This week we continued modifying the Livebinder and preparing it to place our information. Considering time restraints we also prioritized what information we want to make sure we have done by May and which parts of the Livebiner may have to wait until a later date. By the next time we meet, we will have prepared all the base information we will place in the Livebinder so we can copy and paste then begin the polishing process.

Preparing Livebinder

This and last week we are working on constructing our livebinder. We have created the account and the binder and are currently adding pictures and introduction, and preparing tabs for text, photos, videos, recipes, maps.

Are you available? Did you hear that?

We know that there are a lot of cultures and sub-cultures represented in the building. We also need to know who could be a resource to our classroom: do you speak another language, do you have extensive knowledge of a particular culture, and would you be willing to share this information? How do we compensate you for this skill because it is important. Our group is continuing to develop a "culture book" as a resource for the whole school. We have decided to use LiveBinder so that it will be easily updated and accessible. We would have this linked to the school website and SchoolLoop. We will have some students review the information before it is published. Chapters: Mexican, other Hispanic, African (both Northern and southern), Hmong, Burmese, Nepali, Philipino, Iraqi, Chinese, Micronesian, and also teacher's cultures. In this binder, we will have a cuss word dictionary, too!

Questions we have for our students: how much of their history do they know or understand? WE are concerned that they don't have a base. They would be able to understand and appreciate subtle references if they did. We are thinking about infusing international literature or literature about their or from their cultures. Basically, we are looking for ways to give them more background knowledge about their culture: literature, historical references. We want: a key/legend for the language spoken, To do: do the map, education on cultures/languages (Wyandotte world book), looking up stuff on tolerance, general knowledge, lessons, examples... We are creating a "Culture Book." This looks a little crazy, but trust us, we know what we are doing.

New direction for 2013

  Looking over our growth and achievements in our work to foster oral language production, we have decided to divert our focus this semester to a new topic. With the end goal of modifying our instruction and working to foster intercultural understanding and appreciation not only with students but more importantly among students, we recognize that our first step is essentially to educate ourselves about these cultures.
So far, we have taken the following steps:
    1. Kim attended the Karen New Year Celebration on 1/27
    2. Kim has viewed and used portions of the documentary Burma VJ in class
    3. Kim had students do iMovies with their personal history showing their pictures and life stories
    4. Kim & Elizabeth already have lived in Central America

Our short term goals are:
    1. Each of us will focus on educating ourselves about one part of the world to learn about
         Elizabeth: Nepal
         Caminos: Myanmar (Chin, Karen, Karenni, Burmese)
         Kathy: Hmong
         
         Areas of focus for a later date: Hmong, diverse African students, Iraq
           *For our next meeting we will:
                 Identify students of that culture, inform them that we are working to learn more about
                     their culture(s), find out why these students came to the U.S. & to KC
                    -This is not to be limited to our current students, but any student of this culture at WHS
                        that is willing to talk to us.
                 Bring the following information: languages spoken, customs, cultural & historical facts
                 Elizabeth will have obtained a list of students, by language/country, from the counselors to
                   help us further guide our journey (and next step)

Our long term goals are:
  1. Enhance student cross-cultural cooperation
  2. Enhance teacher comprehension of students' cultural norms, expectations, and needs

We learned...

We didn't take away specific ideas, but we found tools that we didn't know were out there. We really liked seeing how our idea could mesh with other PLC's ideas. It was also fun to actually meet all the other staff and see their interests. We learned, already, is that we can't give up on an idea. We should modify, and see where the problems are to improve the technique we use. We found that two, wait, three heads are better than one. We need to keep trying and tweaking our ideas to improve them, and remember our goals. We think working together toward a common understanding or goal was extremely helpful. We really liked this process and it has shown us other areas that we might want to research.

Showcase Supplies?

I don't see a request for any supplies for your Showcase presentation.  If you are needing something, please see Brittany McWilliams, we will still try to provide what you need.