Mr. Marszalek's Class Monday 4/7/08

Gitsy, Sondi, Becca, and I went to Mr. Marszalek's class today and talked with the students about sexual violence as a tool of war. It was the first time the Monday teachers had stepped foot in his classroom. We opened up the class by having the students read 6 personal accounts. This really set the tone for the class. The students were respectful throughout the discussion. After they all had a chance to read the accounts on their own, we had them volunteer to read a few of the accounts out loud if the students felt comfortable enough. 3 accounts were read.

After we went through the accounts, each student read a fact about Darfur and sexual violence that ze was given at the beginning of class. 

The readings were then followed by questions that the students had and discussion questions that we posed to the group. The students got a grasp several concepts: how the government was failing to protect its citizens; how sexual violence has affected women as they do their daily chores; how few women actually speak out about sexual violence due to social restrictions, how sexually unsafe the IDP camps and the surrounding area's are; and how and why there are so few men.

The goal of this class was to have the students understand how sexual violence can be a war tactic. Based on the discussion it seemed that those who were talking were really beginning to understand the discussion. And those students who did not talk showed respect for the issue and seemed like they were absorbing the information. Their homework assignment should hopefully help them further fathom the uses of this war tactic. The homework was to research another conflict in which sexual violence was used as a tactic and write a paragraph on it. 

Mrs. Bailey's Class (Friday, 4/4/08)

On Friday, Gitsy, Josh, Erica and I went to Mrs. Bailey's class again. The purpose of this class was to continue to go over what they need to do in order to be prepared to present in front of the middle school and 9th grade students this Friday.

The "What is Genocide?" group is presenting first on Friday (4/11/08). They have a slideshow with images from past genocides, a hand out, a poster with more photos, and they plan on showing a short movie clip from Hotel Rwanda. Their presentation will also include an genocide web and one student will present the definition of genocide.

Half of the "History and Current Situation" group will present on this Friday also. This will include a poster and map activity showing the students where Sudan and Darfur are. Through a powerpoint, some students will also present on the history of the conflict. They also have a poster with a timeline of important events. The following Friday the rest of the group will present--this will include current events and more photos, both through a powerpoint.

On Friday, 4/11/08, the "What Can You Do?" group will pass out a survey that they want to the middle school and 9th graders to complete and bring back the following Friday (4/19/08). On this Friday, this group will make their presentation.

We are going into class on Wednesday to finalize all details of the presentations.

Mr. Marszalek's Class: Week 1 & 2

WESTAND starting teaching a new MHS class last week. We will be teaching this class three times a week: Monday, Thursday, and Friday. We have modified the structure of the genocide education unit to include seven core classes:

Day 1: Introduction to Darfur, film Voices from Darfur

Day 2: What is genocide?

Day 3: History of Darfur and Sudan

Day 4: Women and girls- rape as a tool of war

Day 5: Refugees and IDPs

Day 6: U.S., U.N., and international response

Day 7: What you can do

Cait, Aurora, Audrey, and I taught on days 1 and 2. This Thursday (day 2) we handed out a one page information sheet explaining the history of the term genocide and the UNCG. We asked students to circle and underline any key phrases or words that stood out to them. We then led a class discussion. We also brought a world map to class and had students indicate on the map where past genocides have occurred. We told the students to limit the genocides to genocides that have occurred after the UNCG. The students were shocked by the number of genocides that occurred in the second half the 20th century.

Yesterday, Cait, Sondi, Maher, and I discussed the history of Darfur and Sudan with the class (day 3). First, we gave the students a short quiz on Darfur and Sudan. We then divided up into three groups and had the students exchange quizzes. We went over the answers to the quiz. The students then discussed the History of Darfur and Sudan Worksheet.

Monday we will be focusing on rape and women's rights.

Here are some video clips from the last two weeks:

Video-Students were asked to tell either a family member or friend about the genocide in Darfur