1. Description of Our Team
Our group is made of four students, commonly called double A double T, Anne, Adrienne, Thomas and Tara.We started working as a group after being intrigued by Thoma's initial idea of discussing communication. Anne, 16, main job was to work on the some of the culture and language guides; specifically focused on French. Thomas, 18, his job was to work on some of the culture and language guides specifically with his knowledge of American Sign Language. Adrienne, 17, she also worked on the language and culture guides; specifically with her background knowledge of Spanish. Tara, 18, her main portion was receiving all of the information from the other group members and putting in an appealing way on the website. Mrs. Glickman our teacher worked along with us every step of the way. Her vast knowledge and encouragement was invaluable to the success of our group. Micheal Nesbitt, Thomas' translator, was a key success to our team. He helped us communicate with Thomas in the correct way. We appreciate all those who helped us along the way.
http://www.wix.com/doubleadoublet/Doors-To-Dimplomacy click on our project and read through the our team book!
2. Summary of Our Project
Diplomacy is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations; skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility. We feel that the first step to reaching diplomacy is to become aware of other cultures and understand the differences that are present in countries throughout the world. Each member of the global community belongs to a unique cultural background, and in order to understand a person we must learn about their beliefs, language, and traditions. Peaceful negotiations cannot be reached without communication, thus we stress the importance of immersing oneself in the worlds most popular languagesto always be prepared!
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
The largest problems we faced was working with a limited amount of time. We had to have had the project basically complete by the end of January so it could be graded for our final exam in International Studies. Also, working with a Thomas, who happens to be deaf and his translator, Micheal to be able to communicate with him. Everything took a little bit longer but we all learned the importance of communication on a deeper level than just being able to travel better. We learned that it is about how things work when there is positive communication and how things fail when communication lacks. We also had a hard time learning the tough copyright laws and teaching ourselves how to build a working website. In the end we took away more than just learning about other cultures around the world but learning about each other and how we work together.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
Our Doors to Diplomacy project affected members of our class and of our community by providing easily accessible information that anyone could attain when desired. We are empowering others with knowledge, which is the best tool for communication.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
We completed our Doors to Diplomacy project in our International Studies class, and it fit perfectly into the curriculum. Not only did we gather new information about nations around the world, but we were able to display the importance of this knowledge. International relations rely heavily on the understanding of others' cultures, languages, beliefs, and traditions. There is so much more to a person than what meets the eye, and we stress this throughout our web page by informing others. Being able to use the internet for the majority of our research was a great advantage for us, as we received current, up-to-date information that we were easily able to transfer to our web page.
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