Think about the "human barometer" exercise we completed in class today. Then, using the questions to guide you, complete a reflection on that activity.
How did you feel?
What emotions did you experience?
What surprised you?
What, if anything made you angry?
How will this help you to do things differently now? What will you change?
Please be open, and honest. Your response should be at least 40 to 50 words. You'll probably write more, and that's OK, too.
34 comments:
honestly i thought the human barometer was kind of pointless. i didnt see what every else saw in it first you started off asking if anyone liked pizza and then out of no where you came up with questions about races and trust i was confused about what the topics had to do with.Where you trying to express the idea that everyone has different thoughts or opinions.
Billy class 902
I felt that this exercise was good because you got to see what the other kids anwsers were and how alot of them were alike. But in the same way it was like we all have somthing in common with each other.
The emotions that i felt that there were alot of different types of questions that it really didn't bother me but i felt that i got to know my classmates better than when i walked into the class.
What really surprised was that most of the kids either said yes or no but not alot kids pick i don't know that really surpised me.
When the questions were asked i did not feel angry i was fine that they asked the questions but the questons were really not bad they were to see if the people were turthful or maybe they lied but i thought they were fair.
I really think that this makes me look at the kids in the differently beacuse i know that we have some things in common with each other and know maube i can make friends with them and that i know them better know that we did this exercise.
From Erin O'D in Class 903
1.I felt curious during the Human Barometer assignment because I wanted to see what were the other kids opinions on some of the questions that was asked such as the "have you ever been made fun of by you race" and "the are you ever followed" question.
2.The emotions I felt were a mixture of confusion and curiosity. I sometimes felt confused on which answer would represent me as a person best and what would not do such a great job of representing me.
3.What suprised me was some of the other answers that other people took. Most people just chose i dont know, but some people really expresed their feelings through their choice.
4. Since nothing in the barometer experiment angered me, i cant really say how i would feel, but if i did happen to be angry, i would hide it and prevent it from being displayed.
5. I dont think that this experimednt really changed anything because i see people as people from the beginning, but it does inform me a little more on the persons ideologies.
Remember this is jason from 902
1.I felt that today brought me closer with my classmates.
2.I was kind of curious to see where people would go and how they would answer.
3.What suprised me was I didnt realize many kids were affected by racism
4.Noting made me angry really.
5.I think now I know I can be more open with my classmates and now I think I will try to get to know them better.
-Chrissy Thomatos
Hey Mr. Tesler,
When I did the human barometer exercise today I felt wierd. When I was moving around for the questions I felt shy and very unconferatble. I realy didn't know you would ask race questions, and questions when you said have you been followed around before by someone you didnt know. And nothing realy made me angry at all it just surprised me thats all. When I saw other people answering to some of the questions, it made me think different about other kids. Some are realy alike and some aren't. I dont know what I would realy change but I do know that I will be treating other people a little bit different then I used to do.
-Katheryn A.
The human barometer exercise we did in us history today was really cool. Some questions were hard to answer and everyone thought about them for a while. A lot of people answered I dont know for the questions. It surprised me that a lot of people didn't think of the police as people you could call for help. I also found it surprising when a lot of people didn't know if people of their race or ethencity were written about in the textbooks. I also found a lot of people have been treated differently because of their race or ethencity. None of the questions had upset me or mad me angry, they were pretty straight foward. I think this activity will help me relize how we all are different yet the same and that our races or ethencitys shouldn't reflect on the type of people we are. I think I will change the way I look at things and see how not everyone is always treated equally and sometime our race or ethencity have a big part on that. Overall the Human Barometer excersise was a cool way to get to know everyone a little better.
Today in class after doing the human barometer exercise it made me open up, and accept people for who they are and not there race. It taught me to see behind a person and seek for what they are like on the inside. It surprised me how everyone had there own opinion on things, and how they felt. At the beinginning of the exercise i thought it was all a joke with the whole pizza question but after that i realized what a great way to express how we feel about things, without actually saying how we feel, we would just reply by walking to a spot in the room.
world journalism
Jaclyn Leone
9th grade
Hey Mr. Tesler it's Giananthony doing his homework.
-How did you feel?
I felt surprised that you had us resond to questions that were through race, how it showed us that no matter who we are or where we come from we are all the same.
-What emotions did you express?
The truth is that I really didn't have any emotions for this except for when the question that asked " Have people in your country been put in hstory for helping create the U.S.
-What surprised you?
I was surprised when I saw that so many students didn't have an after school job.
-What if anything made you angry?
The question that I mentioned before didn't upset me that much, but it just gave me something to write about in the report.
-How will this help you do things differently now, what will you change?
I really don't know what I wil change, cause the truth is im not racist and I always saw eveyone as being the same.
1.I felt that it was something different and to the end I thought that the question where a little weird about racism and about skin tones.
2.There wasn’t an emotion that I felt I just thought the questions where and little weird.
3.I think the question surprised me the most and what my classmate answer to the question.
4.Noting really made me angry in the questions I mean they where only questions!
5.I think that this experience will help me think differently about my class mates (not in a bad way). It will change me because some people might think the some thing as me but other people me think something else.
Bye Mr.Tesler see u tomorrow :)
From: Monica T.
Official Class::902
By doing the group work that we did today I felt That I got to know ever one a little more and now I know what they all think about the topics we were given . While we were all doing the exercise I felt happy because we all seemed to get along and understand what was going on with out any problems. The one thing that did surprise me was that on many of the questions asked people didn’t what to do if it was yes or a no. This just reminded me to not be races and to not judge people.
When we did the lesson today I was nervous. I was nervous because it was about yes and no questions and it made me feel nervous. I felt nervous because most of the students that were there were ones I didn’t know. It was a new experience and turned into a great one after trying it.
I was surprised we were asked such personal questions. It surprised me because we have just been there for about 3 days and I think it was to get us to know each other.
Nothing really got me to angry for this lesson because I guess I think of those questions sometimes and I usually tell myself the answers or I ask my parent. Well to answer that question my final answer has to be no.
It makes me understand no matter what you are we all have feelings and we cant take each other down and hurt one another. I see us as our own community. Its amazing how I learned so many things and how other people think the same way as I do.
I will try to change the fact that I need to think of others and there feelings and not to make fun of them. It isn’t nice to hurt people because you wouldn’t like that if it happened to you. Every one should try to get along.
The exercise we did in class today made me feel a little weird at first because normally teachers don’t ask questions like that. However later I felt ok and just hoped when I answered one of the questions I wouldn’t be alone. Well I really didn’t go through much emotion while participating in this exercise except the feeling of curiosity for what the other students had to say. The first few questions must people had the same answers. Then later on everybody had all different answers so I was surprised how we slowly each had different answers. Also I learned a few things about the students while doing the activity.
-rabaya rahman 902
When we finished the activity today it felt very familiar. Then I remembered I saw something like it in a recent movie called "Freedom Writers". The teacher had a line going down the room and she would ask the students questions and depending on their answers they would either step on the line or stand next to it. I think you where trying to accomplish the same thing today.
I felt that the answers didn't just depend on the peoples races. For example there wasn't just one race that went to yes for the question, have you ever been made fun of about your race (or something like that).
I was shocked at how much me and my classmates have in common. It just goes to show you that you cant judge a book by its cover.
I think what made me not really angry, but upset was that some people where so surprised that there where other races besides them that got treated the same way. Which I think is another point you where trying to make.
It really doesn't matter what race you are because everyone has to go through the same stalker in the store. Or the bully's that make fun of them because of there race.
I think the class should all pretend that our color is clear when we are in the room. That way we don't have a real color that defines us. I think this lesson helped me see things a different way.
-Melissa Iachetta
When I did this excerise, I was shocked. Very shocked at the fact that some of the questions were truly personal and the fact that I had to admit or show an answer whetever i wanted to or not. I didnt like it much, honestly. I didnt think some questions should of been answered but in a way its good because everyone in the class sees whats been happening in our class. There wasnt any judgement, everyone was surprised at the choosing of answers. I guess what surprised me the most was, when you asked us " did you ever see someone get hurt and not say anyting about it?" that really got me. I dont usually tell that kind of things. I guess its made me realize that everyone is the way they are for a certain reasonjs. No matter what the reasons are, it makes them the way they are. For example, a african american girl is teased becuase of her skin color.Perhaps thats why shes a tough person, instead of just judging her and believing " shes just mean". Thats what I see now. Thats what I learned today. Not to judge because you never know what has happened. I had mixed emotions,
angry sad embarrased. But in the end, i dont really think there was a purpose sorry.
-Livianette C. Class 902
Bill, thanks for sharing your comment. The point of the exercise, as has been a lot of the stuff we've been doing the last few days, is to help build a sense of community within the class. One of the ways we do that is to make sure that everyone understands that the lines of communication are open, and everyone can feel safe sharing their opinions, ideas, etc. in our class.
Hey Mr.Tesler its Maria Q. in your 7th period class ( I also posted the h.w. on the advisory blog by acident srri) class:902
I felt that this assinment was a good way to learn that we have alot of differences but we also have alot in common with each other,the human barometer assignment was a great lesson to make us feel closer to each other.
During the human barometer assignment I felt anxious... I want to know waht the next question was going to be and where my classmates were going to walk to.
What suprised me the most in this lesson was how a simple question went to deeper questions about racism ect.
In this lesson none of the questions that were asked made me angry .
Now instead of being thinking about how different people are from me i will think of how much we have in common b/c today i saw that people i did not know very well had the same answer as i did.
Keenan Parente
WJPS 901 9/06/07
When we did the human barometer today i felt awkward becuase i thought that the questuions were weird and random. The emotions that i expierenced were happinness because i was happy that i was able to expres my feelings with these questoins. What suprised me was all of the questions that were about race and stuff like that. Nothing really made me angry because it was just and assignment to do. I will look back and think of some of the questions asked today and think about them in some situations. I dont think i am going to change anything. i think that the main reason for this activity was "Different atrokes for dufferent folks".
Keenan Parente
WJPS 901 9/06/07
When we did the human barometer today i felt awkward becuase i thought that the questuions were weird and random. The emotions that i expierenced were happinness because i was happy that i was able to expres my feelings with these questoins. What suprised me was all of the questions that were about race and stuff like that. Nothing really made me angry because it was just and assignment to do. I will look back and think of some of the questions asked today and think about them in some situations. I dont think i am going to change anything. i think that the main reason for this activity was "Different atrokes for dufferent folks".
1. when we did the human barometer i felt a little nervous and strange but then noticing how some of the other students had the same feelings and answers made me feel a little better.
2. I emotioned many different things.At first nervous and uncomftorble then comgtorble but confused.
3. What surprised me was that all of the students in the class are all different yet we all mostly agreed in the same topics.
4. Nothing really made me angry but it did make me think about some other students that maybe some of the questions that did anger other students and i wondered how they felt.
5. This is going to help and change me by not judging people so quickly and treat them with respect since they might just have the same ideas and feelings.
By the way did you get this idea from the movie Freedom Writers.
Eirene S. Class 902
Yeah about the human barometer I felt as if I wanted to express what I thought in that way without talking. Once the questions got a little deeper I felt more pressure.
At some points I felt anger at certain people. But it went away because I know that everyone has different thoughts, different problems, or lifestyles. Everyone Should have the freedom to say or act what they believe as long as it does not infringe on a person's persanol rights to the pursuit of happiness. What suprised me were the questions on the racism issues. This will help me to know how to deal with the world because I know how some people think. So it would make me better prepared for life instead of being closed out from life. I need to change the way I think about people before I even meet them. So with this I believe it helps to get to know people better.
From Josh Class:901
during the human barometer i felt different things. At first i felt like it was a pointless assignment and didnt care for it. Then i realized that everybody had a different opinion about each question asked. During this assignment i had no emotions. The thing that surpeised me the most was when u started by asking about pizza then went to race and racism. I was confused when that happened. During the assignment i didnt get mad at the questions asked because it was just to get rid of our shyness around people we dont know. Now i know people better and wont be shy around them.
- Nick C.
I thought that the human barometer exercise was really a fun and appealing game. It was very creative and I don’t think that I ever did this kind of thing before. It was an interesting experience. I think this game was a chance to see what everyone’s opinions were and I got to see people’s reactions to certain questions. Many of the questions were serious and some were fun questions, like “Do you like pizza?” Overall I think that the exercise made me notice how different people act and feel about certain things. I think it also gave me a chance to see other people’s thoughts on certain problems in the world today, like racism or leaders that we look up to.
I thought that the human barometer exercise was really a fun and appealing game. It was very creative and I don’t think that I ever did this kind of thing before. It was an interesting experience. I think this game was a chance to see what everyone’s opinions were and I got to see people’s reactions to certain questions. Many of the questions were serious and some were fun questions, like “Do you like pizza?” Overall I think that the exercise made me notice how different people act and feel about certain things. I think it also gave me a chance to see other people’s thoughts on certain problems in the world today, like racism or leaders that we look up to.
When we started doing the human barometer it was kind of wierd because i didnt know what the point of it was. Then as the questions went on, it started getting personal.As we did this, i saw in peoples faces,uncomfortable expression.But in the end everyone was more comfortable with each other and werent affraid of saying anything in front of them.It surprised me that alot of people were effected by racism.It made me think more about my classmates feelings.
Bridgette Valenzuela
1. When we did the humaan barometer i felt like i was becoming closer with the other students because we all mostly had the same answer.
2. I felt a little nervous but then i was curious to see where the other students were going.
3. I was surprised to see how we all had the same feelings and most of the same things happened to us.
4. Nothing got me angry so I cant say.
5. This is going to change me by no judging others so quickly.
Thanks again for your comments. Your honesty is greatly appreciated. It's OK if you weren't exactly cool with the exercise. That was part of the point. Growth, as a community, as a class, etc. can only occur when we're in that uncomfortable place.
I felt kind of odd for you to ask questions like that. But I wanted to express myself in the non verbal way as we did. This activity brought up the emotion of anger. The reason why is for the racism questions. Which gave a great suprise to me. At first I thought it was a game. But soon I realized it was to see how people were different in mind set. When I would go to the certain sides of the room it left me in shock for the results I observed. Everyone has different opinions on life based on their backrounds. No one was raised the same way. I will know how to deal with the real world and be prepared for peoples attitudes. This will help me change how I would judge people before I even meet them.
well i felt pretty calm,like none of the question we had to asnwere ofended me.it was pretty simple to answer.but only one question got stuck.my name?i diden't koe bothing about my name so i got stuck wells any ways.ya
emotions?well i diden't havwe many emotion.except for the part were i had to answer if i ever pick on hurt someone feeling.afther answering that queestion i wish i never done that but what can i do.but say im srry,what diffence will it make.he still was laugh at at the moment!
my name suprise me casue i never tought a day like thise will come and someone will just come up to me and ask "what does ur name mean?"u had me there.
nothing mad me angery,all ur question were easy answer.
yes my picking on little kid will change,even doe i stop.now i gonna have to take thing more sorise and more mature!!!u koe!
To me America means hope.People come here in hope of a better life.They hope for a good life and a new start.They have so many oppurtunities here in America.Many immigrate here to make something of themselves.They want to become something.That is what American means to me.
-Chrissy Thomatos 901
I didn't really feel that different I just felt like it was a regular class activity. I felt no emotion but I did experirence the differences between my classmates and myself. I was kind of surprised that some of my classmates and I have some what of the same opinions. I also learned that it was a little hard for some people to do this activity because some people don't like to open up that easily.
I felt that the human barometer was a good idea.Some of the questions were kind of pointless because most kids didn't really go through the other kids making fun of there races.Most of the questions were a good idea so kids can know that they went through the same things and can trust the class so kids can open up to say things that they went through.
kala mancini period 7
I felt awkward, surprised, uncomfortable, &nervous. but then again I wasn't at all ashamed of my answers I felt good to say the truth in regards to not being a follower and answering the questions. It surprised me when you asked us the raises questions, I didn't think you would ask us stuff like that but you did. and that made me feel like you care about everyone and theirs no negligence in you concerning a students raise.
i thought the barometer activity was kind of cool becouse you got to see how everyone felt about the questions you asked one thing that was kind of weird was that you started off with silly questions then you got straight into the real series questions.but this activity showed me what some people think about when they hear those kind of questions
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