Doors to Diplomacy Project Elements

1. How did your activities and research for this Doors to Diplomacy project support content standards, required coursework and curriculum requirements?

Grade 1-9 Curriculum Language Arts : The language ability is the most important subject during the research. It applies to the interview questions, research report, and analytical diagrams. Every time we wrote the report, our writing skills improved. Mathematics: When we were conducting statistical analysis for the survey, we had to count the number of subjects, calculated the percentage, and trained our ability to read the charts. Thus, our math ability was improved. Health and Physical Education: As we interviewed more people, we found out more about shuttleball. We played shuttleball ourselves, and enjoyed it very much. Arts and Humanities: For webpage editing, we learned computer skills, and webpage layout and design. Science and Technology: We searched information on the Internet and used various software for writing or webpage editing; thus, we improved our IT skills. Social Studies: The main challenge of shuttleball is to control it. Beginners usually feel frustrated, but all shuttleball players persisted in practices. Their determination is our model. Integrative Activities: During this project, we all kept positive interaction in cooperation and collaboration. The sense of accomplishment is our main motivation.

2. What information tools and technologies did you use to complete your Doors to Diplomacy project?

1. Internet could be the most useful medium throughout our project. We searched the information of volunteers from all communities. We exchanged information and our point of views on our blogs. 2. We used digital sound recorders and digital cameras to record our interviews. 3. We used printers to print out our questionnaires and our interview outlines. 4. We used the following software: Windows XP, Namo 5.5, Neo-imaging, Office 2003, Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, Acdsee 5.0, Lifetype 1.2.1, and so on.

3. In what ways did your students act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your Doors to Diplomacy project both on-line and in person.

To let more people know about the sport of shuttleball and its development We started our research about shuttleball and its development for this project. We interviewed the principal, the current and former coaches, and chiefs of the Physical Education (PE) Office, the team players, PE teaches, and former director of Student Affairs, and the author of the shuttleball blog of Xisong Junior High School. We learned a lot about shuttleball. We also conducted a survey on school teachers, students, and local residents about their knowledge of shuttleball. We hope to let more people learn about shuttleball, its history and the development, and various shuttleball activities and competitions. We know that many people care about shuttleball, and have devoted to promote this sport. A call for all to explore and understand shuttleball We’ll bring the sport of shuttleball to the public with our project, since it is not well known to the sport society, even that someone ever heard of shuttleball before. Our aim is to help the public learn about shuttleball, understand its development, and rediscover the joy of playing shuttleball. There is no media coverage on shuttleball, and many people have never heard about it, thus, various shuttleball games are carrying on without much public attention. The purpose of our project is to promote the sport of shuttleball, and let people know that it is a fun game and it is everywhere in our daily life.  To understand the history of shuttleball through the websites (the interesting thing)  After the interviews, we put the findings on the website, allowing people to learn about the rules, skills, status, and history of shuttleball. More people would like to try shuttleball after getting to know it, so that it may be recognized in the sports field in the future.

4.What has been or will be the impact of your project on your community?

Shuttleball is not a sport easy to master. If someone wants to join the shuttleball team, he/she must be interested in this sport, and has basic skills in shuttlecock. The most important thing is that one must be able to endure hardship and not afraid of failures. We tried it, and found it to be very hard to control the shuttleball. We could imagine that the shuttleball players practice relentless to improve their skills and earn excellent records. There is sweat and persistence behind each kick. Shuttleball is indeed a sport that challenges your determination and perseverance. We conducted survey on students, local residents, and working adults. Sine our school has a shuttleball  team, students are quite familiar with it. Except for the questions, such as the country of origin and other more difficult ones, the questionnaire is rather easy for them. However, the local residents and working adults mostly knew nothing about shuttleball, even the name is new to them. Shuttleball is a sport that few people know. Our project introduces the shuttleball history, and the wonders of shuttleball. Hopefully, more people will join the shuttleball sport club.

5. How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

1.       We conducted survey on local residents and working adults. At noon, we went outside the school and invite them to fill in the questionnaires. With their help, we complete our survey. 2.       We went to nearby high school to interview their coaches of shuttleball, and observe how their shuttleball team worked. The coaches were so kind that they shared lots of knowledge of shuttleball with us. The coaches even taught us how to kick a shuttleball. That was really interesting. 3. We interviewed the alumni who still live in this area. They told us the history of our shuttleball team, and their expectations of our shuttleball team.

6. Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Although shuttleball is not popular, we found it to be a fun sport in this project. A lot of people support shuttleball firmly, participate in practices and competitions. That is because it is a whole body exercise, not just foot. It’s a very fun sport. During our interview, we saw the passion in shuttleball. We arranged many interviews for the research. Before the interviews, we assigned tasks to each member, some took photos, some recorded the interview, some asked the interview question, some took notes, and some wrote reports. The tasks could not be completed by one person; teamwork made the interview smoother and easier. We truly realized that group work is the power.   During the interview process, we gained more knowledge about shuttleball. The players work hard to practices for both interests and competitions. Although the shuttleball team is not the center of attention, they never gave up their interest. “Working hard does not guarantee success, but not working hard certainly leads to failure.” Their efforts are seen by everyone. We admire their passion and devotion.