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Whole Story
Go ahead.
I can think of several instances where I have used technology successfully. [This is] probably the best example. We used all kinds of technology last year when I taught world geography humanities. That was a combination of ninth and tenth grades. That is when they were realigning the curriculum, and we ended up teaching both ninth and tenth grade. In humanities, they wanted to approach the world differently. Normally, you start off with the United States, and work your way to the rest of the world, but we did the opposite. We did everybody else, and we would get to the United States if we got to it, and we did get to it. So what we did was, at the end of the year, I developed the neighborhood project. The kids would divide themselves into groups of three or four. They would choose a neighborhood, Italian-Americans, African-Americans, Puerto Rican-Americans--what else did we have? German-Americans, Irish-Americans--and they had a table. They would set up a display about famous Irish-Americans, what were some contributions to American society given by Irish-Americans. They had samples of Irish-American food. We also had a movie theater, a neighborhood movie theater where we had I-movies. The kids went out with 8-millimeter digital cameras. They took several pictures. I gave them each a topic. I gave one, for instance, a topic on, “What is an American?” These kids went out all over the place. They went to a Chinese restaurant, they asked some Chinese guy behind the serving tray, "What is an American?" What did "American" mean to him? We had all kinds of people answer that question. Then they went to the iMac and they cut it all down to brief sound bytes, and they added music and titles and everything. We had four or five of these different movies that they did. We then played those during the neighborhood project, and you go to this little neighborhood theatre and look at these iMovies. Other kids had on their tables TVs with computers. They had PowerPoints. One kid had Think Quest, where the PowerPoint was hyperlinked to different places and different things, so they could go to different pictures or different people. Let’s say he was doing Italian-Americans, you hit Al Capone’s picture, it will take you to the Al Capone page or whatever. That had all kinds of technology. We had music and we had had all kinds of stuff there. So that was a pretty good one as far as incorporating all different kinds of technology. Normally, we do a lot of PowerPoint. We have six computers in my classroom.
IBM or Mac?
We have four iMacs and two other ones, towers. We have a TV hooked up to an iMac so I can do PowerPoint over the TV with a VCR. For instance, just the other day, I had a multimedia lecture on nationalism. So I had the PowerPoint on nationalism, I hyperlinked it to a CD. When we came to that point, of course, we had the animations and the flags flying. Of course, you can get that off any web site. We had video. I played that part of "Casablanca" where they started saying the “La Marseillaise” and we put that all together. Then we had a quiz on the PowerPoint. So, we did a lot of technology there. And of course, the first thing they do when they get a project, is go to the computer. Unfortunately, that is a downside of technology. They are more apt to go to the Internet than go to the library. Many of these Internet sites don’t offer the kind of quality you get out of a book. Not only that, I am afraid these kids are not learning how to use books properly. What you have to do, you kind of have to offset that with maybe a good research project which requires seven sources, all of which are books, and teach them all of that stuff, too, the MLA or the Chicago Standard. If you don’t do that, if you don’t get them into the books, we don’t force them into the books, then they will rely on technology to the point where they won't be able to function out there.
What is your primary motivation for including technology into your class curriculum?
Because I know [technology] motivates the kids for one thing. And for another, it makes it different. There is nothing worse than handing them a worksheet and saying, “Fill this out, go to Chapter 29, and do the worksheet.”
Do you have help or assistance when the students do the projects?
During the neighborhood projects--that is a humanities class--I share that class with an English teacher and we both put that on. As far as assistants, no. Number one, half the kids know the stuff anyway. They have it at home. Like PowerPoint, half these kids do PowerPoint or the basics of it before they even get to me. You teach them once and they pick up on it. You use it over and over, and they become experts at it.
What was your overall academic purpose of the lesson, for the neighborhood project?
I wanted to cover the U.S., but I wanted to emphasize the fact that the U.S. is multicultural. The push in the U.S. is multiculturalism, for good or bad. I can see both sides on that [issue], but we wanted to cover the multicultural [perspective]. We wanted to show how different ethnicities, cultures contributed to the U.S. Let’s face it, we are a multicultural society. And we wanted to do it in an interesting and fun way, instead of just hanging up posters or having people walk through. We want to involve them in the neighborhood. We had like little streets, we had sidewalks, we had manhole covers, we had street signs, and we had backdrops with windows and laundry hanging out. We had little flags. It was like a regular neighborhood. Growing up in New York--Brooklyn--it was the closest thing we could get to a neighborhood.
Did the students meet your expectations?
For the most part, yes. I also try to throw technology at the regular kids. I teach AP [humanities], which is usually the upper-level kids. The younger kids, when you can get them in there and away from the computer games, some will surprise you how well they can do, and of course, some meet my expectation, which is very low.
Describe your role during this lesson?
I was simply giving them the mission, and they went ahead and flew with it. I sat by and gave guidance where they needed it.
More of a facilitator?
Exactly.
And the role of the student?
They were the primary mover. They are the ones that get all the information, put it together, put it the way they want to. I offered a few suggestions, but they went totally whatever direction they wanted [to go].
Was this all presented in the classroom, or did you have the booth out in the hallway?
No, that big hallway out by the front, that was our street.
Did the students stand by and answer questions?
They were there all day long. They had T-shirts, "Kiss me, I am Italian."
Was that suggested?
I told them I wanted something ethnic. I said you can either wear almost anything. Like if you were doing German-Americans, and you want to wear a dirndl, that’s fine. If you want to put on a T-shirt that says "Love me, I’m Irish," then do it. I wanted to see some type of representation. I just didn't want them in their regular shirts, saying, "I am from Puerto Rico." They came up with all kinds of stuff. I saw a traditional dress, like I saw a dirndl. We had some Polynesian-Americans, they had little skirts, and I forget the name of them. So they wore those. As a matter of fact, they even did [the] dance. We even had some Samoan-Americans with us, and they even taught everybody how to do the dance, the Polynesian dances.
How did you assess what they did?
I had a rubric made up and it was based on so many points for certain things. They had to have two posters; they had to have one showing at least four [ethnic group]-Americans and what their contributions were. They had to have so many visuals. They had to have so many of this. They had to have one of this or this or this or this. I gave them choices, a lot of choices. You get some visual learners, you get some other learners. I wanted something to engage the audience. I said, “You’ve got to engage the audience in some way.” So one guy did Chinese-Americans, and he had some Chinese game. The Polynesians did their dance. Another one did some sort of game, another one did something else. They all did certain things to engage the audience coming by, and that was one of the requirements.
In your opinion, what's the main lesson someone can learn from your story?
That you have enough extension cords. Power is [a] problem. Everybody wanted power.
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