Reading Reflection 3

1. Since it has already been established that Project Based Learning has many benefits for both students and teachers, it is important not to forget that it is only beneficial if it is done accurately. The most important role for the teacher in the process of Project Based Learning is when the teacher comes together to form a “big idea”. The “big idea” is the theme in which your entire project is going to be based around. It is critical to the students that the teacher has carefully planned their assignments to something that sparks interest. The “big idea” needs to be relevant and personal to their lives, and seem as if their opinion matters. The more realistic and life-like the project can be the more involved your students will be. The best way to ensure that your “big idea” is successful is to work with other teachers and seek assistance from members of your community. Consider all possibilities when putting together a “big idea” and don’t be afraid to try something new. 2. When establishing your project it is also very important to keep in mind the tools and resources you are teaching your students to use, particularly because so many of the tools they are learning today will be looked back on continuously throughout their lives. Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives organizes the six learning actions into a list; remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Although the first three learning actions are relevant to all types of learning, the last three are where we are able to make a strong connection with Project Based Learning. Analyzing is when your students are examining the in’s and out’s of the information and investigating all questions that they might have. Evaluating is when the students are able to judge and decide for themselves how they are feeling about the information they’ve received. And lastly, creating is when they physically combine all of the knowledge they have learned into their final project. These three tools are critical twenty first century skills because it teaches them to think beyond the subject and transition their minds to thinking of things in terms of the “big picture”. 3. The term “literacy” can be construed many different ways depending on who your talking to, but one thing that never changes is that becoming a literate person requires you to be an aware and knowledgeable citizen. According to Canadian teacher Jeff Whipple, literacy is all about information. We want our students to be able to find, assess, and use all kinds of information to their benefit. As a person if you are able to grapple with knowledgeable materials and find a way to put it you use then you are directly applying 21st century literacies to your life. This is goal that all teachers should intend for their students so that they are able to understand the power in using tools. 4. There are eight major learning functions that encompass all areas of Project Based Learning. First function is that of ubiquity, as a teacher you should give your students the opportunity to learn anytime and anywhere. Learning can take place inside or outside the classroom and all information doesn’t need to come from the same source. The teacher should allow students to work with anything from handheld devices to books or computers. The second function is deep learning. Deep learning involves letting students using the most recent and well-developed information that they can find. All students should have access to rich materials that invoke more thinking. The third learning function involves making things visible and discussable. Digital tools are a great resource to use when showing your students things that you might not have been able to do without the assistance of technology. The fourth function is expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, and building community. All of these elements are now possible through social media and by allowing our students access to certain types of social media we are in turn allowing them to share ideas and build communities. The fifth function is collaboration. Allowing students to work together and share ideas is a keep part in teaching them how to function in daily life. The sixth function is research. Since all projects involve at least some form of research it is important that we are able to provide our students with quality directories and search engines for them to seek information from. The seventh function is project management. Project management is what allows students to manage their time, work, sources, drafts, and feedback. A simple folder on the computer would suffice. Lastly, the final function is reflection and iteration. This function is when students are able to look back on their thinking and examine what you would consider changing. 5. A lot of the information discussed in this chapter is directly related to what we are working on in class right now. As a group we needed to come together to form a “big idea” and find a way to make our project interesting to others. As a class we are also talking a lot about how to use different types of tools to reflect what we know. The learning functions are also something that we will want to take into consideration as we are planning for our big projects.