From the beginning of our involvement in the LI CARES grant, the Farmingdale High School team committed itself to addressing issues of tolerance, bullying, diversity, and acceptance. With teachers representing three different school populations (Humanities, Special Education, and Alternative School), we looked for opportunities to bring all of these students together.
Year 1: The Holocaust. Students read and discussed The Book Thief, by Markus Zuzak, and then responded to class discussions through blogging exercises. In addition, students also performed “Testament,” a compilation of Holocaust narratives, as part of the school’s Diversity Week celebration. We then recorded their performance, and it is now a part of Farmingdale High School's website, under the LI CARES link.
Year 2: The Laramie Project. To introduce this effort, K. Loud conducted an Elluminate session with all of the students involved in the grant to educate them about Matthew Shepard, a college student who was murdered because he was gay. The students then traveled to Adelphi University to see its production of the play. A group of FHS students then performed a dramatic reading of the play as part of Diversity Week. In addition, the teachers worked with students to have them create short films (Animoto) and cartoons (ToonDoo) and digital posters (Glogster) to educate peers about whatever tolerance-related issue about which they were most passionate. Not only did each class create PBWorks pages, but their work was then presented in the Commons, projected onto a large screen, while students and staff were able to respond through real-time posted comments on a blog. Some of the students’ work also appears on Farmingdale High School's website through the LI CARES link.
Year 3: "She Shall Not Be Moved." For the third and final year of the grant, the team decided to focus on the role of the bystander. To do this, we selected the short story “She Shall Not Be Moved,” by Shereen Pandit. (See the page for more information about the story.)
We also thought it would be interesting to partner with another school. Since the story takes place in London, we sent out blind emails to secondary schools in the United Kingdom. One school, the Royal High School, in Edinburgh, Scotland, took us up on our offer and we were able to work with Ms. Carrie Thomson, a teacher at the school.
We also thought it would be interesting to partner with another school. Since the story takes place in London, we sent out blind emails to secondary schools in the United Kingdom. One school, the Royal High School, in Edinburgh, Scotland, took us up on our offer and we were able to work with Ms. Carrie Thomson, a teacher at the school.
To introduce the project, we met with all of our students in February to give them an overview of our process and what they could expect. The presentation was done using Keynote on iPad.:
In addition, the Social Studies teachers on the team then provided an overview of the social issues, the culture, and the politics of London and Somalia so that students would have a better understanding of the issues found in the story. If you click on slide 6, you will be taken to a video that illustrates life in Somalia.
Every student in the grant read the story and this all resulted in in-depth class discussions. The offer was then presented that if students wanted to go further, they could volunteer. Approximately 50 students from the three populations volunteered to continue the discussion about bullying and the bystander.
In addition, the Social Studies teachers on the team then provided an overview of the social issues, the culture, and the politics of London and Somalia so that students would have a better understanding of the issues found in the story. If you click on slide 6, you will be taken to a video that illustrates life in Somalia.
Every student in the grant read the story and this all resulted in in-depth class discussions. The offer was then presented that if students wanted to go further, they could volunteer. Approximately 50 students from the three populations volunteered to continue the discussion about bullying and the bystander.
At the same time, students in Scotland were also reading the story, as well as viewing the documentary “Five Steps to Tyranny.”
To prepare our volunteer students, the social worker/team leader met with them in small groups in a series of four workshops. For each workshop, students received a “ticket,” with the plane getting closer and closer to its final destination. Each workshop consisted of questions, answers, discussion, and reflection, as well as viewing the BBC documentary.
This culminated with an Elluminate/Blackboard session between Farmingdale High School and the Royal High School.
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