What Matters? (to each character - and to ninth graders)

In Anne Smith's English 9 class they are viewing everything they read and do through the lens of the question, "What Matters?"

So far, we have read Jack London's "To Build a Fire" , excerpts from Thoreau's Walden, and connected those two to Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. With each piece we read, we take some time to reflect and connect. We have tried to examine what really matters to each of these characters.

The students have created Google Earth files to document their journey so far. Head on over, download and take a look at some of the kmz files, and leave some constructive criticism.

Google Maps, Google Earth and the Summer Games

Just a quick post to point out this story from the LA Times:

From where do the most Beijing Summer Olympic medal winners hail? Despite Michael Phelps being well on his way to breaking Mark Spitz�s record of seven gold medals at a single Games, it�s not North America that has the most gold medals so far. According to the Google Maps� Summer Games 2008, as of Aug. 12, 2008, China has won the most Olympic gold. The United States has won the most overall medals.

The Stadium page is my favorite of all the maps. Click on a stadium and watch a video as Google Earth zooms in. They also offer a photo and info about the venue.

Nothing major here, and probably no real educational relevance (other than curiosity, which isn't such a bad thing), just thought it was interesting. I bet there are more creative uses of Google Maps/Earth and the Olympics. If you know of any, please leave a URL in the comments.

I'm way behind in my aggregator (with no hope of catching up now that school is officially upon us), but it sure seems like somebody, perhaps dy/dan, should have a post coming soon with some great problems using current Olympic data. (I'm pretty sure he posted a while back doing some predictions with Olympic data, but I can't find it at the moment - somebody leave that URL in the comments as well and I'll update the post.)

A Google Earth Odyssey

Over on Learning and Laptops, Anne Smith describes a recent project with her freshmen using Google Earth.

During my first few years at AHS, Maura Moritz and I developed an assignment where we had our freshmen complete personal learning journeys on a big laminated map mimicking Odysseus�s own journey. Along the map, they had to carefully mark 10 places they had visited, what they did there, as well as what they learned from the experience.

. . . My students will be creating a Google Earth journey of their travels following the same criteria as before looking at where they went, what they did there, and most importantly, what they learned. Odysseus during his travels learned something about himself as well as other cultures along his journey home, and I hope they will do this as well. I am hoping that these will be true reflections of their learning. Also, I am anxious to see the impact that these presentations will have on one another. Will they find they have visited similar places? Will they see and reveal the lessons they have learned over their short life thus far?

With help from Mike Porter, our Assistant Director of Technology (who I can�t link to because he�s still not blogging), the students created their own journeys. I think it was a good first attempt, although I think we were all a little disappointed that they didn't include any pictures, audio or video in their journeys (but perhaps that's just me being enamored with the capabilities of Google Earth). You can download their kmz files from their class blog. Also read through the comments to see the students� perspectives on the project.