Friday, November 25, 2005
Conducting the Correspondence
I have finally started to put the final touches on my project idea - from now on known as "Interacting on the Internet." (Fanfare) This project is designed for older students, preferably middle school Social Studies students, and it is intended to boost cultural interaction, reading and writing capabilities, as well as computer skills. Students will be conducting all of their pen pal interactions through e-mail. Thus, it will be important for teachers to allocate time for computer use, especially if some students do not have access to computers at home. As I mentioned before, I will be using ePALS, an online tool connecting students across the world, to conduct this activity. As a matter of fact, I have been testing ePALS for a little over a week, and I have already met three people: Sally, a teacher in Florida, Robert, a student from China, and Lahcen, a teacher from Morocco. Therefore, I can attest to the effectiveness and ease of ePALS. To initiate this project, it is important for teachers to register with ePALS. Once the account has been activiated (this may take some time), teachers may need to search for a prospective country and initiate contact if they do not already receive an invitation from another teacher. From there, I believe it is important for teachers to find some way to bestow their students with information regarding the country of interest, prior to conducting the pen pal interaction. Following, teachers should oversee letters, making sure to provide prompts and suggestions for students. Of course, I believe it is vital for teachers to allow their students to develop a natural friendship with their peers. Approaching the end of this assignment, I think it would be great if teachers could put together a "culture package" filled with American souvenirs and pictures, shipping it (for a pretty penny) to their new friends. This project will not only help students develop their reading, writing, and computer skills, they will also develop a newfound appreciation for their diverse peers. Please let me know if there are any adjustments that can be made to improve this activity, and I thank everyone who has helped me put this idea together. # posted by Catherine @ 11/25/2005 02:25:00 PM 
Comments:
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Daniela:
Sorry, I know there were a few things I did not cover in this post. While I will expect my students to come into my class with basic skills in reading and writing, I will try to prepare my students for this activity with a series of questions for them to answer about their country. For example, I might ask my students "What are your assumptions about your country?" "What is the terrain of your country?" "What is their ethnicity?" I will also go over the basics of using a computer to type a letter and send e-mail. I have put together a series of steps for conducting this activity, but they are so detailed. For this post, I just tried to provide a summary of them until Dr. Baylen makes us post the complete activity. While my students will not have a tangible product following this activity, they will have achieved a sense of respect for their peers as well as an awareness and knowledge about another country. Of course, I cannot assure that my students will have developed respect for their diverse peers, but I could test them to see how much knowledge they have gained from their interaction. Additionally, students will complete a reflection paper, answering a series of questions regarding their experience. One of these questions will be “How have your impressions of this country changed as a result of this project?” This will help me to see how my students have grown in their appreciation of diversity. I plan to provide these details in my next post. Please let me know what you think.
Sorry, I know there were a few things I did not cover in this post. While I will expect my students to come into my class with basic skills in reading and writing, I will try to prepare my students for this activity with a series of questions for them to answer about their country. For example, I might ask my students "What are your assumptions about your country?" "What is the terrain of your country?" "What is their ethnicity?" I will also go over the basics of using a computer to type a letter and send e-mail. I have put together a series of steps for conducting this activity, but they are so detailed. For this post, I just tried to provide a summary of them until Dr. Baylen makes us post the complete activity. While my students will not have a tangible product following this activity, they will have achieved a sense of respect for their peers as well as an awareness and knowledge about another country. Of course, I cannot assure that my students will have developed respect for their diverse peers, but I could test them to see how much knowledge they have gained from their interaction. Additionally, students will complete a reflection paper, answering a series of questions regarding their experience. One of these questions will be “How have your impressions of this country changed as a result of this project?” This will help me to see how my students have grown in their appreciation of diversity. I plan to provide these details in my next post. Please let me know what you think.
Heather:
I plan on calling my activity "Interacting on the Internet: Connecting Students with Pen Pals Across the World." It's kind of long, but what do you think?
I plan on calling my activity "Interacting on the Internet: Connecting Students with Pen Pals Across the World." It's kind of long, but what do you think?
Amy:
Thanks for the input. I was planning on monitoring my students by having them write their e-mails on paper first. I would then read them, checking for proper language and content before allowing them to type their letters. Also, I would request that my students work on this assignment in the classroom, not at home. Of course it will be difficult to monitor them when they're not in school, but hopefully, I will be able to keep their pen pals' e-mail addresses concealed. I could send the e-mails for my students. Thanks for pointing this out.
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Thanks for the input. I was planning on monitoring my students by having them write their e-mails on paper first. I would then read them, checking for proper language and content before allowing them to type their letters. Also, I would request that my students work on this assignment in the classroom, not at home. Of course it will be difficult to monitor them when they're not in school, but hopefully, I will be able to keep their pen pals' e-mail addresses concealed. I could send the e-mails for my students. Thanks for pointing this out.
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