(The video is at the end, I am being a good teacher and making you read the blog first! =P)
"Guess what, we are going a trip. And NO, you do not get to say 'No, I'd rather not go,' and NO you may not choose where you are going, and now you need to shut your mouths and do what I say."
Sound fun? Didn't think so. Neither did my students when I announced this in class. The simultaneous reponse of "QUÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ???" [WHAAAAAAAT???] echoed throughout the room amidst looks of disbelief and stifled giggles.
I gave each student 6 small pieces of paper, and asked them to write down their most important possessions on each paper. The prized possessions ranged from "my dog," "my ipod," "my family," "my education," and even "my life."
I started barking orders to students - "Take your possessions, and get inside the orange lines!" "Be Quiet!" "Squish closer!" I tried not to giggle myself as I watched the students struggle to fit inside the rectangle laid out on the floor, while still making sure the activity remained G-rated.
I began describing scenarios and asking students to choose which possessions they would give up, one by one, as I forced them to leave their beloved items behind. I yanked the papers out of their hands, shredded them up and littered them over the floor and the students, stuffed them in the trash can (recycling bin, actually, I couldn't bare to let it go to complete waste!), and even crumpled them up and dramatically stomped on them (I got some scared and confused looks after that one).
Finally, our simulated slave trade ship reached the shores of the America's and the emotions started to ring high. Students started realizing that their only remaining possessions were "mom," "dad," "God," "my little sister," etc. I actually had some students refuse to give up their last possessions and declared that they were willing to sacrifice themselves for their family members. This started to get a little scary as an educator, as no teacher wants their lesson to inspire an urge to give up one's life, but this really spoke to the sincerity of the historical event.
During our reflection, we touched on such issues as making sacrifices for yourself and others, the will to survive, racial discrimination, and cultural differences to name a few. Puerto Rican students have an extremely interesting perspective on racial relations as they usually come from racially mixed families themselves. In fact, my students have a rather hard time understanding the U.S.'s race issues because most of them have relatives who are light skinned, dark skinnned, and everywhere in between. As one of my students (with golden-hued skin) put it last year, "I can't make fun of black people because my Grandpa is black." My students have countless stories like this and they all seem to agree that Puerto Rico is an inspiration to what the U.S. could be in the future.
I will in no way pretend that this activity can help anyone come even to fully understanding the meaning of becoming a slave, but I felt it was a great way to introduce the Slave Trade experience to my students, especially those who have not had this tragic event drilled into their heads since early childhood. My students now have an idea of the weight that this heartbreaking event in history.
View the video of 10A here:
It was fun!
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