Reflection #6

1.       How can technology tools encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths:

Technology tools such as Blogs offer students a way to self-reflect about what they are learning over time, such as our self-reflections on our chapters or communicating with our team members about our projects.  Profiler PRO is a way to self-assess our learning characteristics as well as others within a group, and help identify interests, strengths, and weaknesses of team members or the students in your class.  This program allows you to write your own surveys based on the classes or students’ needs and allows us to reassess their profile to monitor their learning progress.  Survey Monkey and Zoomerang are also online surveys that can be used to track results of students’ self-assessments and compare them to a larger group, such as the entire class. 

2.       How can you get students’ minds ready for a project:

The main thing for a good project is to tap students’ prior knowledge to generate interest and promote inquiry.  This can be done in several ways, such as by using K-W-L activities, or invite students to think about the possibilities of a topic by posing a question after showing a visual, bringing the topic up daily, invite experts that are mystery guests to spark students’ interests which leaves them eager to learn.  For our project, we are inviting students to think about the job of a meteorologist and the weather components he/she needs to understand in order to make weather predictions.  We will let them ponder about this idea and invite a meteorologist who will spark their interest about how their job relates to their everyday lives, as well as agriculture and tourism in Michigan.  Other ideas are discrepant events, such as investigations which arouse curiosity and prepare students to think about what is to come, or role-playing predictions where students act out what their prior knowledge of the project’s topic.  I like the idea of recording students so they can see where their understanding broke down during a discussion as a way to find out what they don’t know to start a K-W-L activity, where the next step is to figure out what they need to learn or find out.   Another way to get students’ minds ready is to connect them with experts of the field explored by students, such as a library media specialist. When school personnel are not available, I agree that the internet is a great way to meet and communicate with experts.  Flickr, which is a social networking photo sharing site where students can view other peoples work on similar projects and write comments that go back to the submitters.  I believe that the best way to tap students’ prior knowledge is when they are allowed to connect their initial inquiry to the real world, where they are allowed to connect with the project on a personal level to find out what they do or do not know.         

3.       Elements of teaching fundamentals first:

I agree that when launching a project, we need to think about teaching the prerequisite knowledge or skills (fundamentals) students need to know in order to be independent learners.  For our project, we are teaching students about all the weather components important to a meteorologist’s job in order for them to explorer them during the unit and create a weekly weather broadcast.  When equipped with the essential knowledge of the components of a meteorologist’s job, such as knowing about weather conditions, severe weather and weather safety, weather instruments, weather information and data collection from maps, Doppler radar, weather charts, etc., a prediction model, and the process of creating a weekly weather forecast, students will be directed in the right direction when starting their investigations for the project that are student driven.  By creating a weather word wall, concept map, or making a weather question board our students are learning the necessary vocabulary and background knowledge necessary to tackle their own investigations/projects that uses the latest technology.  We should also teach students the necessary background knowledge for the technology used in order to prepare them.  I agree that when students are aware of what they know and don’t know their learning takes on a sense of purpose and once that is accomplished we can take them a step further by prompting them with “why,” “should,” and “how” questions.  I believe that an assessment rubric is vital in giving students an understanding of what is expected of them by addressing what good performance looks like through qualitative descriptions of each rating.     

4.       The important steps in preparing students for using technology in a project:

To get students ready for using technology in a project, we need to plan efficient ways for students to learn them.  The first step is to set up a technology playground where students teach each other to solve problems, such as simply learning about the technology.  The second step is to tap student’s expertise by immersing them in technology where technically able students teach other with the help of computer stations each with one tool that will be used in the project.  It is important to discuss the purpose of each tool and set expectations for its use and build on student’s understanding.  The third step is to introduce project-management tools, such as a project log, a check list or journal to track student’s progress toward goals and help with their self-reflection.  This allows us to assess why students are falling behind.  The fourth step is to be comfortable enough with tools that we want students to use and help demonstrate their use to our students.  If we are not, we can ask technology specialists or skilled students to help with a screencast that students can watch from anywhere about how to use the technical process of tools necessary for a project.  It allows for tutorials about the tools, narrated slideshows, and feedback on student’ work.  The fifth step is to collaborate with technology specialists to match and teach learning objectives with technologies that help students meet them.  The sixth step is to think about the usefulness of the technical skill.

5.       Ways to promote inquiry and deep learning:

We need to guide students to choose the right questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action.  We need to let students wonder about class displays, posters, etc., have them ask questions and ask them questions to encourage inquiry and research.  We need to provide collaborative activities for investigations that are challenging.  We need to guide them past the superficial and factual to meaningful inquiry based research by thinking like scientists.  We need to encourage students to come up with more challenging questions that guide meaningful inquiry by guiding them with question starters.  Allow students to think about the project further by allowing them to work on the web for teaching about information literacy.  Offer credible electronic resources and narrow information we want students to use by distributing a list of selected sites with their web addresses to limit the attention to credible sources that were evaluated by us.  Explain these sources, look at organization, examine index pages, discuss search parameters, and read from sites together before expecting them to be independent learners.   Have students explorer search engines for reliable and accurate search engines, such as ask for kids, kidsclick, yahookids, or nettrecker.  When students understand all this, we can teach them about the “Big 6,” that offers students strategies to help find, organize, and evaluate information. 

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

This chapter is guiding us in understanding how we can set the stage for students to learn by inquiry using technology tools.  We have used Blogs and Profiler Pro to self-reflect and self-assess our knowledge and background knowledge.  To get students’ minds ready in our project we are using a similar project-launching method as did the project of the fantastical settlement on Mars, where we will use a visual or a prompting question to tap student’s prior knowledge and invite a mystery guest.  This prior knowledge will be collected in the form of a K-W-L activity, such as a weather word wall or question board that allows us to see what terms students are already familiar with when it comes to weather and the job of a meteorologist.  To teach students the fundamentals of the project, we are teaching students about the weather components to direct them properly for possible investigations in the project.  For our concept map, we have already been considering an assessment rubric as important aspects of presenting a weekly weather forecast/broadcast which will guide our students.  Several of our lessons include experts or media specialists to teach students important background knowledge about the technological tools they will be using for their lessons as choices for their projects.  We will try to guide students in order to provide rich inquiry lessons that are meaningful to them and help them to become independent 21-st century literate learners.

Revised Collaborative Concept Map (2/28)

Reading Reflection #6

1.) Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths. Some examples of technology tools:
--Blogs: Blogs provide students with a space to reflect on their work and what they're learning. This is a great place for students to talk to each other about any new concepts/ideas that they've learned.
--ProfilerPRO: This is a very useful online survey tool that allows you to identify the learning characteristics of an individual and also among members of a group. Some things that can be identified are strengths, weaknesses, and interests. This information can then be used to guide student learning. Students can reassess their profile over time to monitor the progress that they've made.
--SurveyMonkey/Zoomerang: These allow teachers to set up live online surveys. The results can be used to track trends as well as help students see how their self-assessment compares to the rest of the class.


2.) Before students begin a project, it's important that they get their minds ready. Teachers can prepare students' minds in the following ways: -By creating a K-W-L chart, -By getting students' attention and giving the idea time to settle in their imaginations, -By encouraging your students to explore and think about the topic, and to discuss their ideas with friends and perhaps even at the dinner table with family. Talking about your topic with others is a great way to discover new ideas that you never even thought of before.


3.) Before embarking on a project, it's important to think about teaching prerequisite knowledge or skills students need in order to work with a degree of independence on their project. In order to help set the stage for independent inquiry, you should begin your project with the K-W-L activity. This lets the students discuss what they already know about the topic, what they wonder about the topic, and what they want to learn about the topic. It's also important for teachers to share the assessment rubric with their students. This informs the students of the exact expectations for the project and gives them a roadmap toward great achievement. "The best rubrics even leave room for unanticipated brilliance!"


4.) The important steps in preparing students for using technology in their project are as follows:
--Set Up a Technology Playground: This is where you should provide the opportunity for students to explore the different types of technology that they can use for their project.
--Tap Student Expertise: This is where you should allow tech savvy students to teach other students about technology.
--Introduce Project-Management Tools: This is where a project log or a project journal help students track their progress toward certain goals. By encouraging students to write about their progress toward certain goals, you're able to gain insights as to why they're struggling/falling behind.
--Demonstrate: If you feel like you're comfortable with technology, go ahead and demonstrate to the children how certain technologies work. Be sure to mention the use of the tools within the context of the project. Also, it's important that you make your expectations very clear for the students.
--Rely on Your Technology Specialist: Collaborate with your technology specialist to match your learning objectives with proper technologies that will help students meet these objectives.

5.) In order to promote inquiry and deep learning, teachers should consider inquiry guiding question starters such as:
--"How" questions: These questions ask students to understand problems, to weigh options, and to propose solutions.
--"Which one" questions: These questions ask students to collect information and make informed decisions.
--"What if"/hypothetical questions: These questions ask students to use the knowledge they have to pose a hypothesis and consider options.
--"Why" questions: These questions ask students to understand cause and effect.
--"Should" questions: These questions ask students to make moral or practical decisions based on evidence.
All of these types of questions require the students to really put their brain to work when giving an answer. These five types of questions are all excellent ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.


6.) The information that was discussed in this chapter directly relates to our project. When deciding what lesson topics each person gets, we post on our blog. We also should consider implementing the K-W-L activity into our project because it's important to know what the students want to learn. Lastly, we want to ensure that our students are familiar and understand how to use the technology that they'll be working with to complete their project.

Reflection 6

1. Different technology tools that can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths are...
- blogs: blogs offer students space where they can reflect over time about what they are learning
- profilerPRO: this is an online survey tool that allows you to identify the learning characteristics of an individual and also among members of a group. You are able to identify interests, strengths, and weaknesses and use this information to guide learning. Students are able to create their own survey and use a template that meets their needs. Students can also assess their profile and compare it to what they started with in the begging of the year.
- SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang: these sites allow you to set up online surveys. You can use the survey results to track trends and help students see how their self assessment compares to the larger group.

2. A great activity that most teachers use before starting a project is a K-W-L chart. Start projects by getting students attention and giving the idea time to settle in their imaginations. Students need to envision what they want to do for a project before they actually start something. Teachers need to encourage their students to explore and think about the topic they are doing their project on and sharing their ideas with classmates and friends. When starting a project, it is all about possibilities.

3. Before starting a project, teachers need to think about teaching prerequisite knowledge or skills students need in order to work independently on their project. Before starting, teachers should teach a few mini-lessons to get the class interested and intrigued in the topic they are about to be doing a project about. Teachers need to set the stage for independent inquiry. When students are aware of what they know and don't know they can establish a point of departure and a sense of purpose. The K-W-L activity allows the student to explore and will give them a sense of their prior knowledge and help them imagine what they will be learning. Teachers also need to share the assessment rubric. This will help students achieve exactly what you what them to do. A discussion on an in depth description of the rubric must take place so students understand what they need to do to be successful in the project.

4. Steps to preparing students to use technology:
- Set up a technology playground: allow students to explore with the technology you will be using.
- Tap student expertise: let technically able students teach each other.
- Introduce project management tools: a project log or journal offers another tool to help students track their progress toward goals. Allowing them to write about their progress will benefit the teacher in seeing where they are struggling and what they might need help with
- demonstrate: if comfortable, demonstrate. If not familiar ask a tech. specialist to demonstrate. Discuss use of toold within the context of the project and make expectations clear.

5. Ways to promote inquiry and deep learning:
- guide students as they choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action
- "Which one" questions asks students to collect information and make informed decisions
- "How" questions ask students to understand problems, to weigh options, and to propose solutions
- "What if" questions ask students to use the knowledge they have to pose a hypothesis and consider options.
- "Should" questions ask students to make moral and practical decisions based on evidence.
- "Why" questions ask students to understand cause and effect.

6. This chapter relates to what we are doing in class greatly. We use blogs to put all of our ideas out on the table and we also put new information on what we are learning in them as well. When doing our project we need to think about what the students may or may not know already about the topic. All that we have read so far relates to everything we are doing in the class with our big projects.

Reading Reflection 6

1.) Before starting a project with your class you need to come up with a plan and how you want to get them excited and prepared for the learning ahead. It's important that you teach your students any of the additional skills that they need to complete the project, but it is also important that you teach your students how to monitor their own progress. When students learn how to articulate their own metacognitive strategies it helps them understand how to attack problems in the future. Technology tools can be used to encourage students to be reflective and value their own strengths.

• Students can use blogs to record what they are learning, and go back at any time to review what they already know.
• ProfilerPro is an online survey tool that the students can use to determine their strengths and weaknesses that allows them to watch their results change over time.
• Survey Monkey and Zoomerang are also an online survey tool that helps track trends in student learning.

2.) Preparing your students for projects is important because we want to get them excited about their next big project, we don't want to weigh them down negativity before the project even begins. To avoid the dreaded looks of unhappy students the teacher needs to get the students minds prepared and ready to start the next project. The best way to avoid problems with your projects is to make sure it is tapping into your students prior knowledge, as well as what they are interested in learning about. Some teachers like to make K-W-L charts to get the class thinking about their subject and so that he/she can determine what the students already know about the subject and what should become  more or less of a focus. Make sure that you give your students plenty of time to think about your main idea so they have the opportunity to think about how they want to go about handling it, also allow to them to talk with their friends about what they like and don't like about the idea. If your having difficulties building excitement about the project you can spend more time slowing integrating ideas about the project into your classroom by talking about it briefly each day until you see some excitement. It might also be helpful to have a guest speaker come in and talk to the class about all the cool things about your next topic.

3.) We want our students to feel confident going into their new project so it is very important that they have all the necessary skills needed to give them independence and freedom within their project so they don't feel weighted down by not having the proper skills to get the project done effectively. The only way to truly avoid this problem is to introduce these concepts to your students minds before they need to utilize them. By planning a series of mini-lessons you can attack all the problems early on, and leave your students feeling knowledgable and prepared for the next section. Teaching fundamentals first gets your students heading in the direction and also helps to invoke some excitement in them for whats to come later. You also want to remember to keep your students informed of their goals and what they are being graded on (share the assessment rubric).

4.) If the students do not know how to navigate the technology used in the project then they are more than likely going to do the project incorrectly. As teachers we need to ensure that our students are up to date on their technological skills before we ask them to complete a project that they may not be prepared to handle. Sometimes advance planning for the whole class is necessary and sometimes you may just need to sit down with a few students. Make sure to only included resources that are available to students all the time, and nothing too crazy that they can't get their hands on. Also remember not to forget that technology does not always mean a computer, it can be any electronic device. Set up time for students to build on their technological skills and think about why using technology is essential to the project at hand. Remember that each school should have a technology specialists that is prepared to help. Do not move on until your are positive that every students has a grasp on what the technology is demanding of them.

5.) If you want to promote inquiry in the classroom environment it is crucial that the teacher is viewed as more of a guide than a dictator. The teachers job is to help push the students to the answers they are looking for without directly giving the answers away or telling them where to look. Teachers need to supply their students with complex and engaging projects that can be spun a million different ways so the students feel challenged. We want our students to feel connected and interested in the project so we allow them the freedom to pick and chose what they feel important, occasionally the teacher may need to step in and rearrange their thoughts but they are still given their independence to move on to a more in depth question. Despite the students freedom to search openly, the teacher needs to ensure that the students are making informed decisions that promote deeper thinking. Asking "what", "how","why", and "what if" questions is a good place to begin.

6.) The information in this chapter is related to what we are doing in class right now because as we work on building our individual and group lessons we need to consider some of these elements, such as building excitement for the project. We also want to ensure that our students are prepared and ready to handle the technology that is required of them as well as information that they will be seeking. We nee to remember to keep our lessons designed around the interests of what we think the children in our "class" might have by keeping the information relevant and interesting. 

Reflection 5

1. Before starting a project teachers need to gather up many things to help assist their students and help them be successful in their project making. Teachers need to take a look at what supplies the school has to offer to them. Teachers need to look for supplies, tools, and other materials that are available to them that are offered by the school, the parent community and other supporters. If nothing is supplied through the school, put out a word on your class web-site or through email to parents to try to get the supplies you need. Some questions to ask yourself before starting the project are, will your project involve the use of technologies that are new to your students? Will you need to expand your students access to technology? Will your students need access to experts to answer the questions that are apt to come up during the project? Who else can help with your project? If you are collaborating with a teaching team, think how you will divide responsibilities. What are your individual strengths and interests? For which task will each of you be responsible? How will you organize who does what when? It is essential to come up with milestones and deadlines for your students. This is a way to teach students to become effective time managers. Something else to think about is team planning. How will student teams be organized? This approach to team work requires you to reset your expectations and experiment with different combinations. Also, you need to plan for assessment. How do you know what prior knowledge and interests your students bring to a project? There is a lot that needs to be done before starting a project with a classroom. Planning is the most important aspect in a project.

2. Teachers management needs:
- tools for communicating with students and others about the project
- tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur
- methods for getting resources to students
- systems for managing work products
- structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time
- assessment tools and strategies including:
1. ways to gauge whether students are working productively and accomplishing project goals
2. Ways to assess the load balance within a team so no individuals end up doing too much or too little
3. Ways to give just-in-time feedback on student work as it develops, not just when it's complicated

Students management needs:
- systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work
- systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts
- collaborative tools
- methods for seeking assistance
- ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice
- ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole

3. Web-based applications help greatly with projects. Some different pages a student can use are, Wikis, blogs, drupal, textpattern. These are great help when constructing a project. They are also good ways to connect with others in your group when you are not in the classroom.

4. This chapter connects to what we are doing in class because we need to learn about how to start a project before actually doing it. We also use different websites to communicate with each other when we are not in the classroom, those ones in the book are a few that we have used in class before. It is also essential that we know the management needs of both the teacher and the student because we will be in that position one day and it is good to learn about now!

Reflection #5

1)  Items that should be considered before starting a project with students:
The first item to consider are the resources needed to keep within budget.  I especially like the idea of using reusable materials from organizations like SCRAP (the School and Community Reuse Action Project) or craigslist to accomplish this budget goal. We can also post a wish list of supplies to parents, or acquire the supplies from local recycling centers.  Other resources are accessible and equitable technology, providing access to experts in the field being studied, technology coordinators and media specialists to help with presentations, as well as the strenghts and interests within a team.  The second item to consider is time management skills.  A great tool to manage time is a project calendar with visual deadlines of big tasks that can be accomplished by meeting smaller deadlines that are all shared with students and parents in order for them to plan ahead, track progress, and discuss delays.  The third item to consider is good team planning, such as how students will be organized based on complementing attributes or  different learning styles, and encouraging commitment to the team through a contract.  I like the idea of contracts because they hold students accountable for their role within a group and that way not one single person ends up having to do the majority of the work load.  The last item to consider is planning for assessment throughout the project using formative assessment, such as quizzes, conversations, and written reflections, and adapt them to meet student needs by using monitoring, observing, interacting, analyzing, and/or reporting, allowing us to monitor students and providing them with critical feedback.  I like the example of Esther Wojcicki, who provides immediate feedback to her students' writing, so they can revise their work before getting off track too far with a shared resource such as google doc.  This form of communication/technology allows students to give feedback to each other as an authentic audience.  Technology like google docs and other forms help support numerous forms of assessment activities, such as surveys, scoring rubrics to promote desired outcomes, and student reflection activities that help with self-assessment so that students can improve and grow.

2.  Teachers' and Students' Management Needs:
For teachers it is the project-management tools and strategies that make their work and communication during a project more manageable.  These include: A) tools for communicating with students and others about the project; B) tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur; C) methods for getting resources to students; D) systems for managing work products; E) structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time; and F) assessment tools and strategies, such as accomplishing project goals, assessing the load balance, and giving relevant up-to-date feedback.  For students, the project management needs depend on the resources and technical supports that we make available for them, as well as our own comfort level with technology.  They include: A) systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work; B) systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts; C) collaboration tools; D) methods for seeking assistance; E) ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice; and F) ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole.  I like the idea of providing students with a Learning Management System (LMS), to guide them with all their management needs discussed in the form of assignment drop boxes, grading, calendars, chats, rubrics, presentations, etc. which is considered a project briefcase that students can access anytime for anything they may need or schedule appointments with teachers.  A project briefcase helps us stay organized and on top of what we need to get done, it allows us to monitor the progress and actual use of students.

3.  Technology Applications that should be considered for use in a project:
The book describes several technology applications we should consider, such as  A) web-based applications that include wikis (an easily edited web page with several authors that holds students' digital artifacts and monitors what students are doing / holds students accountable for their learning, as well as their contributions). These can be easily edited by many authors/students.  Once students understand wikis, they can associate them with B) a blog ( an easily edited web page with only one author that broadcasts and shares news related to the project.  You can access blogs by C)
 using web-based "desktop" applications, such as iGoogle, My Yahoo, and Netvibes that are highly configurable in regards to items like Web mail, calendars, notepads, and news and blog feeds, etc..   Additionally, web spaces such as Drupal and Textpattern, which blend content management and blogging to help students collaborate are a great way to make quick changes to organizational structures and are a great tool for students to support their learning. 
4.  How does all this relate what we are doing:
This chapter is informing us about what we need to consider when creating our projects, how to make our projects more manageable, and how to accommodate students' management needs.  Most importantly, it allows us to understand what technology applications to consider for our project, such as wikis, a blog, and web-based "desktop" applications.  In class, technology has been the main focus and so that is something we have become more familiar with, in particular using blogs and desktop applications.  We signed a contract to work together collaboratively in each team, and in our joint effort of creating weather lessons to go with our concept maps, we are developing forms of formative assessment that reflect what we want students to learn.  Feedback from our peers has been our way of formal assessment and self-assessment through self-reflection on our blog that in turn is reviewed for feedback by our peers, and allows for formal assessment by the teacher to see whether we are participating and understanding the tasks in creating our project.  Our teams have had to manage different web based applications, such as Inspiration to create our concept maps, google doc to communicate and collaborate with our team mates, and task stream  to create our lessons, etc.