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.