Sunday, October 28, 2012
Chapter 6 reading reflection
Before and after a project students should complete a self- evaluation that allows them to be reflective and evaluate their strengths. The self-evaluation at the end of the project should have students reflect on experience that helped them grow. There are certain technologies that can help student’s reflections such as a blog.
Students can see their progress over time and can look back at everything they have learned. ProfilerPro is a website that surveys students to find their interests, strengths and weaknesses. These can be taken throughout the project to keep track of the skills they have learned. A survey website such as SurveyMonkey can allow students to see how their self-evaluation compares to other students in the class.
There are several ways to get students’ mind ready for a project. A project should always start by seeing what students already know about the subject. This can be done with a K-W-L chart. Their thinking should be challenged to generate deeper questioning. Teachers should have an “attention grabber” to get students excited about the project. Every day the teacher should bring up the topic to allow excitement to build and to get them to think about the project.
To teach the fundamentals first teachers should set the stage for independent inquiry. A good way to do this is by having students fill out the K-W-L chart. Through this students can become aware of what they do and do not know and it can serve as a starting point. Students are encouraged to think deeper about the things they are investigating. Teachers should also share the assessment rubric. Students will know what is expected of them and serves as a “road map.”
Technology should not be the project, but it should be an aid to do the project. The first step should be to determine what technology will be the best to use in a particular project. Once a device has been picked out and before showing students how to use it, it is a good activity to have them learn among themselves and to problem solves. It is important to observe the students to see where a demonstration is needed. Students need to know the expectation for each technologies use and the purpose. A project log or a journal helps students stay on track and see their progress. Sometimes a demonstration needs to be done for the students. If a teacher is not comfortable doing a demonstration a technology specialist or another teacher can help.
To promote inquiry and deep learning students should be guided as they choose a question and plan an investigation. Questions that students want to investigate may need to be altered to promote deeper learning. For example “what is money made of?” could be asked as “what is the process of making money and is it the same everywhere?”
The concepts in this chapter will help us determine the best technology to use for our project. It also shows ways to track students’ progress throughout the project.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Chapter 6 Reading Reflection
Chapter six discusses the appropriate way to launch a project. Students should do a self evaluation before and after a project that focus on the learning dispositions that the teacher expects the to develop during the project. Self assessment is a major factor in how students view themselves as capable and how they direct their own learning. Students can use ProfilerPro to evaluate themselves or they can use a blog to help track their reflective thoughts over a period of time.
Students should collect their thoughts about a project topic before they actually dive into the project. A way that some teachers have their students practice this is by using a Know-Wonder-Learn (KWL) chart. This chart helps excite the students by establishing interest before the project even starts. A teacher can spark a students interest in the project even more when they start the project off with a simple inquiry based demonstration that allows the students to guess what is going to happen, such as the ice cube example in the book on page 98.
Teachers should be teaching the fundamentals of what their project topic is about in order to allow the students to work more independently during their investigations. Students need to be helped and nudged before getting to the point of being able to work on a project independently. Working with 21st century technology based projects can be compared to learning how to drive for the first time. You start out learning the small things and work your way up to finally driving on your own, alone, in your car. Students should always be given a good rubric with room for brilliance to follow while creating their project.
Teachers should allow students to have 21st century technology available at their students fingertips in order to help them create their project more thoroughly. Even when they don't know how to use a piece of technology, students will turn it on and start playing with it in order to figure it out. Students can use a journal or project log to help them keep track of their progress toward their goals while working over several days or weeks. Teachers should be demonstrating this technology and the project log to their students if they are comfortable using it.
Teachers should guide their students through the inquiry process of a project. They should be their to guide the students as they choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action. The questions students should be asking are those of which the experts in the field of the topic would want to know more about.
When students are exposed to new technology that allows them to create their own webpages and comment on their classmates webpages they will gain more knowledge of how to utilize the technology and take on new roles and responsibilities. The opportunity for teaching about information literacy comes from the possibilities for working on the Web today.
This information will help us with our food preservation project because it will allow us to think about the steps we are having our students follow when researching the information to complete the project.
Students should collect their thoughts about a project topic before they actually dive into the project. A way that some teachers have their students practice this is by using a Know-Wonder-Learn (KWL) chart. This chart helps excite the students by establishing interest before the project even starts. A teacher can spark a students interest in the project even more when they start the project off with a simple inquiry based demonstration that allows the students to guess what is going to happen, such as the ice cube example in the book on page 98.
Teachers should be teaching the fundamentals of what their project topic is about in order to allow the students to work more independently during their investigations. Students need to be helped and nudged before getting to the point of being able to work on a project independently. Working with 21st century technology based projects can be compared to learning how to drive for the first time. You start out learning the small things and work your way up to finally driving on your own, alone, in your car. Students should always be given a good rubric with room for brilliance to follow while creating their project.
Teachers should allow students to have 21st century technology available at their students fingertips in order to help them create their project more thoroughly. Even when they don't know how to use a piece of technology, students will turn it on and start playing with it in order to figure it out. Students can use a journal or project log to help them keep track of their progress toward their goals while working over several days or weeks. Teachers should be demonstrating this technology and the project log to their students if they are comfortable using it.
Teachers should guide their students through the inquiry process of a project. They should be their to guide the students as they choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action. The questions students should be asking are those of which the experts in the field of the topic would want to know more about.
When students are exposed to new technology that allows them to create their own webpages and comment on their classmates webpages they will gain more knowledge of how to utilize the technology and take on new roles and responsibilities. The opportunity for teaching about information literacy comes from the possibilities for working on the Web today.
This information will help us with our food preservation project because it will allow us to think about the steps we are having our students follow when researching the information to complete the project.
CH 6 Reading Reflection
Technology tools can be very effective and influential in students' learning. It can also help them to evaluate their own strengths. For example, a blog offers students space where they can reflect over time about what they are learning. A ProfilerPRO (which we have used in our classroom) is an online survey tool that allows you to identify the learning characteristics of an individual and also among members of a group. Another tool is the SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang, which both allow you to set up surveys. All of these technology tools really help students to tap into their prior knowledge, and allows them to evaluate how they are doing and what they are good at.
There are many ways to get students minds ready for knowledge. First, you want to tap into prior knowledge. By introducing a KWL (Know/Want to know/Learned), you can assess what students already know and how to assist them best. As a teacher, we must be intentional in our instillation of passion in order to transfer the desire to try and succeed into our students so they may do the best of their ability. We want to be encouraging, allowing students to explore and think and discuss.By building excitement throughout the lesson or the week, students' interests emerge, and they become more invested in the project. A teacher must describe the activity, answer questions, encourage students to inquire, and advice them on design. Teachers can also use technology to get minds ready. For example, teachers can use Google Earth if you are discussing geography, or they may use social media sites (safely) at school to display a project collectively.
By teaching fundamentals first, teachers must think about teaching prerequisite knowledge or skills students need to be independent. Teachers must build up to the idea in order to grasp what it means. Teachers can set the stage for independent inquiry through tools such as the KWL process.They can also share the assessment rubric with students, parents, teachesr, whomever.
The next important step would be to prepare for technology. The teacher can first set up a technology playground. Teachers can track how students are doing, but it has a large learning curve. The next step would be to tap into student expertise. Because they grew up cutting their teeth on technology, they likely know more shortcuts tan any of the teachers. A third thing teachers can apply is to introduce project-management tools such as journals or logs to keep track of all they have accomplished. Finally, teachers must demonstrate how to use technology successfully and wisely in order to be effective.
Promoting inquiry and deep learning is very important in PBL. Our questions we ask our students should be geared specifically towards higher level thinking. First, we must have a complex and engaging project. By taking a basic question/objective and really expounding upon it to stretch out as many possible answers as possible is ideal. Teachers must guide students to get them to imagine what experts might ask. We need to ask questions such as "which one", "how", "what if", "should", and "why".
In our unit of healthy living/food preservation, we need to include this in our lesson plan very explicitly. When planning hands on PBL we must plan ahead, and be sure that when we are implementing the strategies, they are cohesive and effective. First, we will lay the groundwork in our lesson plans and prepare as much as possible. Then, we can focus on getting ours students' minds ready by utilizing tools and technologies to instill passion in our students. Food preservation may not be the most exciting idea to some, so it is our job to make it have meaning. We can also think about how to incorporate technology to have a captivating introduction to a project. By understanding that we must teach the fundamentals first, and thoroughly preparing for technology, we can help our students to get the most out of it. Finally, by promoting inquiry and deep learning, we can include this in thinking about what projects we are doing and how we are approaching and presenting them to our students.
There are many ways to get students minds ready for knowledge. First, you want to tap into prior knowledge. By introducing a KWL (Know/Want to know/Learned), you can assess what students already know and how to assist them best. As a teacher, we must be intentional in our instillation of passion in order to transfer the desire to try and succeed into our students so they may do the best of their ability. We want to be encouraging, allowing students to explore and think and discuss.By building excitement throughout the lesson or the week, students' interests emerge, and they become more invested in the project. A teacher must describe the activity, answer questions, encourage students to inquire, and advice them on design. Teachers can also use technology to get minds ready. For example, teachers can use Google Earth if you are discussing geography, or they may use social media sites (safely) at school to display a project collectively.
By teaching fundamentals first, teachers must think about teaching prerequisite knowledge or skills students need to be independent. Teachers must build up to the idea in order to grasp what it means. Teachers can set the stage for independent inquiry through tools such as the KWL process.They can also share the assessment rubric with students, parents, teachesr, whomever.
The next important step would be to prepare for technology. The teacher can first set up a technology playground. Teachers can track how students are doing, but it has a large learning curve. The next step would be to tap into student expertise. Because they grew up cutting their teeth on technology, they likely know more shortcuts tan any of the teachers. A third thing teachers can apply is to introduce project-management tools such as journals or logs to keep track of all they have accomplished. Finally, teachers must demonstrate how to use technology successfully and wisely in order to be effective.
Promoting inquiry and deep learning is very important in PBL. Our questions we ask our students should be geared specifically towards higher level thinking. First, we must have a complex and engaging project. By taking a basic question/objective and really expounding upon it to stretch out as many possible answers as possible is ideal. Teachers must guide students to get them to imagine what experts might ask. We need to ask questions such as "which one", "how", "what if", "should", and "why".
In our unit of healthy living/food preservation, we need to include this in our lesson plan very explicitly. When planning hands on PBL we must plan ahead, and be sure that when we are implementing the strategies, they are cohesive and effective. First, we will lay the groundwork in our lesson plans and prepare as much as possible. Then, we can focus on getting ours students' minds ready by utilizing tools and technologies to instill passion in our students. Food preservation may not be the most exciting idea to some, so it is our job to make it have meaning. We can also think about how to incorporate technology to have a captivating introduction to a project. By understanding that we must teach the fundamentals first, and thoroughly preparing for technology, we can help our students to get the most out of it. Finally, by promoting inquiry and deep learning, we can include this in thinking about what projects we are doing and how we are approaching and presenting them to our students.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Chapter 5 Reading Reflection
Chapter 5 discusses project management and how to keep a project organized when a group of people are working together. A solid project begins with great resources. Teachers should consider who and what they will need to make the project successful. If a computer lab is not available or a limited amount of space and time spent in the lab is sparse then the teacher should look into alternative options such as internet cafes around town. Allowing students the opportunity to experience something that has to do with their project is extremely helpful, such as the students observing a surgery in real time and having the opportunity to ask questions. Anyone and everything that could help students complete their project to the best of their ability and give the experiences that they never had before should be made available to a reasonable extent.
Students and teachers need to be able to see what milestones they have accomplished with their project and what they still need to accomplish. The easiest way to do this is to keep a classroom calendar available at all times showing all of the due dates for the project. You can also use a calendar online that everyone involved in the project has access to at all times. Teachers should make sure they use the class website, blog, wiki, or email to communicate deadlines and milestones with parents.
Team planning can be difficult because teams should consist of people who complement each other. One person who is good at writing may be paired with anothe person who is good at using technology. Each of the partners should hold their own weight. Sometimes teachers pair high achieving students with lower achieving students and the result of that is one student doing the majority of the work. Teachers should allow students to choose their partner for one project but then switch the members of a group around for the next project.
Students need to have guidelines given to them so they know what they will be assessed on throughout the project. There are websites that help teachers create rubrics that are worthwhile for the students and the teacher. One of the websites is http://rubistar.4teachers.org.
Web-based applications are amazing tools for students to be able to stay in contact with each other while working on a project. They are a good way for teachers to give feedback right away as well. These are both good things because students will learn to continually be revising and editing their work based on the feedback from their peers and teachers!
Once students are familiarized with 21st century technology and all that can be done in order to build a project with a partner without meeting face to face they will be able to create their own personalized web page. These are virtual office spaces to help keep their lives and projects organized. Some of the providers of virtual offices are Netvibes, Protopage, Pageflakes, iGoogle, and My Yahoo!
The information in chapter 5 will help us work on our project in class and outside of class. This will help us be able to stay organized and meet deadlines while using online tools and colaborating with each other. While planning our project, we can create incorporate these tools and knowledge into our preservatives project while planning it for our future students.
Students and teachers need to be able to see what milestones they have accomplished with their project and what they still need to accomplish. The easiest way to do this is to keep a classroom calendar available at all times showing all of the due dates for the project. You can also use a calendar online that everyone involved in the project has access to at all times. Teachers should make sure they use the class website, blog, wiki, or email to communicate deadlines and milestones with parents.
Team planning can be difficult because teams should consist of people who complement each other. One person who is good at writing may be paired with anothe person who is good at using technology. Each of the partners should hold their own weight. Sometimes teachers pair high achieving students with lower achieving students and the result of that is one student doing the majority of the work. Teachers should allow students to choose their partner for one project but then switch the members of a group around for the next project.
Students need to have guidelines given to them so they know what they will be assessed on throughout the project. There are websites that help teachers create rubrics that are worthwhile for the students and the teacher. One of the websites is http://rubistar.4teachers.org.
Web-based applications are amazing tools for students to be able to stay in contact with each other while working on a project. They are a good way for teachers to give feedback right away as well. These are both good things because students will learn to continually be revising and editing their work based on the feedback from their peers and teachers!
Once students are familiarized with 21st century technology and all that can be done in order to build a project with a partner without meeting face to face they will be able to create their own personalized web page. These are virtual office spaces to help keep their lives and projects organized. Some of the providers of virtual offices are Netvibes, Protopage, Pageflakes, iGoogle, and My Yahoo!
The information in chapter 5 will help us work on our project in class and outside of class. This will help us be able to stay organized and meet deadlines while using online tools and colaborating with each other. While planning our project, we can create incorporate these tools and knowledge into our preservatives project while planning it for our future students.
Chapter 4 RR
Chapter four discussed strategies for discovery and how teachers can integrate technology into the classroom. This chapter discusses how teachers should plan for projects that students will be creating. There are many reasons why projects don't work out as planned and sometimes it stems from the very beginning and how the project was put together. There are four major pitfalls that this chapter discusses that have an effect on how good the project will or will not be for the students. 1. Long on Activity, short on learning outcomes. This pitfall is stating that these types of projects can be long and a lot of busy work but they only reach a small or lower order learning aim. These are the projects that are a waste of time for the students and the teacher. The students should be learning more from the project than what they could learn from one short lecture or from reference material. Teachers should take these limited idea projects and figure out a way to enhance them so they aren't a complete failure! 2. Technology layered over traditional practice. If the sole purpose of using technology is just to dress up what could otherwise be created without the technology while doing a research project then it is useless. Teachers need to make sure that they are integrating 21st century technology into the projects for students so that they are learning how to research online and become connected with print rich data and primary resources. 3. Trivial thematic units. When using thematic units in the classroom such as apples in the Fall, teachers tend to just add pictures of apples to every subject. In order to use a thematic unit correctly, the teacher should be having a farmer come in to explain how to harvest apples, where they come from, the process of how they get from the orchards to our tables, having the students interview the produce buyer in a household, polling students to find out which type of apple is their favorite and then creating a class graph out of the data to display their results. Those are all examples of how to have a successful and meaningful theme in a classroom. 4. Overly scripted with many, many steps. Giving students too many directions can hinder the quality of the overall project in a classroom. If all students are creating a "cookie cutter" project in the end or the results don't equal out to the amount of work that had to be done to get to the end then the teacher needs to reevaluate the project they are having their students work on.
The information in this chapter will help us with our project on preservatives because we will be able to create a project that will help the students learn about preservatives using 21st century technologies. The four major pitfalls are techniques that we can keep in mind and question ourselves to see if our project falls into those pitfalls or not.
The information in this chapter will help us with our project on preservatives because we will be able to create a project that will help the students learn about preservatives using 21st century technologies. The four major pitfalls are techniques that we can keep in mind and question ourselves to see if our project falls into those pitfalls or not.
Friday, October 19, 2012
reading reflection #5
There are many things that should be considered before starting a project. The first is to gather resources. Teachers should look at the materials that are available at the school and find ways to acquire the material not provided. It should also be determined if there will be anyone who will assist with the project. This could include someone who does a demonstration in front of the class, or an expert that the students will need to speak with to get questions answered. This also includes technology coordinators and media specialists.
Another thing to consider are milestones and deadlines. Teachers should provide students with a project calendar with milestones along the way. This will help students manage their time more effectively and plan ahead. If the project will last more than a few weeks, it should be broken down into smaller assignments with several deadlines. The next thing to consider is team planning. It needs to be determined how student teams will be organized. Sometimes students will be grouped by their skills and interests, and other times students should complement each other attributes. Students with disabilities also need to be considered. How will all of the students be challenged?
Teachers need to plan for assessment. This should be done throughout the entire project. One should be done before the project even starts to determine student’s prior knowledge and interests. Assessments during the project allow you to see what students are thinking and understanding. Assessment shows you if the project is successfully meeting the goals or if changes need to be made. Assessments differ depending on the complexity of the project and can use formal or informal. Technology can assist in assessments such as an online survey.
Teachers and students both have management needs. Teachers need tools for communicating about the project to students and others involved. Milestones should be visible for students to see at all times. Teachers need a method for getting resources to the students and a way to manage the students work. Assessment tools and strategies should also be included. Students’ management needs to include a system and tools to manage their time, and a system to help them manage their materials and control work drafts. Collaboration tools, methods for seeking assistance, and a way to receive feedback should be included. They should also have a way to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole.
There are some technology applications that should be considered to use in projects. A wiki is a web page that can be easily edited. Users can create pages and they can write and edit pages together. A blog is another application that can be used that is also easily edited. Usually one person is in control of the content and viewers make comments. Drupal and textpattern combine a content management framework and blogging engine.
These concepts relate to our topic because we will need to determine what resources we will need. We should create milestones and deadlines for the students to follow. There should also be multiple assessments throughout the project that we should determine.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Collaborative Concept Map
Hi Kelly and Emily! Just wanted to check in and see if Sunday is still good for you both to meet to do our podcast? Emily is it okay if we meet at your place still?
Maybe then we can also discuss the Collaborative Concept Map and put ours together to get that out of the way.
Let me know! Thanks
Maybe then we can also discuss the Collaborative Concept Map and put ours together to get that out of the way.
Let me know! Thanks
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Reading Reflection 5
Before beginning a project with your students, the teacher must consider many things. First, you must consider how you will gather resources and who you can use as a resource. You should consider what materials you will need for your project, and if you can acquire them from your own inventory, from the school, or if you need to ask parents or community resources for supplies. You should also consider if you need any technology to do your project, and whether that technology would be frequent and equitable to all your students. Engaging with experts is an excellent tool because they have the knowledge and are usually willing to share. Whether that means experts in the area or long distance, there are many ways to access experts' knowledge. Videoconferences and virtual field trips are excellent ways to connect students to experts in the field without having to waste time physically moving or traveling. Teachers should also utilize the technology coordinators, media specialists, and other specialists in their districts- they are there to be a helpful resource to you!
Another thing to consider are deadlines. "Teaching students to become effective managers of their own time should be an overarching goal of any project". Time management should be emphasized early on because it will be used for the rest of their lives. Teachers should make all deadlines clear and set ahead of time, as well as placing them somewhere students have access to. That way students can be prepared because they have physically seen when the milestone is due. This makes students both aware and accountable. Teachers can chunk big tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces to help students not feel overwhelmed by larger projects. A great tip the text gave was to share the planning calender with parents. Then, if students aren't sure or have any questions, their parents are more informed and better connected to both the class and their student. One way to facilitate organizational project learning is through online environments. Either by creating a personal briefcase for each student, or having a class Website, blog or e-mail, students are able to reference what is going on in class and can continue to work on the project outside of class if needed.
Teachers also need to focus on team planning and assessments even before beginning the project. When determining how to create student teams, the teacher needs to be aware that student teams are mixed up regularly, so they have a mix of skills available. Students will also be doing different things at different times. By having student groups with variety, it creates a cohesive group that is working separately but collaboratively towards an end result. Creating a team contract is an excellent way to have all the students accountable for their section of the project. Planning for assessment is also important to consider before beginning the project. Assessments are in integral part of PBL. Formative assessments "create more opportunities to know what your students are thinking and understanding, so that you can better facilitate successful learning". The only way to determine if your students have learned the material through the PBL is by assessing them. Tests are not the only mode of assessments. It can also include monitoring, observing, interacting, analyzing, and reporting.
Teachers' management needs are different from students management needs. Teachers' project management needs include tools for communicating with students and others about the project; tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students if 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 the same time; and assessment tools and strategies. Teachers' management needs focus on the front-loading section of the project- preparing and filling in all the "blanks" before the project even begins. By having everything planned out, teachers can take any adjustments or questions with ease.
Students' management needs for projects include systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work; systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts; collaboration tools; methods for seeking assistance; ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self reflection, team input, and teacher advice; and ways to work iteratively to see how parts add up to the whole. Students needs focus on working through the project independently while learning valuable life lessons.
In a project, many technology tools can be accessed and used. Some web based applications that are helpful are wikis, blogs, and web spaces. A wiki is an easily edited web page. Teachers and students can create pages of sharable content using a browser and basic language to format. Wikis can be used to develop information that flows from many to many (like students to students). A blog is also an easily edited web page, but it has more of a one-to-many delivery system. Students can create separate blogs to keep track of their progress, and teachers can create blogs to publish announcements, news, or milestones. A web space "desktop" application is a web space that combines content management framework and blogging engine. Web spaces can have many configurations and add-ons such as plugins to facilitate information distribution. Two examples are Drupal and Textpattern.
This chapter on project management can be connected to our PBL of food preservation through our application of preparing for everything ahead of time. We as the teachers need to consider all of our resources, our go-to-people, our assessments, our team planning, and our milestones/deadlines BEFORE we set the project in motion. Another thing to consider with our project is using the technology for facilitation during the project. We can learn to use our blog to communicate with each other collaboratively, as well as designing tools to communicate with students and parents about our projects. By using our podcast, we can let our parents know what is going on in our classroom and what the students are accomplishing.
Another thing to consider are deadlines. "Teaching students to become effective managers of their own time should be an overarching goal of any project". Time management should be emphasized early on because it will be used for the rest of their lives. Teachers should make all deadlines clear and set ahead of time, as well as placing them somewhere students have access to. That way students can be prepared because they have physically seen when the milestone is due. This makes students both aware and accountable. Teachers can chunk big tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces to help students not feel overwhelmed by larger projects. A great tip the text gave was to share the planning calender with parents. Then, if students aren't sure or have any questions, their parents are more informed and better connected to both the class and their student. One way to facilitate organizational project learning is through online environments. Either by creating a personal briefcase for each student, or having a class Website, blog or e-mail, students are able to reference what is going on in class and can continue to work on the project outside of class if needed.
Teachers also need to focus on team planning and assessments even before beginning the project. When determining how to create student teams, the teacher needs to be aware that student teams are mixed up regularly, so they have a mix of skills available. Students will also be doing different things at different times. By having student groups with variety, it creates a cohesive group that is working separately but collaboratively towards an end result. Creating a team contract is an excellent way to have all the students accountable for their section of the project. Planning for assessment is also important to consider before beginning the project. Assessments are in integral part of PBL. Formative assessments "create more opportunities to know what your students are thinking and understanding, so that you can better facilitate successful learning". The only way to determine if your students have learned the material through the PBL is by assessing them. Tests are not the only mode of assessments. It can also include monitoring, observing, interacting, analyzing, and reporting.
Teachers' management needs are different from students management needs. Teachers' project management needs include tools for communicating with students and others about the project; tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students if 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 the same time; and assessment tools and strategies. Teachers' management needs focus on the front-loading section of the project- preparing and filling in all the "blanks" before the project even begins. By having everything planned out, teachers can take any adjustments or questions with ease.
Students' management needs for projects include systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work; systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts; collaboration tools; methods for seeking assistance; ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self reflection, team input, and teacher advice; and ways to work iteratively to see how parts add up to the whole. Students needs focus on working through the project independently while learning valuable life lessons.
In a project, many technology tools can be accessed and used. Some web based applications that are helpful are wikis, blogs, and web spaces. A wiki is an easily edited web page. Teachers and students can create pages of sharable content using a browser and basic language to format. Wikis can be used to develop information that flows from many to many (like students to students). A blog is also an easily edited web page, but it has more of a one-to-many delivery system. Students can create separate blogs to keep track of their progress, and teachers can create blogs to publish announcements, news, or milestones. A web space "desktop" application is a web space that combines content management framework and blogging engine. Web spaces can have many configurations and add-ons such as plugins to facilitate information distribution. Two examples are Drupal and Textpattern.
This chapter on project management can be connected to our PBL of food preservation through our application of preparing for everything ahead of time. We as the teachers need to consider all of our resources, our go-to-people, our assessments, our team planning, and our milestones/deadlines BEFORE we set the project in motion. Another thing to consider with our project is using the technology for facilitation during the project. We can learn to use our blog to communicate with each other collaboratively, as well as designing tools to communicate with students and parents about our projects. By using our podcast, we can let our parents know what is going on in our classroom and what the students are accomplishing.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Chapter 3 RR
I agree with chapter three that knowing the core concepts and processes of a subject is the first step of project planning. If a teacher doesn't know much about the topic or subject then they won't be able to create the best project possible for their students to become engaged in. Teachers should think about what is most important for their students to learn about the subject and then decide if a text book is the best option for teaching them the information. Unfortunately, text books are extremely limited to the information that is contained within them. If teachers believe that there is more information that is necessary to be taught to the students beyond the what is written in the text book then they should choose a different approach rather than having the students read a text book. A different option would be having students create projects and learn through experience. This allows the students to become involved with technology while learning the information that is most important for them to learn in that subject. There are so many different ways for teachers to have students become aware of the new technology that is surrounding them in their every day lives on a constant basis. Instead of sheltering the students from using the technology that is at their fingertips, teachers should teach the students how to become familiar with the technology and the proper ways of using it. For example, a teacher in the chapter decided to use MySpace as a means for the students to learn about Romeo and Juliet. She had an educational purpose for the use of MySpace which is what she was able to communicate to someone if she were to be questioned about her teaching choices. The purpose was to educate students and parents about online security. This teacher decided that MySpace was the most obvious way of teaching this because most of her students already had MySpace accounts and they were able to explore a topic and the safe uses of MySpace.
When teachers think about creating a project they should be replacing the word project with passion and rethink about the idea they had in mind. If the teacher doesn't think that the students would be passionate about their research then they should rethink the project they have created. This means that the projects should be interesting and important. The students shouldn't be groaning, saying "why do we have to do this...this is dumb", like many students said about projects when I was in school.
This chapter informs the reader of 8 essential learning functions: Ubiquity; deep learning; making things visible and discussable; expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community; collaboration--teaching and learning with others; research; project management: planning and organization; reflection and iteration. These are important for teachers to keep in mind when teaching their students about a topic and having them work in groups on a project.
When teachers think about creating a project they should be replacing the word project with passion and rethink about the idea they had in mind. If the teacher doesn't think that the students would be passionate about their research then they should rethink the project they have created. This means that the projects should be interesting and important. The students shouldn't be groaning, saying "why do we have to do this...this is dumb", like many students said about projects when I was in school.
This chapter informs the reader of 8 essential learning functions: Ubiquity; deep learning; making things visible and discussable; expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community; collaboration--teaching and learning with others; research; project management: planning and organization; reflection and iteration. These are important for teachers to keep in mind when teaching their students about a topic and having them work in groups on a project.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Chapter 4 reading reflections
When creating a project it is important for it to be purposeful and have meaning. Teachers need to make sure they do not fall into any of the common pitfalls. Pitfall number one is: “long on activity, short on learning outcomes.” A project should be meaningful and students should learn things from the project that they would not learn by reading a textbook. The outcome of the project should be aligned with the amount of time spent doing it. The project should be worth the student’s time, and the teachers. The next pitfall is “technology layered over traditional practice.” There is a different between using technology in the classroom, and a project with technology assisting in the learning. “Trivial thematic units” is the next pitfall. Thematic teaching is not always project-based learning. The work should be collaborative and interdisciplinary. The last pitfall this chapter mentions is “Over scripted with many, many steps.” If the project has too many steps it takes the critical decision making and thinking out of the project.
There are many aspects of a good project. They are flexible and allow students to take control of their learning and to construct meaning to the project. They are collaborative and students learn from each other. Students get a hands-on experience that uses 21st century skills. It centers on a question and allows students to discover their own answers.
Ideas for great projects come from a variety of places. It could be a project the teacher or teacher’s designs for their students. It could be a project plan that is developed by another teacher. Inspiration can be found in contemporary issues, student’s questions or their interests. It could be because of classroom irritants or because of new stories.
There are four main steps of designing a project. Step one of designing a project is revisit the framework. A final list of the learning objectives should be made and the specific 21-century skill that should be addressed needs to be determined. Step two is to establish evidence of understanding. Think about what tools you will use to evaluate. Step three is to plan the “vehicle” (the theme/challenge.) What real- world connections can be made? Step four is to plan entrée into the project experiences. How will you get your students excited at the beginning of the project?
This chapter addresses many things that will help us develop and effective project on preserving food. It will help us avoid falling into the common pitfalls. It also provides a basic outline for developing a project.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Chapter 4 Reading Reflection
Project design is a wonderful concept of creating projects. Whether through adaptation, creation, or selection, designing a project has many components, as this chapter Strategies for Discovery have brought out. There are many pitfalls to project design however. One pitfall is having a long activity, but few learning outcomes. A teacher should design their project to be equally stimulating and knowledgeable As the chapter brings out, a project should be "right sized" for what it accomplishes.Our learning outcomes must be more than what they can learn from a text book- higher order thinking that challenges their minds. Another pitfall to watch out for is technology layered over traditional practice. We must focus on reaching significant learning outcomes through the use of technology applications. Integration is the key to PBL- our projects should effectively use technology, but not be dependent on them, or use them as stand-alones. A third pitfall may be trivial thematic units. As teachers, we may create a theme, as long as our students work is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and/or rigorous. Themes should unify projects and help to make important connections. One final pitfall is having a project that is overly scripted with many, many steps. Students must become their own teacher essentially in PBL, so we don't want to create a project that has only one set of outcomes or predictable results. We want our students to be able to explore, and divert if they find that is what they want and need to know. When we are flexible with our projects, our students are able to fully grasp the entirety of the project, and what the big picture is.
Although there may be pitfalls, good projects are attainable. As Canadian educator Sylvia Chard said, a flexible framework should guide project design. As mentioned earlier, flexibility allows students to create their own thinking, and apply real world skills and resources to create their projects. When we let students' interests and curiosity drive the learning experience, our students respond much more favorably and are readily accepting of the knowledge and skills we are trying to teach them. Our projects must also be unconventional and innovative. Author Diane McGrath points out we must "set up a situation in which they want to ask questions, learn more, need to know something they don't already, and believe it is important to them". Students become the driving force of the operation to get the most out of the experience as possible. Furthermore, good projects share qualities such as generativity, reaching beyond school to involve others, having 21st century skills and literacy tap rich data or primary sources, realistic, center on a driving question/inquiry, and have students learn by doing.
Project ideas come from many different places. Ideas can come from a project that had already been used, but not to its full potential; a project plan developed for and by teachers, but adapted to students; news stories; contemporary issues; issues in the community; student questions or interests; classroom "irritant" put to educational use; or a mashup of great ideas and a new tool. Many times, as Canadian educator Robert Griffin says, one successful project will grow and develop to lead to another successful project.
When designing a project, there are a few crucial steps involved. The first is revisiting the framework. Deciding what benchmarks your children need to learn, and what skills you want them to develop is key to creating a project. Next, you must establish evidence of understanding. Determining how students will express what they have learned is crucial because we must be able to assess a tangible result. We must also plan the "vehicle" (theme or challenge). Our project themes/challenges must provide enough structure to learn, but enough flexibility to alter their learning if necessary. Finally, we must plan entree into the project experience. How can we make our students excited and eager to participate?
This chapter is crucial and correlates well with our project of food preservation. The steps to designing a project are ones that are applicable to all teachers, but especially to those that are trying to create a PBL project for the first time. I hope to use those same steps when creating my project for food preservation. Another point that can be used for our project is structured flexibility. When designing a lesson plan, this chapter reminds me to keep it structured in the way of delivery, but not so rigid or demanding of precise steps that the students lose focus of what we are trying to achieve, which may not be the actual project at all. It was also good to review potential pitfalls to designing a project. When creating our project for food preservation, I was able to hold the project I had created up to those pitfalls and measure whether my project falls into any of those categories.
Although there may be pitfalls, good projects are attainable. As Canadian educator Sylvia Chard said, a flexible framework should guide project design. As mentioned earlier, flexibility allows students to create their own thinking, and apply real world skills and resources to create their projects. When we let students' interests and curiosity drive the learning experience, our students respond much more favorably and are readily accepting of the knowledge and skills we are trying to teach them. Our projects must also be unconventional and innovative. Author Diane McGrath points out we must "set up a situation in which they want to ask questions, learn more, need to know something they don't already, and believe it is important to them". Students become the driving force of the operation to get the most out of the experience as possible. Furthermore, good projects share qualities such as generativity, reaching beyond school to involve others, having 21st century skills and literacy tap rich data or primary sources, realistic, center on a driving question/inquiry, and have students learn by doing.
Project ideas come from many different places. Ideas can come from a project that had already been used, but not to its full potential; a project plan developed for and by teachers, but adapted to students; news stories; contemporary issues; issues in the community; student questions or interests; classroom "irritant" put to educational use; or a mashup of great ideas and a new tool. Many times, as Canadian educator Robert Griffin says, one successful project will grow and develop to lead to another successful project.
When designing a project, there are a few crucial steps involved. The first is revisiting the framework. Deciding what benchmarks your children need to learn, and what skills you want them to develop is key to creating a project. Next, you must establish evidence of understanding. Determining how students will express what they have learned is crucial because we must be able to assess a tangible result. We must also plan the "vehicle" (theme or challenge). Our project themes/challenges must provide enough structure to learn, but enough flexibility to alter their learning if necessary. Finally, we must plan entree into the project experience. How can we make our students excited and eager to participate?
This chapter is crucial and correlates well with our project of food preservation. The steps to designing a project are ones that are applicable to all teachers, but especially to those that are trying to create a PBL project for the first time. I hope to use those same steps when creating my project for food preservation. Another point that can be used for our project is structured flexibility. When designing a lesson plan, this chapter reminds me to keep it structured in the way of delivery, but not so rigid or demanding of precise steps that the students lose focus of what we are trying to achieve, which may not be the actual project at all. It was also good to review potential pitfalls to designing a project. When creating our project for food preservation, I was able to hold the project I had created up to those pitfalls and measure whether my project falls into any of those categories.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Lesson Plans
Hi guys!
Can you remind me what each of you are narrowing down on? I am doing the history of food preservation. I want to make sure we are on the same page, and that our lesson plans are not overlapping! Also, our learning context should be roughly the same. I am going out of town tomorrow night, so if you could respond as soon as you see this I would really appreciate it!
Thanks!
Can you remind me what each of you are narrowing down on? I am doing the history of food preservation. I want to make sure we are on the same page, and that our lesson plans are not overlapping! Also, our learning context should be roughly the same. I am going out of town tomorrow night, so if you could respond as soon as you see this I would really appreciate it!
Thanks!
Friday, October 5, 2012
View PenPal Route in a larger map Students in our third grade class will communicate with students from Naples, Italy about the food preservation process. They will compare and contrast techniques and types of food with their penpals and they will share pictures of the process.
Chapter 3 reading reflections
The main point of this chapter was how to build the
framework of a project and how to establish important points. The teacher needs
to determine why information is important for students to learn and its
relevance to the real world. When a teacher instructs out of a textbook the
decisions about what is important has been already made by the author. When a
teacher creates a project they can tailor it to the individual need of their students.
Textbooks should be used as a resource instead of the foundation of a class.
The traditional classroom usually instructs with one discipline
at a time, but with a project based learning overlapping occurs. Incorporating
different disciplines may be challenging, but it is beneficial to the students.
Teachers should be flexible and should be open to stepping into “new territory”
that requires them to learn and try something new. This is a time where
collaborating with colleagues is essential. It is good to meet with colleagues
who teach a different subject and brainstorm a goal from each subject. Then
find ways to incorporate each subject into the project.
There are eight essential learning functions that this
chapter covered. Number one is ubiquity, which is learning all of the time.
Many students have cellphones with web-access, so information is always at
their fingertips. The second essential learning function is deep learning.
Students are able to make sense of data on the web and go outside of the “filtered
material.” The third is making things visible and discussable. Making ideas
visible helps start discussion. The next is expressing ourselves, sharing
ideas, and building communities. Using social websites such as blogs allow
students to share their ideas and interest. The fifth is collaborations. It is
better to learn together and technology can assist through webinars or wiki’s. The next is research which is usually
students finding information from the web. The seventh is project management.
This helps students manage their work and time and to stay on track and
organized. The last learning function is reflection. For example a student who
is creating a blog can look and reflect on their work from the beginning. I
think that an effective project will incorporate all of these eight learning
functions in some way.
Reading Reflection 3
Chapter 3 focused on establishing the conceptual framework of a project. When finding the "Big Idea" of a project, you must identify the overarching concepts and processes you want your students to understand, and then reflect on why the concepts are important. You want to make sure the big ideas are authentic, relevant, and engaging. A big idea won't make an impact in a students life, and allow them to learn what they need to know, unless they are invested. A good example of a teacher that uses a"big idea" effectively is Robert Griffin, who teaches in a fishing community. He uses authentic projects to reveal the "interdisciplinary nature of a project". It motivates children to do their best, because they know they will have to use it outside of school as well.
A 21st century skill is skills, attitudes, and habitats needed for higher order thinking and actions. It incorporates Digital-Age Literacy, Inventive Thinking, Effective Communication, and High Productivity, while engaging objectives such as analyzing, evaluating, creating, synthesizing, and evaluating. By using digital resources in authentic projects, students become motivated and thoroughly engaged.
21st century literacies are interlinked with 21st century skills. Students will become fluent in learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens. By using 21st century skills, students discover digital literacies through authentic learning. Because students grow up "cutting their teeth" on technology, using technology in the classroom is just logical. Digital literacy includes creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts.
There are eight different essential learning functions. The first is deep learning. We must teach our students to make sense of "raw" information on the Web, such as primary sources and rich databases. The second is making things visible and discussable. We need to make things visible with digital tools by showing rather than telling, conceptualizing with "mind" maps, seeing things too big or too small or too fast or too slow for the naked eye, examining history through digital artifacts, expressing ideas through multimedia, graphical representations and modeling, animation, and digital art. The fourth is expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, and building community. We must teach our students positive and upbuilding ways of expressing themselves. The fifth is collaboration- teaching and learning with others. Projects are a natural segway for collaboration- whether it is in person or through the internet. The sixth is research- teaching students to do correct, organized, and quality research through the web. The seventh is project management: planning and organization. We want to help students manage time, work, sources, feedback from others, drafts and products during projects. The eighth and final essential learning function is reflection and iteration. The student must examine their work from all sides and other points of view to truly grasp it.
This concept relates to our project about food preservation because it helps us to form our lesson plan around our students. By understanding what they need in terms of essential learning functions, how we can help them to use 21st century skills and literacies, and how to develop the big ideas, we can formulate our projects to help our students get the most out of it.
A 21st century skill is skills, attitudes, and habitats needed for higher order thinking and actions. It incorporates Digital-Age Literacy, Inventive Thinking, Effective Communication, and High Productivity, while engaging objectives such as analyzing, evaluating, creating, synthesizing, and evaluating. By using digital resources in authentic projects, students become motivated and thoroughly engaged.
21st century literacies are interlinked with 21st century skills. Students will become fluent in learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens. By using 21st century skills, students discover digital literacies through authentic learning. Because students grow up "cutting their teeth" on technology, using technology in the classroom is just logical. Digital literacy includes creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts.
There are eight different essential learning functions. The first is deep learning. We must teach our students to make sense of "raw" information on the Web, such as primary sources and rich databases. The second is making things visible and discussable. We need to make things visible with digital tools by showing rather than telling, conceptualizing with "mind" maps, seeing things too big or too small or too fast or too slow for the naked eye, examining history through digital artifacts, expressing ideas through multimedia, graphical representations and modeling, animation, and digital art. The fourth is expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, and building community. We must teach our students positive and upbuilding ways of expressing themselves. The fifth is collaboration- teaching and learning with others. Projects are a natural segway for collaboration- whether it is in person or through the internet. The sixth is research- teaching students to do correct, organized, and quality research through the web. The seventh is project management: planning and organization. We want to help students manage time, work, sources, feedback from others, drafts and products during projects. The eighth and final essential learning function is reflection and iteration. The student must examine their work from all sides and other points of view to truly grasp it.
This concept relates to our project about food preservation because it helps us to form our lesson plan around our students. By understanding what they need in terms of essential learning functions, how we can help them to use 21st century skills and literacies, and how to develop the big ideas, we can formulate our projects to help our students get the most out of it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)