of bad for the Jews because all they got were saltine crackers… i felt like sharing but i didn’t because i wanted to Oreo Cakesters for myself.
I was one of the lawyers and I did not state very good arguments. But from the other group I got to learn a lot more about the book. It helped me understand the story way better and it was actually pretty fun. Usually i think of English classes as boring but this time it was pretty fun and entertaining. I wish we do more stuff like this because it is a good learning experience.
I think different ways of learning is always good. Also acting out the part gets everyone involved and participating. I think that it is always good to try different things in a classroom because of the different learning styles that people use. I played the part of a Jew and I thought it was interesting how we were treated. We just sat in the back on the floor eating our cracker and trying to pay attention although we were being ignored. It helps me feel a small part of what the Jews really felt like as they sat in prisons or sat hiding in their homes.
Yes, I believe social experiments do help researchers, students, historians etc. understand the Holocaust better, however, the “re-enactment” performed in class could have been done in a much more effective way. I was a Jew– go figure. We were forced to sit on the floor, give up our belongings and sulk in our frustration while we watched the rest of the class [the Nazi's and Poles] enjoy their candy and jot down helpful notes. Sure, it was unfair, but at the same time I didn’t really learn anything from it; and as far as the Holocaust is concerned, our little social experiment could be considered a mockery! It would have helped if we were told what was really expected of us and if people would have taken it more seriously…
Yes I believe it helps to understand, but in a better way then we did in class. I was a Jew and my experience was great. All i did was sit in the back eat my cracker and do nothing. It was a waist because if you were a Jew you learned nothing. You couldn’t take notes or anything. And people needed to take it more seriously if that happened it probably would have been much better of an exercise.
I really liked the activity we did, I think it helped me to see more clearly what happened. I was a Nazi and iit was awkward to yell at my class mates. It is interesting to me how the Nazis were able to do what they did, there isn’t in my eyes the natural drive to be so negatively aggressive unless you believe they are evil or something. That is something that maybe they did believe. The use of food and segregating the class really put me in the mind set where I could think about what happened.
Unlike some others Maus really didn’t get to me inside, it was a neat story but the depicted part covered up a lot of emotion that could have come from Vladek’s story.
I agree with kathleenhigginson in the fact that the social experiment was a good experience. I think that if we would have done more with it and discussed more about what was going on that it would have been a lot more effective. I was a nazi and had the priviledge of being in control all of the time. Segragating the class like that really made me think of how it was for them and the jews and what they went through.
I found the experiment a great learning experience but also a horrible one at the same time. I understood the activity and knew what it was for but it was defiantly very effective, and got the point across very well. I was a Jew and felt very weak and stupid having to sit in the back, on the floor, and not even learn the lesson being taught because we didn’t have a pencil or paper. It defiantly was scary to think how much worse the Jews had it, and what they had to go through.
I kinda agree with nickgould. I think it was fun and different but it didn’t really go down bad like the Holocaust did. Yeah I know it’s just school but the only things that happened was Nazi’s got better treats then everyone else, which is true they did in the war to, Poles got less then the Nazi’s but better then the Jews and Jews got a cracker and couldn’t take notes. It was a good lession but not as to how harsh they were. I was a Nazi and honestly if anyone would have asked to trade there cracker for a peice of paper and pen I would have gave it to them and told them to keep there cracker. I wouldn’t have been a good Nazi back in the day. I would have helped the jews as much as I could without getting cought.
I don’t believe we did a Social experiment in class. But I believe that they do help you get a better feel for what has happened because its happening to you not just something you read about. You could read about the Holocaust in a newspaper article while your comfy in your home, but to actually feel part of what actually happened makes a big difference.
I feel that the experiment that we did in class gave us a little bit of a prospective on how they felt in the position that they were considered. In class I was a Pole was was given a hershey kiss, compared to how the nazis got oreo’s and the jews got crackers. I do believe that we understand what happened, but not all of the detail and feelings that everyone had. The jews went through so much, and there is no way we can understand their feelings by doing an experiment in class. I think MAUS is a good representation on how peoples feeling were during this time.
I agree with bri, i felt it was good to have a participation lesson rather than a normal day in class and it helped us realize how it was in the holocaust, even if it wasn’t even close to the extent that the jews went through. I think we should’ve talked about it and more should’ve been done with it. All in all it was productive.
I feel social experiments depend on the setting. In our class setting it was not so effective. The reason being is because the small amount of time we did it had no effect on us. Another reason is it was not taken seriously, and the stage was not set. The biggest thing that happened to me as I played a Jew that day was I had to leave my stuff in the front of the room. I think the social experiment would need to be more intense with willing participants.
Well i wasn’t in class that day but i think that could give a slight sens of what some aspects of it would have been like, but for the most part i think that to completely understand what it was like and how it would feel you would have had to experiance it. And I am aware of what the social experiment was.
I think the practicality of the activity was good and it was an innovative type of experiment that hughlighted the social classes. I was a Jew and it was good to see some people get involved in the activity. I had no belongings and no opinion basically and it was definitely an adjustment just for a single class. I thought there should have been more post activity analysis through class discussion.
I am pretty sure that none of the SUCCESS kids were involved in any kind of social expericment, but based off of what everyone else is saying, i think it sounds like a great idea. I learn and remember things much better when we are doing more in class than just taking notes or listening to a lecture.
In my class we had a debate on whether or not Artie was justified in lying to his father about puting the story of Vladek’s affair in the book. I was one of the lawyers. i think those kind of social experiments are really effective. it helps you learn more about the culture and in this case about holocaust. It brings forth different views. I think that’s the best source of getting to know about something.
debate- i thought the debate was a great way to express our feelings about the book and the issues. it was a cool way to hear other people’s opinions in our class. I also thought it was neat that some people had to change their opinions in order to do the debate.
i think that the social experiment was mighty effective with getting people to understand the Holocaust. I was a Jew and I thought that having us sit in the back with crackers was pretty effective, except i got my cracker stolen so that was lame. i also thought letting everyone but the Jews participate was effective in how the Jews were treated.
I love doing hands on kind of things and the debate that we had in class helped me look at both points of views. I played a judge and it opened my eyes on many different things and perspectives that the other students had that were participating in the debate. Having social experiments do help me because I can learn more and understand it more then just looking and reading words off of a piece of paper.
I think that the experiment gave a vague idea of what the Holocaust was like. It was interesting how the Jews had to sit on the floor and only got a saltine instead of candy. But I don’t really think that the atmosphere of the class matched what we were trying to portray. People seemed to be joking and having fun with it. I think it is a cool idea though.
I’m not sure what activity we did in our class. we did do a debate on whether arty was justified when he put the story that his dad told him not to put in the book, in it. i think that the debate helped me see a few different sides of it though. in a debate you get to hear everyone’s different points and ideas about the topic and it helped me get a brauder look at if he was justified or not.
Like a lot of the other people’s comments i have no idea what social experiment you’re talking about, but in general they are more interactive which helps people understand the situation clearly.
I think the experiment somewhat showed what it was like, without the violence and extreme conditions obviously. I was a nazi and got benefits the jews did not like a chair and notes and a better snack while they had a few saltines to share between them and the floor to sit on. And one of the other nazi’s shared his snack with a jew because they were friends so I thought that made a connection with Maus in how buddying up to the nazi’s could get you benefits and stuff like that.
I don’t believe that we participated in this social experiment. I hope that we will this next week.
I believe the debate was a fun activity, it helped me understand different sides of the story. It didn’t help me learn as much as it probably should have. The role i played was just to plan the strategy of the debate.
I do understand what the activity was supposed to show, but I don’t think it was as effective as it should have been. I was a Jew who had to sit on the ground, but instead of feeling disciplined, I felt more relaxed, like it was a free period. The students who were Nazis did nothing either, so it wasn’t a very successful experiment. I did like the idea and it made a lot of sense, just more needed to be done with it for me to get the feeling intended out of it.
I believe that experiment we did in class was a good idea and could have been successful. The Jews sitting on the floor was kind of a reward and seemed to be fun and relaxing for them, the food was a big difference and that was probably the hardest thing but it wasn’t that bad. I think that if the experiment would have been more strict it would have been more powerful, but nothing could really get the feeling of what the Holocaust was really like.
I think they are effective, even though it wasn’t much and it wasn’t real it gave us a basic real life experience at what these people had to go through every minute of their life. We only went through it for 50 minutes while some of the jews went through it for years.
I think that social experiments are very effective. For me personally, I am a hands on learner and it really helped to put things into perspective for me. I played a Jew and I found it frustrating to be on the outside of everything during that particular class period. It was hard to hear the lecture and to take notes was impossible at least for me. I am grateful to live in the time and place that I do because I don’t know if I could have survived during the Holocaust.
I find social experiments to be very effective, they give you a much better idea of what happened than if someone were to just give a lecture. I played a Pole so I didn’t have any trouble in class. A jew came and sat next to me and gave me a cracker for a peice of paper, which was something that actually happened back then and made the experiment more realistic for me.
Yes i think the in class social experiments is an effective way to help people understand what the holocaust was like. I learn better in groups personaly. I played the roll of a nazi. I had all the freedom i wanted. During class i got to see the jews not being able to do anything or say anything. they had to just sit there on the floor. Seeing this definatly helped me realize how it was. Even though reading the book is enough. Hands on exercises really get to the point of things. I think if there were a little more explanation to the in class demonstration, it would’ve meant a little more.
If the debate is what you mean i think it was interesting. Hands on experiences are always fun versus lecture all the time. It is good to mix class up. Also it gives you personal knowledge about what it may have been like in the holocaust versus what you are reading. Experience is always more valuable than book knowledge.
We did the debate as well, I thought that it was a good way to have everyone express their different opinions on the subject. We all participated and listened to what the other had to say. It made us think about the book more and the background between Art and his father, think enough to debate on, so it was a great learning experience.
I don’t remember having a social experiment, but if you are referring the social experiment to the debate we had in class then, yes, I do agree it is an effective way to understand what the holocaust was like because you can talk about it and get other people’s opinion on it. My role in the debate was to cheer on the speakers and judges. It was fun and exciting because I love to cheer my team on.
I agree with the people that thought this exercise was ineffective. It was nothing like the holocaust really was. I know we couldn’t ever portray in class or anywhere else how the holocaust felt in real life. The exercise did make a point, though, showing how the poles, nazis, and jews were separated. I didn’t leave class feeling like I had just felt like a Jew did during the holocaust, but I got the point of why we did the activity.
i agree with most people that the social experiment was a great idea. it helps us really understand the kinds of things that went on in the world at that time. i loved the experience! it was one that i will never forget.
I was a jew in this experiment and I felt ignored and less important than those who sat in the desks. I don’t think we got the whole experience that a jew during the holocaust would have gotten, but it certainly didn’t feel good.
I don’t think our class did a social experiment but we did do a debate (unless this was the social experiment). I didn’t get to participate in the debate but from what was going on you could definitely get everyone’s viewings and standings on what was happening. It was interesting to hear what people had to say and it helped give me a larger perspective if Art was justified or not.
My class did not do this experiment, but from what i can tell it sounds like a good thing. It gives you something to relate to. obviously nothing like the real thing but it is good to have something to reference to.
i did not really like the social experiment that we did. i did not feel like our class really did it the way it was supposed to be done. it was kind of disorganized and really not the most learning experience. i played the role of a Pole in the experiment. i just did not really feel like there was much going on that was too different. yes people sat on the ground and yes people did throw wrappers at each other and stuff like that but it just wasn’t that much to really show how the Holocaust was. I think it ruined the learning atmosphere in the classroom. when a jew had a question the teacher would not even answer it. it was obviously about the class and was totally unnecessary to ignore her.
I agree with Ian Goodger, but a little more strongly. I think that the social experiment in class was almost like a mockery of the Holocaust. I realize that schools probably aren’t allowed to do very accurate representations of the Holocaust, but if they are going to try, I think they should make it more realistic. It wasn’t really that big of a deal to sit on the floor, not get a little piece of chocolate, and not have my question(s) answered. The stress levels might be more accurate if we weren’t told what was going on.
I played the role of a Jew and honestly it really frustrated me that we werent’ payed much attention to and you wouldn’t answer any of our questions so we didn’t know what was going on so we mostly just goofed off and messed around. It was a cool experiment but we didn’t take it seriously i believe that if we would’ve taken the social experiment like it was real than we would’ve had a better understanding off the holocaust or just a little glimpse of what they might of felt.