Connecting Dominican Republic and American Culture

Dominican Republic and United States Cultural and Book Studies

7th Grade Social Studies

Multi-Discipline Studies

The 7th Grade Social Studies will read The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph. This book takes place in a small village in the Dominican Republic and tells the story of a 13 year old named Ana Rosa. It discusses hard issues such as the government trying to take away land from her family, parental drinking issues, biological/adoptive parents, and family members dying. This book explores the culture of the Dominican Republic and also can lead to discussion about hard issues in our world-- no matter where you live.

This novel functions as an ‘educational technology’ because it is an avenue and tool of learning that students can learn from. This novel for middle school is a tool to teaching and encourages reflection and investigation.  I believe that it is an effective technology because the students can relate to a student about their age in a different country. Maybe the American student and the Ana Rosa are facing the exact same issues or may be feeling similar emotion. This book is one medium to learn about a different culture that is not dependent on technology. Physical copies of books will be more beneficial in this situation that digital copies. Students can tell how far along they are in the story by simply holding the book (not figuring out percentages). By knowing where they are, students can make educated guesses as to how the story will progress. Also, students may need to follow along with their finger, and on a digital copy, that would turn the page. In addition, having physical copies of the novel will reduce the stress of making sure that all the students have electronic tools (or if it has enough battery) that will support the digital copy. Since students are using technology throughout the project in other ways; I believe that using a physical copy will be simpler. 


Cultural Connection

Through Skype Classroom, I will connect to a a teacher and classroom in the Dominican Republic. After navigating through Skype Classroom, it is very encouraging to see how many teachers connect with other teachers throughout the world. Using Skype, I found a school that is being built. Though it is not open now, it is a school I could connect with when I become a teacher a few years down the road. The project is called Hostos, and it would be a wonderful source for American students and Dominican students to learn about each others’ way of life- to see the similarities and differences. It would be very a very meaningful experience for the Dominican and United States students to Skype each other. I would connect with the teacher and learn about her teaching experience. It would be rich to learn tactis that she uses and tactics that I use. We would talk about similarities and differences with out students and possible subjects that our students could discuss together over Skype. My American students would collaborate with each other to create questions to ask the Dominican students about life, school, friends, challenges, emotions, and various topics over Skype. Dominican students would also ask the American students about their way of life.

Problem Solvers

Students will choose an issue that is represented in the novel that the students read (i.e. biological vs. adoptive parents, home/ land evacuation, alcoholism, family members dying). Students will find two articles online about the issue that they choose (could be a study or a news report). Students will respond to various questions and topics such as: 1) What is the issue? How are people’s lives affected by the issue? 2) Are there solutions or coping mechanisms to help with the issue? 3) What are conflicting forces in your issue (man vs. self, man vs. others, etc.) What is the stance of each side 4) How has this issue affected your life or someone else’s life that you known? 5) How did this issue affect Ana Rosa’s life?  6) How does this issue affect lives in the United States and in the Dominican Republic? 7) How does your first article portray the  issue? 8)How does your second article portray the issue? 9) What can YOU do to find a solution or help with the issue?

Students will reply with 3-5 sentences for each question in a blog. For this social studies assignment, students will learn how to blog. They will apply their knowledge, their research, and opinions into their post on their blog. Although students may not have used a blog before, prior experience (specifically in their social studies class with Google Plus and Twitter) will aid in their navigation through the creation of the blog process. The teacher will be available for discussion and aid, but part of the assignment is for the students to discover on their own.
Students will interact over the blog by responding to each other’s posts and affirming quality points that other have make.

History of Technology

Students will engage in a discussion about the development and history of technology. Students will be challenged to think about how American students could have communicated with Dominican Students before Skype Classroom. Before Skype Classroom, students and teachers could have used e-mail and possibly phone calls (thought that would have been very expensive). Before those two, mailing letters would have been the means of communication. Each of these forms of communication evolve from one to the next. They may seem “revolutionary” but truly, technology takes baby steps. The “next” technology only makes sense because it closely relates to the prior one.

This also applies to blogger. Before blogger, students could have emailed the teacher their responses. Before email, students could have typed their educational artifacts. Before typing, handwritten homework did the job. Each of these are closely connected but simply take the next step. Students will discuss this in class.

Skype Classroom and blogger were chosen for this assignment because of beneficial progressions that they have made from the last technologies.  Skype Classroom allows for students to SEE and HEAR the other students, not only read about the other students’ experience or hear about it. It is more multi-faceted learning and seems more like a face-to-face interaction. Blogger has also made advancements to allows for a good educational technology implementation. Instead of simply just writing an assignment and turning it in, or typing it and emailing it to the teacher, students can compile all of their thoughts on the blog. This way, other students can access and read the posts easily and respond to them. In addition, students can keep more organized by having their posts in all one spot.

Limitations of Technology

Though there are many positives to the technology that the 7th grade students will be using, there are limitations of the technology.Students will engage in discussions in small groups and the large class to talk about what Skype Classroom cannot do/or has trouble doing. Skype Classroom can show images and give off sound, yet it cannot send smells, taste, touch. Skype Classroom is limited by internet connection, what is the Wi-Fi is weak, disconnected or not available? Skype classroom is also stopped by not allowing students to absolutely understand the other school’s setting and community. It is limited to a screen and a camera instead of being fully engaged in one another’s surroundings.

Students will also bounce ideas off of one another about the limitations of blogger (in small and large groups). For example, pages are limited to 1 MB in size. Total storage for pictures has a maximum of up to 1 GB. Blogs have a limitation of design and format. Also, the full expression of one’s voice and attitude about the subject cannot fully be explained in a blog because of the reader’s interpretation of the post.

Technologies always have limitations. That does not mean that we should not use them; it simply means that there is a cap on what can be done through and with them. Though we may not be able to fully experience the Dominican school, we could still see a tour and hear an explanation. Students need to understand that technologies have caps and that technology is not the savior of the world; it simply is a medium to help us understand the world a little more. Though blogger has limitations, there are still many positives such as the large amount of posts that one can make and the option of commenting on other people’s posts. The limitation of not understanding someone’s voice or attitude is the limit of writing in general. Students will learn to communicate effectively through writing because that is a lifelong skill that is needed.