Chapter 8 reading reflection

Teacher should help students build connections and branch out from what they are used to. One way of doing this would be to help your students by connecting them with experts around the world. Teachers will do this sometimes to help students who are curious about a subject become connected with experts in order to learn more about that subject. These experts come into play when a project is based on inquiry and the students need to ask the questions to experts to continue learning in the classroom.
Teachers can help students expand their learning circle by getting them in contact with students from other schools or around the world. Jeff Whipple connected with a teacher in Korea and they collaborated an idea of how to get their students involved with each other to make their own illustrated literature project. They had their students work together and have in depth communication about their intentions and crea
tivity. They paired student writers with student artists to help them collaborate with each other and creat an end product from across countries.
Some students use the EAST initiative model to help students use technology for real life purposes while learning. This model allows students to use programs such as GIS, GPS and CAD to map the trails of Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. This initiative started in 1996 and has grown to include more than 260 schools in seven different states. Not only does it serve a purpose in a high school but it also targets students starting in second grade all the way through pos-secondary levels. When the model started growing they realized they needed to train teachers from other districts in order for them to take the initiative back to their school and launch it successfully.
Teachers should allow students to lead their own projects because more than not they have many good ideas that they are more than capable of sharing and completing a project based on their ideas. Allowing students to lead will help them feel like they are an important attribute to their project and possibly get them more excited about it.
Building connections with students and experts can help our students with their project on food preservation because they may have questions that we, as teachers, may not have all the answers to so the experts can fill the gaps that we can't.