HSD Videoconferencing

Mrs. Lois Roderick and her 8th grades Reading students had an opportunity to talk directly to a Holocaust survivor on Monday, January 11th via a videoconference with the Holocaust Memorial Center of Glenn Cove, New York. Gloria Glantz spoke to 50 of Mrs. Roderick’s students and described in detail her ordeal of being a child and growing up during the Holocaust.

Gloria was born in Poland and was hidden with a Polish woman for the duration of the war. She went to several other countries before arriving in the United States and actually changed her name several times. Children during the Holocaust were not spared any atrocities. Hitler came to power and began to systematically take away rights of Jews. For adults it meant loss of jobs, homes, and community. For children, they couldn’t attend school, visit friends, go to parks, or use public transportation. Punishment for breaking these rules were severe and physical. Gloria made a great impact on our students and teachers. Our students asked very important questions such as “what we can do today to prevent this from happening again?”

Lois worked closely with a MAGPI Fellows Team which supported her and the students during the project. The MAGPI FELLOWS PROGRAM, sponsored by MAGPI provides a series of experiences to foster the construction of learning communities, project development, awareness and understanding of advanced network applications for educators. MAGPI is affiliated with University of Pennsylvania and their goal is to provide connectivity to Internet2, the nation’s high speed research and education. network.http://www.magpi.net

The students were very prepared for this event since they spent several months reading, researching, and learning about the Holocaust. They read several books prior to the event that gave them insight as to the tragedies involved and then created a wikispace to collaborate with their peers which included posting comments and questions http://boyinthestripedpajamas.wikispaces.com/

Here is a description of their project: 8th grade students are reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, a “cautionary tale about two boys, one the son of a commandant in Hitler’s army and the other a Jew, who come face-to-face at a barbed wire fence that separates, and eventually intertwines their lives.” The outcome of this project is three fold: 1)To attempt to understand and appreciate the plight of children who were victims of the Holocaust, 2) to compare experiences of children throughout the world whose lives today are disrupted by genocide and 3) have our students prepare a statement pledging how they will work toward harmony and peace, and against prejudice and discrimination.

This videoconference and project was truly quite the experience for all who were involved!