This summer, I have been working on a project called "One Mouse per Child," a teaching software designed to test the collaboration and cooperation among students using only one interpersonal computer, one projector, and as many mice as there are children.
I have designed 12 different activities on fractions, 4 each in equivalence, comparison, addition, and multiplication. Each of the activities has 4 different variations, which makes for a total of 48 activities that I have coded - eek! There's my summer for ya.
It's gone from this in a Powerpoint slide:
to this in the software:
Pretty cool, huh?
Anyway, on Wednesday, July 24, we went to a school, Colegio Los Alpes, to test my activities on 23 fifth graders. It was a madhouse. The school was a lot more modern than I had expected, but there was no heating at all, and all the students had uniforms. We arrived there, quickly attempted to set everything up - 2 projectors, 2 computers, 23 mice, video recorders, voice recorders, and lots of cords.
We had 2 sets of technology to accommodate the extra 7 kids. I designed the activities for 4 groups of 4 kids, so we ended up having 6 groups of (mostly) 4 kids. The experiment went well I would say. The students enjoyed the activities a lot and were even sad that they were over! I was nervous the whole time that the software would come crashing down on me (it wouldn't be the first time), but the software did the job and it was so cool seeing my summer's work be put to the test.
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| Kids working on their activities |
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| Projector |
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| Cookies and tea that the principal brought us! |
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| The kids! |
Last Wednesday, we went back to the same colegio and tested the software a second time with a different set of kids in the fifth grade, while videotaping the student's interactions on the screen and conversations at each table. This time went a lot more smoothly, but I think we are going again once we alter some components in the software to have more accurate results.
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| Outside playing time |
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| We tried all of these jams and spreads! So good. |
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| Flower bed! |
I can't believe I go home SUNDAY! Part of me, well most of me, is so excited I can't even function, but a part of me is sad that I'm leaving! It's been seriously an incredible experience traveling everywhere, working a 9-5 desk/coding job, living on my own, and so much more. God has taught me so many things about people, loving others, and myself, and so much more. I am confident that I will continue to discover these lessons even when I go home and many months later.
Random side note, but the other day, I made THE most delicious dinner I've made for myself thus far. Either I was starving or delusional, but I sure gave myself a pat on the back and my tummy was quite happy. :)
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| Roasted Garlic Asparagus with Quinoa, chicken, spinach, and mushrooms. |
This week, I plan on relaxing, (start) packing, eating some great food, exploring Santiago, and hanging out with my Chilean friends one last time before heading back to the States! I am beyond excited to be reunited with my family, friends, and Texas before heading back up to Boston to start my JUNIOR year! Crazy how time flies and doesn't stop. Until next time!
6 more days until I'm on (north) American soil!
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