Journal

STUDENT JOURNAL

 * September 10, 2011**

My project is inspired by a recent trip to my hometown of Buffalo, NY. I was there to attend my sister's wedding. In the days leading up to the visit and the visit itself I was reading //City of Light// by Buffalonian Lauren Belfer. Written in 1999 and set in 1901 (the year of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo). much of the action took place within about ten blocks of my high school OR at Niagara Falls. This reading experience created a renewed sense of appreciation for the history and importance of Buffalo in US history, particularly with regard to Buffalo's role as a port city and transporation hub and Niagara Falls as the site of unprecedented achievement in the generation of hydroelectric power. Both of those achievements are related to geographical factors - namely Lake Erie and the Niagara River. Three family events took place on the shoreline of Lake Erie (a party on the US side, a family gathering on the Canadian side, and the wedding itself on the US side). I saw Buffalo and Canada and the waters of Lake Erie and the Niagara River from many different angles and perspectives during the weekend. Finally, during the first few minutes of the flight back to Chicago the pilot announced that he was given the unusual clearance to fly a 360 over Niagara Falls. At that very moment the scene in City of Light that I was reading was taking place on Goat Island.


 * September 12, 2011**

This weekend I uploaded into my computer the photos from my wedding in Buffalo. It turns out I have photos of my own that will work nicely with this project.


 * September 15, 2011**

I found a lot of articles today. This project is very complex! I had to look in multiple sources and find multiple articles about Buffalo, Niagara Falls, the Niagara River, the Erie Canal, etc. It will be challenging to read and reread those items, extract the most relevant information, and sequence it in an order that makes sense.

I realized today as I was working on my project and "filling in" information on my key elements page that it won't be a good idea to present the key elements of this project in a prescribed order. Some of the information overlaps different elements, especially this HISTORY with the CONNECTION BETWEEN GEOGRAPHY AND CULTURE. Some of those elements will be blended and sequenced differently in my final presentation. I will make those decisions when I adapt the information on my key elements page into my presentation script.
 * September 16, 2011**

I found it very useful to read a summary and a couple of book reviews on the Chicago Public Library website when writing about my connection between geography and literature. Even though I read the book only a few weeks ago, reading that information helped bring back to my mind the most important events and points of the book.

TEACHER JOURNAL

 * September 12, 2011**

I created my research wiki today. The students seemed really interested!!!

The students have been introduced to the assignment requirements and the use of wikispaces.com Students have all created research wikis with five pages. I have demonstrated the use of some of the recommended information resources. I have to create my model very soon to provide the students an idea of a finished product. Mr. Padron has also agreed to create a model. I have had discussions with each group. All students have roughly defined their "journeys." There are a variety of great ideas, locations and insprirations for the student "journeys." Among the inspirations for student journeys are family immigration paths, origins of musical styles, food and farming, conquest, and narcotrafficking. I noticed yesterday that students are direceting their attention to identifying photos first. Given the complexity of this project, I suppose they are doing this first because it is a relatively easy task. Today I will review a couple more recommended resources and urge them to find information first and photos that best reflect their findings later.
 * September 13, 2011**
 * September 15, 2011**


 * September 16, 2011**

I must emphasize to the students that the various "elements" of this project do not have to be presented in a specific order. More than one element can be addressed at the same time (e.g. on the same PowerPoint slide and/or in the same paragraph!).