Week 8 Reflection

Post #1

This week, we are reading Passage to Freedom by Ken Mochizuki. This story is based on true events, as it recalls measures that one diplomat took to help Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. The man placed himself (and even his family) in great danger by disobeying orders from the Japanese government and issuing visas to hundreds of refugees because, deep down he knew this was the right thing to do. When telling about the courageous acts of this one individual, the author carefully integrates the process that Mr. Sugihari (the diplomat) went through to arrive at his decision to help the Jewish refugees obtain freedom. I used this opportunity to show students why, even when we choose to partake in acts that might be wrong to some, we should carefully consider the consequences of our actions and the reasons for pursuing them (both pros and cons). To take our discussion of problem solving one step further, I distributed pictures that showed some type of problem to be solved to pairs of students and asked them to identify the problem and then generate a solution to the problem. Granted, the pictures did not contain subject matter as deep as the Holocaust, but students were still asked to work with another person to come up with a creative, effective solution to a problem. For example, one picture showed a labrador attempting to get treats out of a jar that was way too small for its large snout. Some of the solutions I received were to dump the treats into a larger jar so that the dog could reach them or take a few treats out to give the dog for good behavior. One group said that they could cut the top of the jar off so that the dog's snout might fit, but then realized that if the jar happened to be glass that they risked the chance of cutting themselves and the dog due to the jagged edges. Here, I hoped to engage students in problem solving and critical thinking skills by working with one another to come up with effective solutions to a given conflict. In my opinion, this activity was successful, as all students were engaged and very excited to get up and share their pictures, problems, and solutions with classmates. Furthermore, I didn't have to keep reminding the students in the audience to pay attention and show respect to their peers. They were genuinely interested :)