Practice round.

Blogger has recently added a way to thread conversations on the blog.  To see how this works, let's try it ourselves! (I know you are very excited.) After watching the following clip please leave your reactions.  Points that were made that you agree/disagree with?  After posting, please respond to at least one of your colleagues responses so that we can see how threading works.

Final Project

The final project was a huge success.  Overall we raised $1,200 and made 25 loans.  The following is a link to a promotional Kiva youtube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdzV5Tv0ccU&feature=youtu.be

As a result of the project we also have become a Kiva School.  The community page can be found here:
http://www.kiva.org/team/westhampton_beach_high_school

Kiva Research in Progress

The students have completed their research and today have created an outline for their paper.  Most students seem to have learned things about their country that they did not know before.  Additionally, because students have researched the country that their Kiva borrower is from they have a better understanding of the economic situations in these countries and why they may need a loan to begin  with.

Next week students will have time in class to work on writing their essay.  After writing the essay students will present their borrower to the class.  The borrower with the most votes will get the class money to donate to their borrower (if he/she has not yet met their goal) or another borrower from that country chosen by them.

The road to Kiva...

The beginning of our Kiva Research journey was a good one.  We have created steps for the students to complete.  Students have looked at the site and are surprisingly into the idea of Kiva.

Today students began to write an expository essay on the validity of the Kiva site.  Students answered questions like: how it works, where did it start, what is micro-financing, explain risk and due diligence of the site.  This is an important step so that students have a full understanding of where and how their money is being donated.

Florence and I have agreed on a solution to our problem.  We will have students present on an existing loan from the site.  Students will fight for their loan.  The winner from each class will be allowed to choose the loan the money gets donated to (depending on if their initial loan is still in need, students may choose a loan other than the one they fought for).

2/9-Kiva Project

This week was really productive.  We now have a definite project which I am really excited about.  We are having the kids research a country and find a Kiva project in the country to support.  Students will try to get the class to support their "business plan."  Everyone will get one vote but cannot vote for themselves.  This is a great way for students to do service learning and hopefully contribute to their community service hours.  We are hoping to raise money in each class.  The most voted business plan with get the donated money.

Session one...

I am having a hard time deciding what specifically I will do for my project but am looking into using Global Voices as a tool to use with my students.  I am reading many of the entries and am finding them to be very interesting.  What specifically is of interest to me is that even though we are in different parts of the world we are dealing with many of the same issues.  I am looking forward to learning new techniques that I can teach to my students and I strongly feel that it is a valuable experience for my students.