CollaborationOur Team - We are students from Brazil and the United States and we have worked together to make a website that we hope will not only change the way people think, but will change the way people act. We want to see stories of kindness replace the stories of violence we see in the news everyday. We use Think.com in our schools, so we made "Kindness Kids' pages and set up a project for our work called ThinkQuest 08-Kindness Kids. We used the pages and tools to get to know each other and share our work throughout this project.
ThinkQuest 2008 - Kindness Kids and the coaches Making the Site We used Think.com pages and tools to get to know each other and share our work throughout this project. We created votes, surveys, and message boards. We chose our topic in early August and began to plan projects for the school year. Two big events were planned. The Kindness Kids' Kick-Off was planned for October and Celebrate Kindness Day was scheduled for January. We wrote raps and cheers that we knew both girls and boys would like to hear and learn. The Brazilian team members joined the team in December and they learned the raps and cheers in Portuguese. The people involved with this project have shared more than just words. We have shared our culture with each other, each one learning from the other in spite of language barriers and long distance. Teammates from both countries sent out a kindness survey, one in Portuguese and one in English. We decided that our main pages should focus on kindness in a friendship, the home, the community, the school, and in a culture. We made an outline and began to gather our content. Here is how:
Our Work - Originally, everyone was going to work on all of the content, images, photos, and media for their section of the website. That did not work out because some of us were not as strong in art, so we made a new plan. Everyone wrote content for their section, but the people who were better at artwork created graphics and drawings for team members who needed help. Some teammates used photography and editing tools instead of drawings. The Americans knew a little about web design, a few of us knew alot about creating graphics, and none of us knew how to use flash. So, we asked for help! Mr. McIntire, a graphic artist from Virginia, volunteered to teach us flash. He sent us many emails with directions, starting with simple flash documents. Over a three month time period, we got better at it. Some of the things that happen in our flash introduction were accidental, like when the picture of the earth and a team member switch places. We realize that with technology anything can happen and sometimes mistakes can be good! When Viviane and Danielle joined the team, they already had great writing and communication skills, and Danielle discovered a talent for design. None of us had ever made games before. It was difficult for Danielle and Viviane to make the games because of the language barrier, so the American teammates stepped in and made them. Everyone wanted to have as much information as possible on the website translated to Portuguese, so the main pages are in both languages, as well as the rap and cheer. Each person's work is credited on the pages, but you will see the specific contributions we made to the website as you read further.
Classmates helped go through the website, played the games, and tested the links. Amy- I wrote about kindness in the school, created all of the surveys, researched and used the survey results to write about bullies, helped write the script for the video and directed it, made the Kindness Kids' Calendars and announced the Kindness Act of the Day each morning during announcements. Tia and I delivered the calendars to the classrooms, took pictures, and Tia edited them. I made games. One person started making a game in the morning and each person added to it when they came to computer lab. I did most of the typing. I talked to teachers, the principal, and anyone we needed to contact for information or to set up events. I sent messages on Think.com. I have changed since I started this project because I have had alot more ideas about getting kindness stirred up all around the school. This will change my life, and others too if we pass it on! Bekah -Isn't it funny how one good thought can lead to another? That is what happened with our website. We had a really good web design, but we thought of more ideas. The design improved. We learned that one thought leads to another, then another. With each new idea, our website got better and better. Every morning I checked Think.com to see what my tasks were for the day. We all met at 7:20 as soon as we got to school and started to work until we had to go to class. We got to know our new friends, Dani and Vivi, on Think.com. Dani and I wrote about kindness in the community. We worked together on the "Helping Hands", "A Kind Life", and the other community pages. We used the Internet to translate our work in English and Portuguese and Professor Daniel helped, too. I helped edit the video about bullies and I made the design and many of the graphics. I made the template and the flash in our website by following Mr. McIntire's directions. I also helped test the site and proofread. We all had notebooks for our notes, interviews, research, and work. We used the notebook when we proofed the site, so we could make the changes. That was the hardest part of this project. We had fun doing our cheer, raps, and talking about kindness in our school and to groups in our community. My feelings have changed ever since I joined the kindness kids. I have tried to be kinder to my friends and family. I try to be kind to people that are mean to me, too. I try to treat people the way I want to be treated. Danielle -This project was an unforgettable experience for my life. [It helped me apply ] Applied knowledge of the English language as well as on various aasuntos related to the theme of our project, the kindness. I learned to live in groups and distribute experiments. I was a designer, reporter, researcher, writer, translator, and above all learn to create. I think I became a person more complete, because our project spoke on issues related to improvement of human dignity, which are the kindness, friendship, solidarity, honesty, affection and love which is the principal to the next. This project is also important for the "family" because there is the commitment of my parents, family and friends to the development of our work. *[Danielle worked on all of the pages in this website. She contributed pictures on each main page, the quotes in English and Portuguese, and writing on pages for the community, culture, and home.] Jesslyn - I wrote the pages for kindness in the home. I am the youngest member of the group. I drew the picture of the kids under the rainbow for the Kindness Kid certificate. I drew the picture called, "Night Sky" for the page about cultural differences. I interviewed people and made kindness pages on my site. I asked people to visit my site. They visited my site to comment on my message boards and vote. Danielle and Viviane helped with my section by writing about care for pets and animals. I helped to make many of the games. It was hard, but fun. I helped to proofread and test the site, too. My classroom teacher thinks being on ThinkQuest is very important, so she let me out of class during the last week to work. We found mistakes when we tested our site and we had to go back and fix some of the games. We found out that the Internet translator did not work sometimes and Professor Daniel had to fix our translations. I am different since we began this project. I try to help people wherever I go. I try to be nice to the other people at school and help people when they are having trouble. When other people are acting wild and crazy in school I am calm and stay in my seat, and don't cause problems. It is amazing how fast kindness can spread. The Kindness Kids are trying to get kindness everywhere. We want you to help! Tia - I wrote the pages about friendship. I interviewed my very wise grandmother and other adults about friendship. I posted messages on Think.com and made the game about sportsmanship. I finished my pages early and helped my teammates who were not finished. I helped Amy write about sportsmanship and researched and wrote the page on listening. Bekah made the flash for me. Amy and I worked together to make the calendars and edit photos. I needed someone to help with the drawings for my pages, so Danielle helped. I wrote the stories and the challenges you see on the Kindness Kids Challenge pages. I helped analyze the survey results. We held our "Celebrate Kindness Day" in January. One of my favorite times was when 122 kids sang the song, "Break Away" together as a group. It was awesome. My feelings about kindness have changed since we started this project because sometimes I wasn't very kind and now I am better. I have learned from from my friends because Amy, Jesslyn, Bekah, Danielle, and Viviane are kind people. I have more friends than I used to have. Now I'm happier when I play and talk to my friends and family. Yes, I have changed. These feelings will make my life different forever because I'm nicer and happier. Viviane - In this project, I researched about kindness to pets and culture. I learned many things, like being kind to the persons, and respect the differences between cultures. I joined the team in January, but I was excited to be a part of ThinkQuest. I worked on kindness on Think.com making pages about the topic. *[Viviane helped write the pet care tips, researched pet care and culture, and found the words for "kindness" in other languages. She joined the project in late January when a team member dropped out].] This experience has taught us that on a team it is important to work together, follow the rules, be disciplined, show respect, and do our job. We have learned that sometimes the best fun is in working hard. Together, we have successfully reached the finish line. Audience, Educational Relevance, and Diversity • Collaboration Global Impact • Credits, References, Site Map
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