Final Concept Map

Reflection #11 :)

1.    What occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.          

Project-based learning is a way to plan a real-world project that allows you to connect with your students and offer them a different way to learning the content in a collaborative learning environment.  When we allow students to learn in this way, we are leaving them with memories and artifacts they can hold on to, as well as real-world collaboration and critical thinking skills they will need in the real world.  When using the PBL approach correctly, we are left with many ideas for reshaping our next learning adventure for students, such as finding new ways to organize our classroom, create connections and communicate with students/parents and the community, and finding meaningful ways to use technology and reflection, etc.   In my opinion, PBL is a great way to accommodate all learning styles and by allowing students to guide their own learning, it opens the door to many wonderful unexpected experiences and outcomes.  As a result, PBL can change the entire setting of a classroom because it does not focus on one way for students to learn the material, rather it guides students to make real-world connections and create their own activities which makes learning unique, interesting, and relevant.  Overall, the PBL approach allows us to meet many instructional goals within a project and allows us to review whether students met those goals with their culminating activities.  Additionally, PBL allows us to share great project ideas as well as our insights with others.      

2.    Ways to "bring your project home."

The most excellent way to bring your project "home" is for everyone involved to reflect on the journey of developing and creating a project.  Students should reflect openly as a class about what they liked about their project and what they would change the next time.  If everyone openly reflects about their projects, other students may pick up on something they may not have thought or learned about.  However, students should not be the only ones reflecting.  We need to be thinking about what we have accomplished and where we would like to go next. It is important to make our students understand how much we value and need their feedback in order to improve future projects and share what we have learned with others.  However, my favorite way to bring a project "home" is to have a celebration in the end during which students can share their culminating activities and reflect at the same time.  This signals to students that their project was important and is a great way to acknowledge everyone's collaboration and hard work.     

3.    Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

Everything described in this chapter, as well as the entire book has been a great resource for me to understand the steps of PBL better, from brainstorming project ideas, to creating a project, to implementing a project, to grading a project, and wrapping it up.  I now understand that wrapping up a project is very important in understanding what students liked about a project or did not.  I need to analyze this information and use what I have learned to improve and change a project in order to make it more relevant to students in the future, and meet all the required learning goals that I set out to meet.  We will bring our project home during final's week when we will reflect on our project experience, our collaboration, as well as the technology we have learned to use and incorporated into our web site (culminating activity).  This will in turn guide our professor to make necessary changes based on what we really liked and what we didn't, what we found easy or difficult,or whether we incorporated the technology standards correctly, etc.

 

Reading Reflection 11

Description of what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.

 Critique your work: plan a project debrief with your planning team, use this time to to draw out each others best ideas for improvement. If collaboration occurred long distance, continue communication using whatever tools you found useful during the project.
Share your insights: 
- Share your project ides with an existing network where teachers from around the world turn to inspiration, good ideas, and ongoing projects they can join.
- Create a project library. If your school or district does not have a place to archive project plans, work with your technology coordinator or instructional leader to develop one.
- Turn your project into an archive on the web. Include on here, student work samples and teacher reflections.
- Publish your project. A variety of Web and print publications invite teachers to share examples of well-conceived projects.
Become a resource for your colleagues: Consider turning your experience into a professional development opportunity for your colleagues, and help them gain new insights into project based learning.
Enter a contest: Entering your project into a contest gives you a chance to put your best work forward. You may gain more exposure for your project and for your students which can help raise the profile of what you are doing in the classroom.
Enjoy the journey: Take time to think about how far you have come and what is coming ahead. 

Discussion on ways to “bring your project home”.

By the time a project is over, students and teachers should feel as if they have been somewhere together. The project should leave both the students and the teachers with vivid memories, artifacts, and souvenirs they have collected along the way, and plenty of new ideas to experience the next learning project. Project endings open new doors and create connections that teachers can build into future project designs. The start of the project took a lot of time investment to make the project the best it can be. It is essential to spend some more time at the end of the project to reflect on what students have learned and how you might want to share your valuable insights with others. 

Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project. 

This relates to our project because it allows us to think about what we could do after the project is over. We have planned a presentation to present our final project and that is a great way to reflect on what we have done throughout the process.  

Reading Reflection #11

1.) One of the results of using the Project-Based Learning approach is that you and your students will feel as if you’ve traveled on a magnificent voyage together. Like all good journeys, your project will leave your students with enjoyable memories and artifacts that they can treasure for as long as they want. Another result of using the Project-Based Learning approach is that you, as a teacher, will be left with plenty of ideas for shaping your next learning adventure for the students. Sure there are some potential issues with this approach, but nothing too major that should shy you away from it. Overall, the Project-Based Learning approach is an approach that I believe should be used in more classrooms. The reason why I believe this is because it’s highly beneficial for both the students and the teacher. I can honestly say that I’ll use it someday when I become a teacher.

2.) When “bringing your project home,” it’s important to understand that great projects don’t lead students to a dead end. Instead, great projects will lead students to open new doors and create connections that you can build into future project designs. One way to “bring the project home” is to have a time where, as a class, everyone can openly reflect on what they’ve learned throughout the project. By discussing things as a class, some things might be said that will help other students learn something they didn’t originally learn from the project. Another way to bring a project home is to have a party. An idea would be to watch an age-appropriate movie that relates to the project topic in some way. Have the students bring in treats and pop popcorn, just make it a blast for everyone! This is a great way to “bring the project home.”

3.) The concepts in this chapter definitely related directly to our group project. The first thing that relates is the outcomes of PBL. Obviously, our entire project is based on PBL, so it’s clear how this relates. As I mentioned earlier, I’m excited to have learned about this approach and I look forward to incorporating it into my class in the future. The other thing that relates to our project is the whole idea of “bringing the project home.” I firmly believe that the conclusion of a project is extremely important. The reason I say this is because the student’s opinion on the project will most likely be based on what happened last. With that being said, why not throw a big party to celebrate all the students’ hard work? They deserve it!

References

• Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.

Reading Reflection 11

1.) Project Based Learning is fantastic because not only does it leave the teachers feeling satisfied with the amount of effort that they have put into their lessons but it also helps kids connect to their own learning on the deepest level possible. If implemented correctly PBL will have helped you find new ways to organize your classroom, get in contact with your students/parents, and find ways to make learning meaningful and fun for your students through the use of technology. Project based learning is worth the investment because it opens doors for yourself and your students that could change the entire setting of a classroom based solely on the fact that PBL makes learning unique, interesting, and relevant.

2.) The best way to bring you project back to home is to spend time allowing yourself and your students to reflect on the journey. What did you like about your project? What would you change next time around? After being so heavily invested in one project it is important to give yourself the proper time to truly think about what you have accomplish and where you would like to go next. It is also a great idea to make your that your students understand how important it is for you to receive their feedback as well. Bringing the project  home will allow you tie off all loose ends and share what you have learned with others.

3.) Everything mentioned in this chapter, and in the entire book has been very helpful at giving me insight on how to work through the steps of brainstorming project ideas, creating a project, implementing a project, grading a project, and wrapping it up. The information in this chapter is particularly useful because although we might not have the actual students to get feedback from about our projects it is important to realize that after all of the time we have spent invested into our ideas it is essential to look back and reflect on how far we have come and so we can analyze what we would like to do differently next time around when we have our own real students!!

Reflection #10

1)       The importance of setting aside time for reflection &  2) The reason students need to reflect and elaborate:

                If we give students time to reflect on their projects once they have been completed, we can help students feel good about their accomplishments and help them think about what they have actually learned.  By allowing students to reflect on different aspects of the project, students are allowed to share their input and create their own meaning.  Understanding students' growths, what they liked or did not like, and whether they believe the project was relevant  to them is very helpful when we plan future projects for them.  Often it helps to ask carefully selected questions to see if learning objectives were met, such as having students think about skill development, creativity, collaboration, giving and receiving feedback, technology skills and future applications, etc.   The reflection of students after a project does not only permit them to learn about and understand their  own personal growth as learners, but is very helpful in guiding our instruction as teachers to improve our projects for future classes and projects.  If students are allowed to reflect and share how they overcame obstacles or persisted despite different challenges and share positive experiences or something they are really good at or proud of, we are allowing them to gain increased confidence to become independent learners and thinkers for future projects and the real world.     

                Students need to reflect and elaborate so they are allowed to think about themselves as evolving learners who can be critical thinkers that embrace new projects and challenges with their own set of innovative ideas and skills that they have learned.  Often times if we give students the choice to elaborate, they may come up with wonderful projects that we could never come up with on our own.   

3)       How schools build tradition and identity:

                 I agree that schools build tradition and identity by informing their students, parents, and community about things they take pride in, such as wonderful classroom projects based around themes that are offered to students as they move up in grades.  If students, parents, and the community as a whole begin to notice and value the accomplishments of students, a school can create a learning environment that is supported by others.  By allowing the community to share in the celebration of students' projects and helping them understand that a class's accomplishments are the result of the student's challenges and rewards of their hard work, as well as a commitment to their own learning, community members will begin to share their support year after year.  I actually created a project about the Earth, Sun, and Moon when I did my pre-internship and my mentor teacher asked me if she could use it for her class every year.  It was shown off at parent-teacher conferences and the feedback from parents was wonderful telling me that their students were excited about learning, and students in fifth grade asked why they did not get to do this project the previous year after it was displayed for the whole school to see.  So, I agree that if we can offer projects in school that are valuable to student's learning the objectives, we can create tradition and identity that allows us to build relationship with the community as I have experienced firsthand and was offered tremendous support for what I was doing.  The culminating product of combining fiction with fact in a brochure that was presented in each group and filmed after a ton of research on each of the celestial objects was due to all of the student's hard work and they were extremely proud of it, as well as their parents.  They were all so unique and it showcased all the unique abilities of the students.  So, if the teacher continues the project, she can lay the groundwork for a tradition at her school that students will be eager to be part of, and if she does the same culminating activity as I did, she can establish an identity where kids look forward to working hard and learning through projects.    

4)       The importance of celebrating a project:

                Based on pre-internship experience, I agree that it is very important to celebrate what students have learned/produced with the help of their culminating activity/presentation.  I showcased the final work of students and culminating project in the hallway for other teachers, the principal, parents, and others to see.  During a classroom celebration/party, each student was given a copy of their brochure (student creation), and parents were able to watch their child's group presentation on video (digital), which were also great tools for "visual" conversations.  Students were asked to point out two great things about each presentation., thus looking back one more time on what they have learned from their peers and their own projects.  By allowing students to celebrate their accomplishments, student's hard work was recognized and appreciation was given for those who helped.  I created awards in the shape of each group's celestial body which was a fun way to hide questions about the project I wanted them to answer.   When asking students to reflect about the project as a whole, it allowed them with opportunities to talk about their processes and growth, and whether they believed the project was beneficial to their learning. 

5)       How concepts in this chapter relate to our topic/project:

                This chapter confirms for me that it is important for students to reflect on their project after it is completed and have an opportunity to celebrate in a way that is meaningful to them.  I have also learned that after students completed a project, we need to allow them to use what they have learned to tackle new projects.  If once we design our project, we keep doing it with other classes each year, we create a tradition and establish an identity as a community of learners by allowing for special ways to showcase our projects.  So, at this point in time it is important to focus on our culminating activity, which is our team website and think of ways we can best show off what we have learned about what students need to know in order to create their own weather forecast/broadcast.  We will celebrate our website when we show it off during our final presentation, where we will be asked to reflect on it and share how we can elaborate on it as well.  I believe this is a very important part of our project, because it displays all  of our hard work and dedication as a group.

Reading Reflection #10

1.) Setting aside time for reflection is not only important for students, it’s also one of the most important elements of becoming a great teacher. The author says “Taking time to reflect helps students feel good about their accomplishments, but more importantly, reflection can be the thing that makes learning really stick.” (pg. 147) I really want to focus on the last line of the quote that says “reflection makes learning really stick.” I wholeheartedly believe that this is true! Some people even consider reflection to be an essential component of learning. If allow your students time to sit down and think over their whole project and what they’ve learned, it has a much better chance of sticking with them than if they didn’t reflect at all. So, the level of importance of letting your students take time to reflect on what they’ve learned is very high!

2.) It’s important that students take time to reflect and elaborate on what they’ve learned so that they’ll be excited about what’s next. The author says that “A successful project is the springboard for the next cycle of learning.” (pg. 149) One of the intentions of a good project should be that it opens up the eyes of the students and that it creates within them a desire to learn more. You should ask your students questions like “What does this get you wondering about next? And “What do you want to learn now, and how do you want to go about? (pg. 149) By asking your students questions that will promote further studies, you’re helping to develop a class of excited learners.

3.) The identity and traditions of a school are things that can be seen as a source of pride. Schools are typically proud of any long-standing traditions that they have, and they should be. The question is how do schools build their identity and traditions? The first step in building a tradition is to build up awareness in others; make sure that everyone at your school and within your community knows what you are up to. The next step is to teach the proper guidelines/rules of the tradition. Whatever the tradition, it’s important that everyone knows how to do it properly. One other thing that’s important in the process of building traditions is to invite people within the school/community to participate in the tradition (whatever it is). A crucial aspect of building a tradition is that you get a large amount of people onboard with the idea. If your tradition is accepted and liked by many people, there’s a great chance that it will live on for quite a while.

4.) Something else that needs to be stressed is the importance of celebrating a project. Projects are often lengthy and require a lot of effort. Most students do them to get a good grade, but projects should be about more than that. What’s the point of having a student do a project if they’re just going to throw it in the trash or forget about it once it’s been graded? The completion of a project is something to be proud of. For that reason, student work should be publicly displayed (if permitted by the students) and praised. Another good idea is to have a party after the project is finished. Whatever you do, make sure that you celebrate the accomplishments of your students. By celebrating learning, you’re leaving a positive memory in the minds of your students. This will most likely result in them being pumped up when it comes time for the next project.

5.) Many of the concepts in this chapter directly relate to our group project. Probably the most important piece from this chapter that we need to include in our project is setting aside some time for our students to be able to reflect on their projects. We want them to be able to predict weather when they’re older, not just for the sake of our project. Something else that really stuck out to be in this chapter is the idea of celebrating a project. I absolutely love this idea and I really think that we should include it into our project. By throwing a party at the end of the project, we’re letting the students know that we truly appreciate all their hard work. This will conclude our project on a wonderful note!

References

• Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.

Reflection 10

Discussion on the importance of setting aside time for reflection.

Taking time to reflect helps students feel good about their accomplishments, but more importantly, reflection can be the thing that makes learning really stick. Reflection is an essential element in learning. Setting aside time for reflection helps students reveal things that they might not otherwise think about: what they learned, their growth as learners, and what they want to learn in projects ahead.  Give students the opportunity to reflect on the ways they overcame obstacles when the work was hard. Encourage them to think about how their own creativity came into play to move the project forward. Also, help students think about how joyous and gratifying the learning journey can be. Help them remember the positive experience they had in the project.

Discussion on the reason students need to reflect and elaborate.

A successful project is the springboard for the next cycle of learning. As students become more accomplished project doers, you will put more and more decisions for subsequent projects in their hands. Projects open students eyes. Ask students to reflect and elaborate.
Ask these questions:
1. What does this get you wondering about next?
2. What do you want to learn now?
3. How do you want to go about it?
4. Where do you want to go?

Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.

There are a large amount of schools that are popular just for traditions. Some schools are sports powerhouses. Some schools send students to science competitions where they medal year after year. Part of building school traditions is building awareness in others. When families, the community, and students coming up through the grades know what you are up to, you have a foundation for tradition. Once a school has established a tradition of excellence, students will feel it's a privilege to honor the tradition with their hard work. In projects, think of ways to showcase it that will establish your identity as a community of learners.

Discussion on the importance celebrating a project.

- Show students work
- Put on an event
- Create a blog
- Hold a party
- Classroom displays: dioramas, fully transformed classroom, classroom exhibit
- "Year in review"
These are all different ways that a project can be celebrated. Celebrating projects can help your school grow in the community and build your school's identity as a place where kids get to learn through projects. 

Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

This chapter related to our project because it helps us figure out good and effective ways to come to the end of a project. We have discussed ways to present our projects in class and we will be holding a presentation. I believe a presentation of our website and all the work we have done will be the most effective way to show an onlooker what we have accomplished. 
 

Reading Reflection 10

1.) Because the school year is something that goes by incredibly fast, it is important that we as teachers set time aside for our students to reflect on their projects and what they have learned after each new accomplishment. It has been said that reflection is what truly allows the students to ponder their new knowledge and helps the information stick in their brains. After all, students spend so much time and energy putting effort into their projects it only seems fitting to allow them to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of what they have learned. We want to prompt our students to think about how far they've come as leaners and where they want to go next. Reflection is critical to our students abilities to recognize their own good work.

2.) Reflection is important because it allows our students to think about the obstacles they overcome. Through reflection our students will feel satisfied about their learning progress, but with elaboration our students will have the opportunity to question what they know and decide for themselves where they want to go next. The key element to elaboration is that the students should be allowed to pick and choose for themselves how they want to expand their learning progress. If we allow students to chose their own subjects they will feel more attached to their own learning and more likely put in a stronger effort. Elaboration is an important element for deepening the roots of questions and ideas that our students are curious about.

3.) All schools are different, and all schools have different strengths. Some schools might be very proud of their athletic teams while other schools are very proud of their arts programs. As a teacher it can be very rewarding to the students if you set your goal to be school wide recognition of exemplary project work. Not only will your students gain excitement about coming to class but the community will recognize your for your good work as a teacher. If we can instill enough enthusiasm and creativity in our students to achieve high goals they will reap the benefits in tenfold and even pass down their ideas to younger generations.

4.) Lastly, it is a wonderful idea to celebrate the works of your students so you can show them how proud you are of how far they have all come. Every celebration should make it well known that you are truly happy for your students and you want to celebrate their accomplishments. Some ways to celebrate are to throw parties, put on events, make recognition blogs, or anything that will show them how far they have come. It is important to include parents and families so that are also aware of how outstanding their learner are. Another important tip is to ensure that you display their work through the building or the classroom so that they will feel a sense of pride for completing such an important project.

5.) The information in this chapter is useful to all of us students in EDT3470 because it allows for us to begin thinking about the bigger picture of our projects. What is the importance in doing these projects, and how do we want our students to feel when they are done? Not only can we apply these ideas to our projects right now, but even more so in the future when we have our own classrooms that need to recognized for their accomplishments.

Reflection #9

1.)           One way to find out what students already know about what we are trying to teach them is to assess them through formative assessment.  This is often done before you start a new project/unit as an informative tool for us to guide our instruction and make certain students are ready to handle the tasks.  An example of a formative assessment beforehand can be as simple as a class discussion or a KWL chart where you tell students that we are only brainstorming at this point in order to assess their readiness level for the project.  Often we give students quizzes or tests, but they do not have to be formal tests that are graded, rather they are only a tool to see what students know about the content which will be given to students again at the end of the project to see what they have learned as a graded quiz/test, similar to our Profiler Pro Evaluation.  The strategies each teacher may use to assess student's readiness levels depends on what we are trying to teach them and our teaching styles.

2.)           Using "anchors" such as a KWL chart is a wonderful resource to know where your students are starting out and how they have grown in the end as they are working towards their learning goals.  All students are different and have different starting points, therefore we need to be cognizant that each students growth may differ as well.  As teachers, our responsibility is to understand that it is all about each student's individual growth.  Anchors are a great tool to guide assessment because they allow us to observe prior knowledge and what students have learned in the end.   

3.)           There are many different ways to track what our students will be learning throughout their projects.  Therefore, it is most important to offer various styles of assessments.  Rubrics are a great way to assess students and help them understand the criteria by which their work will be evaluated.  Another great way to assess what students have learned is to use an online grade book that allows for ongoing feedback and meaningful data about the skills and abilities of a student from several categories, rather than taking away from a letter grade because an assignment is turned in late.  Another way is to write, illustrate, and publish a book, or you can have students write a report on their topic to promote their writing skills to assess their knowledge.  Videotaping interviews with students at the end of a project allows for students to share their reflections about how their project helped them learn.  You can have students make presentations about their topic to improve social skills and have them even evaluated by a panel of experts.  If student's projects/presentations are excellent you can have them even enter a contest or submit their work for publication to connect with their community and receive additional assessment and/or recognition.  Sometimes, we even need to allow students to create something on their own to show off what they have learned.   

4.)           This chapter directly relates to our project and us because it shares great information on how we need to design the assessment for our project that will be used to grade our students, in order to help our them meet their maximum growth as individual learners.  It further helps us understand that when we design assessment for our students we need to take into consideration the individual grading needs of students' assignments and final projects.  In order to guide our instruction on creating a Weather Forecast/Broadcast for our students, we need to use a form of assessment, preferably informal that allows us to understand what students already know about weather.  Anchors will be a great resource for this.  In fact, our project in the setting the stage phase incorporates anchors, such as KWL-activities.  Students are assessed by how well they will design and present a weather forecast on their own based on what they have learned and with the help of a rubric.  This can be a final formal assessment. 

Reflection 9

1.  Description of a method of understanding prior-knowledge of students.

Elise Mueller, an elementary school teacher explains, "I talk to my kids about this all the time. I tell them they can be consumers or they can be producers. It's better to be a producer. That means you're creating something that brings our learning to the next level. That the goal--the global goal--with Web 2.0. There's no point in just being a consumer anymore." Students must be actively thinking throughout the entire project process, from beginning to end. In a well designed project, students know they are taking on a particular task and how it leads to them toward important learning goals. They also know what success looks like when finished with the project, and they understand the various categories by which their performance will be measured.

2.  Discussion on the importance of establishing anchors for a project.

By establishing anchors in the project process, teachers gain a sense of where their students are starting, and how far they are going as they work to meet learning goals. To help with the idea of establishing anchors, teachers should keep track of his/her students projects so that way they can actually establish this anchor.

3.  Description of several ways to assess what students learned during the project.

There are several different ways that teachers can assess their students on what they learned from doing a project. Rubrics are always helpful because the student will get to see feedback written on the rubric of what they did good and what they need to work on. Online grade books are also a good idea. Video taping interviews with students at the end of the project, which allowed the students to be reflective and honest about how their project helped them learn. Teachers may also ask students to create something new that asks them to summarize what they have learned.

4.  Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

This chapter helps a lot with our project because it gave us different ways to create assessments for our students after the project. It also gave us a sense of how we can keep track of students learning throughout the project process. 

Reading Reflection #9

1.) One method that can be used to gain an understanding of students' prior-knowledge is using a formative assessment. A type of formative assessment that could be used is a non-graded quiz. Be sure to let the students know that they won't be given a grade for the quiz, so they don't freak out. This is an excellent way to see how much your students already know about the topic you're about to teach on. There are many different types of formative assessments, but the overall goal is to determine what your students already know and then use this information to shape your lessons.


2.) Establishing "anchors" for a project is very important! There's no doubt that most of your students will begin the project at different levels of understanding. By using "anchors" such as a KWL chart, you're able to understand where each one of your students stands on the topic, and where they want to end up at the end of the project. The book says "By establishing 'anchors,' you gain a sense of where students are starting and how far they are going as they work to meet learning goals." If you take the time to establish "anchors" for your project, you're setting the project up for success!


3.) There are so many different ways to assess how much your students learned during the project. One way is to have the students simply type up a report on their topic. This isn't an interactive way to assess the student's newly acquired knowledge, but it's a method that will help work on their writing skills. Another way to assess your students' learning is by having them do a presentation. They can either make a poster and explain it to the class, or even create a PowerPoint to present to the class. Either way, both of these methods help improve students' social skills. Another excellent way to assess student learning is to have them branch out of the classroom by entering a contest or submitting their work for publication. Both of these options help students connect with the broader community and feel special.


4.) A lot of the information in this chapter directly relates to the group project that we're currently working on. Before beginning our project on "Creating a Weather Forecast," it's crucial that we first understand how much our students already know about weather. This will help us shape our project. Also, it's important for us to establish "anchors" for our project. As far as assessing our students on what they've learned, we plan on having our students create a weather forecast of their own, which they will then be showing to local people in the community. This chapter is definitely a helpful resource to help us finalize our project.


References

• Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.

Reading Reflection 9

1.) One way to determine the prior knowledge of what your students know is through assessment. Assessment can be very helpful in times that a teacher needs to know exactly what her students know. Sometimes you need to assess your students before beginning a project to ensure that they are prepared to handle the new task. We don't want to assign projects in situations where the students are not prepared to handle the work and because of this we can assess them beforehand to guarantee their readiness. Assessment does not mean that you have to give your students a common multiple choice test, instead you can assess them using different strategies, sometimes a simple group discussion will get the job done. Types of assessment will vary depending on what the specific teacher is hoping to learn about her students through the assessment.

2.) Using "anchors" such as KWL charts are a great resource to use when you want to track where your students are starting and how far they've come to reach their learning goals. Not all students will start at the same place, so it is important to realize that not all students will end at the same place either. As a teacher it is important to remind ourselves that we are looking at the overall development for each student and the progress they have made individually. Using anchors is the best way to track this information that when it comes time for assessment you are aware of where all the students began and all the students left off.

3.) There are many different ways to track what your students learned during their project and the best way to do it is by offering many different styles of assessment. Not all students learn the same so it would be unfair to grade them on what they took from the project the same way. In this chapter, Paul Curtis talked about how he developed a new system of grading that tracked a lot more than the traditional grading scale would. Instead of giving the students one flat grade he analyzed their capabilities on several different letters. Instead of saying "David gets a D because he didn't write the paper on the book," Curtis would say "David might deserve a D for not writing the paper, but he did a spectacular job on his podcast". This type of assessment shows that there are many different levels to a students understanding about what they've learned. Ideas like this are what help us as teachers to come to recognize that we need work on creating multiple different ideas for tracking our students progress.

4.) The information in this chapter is directly related to what we are doing in class because it shows us how we need to design the assessment on which we are grading our students on. We want learn how to recognize the progress of the students in our class, but it also gets us thinking about how we plan to grade our students on their final end project. My group has our class presenting a weather broadcast and it is important that we take into consideration the different elements that are going to be in the grading process and how effective our assessment is.

Reflection 8

1. Digital tools make it easy for students to share their work and exchange ideas with diverse audiences, including family members and peers, local community members, and even the much wider world. Involving technology in projects allows students to reach out to an authentic audience. Digital aged projects offer almost unlimited opportunities for branching out from the classroom. Students might decide to talk to experts in the course of researching a particular topic. Teachers can design projects that his/her students can communicate with fellow learners, in other classrooms or outside of the classroom.

2. EAST stands for Environmental and Spatial Technologies. For over a dozen years different schools have been demonstrating the benefits of using technology for a real purpose - to solve problems and make improvements in their communities. Projects make use of geospatial technologies and multimedia tools that are more commonly found in professional labs or design studios. EAST students master these sophisticated tools and applications in context while solving community problems that interest them.

3. Once comfortable with project based learning, students will start to be more capable of leading their own projects by starting with generating a project idea they care about. Teachers should allow students to take learning to a different level and the way they want the learning to be done. The book gives the example of doing a project relating to your own life, something the students are passionate about so they can actually enjoy the project they are doing.

4. This chapter relates to our projects in class because in our project we allow our “students” to take over the project and let them do what they believe will work best. We discuss the benefits of technology in the classroom. We are also designing a handful of digital tools that help in our project process.

Reflection #8

1.      Some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom:

Blogs are a great way for students to connect with real audiences to reflect about what they are learning.  They can be used to find and talk with content experts to find answers to questions or receive feedback.  By allowing students to connect with real audiences or experts, not only in their own school, city, state, or country, but other countries with appropriate digital tools, such as video exchanges, wikis, blog entries, podcasts, and Skype, we are allowing them to expand their learning circle and have other people look at their project(s) and progress.  This in turn will motivate students to take more pride in their work and assume more responsibility, as well as provide them with authentic assessment.  As teachers, we can find experts in parents or people they know by putting out the word on our class website or blogs and create a list of willing experts and contacts.  However, if these experts are not available in person, we need to teach students how to locate these experts through research online and communicate with them efficiently to find the answers they are seeking.

 

2.      The EAST Initiative Model:

The EAST Initiative Model is the Environmental and Spatial Technologies Initiative network of 260 schools (2^nd grade to post-secondary) in seven states that focuses on the benefits of using geospatial technologies and multimedia tools for real purposes to solve problems and make improvements in their communities.  This allows kids to be hooked on significant projects and the community to support them, such as partners from industry and academia.  It is based on four essential ideas:

1)      Student-driven learning. Students need to be responsible for their own learning.

2)      Authentic project-based learning:  Students should be engaged in solving real problems in their communities.

3)      Technology as tools:  Students need access to the relevant technologies that professionals use to solve real problems.

4)      Collaboration:  When students collaborate in teams to pursue authentic projects, they accomplish more than any one person can do in isolation.

It is critical that teachers receive training and support as facilitators to work with student teams that mainly teach and learn from each other with the help of technology (which they take the lead on when learning about them) to work on authentic projects that are presented at the end of the year to showcase what they have learned .  This model supports student interests by offering technical training led by professionals, along with online courses on specific applications, similarly to our professor offering technical training to us or tutorials.  Overall, the project focuses on collaboration to design a project, implementation and asking questions about what is working and how problems can be solved, as well as real-world issues that students may encounter.   

3.      Some reasons to let students “lead” their projects:

Students will be more passionate about a project if the issue they are tackling connects to their own lives in a meaningful way, such as a disability, their own heritage, or community, etc.  If students can generate their own project ideas they care about, they will feel good about communicating and collaborating with other students and experts that will help them find answers to their issues/questions.  This can be achieved with the help of digital tools, such as blogs, etc.  If students lead their own projects, they are able take charge of their own learning and think about what information they want to share and how they want to present their final presentation/project that reflects their interests, ideas, and what matters to them. 

4.      How do concepts in this chapter relate to our topic/project:

This chapter gives us ideas of how to create a learning environment that supports rigorous, community-based learning which focuses on student-driven learning, real-world problems, using modern and relevant technologies such as blogs, and collaborating with a bigger audience, such as other students and content experts. We are learning that project-based learning is a way for students to connect with real audiences and experts that can be in person, or online in their own classroom or school, or across the globe.  For our project, we are having students communicate and collaborate with students in Sochi, Russia via Skype video chat to exchange and compare information about weather conditions.  We are creating a blog for our students so they can communicate about their ideas and brainstorm about what they are learning.  The chapter directly relates to me writing this blog right now, which I will be posting as a tool for receiving authentic feedback and assessment from an authentic audience, such as you (my peers).  It is a tool to help us evaluate ourselves, as well as our projects.    

References

• Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.

Reading Reflection #8

1.) Extending the learning experience beyond the classroom is something that will definitely benefit the students! One excellent way to do this is by blogging. Blogs provide the students with a space where their voices can be heard. On blogs, students are able to communicate different thoughts and ideas with other students and even teachers. Blogs can also be used by students to connect with content experts, to reflect on their own learning, and to engage in global conversations that would not otherwise take place. Often students will be more motivated to put in hard work when they know that other people will be observing their work. One way that the students can connect with a real audience is by creating a digital story. As I mentioned before, connecting students with experts is a great way for your students to branch out beyond the classroom. As teachers, it's important that we prepare our students before they communicate with experts. Connecting students with other students across the globe is another great way to branch out your students beyond the classroom. They can do this by means of a blog or maybe even a Skype video call; these are both excellent ways that your students can collaborate with students from far away.


2.) The EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technologies) Initiative is composed of a network of schools that have been demonstrating the benefits of using technology for a real purpose...to solve problems and make actual improvements in their communities. The projects that EAST students work on make use of geospatial technologies and multimedia tools that are often found in professional labs, but yet the students are able to operate them. EAST students are often familiar using tools technologies such as GIS, GPS, & CAD.
The EAST model is built on four essential ideas, all of which were part of the original design:
1. Student-driven learning: Students need to be responsible for their own learning.
2. Authentic project-based learning: Students should be engaged in solving real problems in their communities.
3. Technology as tools: Students need access to the relevant technologies that professionals use to solve real problems.
4. Collaboration: When students collaborate in teams to pursue authentic projects, they accomplish more than any one person can do in isolation.


3.) There are several good reasons as to why you should occasionally let your students "lead" their projects. One reason is that they will most likely pick a topic that they're really interested in. By choosing a topic that really interests them, they will probably put in more work than they normally would for a teacher assigned project. Allowing your students to do work on a topic that they're passionate about will benefit both you and the student. Another benefit to letting the students "lead" their project is that you, as a teacher, won't have to micromanage each individual project. By letting students "lead" their own projects, they have a chance to take on their own learning; as teachers, it's important that we're still there to support them every step of the way.


4.) This chapter directly relates to our group project. The number one thing that sticks out is the title of the chapter: "Expanding Your Circle." For our project, we're having our students communicate with another class of students in Sochi, Russia. Our plans are to have them communicate with each other via Skype video chat. This will give them an excellent opportunity to experience what it's like to collaborate with others from across the globe. Also, we are going to create a blog for our student. This will give them a space where they can talk about important concepts and explain new ideas with other students in the class. Overall, this chapter is a very helpful resource for our group project.

References

• Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.

Reading Reflection 8

1.) As teachers it is very important that we take the learning experience that we are providing our students with and manipulate it beyond its usual boundaries so that we can ensure they are receiving more extensive ideas and lessons. We want to branch outside of the regular classroom setting so that our students will have access to more unique and individualized work. To do this we need to incorporate many of our newly found 21st century skills into their projects, such as allowing them to utilize digital tools. Our students will feel more connected to their work if we allow them to feel that they are reaching an authentic audience, and because of this we will notice that many teachers nowadays are making the transition by allowing their students to make blogs, power points, digital stories, etc. Not only will this help our students feel that have a voice, it can also be very helpful for allowing them to reach out and gain access to all of the amazing people in this world. We can use digital tools to help our students reach out to experts on particular subjects that reside in Australia, or simply we can allow them to be used when reaching out to the school district down the road. We want our students to ultimately understand that technology is a tool that can be used to assist them in any way they see fit.
2.) EAST Initiative is a network of schools that demonstrates the benefits of using technology for real life purposes by solving problems and making improvements to their communities. The students of EAST learn how to master a variety of technological tools that are commonly found in professional settings. The purpose of EAST is to contribute to student-driven learning, authentic project based learning, to understand that technology is a tool, and to teach students collaboration. EAST is a school program for professional development that allows kids to get more out of their education.
3.)It's important that teachers understand that it is very beneficial for students to "lead" their own projects. If we allow our students to work for themselves we are in turn allowing them to learn for themselves. We want our students to feel connected to their projects and by allowing them to lead they feel like they have the control over their own learning experiences. It also teaches our students how to collaborate with other people to combine their knowledge into one.
4.) This chapter is directly related to our class, so much so that I am partaking in a lot of the information that was written in this chapter right now as I write this. Much like was mentioned near the beginning of the chapter we want to open our students up to a bigger audience and one of the ways this is made possible is through the use of blogs. Because we record our thoughts on our blogs, and because we are constantly working as a team by contributing to each other we are directly mimicking what was mentioned in this reflection.

Reading Reflection #7

1.) Classroom discussions are a key component to every classroom. It's important that teachers focus on making the discussions in their classroom productive. Asking good questions is a great way to ensure that your classroom discussions are productive. Below are the three levels of classroom discussion with descriptions of each.
---Teacher to teacher: Teacher conversations will likely touch on everything from procedural to formative assessment. For example: teachers might talk about things like "What's our game plan for tomorrow?" or "From what I overheard today, some students are still confused about the key concept. How about planning a mini-lesson?" If for some reason teachers aren't able to communicate face-to-face, they should make use of blogs or wikis to keep in contact with each other.
---Student to student: Students should be talking about their learning experiences with their group and with other groups as they happen. Talking to other students about their learning experiences gives the students a chance to learn from others. The teacher's role is to be a facilitator; spend plenty of time listening to conversations among the students.
---Teacher to student: Teach whole-group lessons or have whole-group discussions together. This helps to get everyone to be involved and interact with the material. A teacher's job is to circulate, observe, and talk with smaller groups of students.


2.) When working on a class project, it's inevitable that different groups will work at different paces. As a teacher, it's important that you ask questions that will help you discover how fast/slow each group is moving. Based on these results, you might have to makes some adjustments to the project to keep it moving at an appropriate pace. Below are the four questions for "checking in" with a brief description of each.
---Procedural: These are questions such as "Are we staying on schedule?", "Do we have the right materials available?", and "When's the best time to schedule a field trip, expert visitor, or other activity?"
---Teamwork: These are questions such as "How are team members getting along?", "Is one students carrying too much of the load for the whole team?", and "Are students able to manage conflict themselves, or do they need my help?"
---Understanding: These are questions such as "Have you thought about looking for information on Discovery Kids' website?", and "Have you considered researching the average life span of a turtle?"
---Self-assessment: These are questions that are asked to find out what students are thinking about the project. Teachers should ask questions that encourage self-assessment and reflection on the part of the students.


3.) Incorporating technology into a project will most likely spark the interests of the students. Allowing the students to use technologies like laptops, iPads, and their cells phones will greatly benefit them in the long run. The long term benefits of using technologies such as these is that they will be better prepared for life after school. When they get out into the real world and look for a job, they'll definitely need to understand how to operate various forms of technology. Another benefit of using technology in projects is that, if the right internet sites/apps are used, the students can develop solid communication and collaboration skills. These skills are important because they're skills that they'll use for the rest of their lives.


4.) Troubleshooting and teamwork are two 21st-century skills that can make or break a project. Troubleshooting is a 21st-century skill that distinguishes effective project managers. Teachers should help students learn from setbacks and fine-tune their strategies for getting a project back on track. Teachers should also helps students understand the fact that real-world projects come with real-world challenges. Teamwork is a 21st-century skill that helps to promote collaboration. Teachers should always pay close attention to team dynamics. If you detect an issues, jump right in and help students learn to manage their own team conflicts. Conflict resolution is a real-life skill that will truly benefit them in the future!


5.) This chapter, like all the other chapters, directly relates to the group project that we're currently working on. In my opinion, the thing that relates the most to our lesson is the section on "questions for checking in." The reason why this is so important is because, as teachers, it's crucial that we ensure that all groups are staying on pace to completing the project on time. Also, the section on optimizing technology was very useful. We're planning on having our students communicate with another class of students in Sochi, Russia. So, we're doing a good job of utilizing technology into our project (by using Skype on a laptop). Overall, this chapter is a very useful tool to help us develop our project.


References

• Boss, Suzie, and Jane Krauss. Reinventing Project-based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-world Projects in the Digital Age. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.

Reflection #7

1.       Descriptions of the levels of classroom discussion: 

teacher to teacher – After designing a project, teachers continue to communicate to work together on procedural and formative assessment to guide instruction.  This can be done in person, on blogs, and using Wikis, etc.

students to students – Students communicate about their learning experiences within their teams and with each other; while the teacher remains the facilitator to give feedback and allow for opportunities to practice skills learned and help students take on more responsibility for their own learning.

teacher to students – Teachers circulate, observe, carefully listen, and ask probing and follow-up questions to smaller groups of students to promote higher-order thinking.  These higher-order questions need to be in the form of evaluation, analysis, comparison, etc. from Bloom’s Taxonomy and help students garner a deeper understanding of content/concepts taught.
 

Overall, classroom discussion is encouraged with and in small groups and teachers need to stay away from too much whole-class instruction.   This is interesting, because when I did my pre-internship, my mentor teacher was required to do whole-class instruction everyday for twenty minutes for the language arts block alone.  It was a new requirement. 

I agree, however,  that teachers should not be the only ones providing information to students, rather students should be learning from each other by researching and investigating, using their curiosity to guide investigation and construct their own understanding, and learn how to ask good questions to find answers. 

2.       Questions for “checking in” on students during a project:

Questions for “checking in” are all probing questions that allow us to get a better understanding of how students learn best and where we need to focus to make necessary adjustments to our projects and to keep students on task.  As teachers, we need to ask procedural questions (e.g., Are we staying on schedule?), where we track student’s progress towards milestones and deadlines by reminding them of the project calendar and by monitoring their project logs and checklists.  We can ask questions about teamwork (e.g., Are team members getting along? Is one student carrying too much of the load for the whole team?), that allow us to find out about the team’s progress, the team dynamics, and who is contributing, in order to start a dialogue about team work if students are slacking.  Answers can be given in person, on blogs, in journals, and by using Wikis, which allow us to see who is actually contributing.  We can ask questions to promote understanding (e.g., Have you considered/thought about this…?), which are necessary when students get off task.  These questions or suggesting resources/tools to keep projects moving, redirect students, and are a way to push students beyond expectations.  Lastly, we can ask questions as encouragement for self-assessment and reflection about the project that allows students to describe their challenges and frustrations, as well as ask their own questions and share their excitement.   

3.       Benefits to students when optimizing the use of technology:

When optimizing the use of technology, students are able to gain new insight into how to communicate key content and with a culturally diverse audience; follow their interests to meet learning goals; replay technology such as podcasts to match their learning speeds without having to ask the teacher to go back over information they did not understand the first time; stay organized;  expand their horizons by connecting to outside experts or a broader community via e-mail and online collaborative tools; access their workspace anywhere, anytime, and from any computer connected to the Internet; use appropriate tools to extend their reach; take advantage of available tools to help organize their research; keep track of important milestones; collaborate with team members; receive timely feedback from teachers on their projects; critique their peers as authentic feedback, and use technology to keep parents involved in student learning. 

4.       21^st-century skills that can make or break a project:

One of the 21^st-century skills that can make or break a project is being familiar with troubleshooting strategies for getting a project back on track after dealing with real-world challenges that can cause setbacks.  As teachers, we need support students through questioning rather than giving them all the answers and emphasize conversation/discussion that includes brainstorming with students and teachers to help students understand that real-world projects come from real-world challenges.  Another skill that can affect the success of a project is teamwork.  Sometimes the team dynamics may be not ideal, and as teachers we need to help students learn to manage their own team conflicts with the help of team contracts where roles and responsibilities are spelled out, and make teamwork a focus of formal assessment with the help of a teamwork-scoring rubric.  I have not had very many good experiences with teamwork in the past since I often ended up doing the majority of the work.  Therefore, I feel that it is important to hold each student accountable for the success of the group.    

5.       How does this chapter relate to our project/topic:

This chapter informs us of how we can keep a project moving by giving us ideas of how to interact with each other and students, as well as thinking on our feet if unexpected situations arise or if students veer off in the wrong directions.  We are at this point of our project and we need to brainstorm to make sure we are not doing the same lessons and that all of our lessons are meeting learning goals by asking each other questions in our small groups to become real-world problem solvers.  Understanding the right questioning is important for student’s success and we need to discuss and ask each other questions as to how we can get to the final presentation of our project and make certain that each of our team members is contributing equally.  Our instructor has only used whole-class instruction to make announcements, to introduce a new concept, or to demonstrate a skill.  We are starting to recognize the benefits of using technology in our projects, such as accessing our blogs/projects anywhere, keeping track of our milestones, getting feedback from our professor about our lessons, and authentic feedback from our peers, etc.  Overall, we need to be aware that teaching students how to communicate properly and ask the right questions, troubleshooting, and managing conflict is critical to the success of a project.

Reflection 7

1. Levels of classroom discussion:
- Teacher to teacher: teacher conversations will likely touch on game plan and who is leading the activity for the procedural and touch on making a mini lesson and getting opinions for the formative assessment. If teachers can not meet face to face be sure to make effort to check the project blog, wiki or other collaborative tool to keep the teacher to teacher conversation going.
- Student to student: students should always be talking about their learning experiences within their teams and with other teams. Explaining their thinking gives students opportunities to learn from and challenge each other. A teacher must spend plenty of time listening to student conversations.
- Teacher to student: Mainly use whole class discussion. Teachers are apt to be circulating, observing, and talking with smaller groups of students.

2. Questions for checking in:
- Procedural: Are we staying on schedule? Do we have the right materials available? Whens the best time to schedule a field trip, expert visitor, or other activity?
- Teamwork: How are team members getting along? Is one student carrying too much of the load for the whole team? Are students able to manage conflict themselves, or do they need help?
- Understanding: Have you thought about....? Have you considered this research?
- Self-assessment: ask questions that encourage self-assessment and reflection.

3. Optimizing technology:
Questions that may help in maximizing the potential of technology during a project...
- Is technology helping students reach learning goals, or is it leading them on side trips?
- Is technology helping students stay organized?
- Are students taking advantage of available tools to help organize their research?
- Are students able to use technology to expand their horizons by connecting to outside experts or a broader community?
- Is access equitable?
- Do students have ready access to the technologies they need?

4. 21st century skills that make or break a project:
Troubleshooting is a 21st century skill that distinguishes effective project managers. Help students understand that real world projects come from real world challenges. Teamwork is another 21st century skill that can make or break a project. This helps emphasize the importance of 21st century skills.

5. Relation to topic/project:
This chapter helps with the project we are doing because it gives us an idea of how to interact with other teachers and students and how students need to interact with each other in order to get a project started and moving. I think learning about the questions you need to ask during the project process are also important to know when doing a project in the classroom.  

Reading Reflection 7

1.) The most important aspect of effective classroom discussion is having good questions; however, the questions need to be complex and offer a variety of answers. When looking at different levels of classroom discussion you can break them apart into three categories. The first level is teacher-to-teacher discussion. Allowing teachers to work together not only helps during the planning stage of a lesson but also the implementation phase because it allows the colleagues to work together and provide feedback to one another. The second level is student-to-student discussion. Students should always be talking to other students about their learning experiences as they unfold. We want our students to learn good communication skills, as well as teamwork. It is also important that students are learning how to work together and provide feedback. The third level of discussion is teacher-to-student. When a teacher veers away from the traditional classroom style of whole class lectures you will find that are many other ways to facilitate conversation with your students outside of the regular classroom. At times teachers may still find it necessary to teach to the class as a whole, but more often then not the teacher should be circulating the classroom while observing and talking to the students in smaller groups. The teacher can also use the classroom website or email to get into contact with students as well.

2.)  The thing that is most often overlooked by teachers is the difficulty of the questions they are providing to their students. Higher-order questions are essential to the classroom because it provides for more in depth ideas and thoughts. Even though the questions we are asking our students is very important, it is just as important that as teachers we are questioning ourselves and how our students are responding to the lesson. As students are working on their projects it is important to remember to check-in on their progress, and make adjustments where need be. To ensure that you are on the right track you may want to start by asking questions that pertain to the procedure and schedule of project. You also need to observe your students and see if they are participating in teamwork. Any good teacher should spend time observing their students so that they can monitor their students understanding. Lastly, you should take the time to ask the students what they feel about the project and reflect upon their responses.

3.)  Incorporating technology into your project is something that your students will often enjoy, especially when you allow them to use the technology they know and love, such as iPads, iPods, cell phones, etc. As long as you are checking in on the student’s proper usage of technology it can be very beneficial and helpful to them while working on their projects. We want our students to understand how to use technology to their benefit, as well as master all of the tools that they well need for later in life.  As long as they are meeting their learning goals it is fun for the students to complete their projects using different forms of technology they like using, or want to learn more about.

4.)  Troubleshooting and teamwork are either 21st century skills that can make or break a project. When students learn that real-world projects come with real-world challenges it is important to help students understand that they can learn from their setbacks. Instead of allowing your students to think they failed, we should encourage them to take what they learned and apply changes to see where they can go different. We also need to monitor our students to make sure that their teamwork skills are working. By paying close attention to group dynamics we can distinguish how effectively the group works together. To ensure that teamwork is taken seriously by your students you can make it a focus of formal assessment, to emphasis its importance. We want to teach our students how to be professional and respectful of their peers, just like in the real world.

5.)  This chapter relates to what we are doing in class right now because it helps us as teachers understand how to analyze all the different forms of conversation that occur in our classrooms. We want to make sure that we are prepared to provide our students with the constant reminder to be respectful and considerate of their peers. It also helps us look at the questions that we are presenting to our students and helps us further determine how useful they are to our learning environment.