Global Kids' Online Leadership Program

Many of us know about the deadly conflicts that have devastated the North African country of Sudan. What you may not know about is what you can do in your own community to support peace in this wartorn country. On February 12th, you can take a virtual stand for peace in Sudan at the "Salam Project" kick-off event.

Continue reading "Join the Salam Project: Virtual Service to Support Peace in Sudan Starting February 12!" »

Posted by Rik at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click the comic for the full image

Continue reading "[youth voices] A Day Working at Global Kids" »

Posted by Ryan GK at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello Again,
This blog is about the Breakthrough Learning conference Rafi, Barry, Nafiza and I attended. Primarily focused on Technology and the use of media in classrooms, this conference was held in Mountain View, California on the 27th and 28th of October, 2009 at Google's headquarters. Through out the conference there were many interesting speakers who ranged from professors from the University of Maryland to people who worked for the company that produces Sesame Street, to the one of the Co founders of Google Sergey Brin, even Grover from Sesame Street visited for a bit.

There were also some other teens and pre-teens there. There was a teen named Rosie from a group called BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition). Also from that group was Carlos and Robert. From MOUSE was Tyler, Michael and Pablo, and from International Children's Media Library was Dana ( she's 10). Dana was the only child that presented a question to the firstt panel of speakers. Her question was "I like music, but have trouble in Math. How can media help me in that situation?" At that moment it seemed like the conference turned into a political arena with the skill that these people avoided answering her question (at least not directly).

We did a play at the end of the conference in which we got to work with one of the greatest scholars that you can find in the world of media, James Paul Gee, before we led the adults to the 'Tech Playground' which was filled with technology, i.e, video games/ other computer related games that had not come out yet.

Over all it was a lot of fun, I was glad that I got to go.

Shonette

Posted by Shonette - GKm2 at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi! This is Nafiza Akter, and I was one of the youth attending the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age Forum. This forum was put together, as far as my understanding goes, to look at how technology could be used and incorporated into the current educational system for the benefit of the students. The nine youth that attended, organized by Global Kids, all helped to incorporate actual youth voices into the forum since the entire event was based around how technology could be used in the educational system that we have been receiving and experiencing. The event was held at the Googleplex, which, as you can imagine, was more reason to why no one would want to miss an opportunity to attend this event.

Shonette and I arrive at the GooglePlex

The Breakthrough Learning Forum wasn't at all what I expected it to be. First of all, I was under the impression I would see Google—but I didn't even get a tour! It's so funny because I was in a couple of the buildings that were a part of Google, but I didn't really get to see it as an entirety (this was me being dramatic). However, I got to experience Google. Sounds funny, doesn't it? Although I didn't get the whole "wow" factor tour of the Googleplex, I did get to see what their employees are like when they are just hanging out with one another, or hard at work—and I also got a chance to see Sergey Brin speak. Most importantly (I think for everyone who attended) we got to experience the snacks at Google—I say this because the entire mass of snacks laid out in the morning were just about poof—gone by around 4PM. I have to admit though, the Pocky were very tempting. I just can't help but remember Shonette constantly telling herself "Cheese is good for you" and "Chocolate is good for you" (how often do you see a treasure chest filled with chocolate coins?). You would wonder why in the world Google would be promoting morbid obesity, after all, I'm sure somewhere out there are statistics that find a correlation between being fit and working better...but then you realize the snacks are definitely balanced out with all the sports, activities, and the masses of people that bike to work. Anyway, the most impressive thing at the Googleplex for me was the T-rex that was surrounded by flamingoes!

Shonette and I with the T-Rex!

Continue reading "[conf/teens] The Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age Forum" »

Posted by Nafiza - TSL Intern/VVP at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our pilot year of Media Masters, students worked on various media projects dealing with global issues and new media literacies, and at the end of the year compiled and contextualized this work into Digital Portfolios, to be used for college applications, job searching and school credit. I'm thrilled to share the portfolios from the program below, and to see all of them, just click the links at the bottom of the post.

Amana's Digital Portfolio:

Continue reading "[mm] Media Masters Student Portfolios" »

Posted by Rafi Santo at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today GK went on a trip to Bedstuy. While in the Stuy we went to this urban farm. There was not any animals it was just plants,flowers,fruits and vegetables. We met up their with other groups known as the Bedford Rescue Mission and Project for Public Spacing. We were evaluating the Bedstuy neighborhood and how we feel about the Stuy.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 8:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

GK today had a lot of fun with a whole different twist. Today the media group, my other group, met up and started the day off at our supervisor Eris' house. At Eris' house we started the filming we have to do being that we are the media group. We were filming the scenes in our presentation and I was the camera/video man who got all of the footage. It was a lot of fun and magnificent acting. We had a lot of laughs and had a great time at Eris' house. The rest of the day at GK we were just continuing preparation for the final presentation. Also today at GK we had a cake celebrating many birthdays. The birthday people were Woody whose birthday was today, Laila whose birthday is Friday, and my birthday which is next Monday. Also we had a farewell address to one of the fellow junior trainers because today was her last day. So we had an eventful day today.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today at GK we divided from the original for groups for a little while. Today we split into three groups called the Service Learning, Media, and Curriculum. These groups have come together with the huge task of starting the preparation for our final presentation next Wednesday. All the different groups have different jobs in order to make this successful. Also today we talked about different kinds and forms of stress. Also we talked about ways to relieve stress. Other than that it was a normal day at GK.

Today the featured person is Sequenza Williams. Sequenza is a junior at Murry Bergtraum. She likes her school because of the people and she has a boyfriend that attends. She chose to work here at GK because she thinks the other choices were lame and this was the only one for her. She is in the poverty group and she has learned how to facilitate a workshop. She says there isn't anything else she needs to know and she learned everything here at GK. Sequenza feels that GK has too many discussions and should do more writing. Also she feels that GK should have more exciting activities to keep her alert and awake. In 5-10 years she sees herself living a lavish lifestyle in her penthouse on the Upper East side with her husband. She will be taking vacations once a month because she will be making a lot of money. In the following pictures Sequenza is wearing a white top.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today at GK we really didn't do anything that exciting. Today we were inside and just improved our workshops. Today we really were just getting to the "nitty gritty" of our workshops. We really took all the feedback from the group and just refined our workshop to kind of an ideal workshop for us. Other than that we played a game and it was really fun and got the energy going and you also won a prize if your group won. It was an overall average day.

Today the featured GK kid is Noelle Malcolm. Noelle is attending GK's own most popular school High School for Global Citizenship (HSGC). She is also a senior at HSGC. She likes her school because they have nice teachers and offer a lot of opportunities. She chose to work here at GK because she wanted to become a better facilitator and she likes to interact with new people. Noelle is a part of the education group and hopes to learn about the many organizations working towards bettering the educational system.

Noelle wants to learn more about what is going on in her surrounding environment. She has made many new friends this summer and it getting to know them very well. She doesn't like the fact that this isn't the same feel as a real job. She feels like she is in camp or attending school still. In about 5-10 years she sees herself as the owner of her own law firm.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today at GK the poverty group and I tested our workshop and facilitation skills on the other GK kids. It was decent for our first time leading a workshop. Everyone was interested in our activities and we kept high energy. Also at the end of it we got constructive criticism from our peers that could help better our workshop. It was a fun day even though one of my peers was not here. Her name is Nikki and its funny how she is the featured student of the day. Nikki Corley attends High School for Public Service(HSPS) and is going to her senior year. She likes her school because of the warm, friendly atmosphere.

Nikki says she likes working at GK because she feels it is adjustable. She chose to work here because she wanted to work with her own age. This summer Nikki is working with the health care group and wants to learn how to make a workshop that educates people on healthy food choices. Nikki so far this summer has learned how to budget her money. Nikki has made many new friends this summer and enjoys getting to know knew people. Nikki in ten years sees herself either in medical school or working in forensic sciences. If you don't know Nikki get to know her, she is cool people and has made this summer working here enjoyable for me. In the pictures Nikki is wearing a red top and one them she has on a blue top.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today at GK we stayed inside and did not go on any trips. That means nothing because just like every other day we stay live at GK. We were inside today and learned how to make a resume. We earned all the info that should be included and then we created our own. After we finished typing up our resume, we all went back to our respective groups and continued with the development of our workshops that we will facilitate next week. Also today we played a game called follow the leader. It was a fun game and the spirit alive when it was down.

Today the featured person is another one of my fellow junior trainers. Her name is Lisa and she goes to Long Island City High School(LIC) where she will be a senior next year. She likes her school because there are many extra curricular activities to get involved in. She enjoys working at GK because she feel that it is a new experience for her. She feels also that the one challenge to her is to come out of her comfort zone a little but and be more active and engaged. Lisa is a part of the food group and has learned a lot so far this summer. So far this summer she has learned about the securities and insecurities of food. One thing she would like to is how to adapt more to other people and improve her people skills. She has also made many new friends and is learning to open to others. In 5- 10 years Lisa sees herself as either a freelancer or managing a company.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we visited the Action Center(AC) and learned many different ways of taking action on some topics that we care for or feel strongly about. The AC was a nice trip that provided a reality check for many people. We learned that there are many different for people of all ages to make a difference and influence some kind of change that they feel needs to happen. We learned you don't have to be a certain age or a political figure to help change your community. Some ways that we learned were to not waste food, you can contact your president, and even be a promoter. These are just a few ways many of the youth can be involved in a change.

Also today we have a featured person from the GK work site. Her name is Ariana Hargett and I got to know a little more about her. Ariana attends High School for Global Citizenship (HSGC) and is going to be a senior next year. She doesn't like the way her school has change from since her freshman year, but she enjoys the company at her school and the teachers. Ariana enjoys working at GK because she feels it is something productive with her time and it is beneficial to herself and others. Although she likes it here she does not see it as a career.

Ariana this summer is working with the poverty group. She said she has learned a lot so far such as, the communities poverty affects and the changes that those communities undergo. She says that she also would like to learn about the other topics that some of the other groups are dealing with. She tells me that she has made many new friends and got to know some of the people very well. Some things that she would like to gain from working here this summer is experience, knowledge, and work ethic. She feels that one challenge she has faced working here is that they force you to come out of your comfort zone and express yourself and opinion. She says that in 5 -10 years she sees herself out of medical school and she will be a child psychiatrist.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was a regular day at GK. We didn't go or venture anywhere exciting but kept the energy indoors. Today we mostly were focusing on some topics or issues that will help us create different workshops in our respective groups. We also ventured a little into the world of media to see different ways we can present our workshops. Some different forms we learned about was digital video, social networking, and what I am doing now blogging. Also to keep everyone up we did an energizer where we kept a cipher going and everyone did a mini- rap. Today we got a lot accomplished moving forward in this ongoing journey here at GK.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was the last day of the "I Dig Zambia" virtual summer camp, and I have been reflecting on how our Global Kids teens participated in the program.  For the past two weeks, eleven of our Global Kids teens have been going through a virtual summer camp in Teen Second Life with eight other teens in Chicago to learn about science and society in Zambia.  It's been a really amazing experience for all of us.

That said, I think there were some significant differences between the two teams of students that played a part in how they participated and what they took away from the experience.  

Continue reading "[staff] Do virtual worlds support or hold back marginalized youth?" »

Posted by Rik at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Global Kids today was an ordinary day because no youth worked today, so we weren't in this office all day. Today I interviewed one of my supervisors. Also I made a video of her doing work in the office and she is the one wearing a green top. Her name is Marielle and she is very kind. She has been working here at GK for a little less than a year. She loves her job because of the new youth she meets and her co-workers. She really appreciates the integrity of this organization. She likes working with this organization because she likes doing social justice work and she has her Master's degree in that field.

She says that the only things she doesn't like about GK is the hours and she wishes they were more flexible. Also she doesn't like being inside all day which is why she tries to take us outdoors as often as possible. She also tells me that this summer so far has been a great learning experience and getting to meet and know new people is great.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today at GK we had an interesting day. We did a lot of talking about how we were going to spend our first paycheck. Many people had different ways of spending than our supervisors, they had to remind us that we should save money too.
So we talked about some budgets or ways to responsibly handle our money. Then later on we were outside in another park just acting out skits and just having fun as a whole. We had fun acting out the skits that pertained to what we do here at GK. It was an interesting day.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These two weeks have been a blast for me. I learned how paleontologist dig up fossils, how long it takes, and the amount of dedication it takes to be a paleontologist. Depending on their area of study, they would attend college for 8 years. They would use a rockhammer, shovel, chisels of different sizes, water and a brush to dig up fossils. Depending on the depth of the buried fossil, it could take months to dig up a fossil. This and many more I learned.

My favorite IDZ experience was the dance party and the digging of the fossils.
At the dance party I was the first to start dancing. We were dancing to music from Zambia. The beats were amazing. I was really dancing along with my avatar.
Digging up the fossils was fun and quite a challenge. At first we didn't know how to dig up the fossils but after a while we got it. I kept getting my fossils stolen but it was alright.

I learned how to change my environment settings and how to give items to people in second life. I learned how to move and work more effectively in second life. Now that I have these skills I can teach others who come to second life how to operate.

Learning in second life was different than learning in person or in other Global Kids programs because it is not only us learning. In a way we are teaching our avatars too. We learn how to fly, move, learn, and interact. When it is in person we are teaching ourselves. Pros-> Second life is us, in a way unknown. Cons->It doesn't last forever.

Posted by Tashawna J at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first thing I learned was what paleontology means, the second thing I learned was what it means to be eco-friendly to your environment, and the struggles that the kids have to go through with AIDS/HIV in Africa.

My favorite experience was when we learned the games that the played in the Grassroots football team in Africa, like how they used games to teach kids about AIDS/HIV, how you can't just tell from how a person looks if they have AIDS/HIV or not.

Learning in second life has been really awesome for me because I can't physically go to Zambia and dig for fossils and doing it on second life sped up the process because I don't think I have the patience or the skills to get the fossils out safely. But some of the bad things about doing this on second life was the lagging it was a disaster having to wait and kept getting booted of the site, other than that it was a really great experience and I'm looking forward to joining more second life programs.

This program has been a good learning process for the past two weeks. I think its different from regular programs because we actually do stuff but when we are in second life we can do and become anything we want, it's like we are starting over brand new and fresh.

Posted by Jovann A. at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I learned that paleontology is the study of fossils and bones of dinos, second I learned that dino bones are very hard to recover when they are covered in rock, and that if volcanic ash covers the animal it will be well preserved in ash, that makes it easier to deal with in a way.

I like going to the museum and learning about fossils and going behind the scenes and learning so much...it was a fun experience. I also like the second life experience, I learned so much more about second life.
Second Life skills and how I can dig fossils. I bet I can go wih my tools and go dig up dinos and I can set up meetings and meet new people.

It was different... not new different. I feel I learned a lot though. Thank you guys a lot:]

Posted by Chris H. at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Throughout I Dig Zambia I've been learning all about Paleontology and from learning about these scientists I've learned that, there always isn't a possible chance that a fossil will be dug out in one piece. However this ties in when the fossil is buried under sand because with sand these isn't a chance of being able to unravel a fossil in a whole because the sand is fragile. Well the third thing that I didn't know that Paleontologist had to go through was waiting for fossils for example when shipping a fossil from one country i didn't know that scientist had to wait months to be honest.

From being in I Dig Zambia, I had so many experiences and deciding on which was my favorite experience, I couldn't decide but from being as a group I really enjoyed team work. I enjoyed team work because I got to work with others and because of the challenge that we went through for example. The activity that we did after seeing the video on the Grassroots Soccer was very helpful because I personally learned and I taught others about the effects of having HIV/AIDS in one's life with all the other things in one's life. I liked that because of the soccer activity that we did we worked as a team and fell as a team literally "doing push-ups".

I learned so much about computers and not just that I had so many typing problems but thanks to IDZ I no longer have to worry about that and college reports won't be as hard. I acknowledged problems that there was in Zambia so I learned about the outside world. Learning about Africa could help me if anything came up in college and with this experience I'm not afraid of this upcoming August.

As of in second life one can learn more and be more comfortable around people which is important because by presenting one doesn't have to be so scared of talking to others and one has more privacy in some sort of way. However as of learning in GK, I've been more into an up close talk and I feel as if someone can listen unlike in second life when another person can be doing something else.

Posted by Abraham B. at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things I learned about paleontology that I didn't know about before are that:
that the same fossils can be found on several different continents because of the the continents split of millions of years ago leaving animals spread up from each other. I learned that dinosaurs are not the only type of fossils that are left on the earth today. There are a lot of others that can be found but can look similar. And that when digging up the fossils they can break very easily just because they have become very fragile due to the different weather conditions and because of how they were exposed above the earth so the animals that were alive could have easily have access to it and could have done things to make it break and spread all over the earth or they could have eaten it .

My favorite experience in IDZ would most likely be just how we worked in second life. I say this because I have never been involved in second life before and just the thought of working as a character of myself have been very interesting. Also just because we got to socialize with other people it felt more comfortable doing it in second life than if I had to do it in real life.

A new skill that I have learned over the past week would be how to work better with the people around me and I say that just because I have always had a problem socializing with people and feeling comfortable around them but working in second life made it easier to do that. Socializing can be helpful in the future just because I am going to meet new people everyday and I will have to talk to them so it was just made easier in IDZ.

Learning in second life has been different than what I have done before just because I was able to have my own character and I was able to make it do whatever I wanted it to do and that was easy because it was a world where we could have done what we wanted and not being judged for it. The pros of working in second life is that we could have done anything we wanted and not be judged for it, we met new people, we had a group that we worked with, and we were in a new environment. The cons of working in second life Is that the computer was a bit slow so it made it difficult to do the task fast, it was sometimes difficult to work with our group members on a task just because we sometimes would be doing the same thing at the same time. The job was harder to do than it would have been in real life just because the tools might not have worked the way we wanted it to, but over all it was a great experience.

Posted by Shonell R. at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paleontology is the study of fossils and the process of digging up fossils. in the past week i learned that paleontology requires a lot of hard work, during fossil digging there is a method used to get a fossil, and a lot of group work and communication is needed to complete a task.

My favorite experience with IDZ was taking our bits of fossil bones to create the animal. This was fun because our team work was perfect and this made us finish up first and be recognized as the leading team.

Over the past 2 weeks, I learned that group work helps complete a task in a shorter amount of time and participation and concentration results to a nearly perfect exhibition. Participation and focus will help me in the future because it will help me understand the work and raise accurate and educated points.

Learning in second life was a totally new and interesting experience. Although it was difficult at first, I got used to it and learned through the images, chats and blogs. Some pro's in learning with second life are: you get to see your task and show it according to your taste, we get to chat with our groups in pretty cool tents, we get to fly :), and we get to possess cool items which help us learn. Some con's are: our characters some times lag which makes it frustrating when we are in the middle of a task and the graphics need some improvement.

Posted by Gozi at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YAY!! Last blog!! Not that I don't like blogging, it's just that it becomes more of a chore than something fun to do after.

I learned a lot about Zambia and paleontology. I learned how fragile fossils are and how long it takes to find and carefully extract it from the earth. I also learned that this is not a future career for me. Way too much school and a life time of hard work.

MY favorite part of IDZ was our letter from Jeff and Alta. They let us know what was going on and how closely our lives can be related to the lives you youth in Zambia. Zambia looks like a very beautiful place and I would love to visit some day.

I don't think I learned new skills but i did find out some new computer and second life short cuts. Second life is great. I have a personal second life account but using second life to learn about first life things is really cool and way better than boring books. It can be a little tricky if it is your a first time second life user but once you figure out how to move about and move things it become enjoyable. Second life is cool because you can create the material need to fully understand what ever is being taught. But there are those annoying lag issues.

I had a ton of fun and hope I can do something like this again. Made some new friends too. This may be the last thing I do with GK :( I enjoyed every moment. :)

Posted by Amana K. at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things that I learned about paleontology are the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution. Paleontology is related to biology and geology, it focuses on the record of past life in fossils, and its main source of evidence, which are found in rocks.

My favorite experience in IDZ is the way they teach the kids about AIDS and HIV by soccer its my favorite because it help the kids pay attention about disease.

Over the past two weeks, I learned about how to dig fossils, how to present, how they exhibit it, how they get it ready to present to the people. Presenting fossils might be useful for me in the future because it can help me present my artwork to people in good acceptable way.

Learning in Second life has been different from learning I've done in person in the classroom by experiencing it in real life when I was playing in second life it feels like I was there, it feel like I was living that life, it make feel like I was in Zambia, dig fossils, dance have fun, met new people.

Posted by Monel - GKm2 at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have learned many new things about Paleontology. The most interesting thing that I learned was the process of preparing. Before, when I walked into a museum, I thought that the bones were extracted as complete artifacts. Now I know that people called Preparers actually make the bones look worthy of presentation and that the process of preparing bones is very difficult. I also learned more about how the shape of a fossil can determine different things about the way that they lived their lives. I learned many things that surprised me. For example, I finally learned how scientists determine where to dig when they are in search of fossils.

My favorite experience in I Dig Zambia was participating in the soccer and AIDS activity. I didn't like the soccer part so much, but I loved the effect that the program was having on local communities in Zambia. AIDS relief is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. This year I wrote a thesis paper on the U.S AIDS relief program PEPFAR and the paper didn't exactly portray the program in a great light. I thought that it was awesome that a small group of people could start such an effective program. I liked the fact that we discussed political and social issues in Zambia instead of only focusing in on the paleontology.

Over the past two weeks, I think that I have developed better communication skills. I'm a shy person and I'm not used to being thrown into problem solving situations with strangers, but IDZ forced me to communicate better with others. I'm not very into computer games or programs that use virtual reality, and so IDZ also helped me develop my technological skills. I'm now much more comfortable roaming around Second life than I was on the first day of the program. These new skills will definitely help me in the near future. I will be entering college in the fall and the development of these skills will help me both socially an academically.

Learning in Second Life has been a very interesting experience. In Second Life, one learns through the observation of one's peers, which is very different from learning from in a classroom. The only thing that I did not think worked out well was the correspondence with the scientists. I would have liked to understand what they were saying, but this was more of a technological issue that could not be helped. What I enjoyed most about Second Life was the way that it was left up to the student to put the pieces of the puzzle together. This kind of independent learning is very empowering and i think that it should be used more often.

Posted by Rowana A at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three things I learned about paleontology that I didn't before is one that they look for other fossils other than dinosaurs. First I thought that dinosaurs were the only thing paleontologists looked for. It was an unintelligent thought by me. Now I know that paleontologists look for fossils such as rodents and other animals that have died. Another thing I learned is that there are different jobs in that field of work. I began to get interested in being the preparer before and after the dig. Its so cool that they are other jobs that work behind the scenes. Before I thought the paleontologists and the scientist were the only ones that really worked. Another thing is how much hard work it is to find a fossil. They are so much research they have to do such as finding out the habitat of the fossil and what it eats to find out where they might be found. Sometimes your not even sure if the fossil would be at that location.

My favorite in IDZ was to be able to use the computer to dig for fossils and understand Zambia and their culture. Also meeting new people in Chicago and becoming friends with them. All the activities may have been difficult at first but ended up being fun and easy. I enjoyed the most was researching the fossil that we found and put together. I found out so much about a little fossil through a virtual world. Now have friends who live in Chicago and I know so much about Zambia.

Patience. That's what I learned over the past two weeks. I learned patience with people and computers. Some people would argue with me over and over but I learned to let it go and have good argument back which it will turn into an educational argument. Also the computers kept on acting up so instead of going crazy and breaking the computer I learned o just sit still and keep on trying to fix it in a calm way. Communication. Another thing I learned because I always thought I had great communication skills but it beans not to be so good over the computer. This will help in the future with other people in person or on the computer. Also these skills would help me out in the real world. Now I know how to use second life almost like a pro. In the beginning I was so lost but now I'm great at moving things and participating even when my computer is down. Before I didn't know what second life was and now I'm a part of it.

Posted by Christina J. at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today at GK we went on a trip exploring Brooklyn. We were going through many neighborhoods and filling out surveys with different people in the hood. The main area my group visited was the Gowanus Projects. People were actually kind and we got all of our surveys filled out pretty quickly. One thing we learned was that the most people in that hood could not afford to pay rent and have moved out. Also we got to see more of the housing in that area such as the apartments and we saw condos that were built not too far from the Gowanus Projects. We explored that whole part of Brooklyn and took pictures. It was a great trip and an even better learning experience.

Posted by GK Kareem SYEP at 9:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today we started making our exhibit for our fossils. Problem solving was harder on my own because I only have one way of looking at things. When my team joined it made things much easier.

Today I researched the Adaptation of Dicynodont {our fossil}. I looked for information I thought connected to how the dicynodont survived, in a way what made the animal unique.

An example of a powerful group and a oppressed group reversing roles
is probably McDonalds and the consumers. McDonalds has massive power but depends on its consumers who have the power over the company.

Posted by Tashawna J at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, I have used many types of problem solving. the problem solving as a group was different than individual by helping us getting done quickly, when you work as a group, problems are easy to get done. It become less difficult. I have to use each type of problem solving when I was putting the fossil together.

In order to complete my fossil I had to look for the environment where my fossils lived like plants, trees, other animals, climate. I decide what information to look for by searching for the name of the fossil, the place where it lived. The information that was credible was when did it died.

No, because in some other countries are not friends with the U.S so the U.S cant go and try to tell them what to do like Cuba, Americans are not allowed to go there and Cuba is not allowed to trade with the U.S.

Posted by Monel - GKm2 at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the group, there was a variety of ideas and it was easy for the group to bring up points. But an individual like me had to brainstorm and research alone which made it more stressful and take a longer time to bring up points. I used each type of problem solving when I got stuck or faced with a task that needed more than one person to accomplish.

In order to complete my fossil exhibit, I made research on my fossil's adaptation skills and its environment. In order to decide what information to include, I searched the internet for credible information and shared it with my group to see their view on the chosen point.

For example in countries like North Korea, the government rules the people, leaving the people with no say or decisions to make for their lives. but in the U.S, the people run the government and have a say in the government's actions. the most powerful group in the U.S do not really have much or any power in some other countries.

Posted by Gozi at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)