reading reflection #11

Kim Poe

Reading Reflection #11

As a result of using the project-based learning approach, you will end up with vivid memories, souvenirs, artifacts you have collected along the way, and great ides for shaping your next learning adventure. These projects make it so your classroom is not flat, and extends the walls of the classroom.

Some great ideas for bringing your project home are to share your project ideas with an existing network, create a project library, turn your project into an archive on the web, and publish your project. Another great idea is to enter your project in a contest. This gives you the opportunity to “put your best work forward” and you may gain more exposure for your project.

This chapter definitely relates to my project, by giving great ideas on how to wrap it up and what to do when you are finishing a project. I really liked the idea of entering your project into a contest or publishing it on the web. It is also a great idea to create an online resource for other teachers that are looking to do a project with their class.

Reading Reflection #10

Kim Poe

Reading Reflection #10

It is important to set aside time for your students to reflect on their work. They can reflect on what they have learned through the project, and what they might have done differently. It is important for students to be active in all part of the project including the assessment stage. They need to understand the categories by which their performance will be measured. Students can review the rubrics that they were given at the beginning of the project and reflect on how well their projects demonstrate or apply what they have learned. Setting aside time for reflection helps students reveal things they might not have thought about otherwise, such as: what they learned, what they enjoyed about learning, their growth as learners, and what / how they want to learn in projects ahead.

Reflection is important because it helps the students think about how joyous and gratifying the learning journey can be. They can recall their positive learning experiences that made them confident and look forward to more. The realization that they are quite good at something, or understand something complex can be a great motivator for students. Students should also elaborate, to figure out where to go after they have finished the project. They can elaborate about things like what they are wondering about next, what they want to learn about now, and how they want to go about it.

Schools also build tradition and identity. Some schools are known for their sports, while other schools may be known for their symphonies. Community members will notice and value students' accomplishments, and give you enthusiastic support, and after a time expect to be involved. It is important to show your class accomplishments are the result of the students' commitment to their own learning, and a result of their hard work.

You can build your school's identity as a place where students learn through meaningful projects by celebrating their learning. Some ideas for celebrating are creating a blog, putting on a display, or holding a party.

There were many key ideas in this chapter. I really liked the idea of celebrating your students work. I feel like this would really motivate the students and give them confidence in their abilities. For our project we could make displays of some of the things students had created throughout the project or post digital assignments, such as digital stories and podcasts, on a classroom blog. I think this would be a great way to get parents as well as the community involved, and help the students to feel proud of their accomplishments.  

Reading Reflection #9

Kim Poe

Reading Reflection #9:

Assessing students' prior knowledge is important in order to measure the distance they travel during a project. One way to assess students' prior knowledge is through a “KWL” activity. This is where they can write what they already know, what they want to know, and at the end of the project write what they have learned. KWL activities are very valuable for assessing students' prior knowledge and measuring how much they have learned throughout the project.

Establishing anchors is another important part of assessing students learning through a project. This gives you a sense of where students are starting and how far they are going as they work to meet their learning goals. It gives you a starting point from which you can measure how far a student has come by the end of the project.

There are many different ways to assess students learning that are more effective than traditional test. One idea from this chapter is to have the students create something new. It mentioned a class where the teacher had the students create a comic based on the book they had read to assess their learning. This is a much more valuable way of assessing the students learning as compared to a multiple choice test that just tells you if the students read the book. Another idea is to show the students a film based on the book and have them compare how the film strays from the book, how they are similar and how theya re different.

Assessment is a very important part of any project. It is essential to be able to measure what your students have learned or what skills they have gained from a project. This chapter gave me some very good ideas for assessing my students' learning after completing a project, or assessing their prior knowledge when starting a project.  

Reading Reflection #8

           Kim Poe

Reading Reflection #8

Integrating technology helps student to reach an authentic audience. This audience can include family members, peers, local community members, as well as a much wider world. An example of this is using blogs to improve student writing. Knowing that others will be reading, watching, listening, and commenting on their work can be a powerful motivator. Digital-age projects also offer almost unlimited opportunities for branching out from the classroom. This can include connecting with fellow learners as well as consulting with experts.

The EAST initiative model stands for the Environmental and Spatial Technologies. There are four essential ideas as part of the original design of the EAST model. These four models are, student driven learning, authentic project-based learning, technology as tools, and collaboration. Educators take on a new title as facilitators. Interdisciplinary learning, teaming, authentic projects, and student-driven learning are new concepts for many educators. Teachers must also learn to let students take the lead.

Through letting students take the lead, they can tackle an issue in their own life, such as a student creating a website about living with dyslexia. They learn to think as detectives, journalists, folklorists, scientists, and historians.

This chapter connects to my project because it demonstrates the importance of letting students take the lead. Students can learn much more when they are working at their own pace. They can also learn about something that is very important to them, which inspires them and makes the learning more meaningful.

Reading Reflection #7

 Kim Poe

Reading Reflection #7

There are three levels of classroom discussion: teacher to teacher, student to student and teacher to student. The teacher to teacher discussion refers to collaboration between teachers on everything from procedures for the project, to formative assessment. The student to student classroom discussion includes students talking about their learning experiences as they unfold. Good communication skills are part of effective teamwork and will help keep their team organized and on track. Teacher to student discussion consists of circulating, observing, and talking with smaller groups of students.

There are four different types of question for checking in on students projects. These four types are procedural, teamwork, understanding, and self-assessment. Procedural questions are like “housekeeping” questions. Are the students staying on task? Do we have the right materials available?

Teamwork questions help you to assess the team dynamics. How are team members getting along? Are students able to manage conflict themselves, or do they need your help? Understanding questions give you an example to encourage students to push themselves if you see opportunities for students to go beyond expectations.

Optimizing technology can be beneficial to students. It can help them reach their learning goals as they are expanding their horizons. For example, students can use MP3 players to replay podcasts. This is a useful tool as the students are able to replay the podcasts to match their learning speeds, without having to ask the teacher to go back over information that they did not understand the first time. Students are also able to use technology to connect with outside experts or a broader community, through email and online collaborative tools. Students can gain new insights into how to communicate with a culturally diverse audience.

One way that a 21st-century skill can make or break a project is if the students are intimidated. Make sure your students are comfortable with the technology and reassure them that they can create meaningful projects. It may be necessary to break projects up into smaller, less-intimidating chunks.

This chapter relates to my project because it has a lot of valuable information about classroom discussion and optimizing technology. It is important to have meaningful discussion in the classroom instead of a bunch of side talk. It is important to talk about what is happening as it is unfolding.

GROUP MEETING???

Hey guys can everyone meet monday to work on our website because there are a few things we need to change and work on together. I think if we got together even for an hour we could probably finish the website. Anytime on monday works for me, if you guys have finals let me know what time on the blog and we can figure out a time to get together!

-Thanks,
Caryn

Final Group Concept Map