Project Description

Background

Origin of Plan
A number of elements blended nicely together to result in the formation of the foundation for the project described in this web site. The catalyst was the major assignment for the Multicultural Perspectives on Technology (EDIT 6600) class at the University of Georgia. The assignment was to engage in and report on a semester-long project blending educational technologies with the principles of teaching diversity.

Gifted Background
Multi-criteria eligibility has been a part of the State of Georgia gifted placement process since the mid 1990’s. To qualify for the program, a student must receive qualifying scores in three of four categories (intelligence, achievement, creativity, and motivation). While this approach has many positives, there also exist a few negatives. One result is that the students are not necessarily gifted in all subject areas. Although gifted students are typically advanced academically by one to two grade levels; likewise socially they often lag behind their peers by a similar amount.

Setting

The project took place during the first quarter of 2006 in a Title One elementary school in Gwinnett County, Georgia. The major participants in the project were nine fourth grade gifted students. Minor participants in the project were fifteen fifth grade gifted students.

The school’s population is both highly mobile and very diverse. Ninety-three percent of the school population is composed of minorities, including 47% Hispanic, 36% African American, 6 % Asian, and 4 % Multiracial. At the time of project implementation, the school had 45 countries represented and 27 languages spoken. Other student population percentages that are revealing include the following: 80% F/R; 21 % ESOL; 11 % Special Ed; and 20 % EIP. Additionally, 30 Hurricane Katrina victims have enrolled in the school.

Lesson Plan: Purpose and Design

Goals
There were two major goals of the project. The first was academic and the second was social.

1. Academic Objective

Students will be able to demonstrate their conceptualization of percentages through their creation of accurate visual graphs depicting the facts and percentages of a given set of data.

2. Social Objective
   • Students will experience an increase in their own self-awareness.
   • Students will improve their social skills, tolerance, and appreciation for others through a heightened awareness of various cultures and diversity.

Interdisciplinary Connections
Supporting objectives of this cross-curricular project included concepts from three of the four major academic areas. The mathematical concepts covered included converting data to meaningful graphs. Language arts concepts included basic research, as well as writing and communication skills eventually presented to the school wide audience via a PowerPoint Presentation. Social Studies curriculum was addressed through research and investigation of various cultures, countries, traditions, and food. School history was investigated through examination of yearbooks and scrapbooks. Through participation in the promotion of International Night students gained an awareness of the diversity present at our school as well as an understanding of why that diversity is something to celebrate.

The project can be divided into three broad categories. The categories are:

1. Excel Lessons and Student Work
2. PowerPoint Lessons and Student Work
3. Discussions and Activities Related to Culture and Diversity

Lesson Plan: Categories and Components

Excel Lessons and Work

1. Timed Tasks: Estimation versus Actual
2. Survey – Answering Questions (Practice Using Excel)
3. Creation of Personal Timeline
4. Graph Creation Using Survey Results
5. Creation of Personal Cultural Pie Graphs

PowerPoint Lessons and Work

1. International Night Promotional Slide Show
2. Student Profile Slide Shows

Culture, Religions, and Teamwork Activities and Discussions

1. Team Time Activities Various Groupings of Students
2. Readings and Discussions Regarding Religions of the World
3. Dividing Responsibilities of International Night Slide Show
4. Assembling Pieces of International Slide Show (Deciding on the order of the slides)

Timeline

In order to understand the timeline for the project it is necessary to understand that the gifted students involved in this project are in a pull out resource class. We meet all day once a week plus have an additional 45 minute segment on a separate day. Countless interruptions to our program contribute to the extended timeframe involved. This project began in early January and continued throughout the month of April 2006. During the month of January approximately one hour once a week was devoted to the project. During the month of February and half of March approximately 3 to 4 hours per week were devoted to the various aspects of the project. The combination of Spring Break and system wide testing severely limited the available time during the month of April thus the total time spent on the project during that month was limited to two hours. The following table shows the project timeline.

Standards

1. Technology LoTi Level achieved 4b
2. ISTE Standards addressed included aspects from all six of the categories listed.
3. Gwinnett County Technology Standards included all 60 of the listed 4th Grade Technology Competencies.
4. Gwinnett County AKS Standards included multiple objectives in the following three curriculum areas: Language Arts, Mathematics, and Social Studies. The extent of the number of matching standards makes a comprehensive list too extensive for this site.

Author Information

I have been a gifted program teacher in an elementary school setting since 1993. Therefore, I have more than a decade of experience teaching elementary school students. In my position, I teach grades kindergarten through fifth. This project was with a fourth grade class, a group with which I am most comfortable. Since, I am currently in the last semester of a graduate level Technology Integration Program degree at the University of Georgia, I also was comfortable with the technological aspect of the project.

I view myself as an insatiable lifelong learner. Currently I am enamored with technology. I view technology as a modern day tool for free expression of individuals. Certainly the Internet provides a ready audience for all those willing to share something of themselves. Suddenly, the public has been given the "power of the press" that only those in Journalism enjoyed in years past. Yet, we must all recognize that with this new found power also comes the responsibility to use it wisely and for the good of society. During this unit, one of my personal goals was to give young students an understanding of responsible use of technology through first hand experience implementation. Responsible use of technology is relevant to all of today’s society. I truly believe that technological advances hold the key to helping open lines of communication between individuals and nations. It is through communication that the foundation is built for understanding, respect, and tolerance of others.

I feel very fortunate to work in a culturally diverse school. Each person is unique and has much to offer. The celebration of that diversity is the purpose of our annual International Night. Both my students and I enjoyed playing such an important role in this worthwhile event this year. One of the benefits of teaching is that I get to learn right along with my students. This project not only helped to open my students' eyes, it also helped me open my eyes to other viewpoints and perspectives.