|
NHS hosts Financial Aid Workshop
(Full Story)
White River Dedication January 23
(Full Story)
Board authorizes projects at North, NIS
(Full Story)
| German class project earns Golden Apple Award
A look at how life in Germany has changed since the fall of the Berlin Wall has won an award for a group of students at Noblesville High School.
Technically, IPALCO's Golden Apple Award was given to German teacher, Mrs. Carolyn Beardshear for her use of technology in teaching. But Mrs. Beardshear shares the honor with her fifth-year German students because they made it possible.
"This really is an award for the class," Mrs. Beardshear said.
Supported by IPALCO Enterprises, Inc., in association with CLASS (Community Leaders Allied for Superior Schools), the Golden Apple Award recognizes the achievements of teachers who excel in the classroom by utilizing math, sciene, or technology.
Past winners include social studies teacher Bruce Hitchcock, science teacher Gail Anderson, and technology specialist Lorie Homan.
Each winner receives a $2,000 monetary award and a customized apple. Each winner's school receives $1,000.
Mrs. Beardshear's award was based on a research project done by firth-year German students.
The final project is a web site that allows students to share what they learned with others interested in their topic. It eventually will be accessible through the high School's web page.
Entitled "Nach der Wende," which means "after the fall," the site compares life in east Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and includes e-mail correspondence from students at the Angersgymnasium in Jena, Germany.
The main web site is a compilation of individual sites developed by students as they researched the topic they selected. Each individual site contains information gathered by the student, plus links to other web sites on the World Wide Web, graphics illustrations, e-mail from students in Germany, and biographics written in German.
"Each of us picked a topic related to the reunification of Germany," said student Amy.
Their topics include the history of the division of Germany, the secret police of the former East Germany, hostility toward foreigners, products made in East Germany, the environment, nostalgia for the East, the positive and negative aspects of everyday life in East Germany, basic concepts of the European Union, the long-awaited embrace, and the economic consequences of the reunification.
"We researched at the library, worked on our own at home, and we had packets of research here we could use," Amy said.
Some of the students found a lot of material on the Internet, others found next to nothing there. They learned a lot from corresponding via e-mail with students of Angersgymnasium in Jena, Germany, and their teacher, Uwe Klemm.
The German students were about 9 years old when the wall came down.
Life in what was once East Germany is different now than before, the students in Germany noted, but that does not mean that all aspects of life are better than before. Goods and materials from the western world have been more plentiful in the last decade, but unemployment is high and good jobs are difficult to find.
Several teens also are aware of the prejudices that exist between the "eastgermans" and the "westgermans." Although the wall came down, it still exists in the minds of many Germans.
One German teen thought that some people wanted the old life in East Germany back, but most people, especially the younger generations, are happy with their lives today.
The project challenged students to collect, manage and communicate information in German, using appropriate technologies and solving problems by critical thought and analysis.
"On a higher level," Mrs Beardshear said, "I believe they learned from their friends in the former East Germany that having a voice in choosing your own government is a precious freedom; that the government under which you live determines your life, but that no government is all good or all bad."
Mrs. Beardshear celebrated the Golden Apple Award with her students by giving each one a Golden Delicious apple.
She hopes to use at least a portion of the award money to augment electronic correspondence with students in Jena, and also those at the Christian Wirth Schule in Usingen, Germany.
She wants to purchase six mini-cameras and software, keep four at NHS, and send two to each of the schools in Germany.
"With those in place, whenever we send e-mail to them, we can actually see them!" she said.
|
Pauker
