Monday, September 9, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Welcome to my website
This website is intended to be one of your resources during the school year. The site is used in two basic ways.
- Help to Improve Communication:
- Announcements for upcoming assignments, quizzes, projects, and other assessments will be posted here as well as in the classroom.
- If you check the site it will help give you a better understanding of what is happening in class.
2. As a Resource:
- H.W. assignments, presentations, and some documents will be posted on my site. It is a good habit to check the webpage when you come home from school or if you are absent.
- Helpful links related to our topics will be posted
I am very excited about the upcoming school year.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Thank you for a great year and enjoy your summer.
Today I came back to the Middle School for a Faculty Meeting and I was struck with how different the school is without the students being there. The school was lacking energy there was no laughter in the hallways no buzz, it does not feel like a school. Typically I leave my end of the year farewells for the Completion Ceremony or for my final day talk with you but this year, after being in the empty school I want to do something different.
To My Students,
Sometimes in life you do not know how fortunate you are until you lose something and I feel that way right now. Today I started the process of cleaning my classroom and kept thinking about how truly amazing my year was and it was all made possible because of you.
Thanks to you I have a job where I laugh every single day, I do not know who else can say that. I have an opportunity to hear new and fresh ideas from some incredibly talented students. I saw your talents shine through your essays, art work, quizzes, and reflections. Some of you have more skills as an 8th grader than some high school students. I would look out into my classroom and see my students who are going to have greater accomplishments than I could every imagine.
I loved when you shared your ideas, opinions, thoughts, and stories with me. It showed growth, both personal and intellectual when you were brave enough to express yourself in front of your peers. Some of my favorite memories of being a teacher come from these moments. Whether it is about a subject or each other, we learn through stories. Hearing your stories I learned a great deal.
No matter where you end up next year you are always welcome to visit me.
Enjoy your rest this summer.
Best of Luck,
Mr. Mullady
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Milgram Experiment
In 1961, Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was placed on trial for his role during the Holocaust. Eichmann's defense, like many other Nazis was that he was simply following orders.
Yale Psychologist Stanley Milgram developed an intricate test called "The Behavioral Study of Obedience" to test how far people would obey authority. His experiments were conducted in New Haven Connecticut under the guise that this was was study on learning habits and not obedience. Milgram's experiments shocked the scientific community and helped inspire other scientists to continue to study obedience and conformity.
Milgram's Experiment
Updated version of Milgram's Experiment from the BBC.
So Close...
As the school year begins to wind down there are a couple of housekeeping activities that we need to do: locker clean up, returning textbooks, preparing for the Completion Ceremony. There is one more task I need you to complete for this week, the Social Studies End of the Year Survey.
The survey should only take a few minutes and the data collected is very useful to myself as well as the History Department. I really appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey in a thoughtful manner.
Thank you
Mr. Mullady
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Schindler's List Reflection
"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."
~ The Talmud
You will be selecting three of the ten questions from today's handout to answer. I expect your answers to be typed and double spaced, try and have each response be roughly one page in length. This assessment for watching Schindler's List and your response will be graded for quality, evidence, and thoughtfulness. Your work will be collected on Friday and count for one quiz grade.
To help you with the homework feel free to use some of the following websites.
Link to important quotes from the movie. This should be helpful with answering #9.
Holocaust Survivor Stories This site has links to stories about the Schindler Jews and others.
Biography link of Oskar Schindler
Righteous Among the Nations also has links to Bystanders, Upstanders, and the Little Girl in the Red Coat
~ The Talmud
You will be selecting three of the ten questions from today's handout to answer. I expect your answers to be typed and double spaced, try and have each response be roughly one page in length. This assessment for watching Schindler's List and your response will be graded for quality, evidence, and thoughtfulness. Your work will be collected on Friday and count for one quiz grade.
To help you with the homework feel free to use some of the following websites.
Link to important quotes from the movie. This should be helpful with answering #9.
Holocaust Survivor Stories This site has links to stories about the Schindler Jews and others.
Biography link of Oskar Schindler
Righteous Among the Nations also has links to Bystanders, Upstanders, and the Little Girl in the Red Coat
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Little Steps
I hope that you enjoyed hearing Reena's story from yesterday. I would like to apologize that we have not had the opportunity to watch Schindler's List prior to her talk which may have helped you understand her talk a little more. Next week we will be watching the film in class and I will point out the events that Reena mentioned that are in the film.
Below is a reading that I would like to read and print out about Germany violating the Treaty of Versailles repeatedly without any punishment from the Allies. Between 1935 and 1938 there were several opportunities where Hitler tests the resolve of Britain, France, and the United States. In other words, how much can he get away with before he is challenged.
After World War I, in order to create a buffer zone between Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the Allies ordered that the Rhineland become a demilitarized zone. In the Rhineland were many important German cities, Cologne, Aachen, Frankfurt, and Dusseldorf as well as Germany's industrial center. In October of 1935, French intelligence became aware that the Germans were moving troops towards the Rhineland in direct opposition to the Versailles Treaty. The French government contacted the British government of the situation, but the British remained silent on the issue. On March 7, 1936, German troops crossed into the Rhineland while the global community sat largely silent on the issue. Hitler's invasion of the Rhineland made him a hero to many Germans. He was seen as a leader who was willing and able to stand up to the Allies.
The foreign policy of many nations during the 1930s was appeasement or giving in to the demands of an aggressor in order to avoid future conflict. With the memories of World War I still fresh in the minds of many people the governments of Britain, France, and the United States were hesitant to resisting Hitler's actions and risking another war. Some Europeans and Americans believed that a strong Germany was good for the world because it would keep the Soviet Union at bay.
Following his success in the Rhineland Hitler began to prepare for his next test for the Allies, Austria. Austria and Germany had fought together during World War I. Fearing a large and powerful Germany, the Treaty of Versailles had forbidden Germany and Austria from ever joining together under one government. For years the Nazi party had worked on creating a formidable presence in Germany and worked tirelessly to spread Nazi propaganda.
Citing unrest and crisis that was occurring in Austria, in 1938, Hitler called for an Anschluss or union between Germany and Austria. Struggling with Nazi sympathizers in their government, the Prime Minister of Austria attempted to restore diplomatic relations with Germany and prevent a war. In his hopes of preventing any loss of life, the Prime Minister resigned from his position paving the way for a German invasion of his country. As Hitler and the Nazis invaded Austria, several Catholic and Lutheran bishops praised the Nazis for peacefully uniting the two countries and encouraged members of their church to work with the Nazi leadership.
Hitler set his sights on the Sudetenland an area controlled by Czechoslovakia that has a large German population that had settled in the region centuries before. The Nazi party had a presence in these provinces and had worked with Germany in helping to create a crisis that would ultimately end with the Germans seizing the land. Hitler claimed that the Germans living in the Sudetenland were being persecuted by the Czech government. He argued that Germany needed to take drastic actions to ensure the safety and well being of their fellow Germans living in Czechoslovakia.
Hitler believed that the Czechs and Slovaks who made up a majority of the Czechoslovakian population were racially inferior to the Germans and were subhuman. He hoped to prove his theories of racial supremacy by taking over the entire nation. In March of 1938, Hitler ordered Sudeten Nazis to create a crisis in the country. Violence broke out across the Sudetenland and Hitler mobilized his army to the Czech border hoping to intimidate the Czechoslovakian government. The Czechoslovakian government awaited help from their allies the British and the French.
On September 29th, British, French, German and Italian leaders met in Munich to discuss the growing conflict over the Sudetenland. Neither the Czechs or their allies the Soviet Union were invited to attend the conference. During the meetings Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be placed under German control. He promised that if Germany was given the Sudetenland, then he would leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone. Fearing the possibility of war, the French and the British agree to Hitler's demands hoping that they just secured peace for all of Europe.
When the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to London he brought with him a treaty that Hitler signed pledging to never attack Great Britain. The British public celebrated Chamberlain's accomplishment of securing peace for Europe believing that Hitler would not longer be a threat. Shortly after Chamberlain's return to Britain, Hitler invaded the Sudetenland and shortly took over the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Below is a reading that I would like to read and print out about Germany violating the Treaty of Versailles repeatedly without any punishment from the Allies. Between 1935 and 1938 there were several opportunities where Hitler tests the resolve of Britain, France, and the United States. In other words, how much can he get away with before he is challenged.
After World War I, in order to create a buffer zone between Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the Allies ordered that the Rhineland become a demilitarized zone. In the Rhineland were many important German cities, Cologne, Aachen, Frankfurt, and Dusseldorf as well as Germany's industrial center. In October of 1935, French intelligence became aware that the Germans were moving troops towards the Rhineland in direct opposition to the Versailles Treaty. The French government contacted the British government of the situation, but the British remained silent on the issue. On March 7, 1936, German troops crossed into the Rhineland while the global community sat largely silent on the issue. Hitler's invasion of the Rhineland made him a hero to many Germans. He was seen as a leader who was willing and able to stand up to the Allies.
The foreign policy of many nations during the 1930s was appeasement or giving in to the demands of an aggressor in order to avoid future conflict. With the memories of World War I still fresh in the minds of many people the governments of Britain, France, and the United States were hesitant to resisting Hitler's actions and risking another war. Some Europeans and Americans believed that a strong Germany was good for the world because it would keep the Soviet Union at bay.
Following his success in the Rhineland Hitler began to prepare for his next test for the Allies, Austria. Austria and Germany had fought together during World War I. Fearing a large and powerful Germany, the Treaty of Versailles had forbidden Germany and Austria from ever joining together under one government. For years the Nazi party had worked on creating a formidable presence in Germany and worked tirelessly to spread Nazi propaganda.
Citing unrest and crisis that was occurring in Austria, in 1938, Hitler called for an Anschluss or union between Germany and Austria. Struggling with Nazi sympathizers in their government, the Prime Minister of Austria attempted to restore diplomatic relations with Germany and prevent a war. In his hopes of preventing any loss of life, the Prime Minister resigned from his position paving the way for a German invasion of his country. As Hitler and the Nazis invaded Austria, several Catholic and Lutheran bishops praised the Nazis for peacefully uniting the two countries and encouraged members of their church to work with the Nazi leadership.
Hitler set his sights on the Sudetenland an area controlled by Czechoslovakia that has a large German population that had settled in the region centuries before. The Nazi party had a presence in these provinces and had worked with Germany in helping to create a crisis that would ultimately end with the Germans seizing the land. Hitler claimed that the Germans living in the Sudetenland were being persecuted by the Czech government. He argued that Germany needed to take drastic actions to ensure the safety and well being of their fellow Germans living in Czechoslovakia.
Hitler believed that the Czechs and Slovaks who made up a majority of the Czechoslovakian population were racially inferior to the Germans and were subhuman. He hoped to prove his theories of racial supremacy by taking over the entire nation. In March of 1938, Hitler ordered Sudeten Nazis to create a crisis in the country. Violence broke out across the Sudetenland and Hitler mobilized his army to the Czech border hoping to intimidate the Czechoslovakian government. The Czechoslovakian government awaited help from their allies the British and the French.
On September 29th, British, French, German and Italian leaders met in Munich to discuss the growing conflict over the Sudetenland. Neither the Czechs or their allies the Soviet Union were invited to attend the conference. During the meetings Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be placed under German control. He promised that if Germany was given the Sudetenland, then he would leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone. Fearing the possibility of war, the French and the British agree to Hitler's demands hoping that they just secured peace for all of Europe.
When the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned to London he brought with him a treaty that Hitler signed pledging to never attack Great Britain. The British public celebrated Chamberlain's accomplishment of securing peace for Europe believing that Hitler would not longer be a threat. Shortly after Chamberlain's return to Britain, Hitler invaded the Sudetenland and shortly took over the rest of Czechoslovakia.
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