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I-57 graphic  Project I-57I-57 graphic
 
MAINE WEST HIGH SCHOOL
Des Plaines, Illinois (USA)
J. Aldworth's 9th-grade English class
 
student questionnaire (post-survey) 5/99
 
n =  31
male - 15
female - 16
age:
14 - 4
15 - 23
16 - 3
not given - 1

Please answer the questions below truthfully and in as much detail as you can.  Don’t worry about what you say about the topics below; your survey is completely confidential and will be seen only by the researcher at the University of Illinois; it won’t be shown either to your teacher or the people you write about.

1.  Put a check (    )  next to the schools your class communicated with over the last year as part of Project I-57:

No response - 2

Maine East High School - 2
Notre Dame High School - 0
Fisher Grade School - 26
Benton Middle School - 7

OTHER:

Iroquois Junior High - 6
Maine West HS - 1


2.  Did you exchange e-mail and other correspondence with specific students at any of these schools?

Yes ____  7
No _____ 24


3.  If so, what were their names and the schools they were at?
mentioned student name (if ‘yes’ in 2) - 0
gave no student name (if ‘yes’ in 2) -  7
School:
Iroquois - 1

4.  How often did you communicate with the Project I-57 student(s) above? Put a check next to one of these answers: 

       a. never _____  5
       b. only once _____ 13
       c. just a few times over the semester _____ 13
       d. a couple of times a month _____  0
       e. at least once a week _____ 0
       f. almost every day _____  0


5.  What would you say was the total number of times you communicated with the Project I-57 student(s)?

       a. never _____  6
       b. only once _____ 12
       c. 2-5 times total _____ 12
       d. 5-10 times total _____  1
       e. more than 10 times total _____  0


6.  When did you communicate with them for the first time? (Estimate the month and day, if you’re not sure.  If you communicated with more than one school, list each school separately.)

no response -  3

did not communicate/never - 2
 

May 18, 1999 Tuesday (Fisher) - 14
(the only time I remember was May 18 -99)
Benton- May 18 - 1
May 17, 1999 - 11
Around the beginning of April - 1
around October 14 of 1998 - 1
September 20, 1998 - 1
Iroquois ? May around the 1st - 1
In the beginning of the year and yesterday - 1
Fisher ? January - 1
a month ago - 1
yesterday -1
OTHER
 
Iroquois - 1
not sure - 1
I was absent when we communicated with these people - 1

7.  When was the most recent time you communicated with them? (If you communicated with more than one school, list each school separately.)
 
no response -  8

never - 1
 

4 weeks ago/the other day ago - 1
May 18, 1999 (Fisher, Benton)  - 11
May 17, 1999 - 1
Benton May 17, 1999 - 1
yesterday (May 18) - 3
yesterday (May 19, 1999) - 1
Iroquois ? May 1st - 1
this month - 1
around 9:20 A.M. - 1
OTHER
I was absent when we communicated with these people - 1

8.  How did you communicate with the other student(s)?  Check all the ways that you used.
 
         no response - 6

         e-mail ___ 12
         electronic (Web) postcards ___ 1
         telephone ___ 1
         making Web pages about yourself ___  6

other (describe) _____
 

talking and seeing each other on the computer - 1
we used that camera and a microphone - 1
by vidio [sic] talking - 1
CU See Me - 2
over our web pages - 1
on their web sights [sic] - 1
internet - 2
computer - 1
none - 1
did not talk to them -1
9.  What kinds of things did you talk about when you communicated with students at the other schools?
 
no response - 3
 
N/A - 1
 
how HS was going to be for them (Iroquois) next year
I told the 8th graders to be the best when they came here for next year
what Academy is about

what Fisher is like
what a southern town is like
how big our town is
the size of Chicago
we toled [sic] them about the populashon [sic] of Chicago
how they felt about where they lived
about the silos and what they are used for
what it’s like in their town - 3
we asked them how close was the nerest [sic] McDonals [sic]
how life is here
our community and their community

what they do - 2
what we do on weekends
what they liked to do in their free time
how the lifestyle is
their culture and lives
what did they do for fun
how they live
what kind of music do they like

were [sic] they go
what our schools look like
what kind of school they had
the size of our schools
describe your school
favorite subject

what kinds of restaurants they have

what kind of people [they are?]
how old they are
what they wear/how they dress - 2

any animals
the climate
we asked about there [sic] corn maze
field trips that we went on

everything - 1

OTHER - 4
didn’t communicate
couldn’t’ really communicat [sic] well
we didn’t communicate we saw picture of them and some the things the [sic] did
wasn’t here

10. How did you feel about each of the students you communicated with more than once -- positive
       things, negative things?
 
no response -  7
 
 N/A - 1

 POSITIVE-  9

They were nice students problibly [sic] because they’re very different [sic] from us.
They are very polite.
They were cool and they were really poisitive about their town and their school.
The students were nice.
NEGATIVE -  0

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE - 2

OTHER - 11

didn’t communicate
I didn’t have time to communicate with some of the students. sorry.
we both have our own oppions [sic] about each others [sic] living area.
I think that there [sic] life is totally different.
nothing
we didn’t communicate with people more than once
we only communicated once
we did not talke [sic] to more then [sic] two and the communication was crackly.
we did not really get to talk
I learned that they were similar to us.
They look like us.
wasn’t here

11. Were any of them from a different ethnic, social or religious group than you and your family?  What did you find you had in common with them?   What was different?
 
no response - 5

N/A - 1

YES -  8
 

well yan [?] they were different belifes [sic] than me
Yes, they did a lot of things differently.
They probably have different ethnic, social or religious group than us. I really don’t know.
We both have different ethnic groups in our school.
I guess so.
Some of them were from different ethnicity of mine.
Some of the kids were different ethnic, and different religion.
Yes like som [sic] thing diff. ethnic
 
 NO - 1
 
I don’t really know. I didn’t come across any.
(in common)
 
probaly [sic] the same religion stuff.
no [we had nothing in common?]
we both enjoyed dancing but they said they didn’t have much time to
they are athletic and some liked sports
I found out that they live around different religions just like us.
I found that they are not much different frojm the way we live here and I thought they be farmer people with some weird accent.
 
 (different)
 
we all had different [sic] activities to do on the weekends.
different [sic] life styles
everything
I don’t like to play softball that much
They are 4th graders. And we are 9th graders.
differences were they liked to go shopping or they didn’t like being outside
Yes, we didn’t have anything in common but the way we lived was different
They are a farme [sic] community and were [sic] not.
OTHER - 10
 
didn’t communicate
I don’t know
well they problibly [sic] were but I don’t remember as much
couldn’t communictta [sic] well
The project [projector?] wouldn’t work.
I don’t know because the equiptment [sic] was malfunctioning
we could not tell.
maybe
?
wasn’t here

12. After learning more about the lives of the students you communicated with,  did your thoughts and feelings about them change in any way?  More positively?  More negatively? (talk about each student separately)
 
no response - 5

 N/A - 1

ambiguous response - 1

No, positively thinking.
more POSITIVELY - 7
More positively because each time we touched a subject we always learned something new about each other that was good.
Yes. They are not as poor and boring as I thought.
more positive than any other.
Yes my thoughts and feeling did turn positive and now I know they are people just like us.
 

more NEGATIVELY - 2
 

When I found out they were a farme [sic] group I felt bad for them because they have to wake up 4 in the morning and work maby [sic] to 5 at night.
NO change -7
 
No, I already knew what to expect.
They didn’t really change because I knew they would have a different life style because they don’t really have a lot of things to do.
No, my feeling stayed the same
OTHER - 8
 
Didn’t communicate but by the pictures we saw in the internet, they looked the same from people in Chicago
Since I didn’t communicate with any one only on May 18 I don’t know.  They were nice.
I was absent :-(
Most of the students enjoy living on a farm & enjoy raising animals.
Life in Southern Ill. is very conservitive [sic].
I started to think I wanted to go there for a visit.
We only talked to two of them, and communication was crackly.
I think that they might have a more peaceful life than us because their population is small.

13. After learning more about the communities of the students you communicated with,  did your thoughts and feelings about these towns change in any way?  More positively?  More negatively?  (talk about each town separately)
 
no response  - 6

N/A - 1

more POSITIVELY  - 7
 

Yes because I thought it was a boaring [sic] place that you cant [sic] do anything but I learned there are more than plenty of things to do and maybe even funner then [sic] here in Chicago.

Fisher has alot [sic] of farm land and animals
They changed positively because they are a farme [sic] communitie [sic] they can make money for the town.
Yes my feeling did change I learned that they don’t only like country music but also music we here [sic].
The [sic] change positively because of the things they were reading about

more NEGATIVELY  - 2
 
more negatively because Chicago is so much different
NO change - 9
 
No, I already knew what to expect.
No, I knew about their community.
I thought their town was boaring [sic] and I was right
My thoughts didn’t change because I pretty much knew how life is down in South and Central Illinios [sic], because I have visited some spots.
YES - 1

OTHER - 5
 

Chicago is a lot [sic] better.
I was absent :-(
Most of the students enjoy living on a farm & enjoy raising animals.
Sord [sic] of
I think that they might have a more peaceful life than us because their population is small.

14. Did any of your original ideas about other parts of Illinois turned out to be wrong?  Which ideas?
 
no response -  2

NO (change) - 15
 

No because I found out most of the stuff I thought was right was right & not wrong.
YES -   13
 
about how they dress
Yes, I thought that the people in Southern Illinois dressed farmy, and they don’t.
I thought that they would dress like farmers, but I guess I was wrong.
Yes, I through [sic] they would be just on overalls speaking I recken [sic] or those farmer people you on t.v.

I thougth [sic] it was all the same everywhere
That all they did is work and not have fun. But I was wrong. They had maybe the same amout [sic].
The people and places.
Only one. I was thinking that central Illinois would be more like Chicago Illinois. But I was wrong.
Yes, I thought they all lived on farm but they didn’t
Yes. becuse[sic] I thought that it was a foriset [sic] and no farming but I was rong [sic].
Yes some of my ideas did change for instance in the way they dress and the music they here [sic].
yes poor big

that all the parts of Illinois were citys [sic].

 OTHER - 1
I wasn’t here :-(

15.  Did you find out about any ethnic, religious, or social groups through Project I-57 that you hadn’t realized lived in Illinois before?  (Mention the groups.)
 
no response -  6

N/A - 1

NO -  19
 

No not really I never herd [sic] of ther [sic] religions but to me it wouldn’t suprise[sic]  me to hear about ther [sic].
No we didn’t find anything out
YES -  2
Yes Jewish Spanish Italian Irish
I found what some stey [sic] in that country but I forgot country it was
OTHER - 3
 
They just live very different [sic] styles then [sic] us!
I wasn’t here :-(
wasn’t here

16. Before your class’s involvement with Project I-57, were there any ethnic, religious or social groups here in Illinois that you felt uncomfortable with or had negative feelings towards?  Why did you feel that way? (mention the groups)
 
no response -  6

NO -  22
 

No, I am very comfterble [sic] with all groups of people and I enjoy learning things about peoples [sic] background.
No, because everyone is a human being.
There were none realy [sic]
No, their [sic] were no ethnic religious or social groups I felt uncofortabe [sic] with.
No positive
YES - 1
 
Every body [sic] believes in diffrent[sic] religions and are in diffrent[sic]  social groups, and sometimes I have negative feelings.  Probably because they think the oppisite about how I feel.
OTHER - 2
 
I wasn’t here :-(
no comment

17.  Have any of your feelings towards those groups changed as a result of your contact with other
       students through Project I-57 -- either more positive or more negative?
 
no response - 6

more POSTIVE  - 12
 

It made me expand my mind more and helps me alot [sic].
more NEGATIVE  - 0

NO (change) - 8
 

No, it doesn’t matter what ethnic group you come from.
No my feeling have not changed
OTHER - 6
 
didn’t communicate
I was absent :- (
wasn’t here
Yes & no because I still think some things about other groups
I liked talking to other groups of kids.
?

18.  Which way do you feel you learned the most from? (choose a or b)

no response - 3

(a) learning about the other parts of Illinois from information put on the Web by students from that area - 10

 
(b) learning about other parts of Illinois by communicating directly with students from that area - 17

OTHER - 1

wasn’t here, can’t answer this

19. Would you now be interested in maybe visiting some of the communities  and students in Illinois you learned about in Project I-57 during this school year?

no response - 1

NO -  8

No, I would not like to visit, but maybe they would like to visit us.
YES - 21
I would be interested. it would be my first time
I would like to visit for a day or so.
It’s fun
I would like to see what the places are really like.
Yes, I think it would be a great oppotunity[sic] to talk with kids our age from different communities.
I would be very interested and maybe find out more possitve [sic] things about them.
I think that would be cool to see the kids that put up the web site for their school.
Yes, becaus[sic] I would like to know how to farme [sic].
I would be interestedin visiting a town thats [sic] different from Des Plaines.
Yes, I would be interested  but I want to visit kid [sic] my age not a bunch of six graders.  I mean there [sic] dumb but I feel more I would be more intereting if we communicate with our age.
Sure why not.
OTHER - 1
maybe
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Last updated: December 20, 1999
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