Chapter 6 Reading Reflection

When teachers are creating a PBL assignment, teachers have to launch a project for their students. The beginning of the project is time to fill students with optimism and curiosity about their new journey.  Technology tools can be reflective for students and help them evaluate their own strengths. Blogs offer students space to reflect about what they are learning throughout the learning process. Online surveys allows you to identify the learning characteristics of students. You can uses these to identify strengths, weaknesses, interests, and use this information to guide your teaching. Online surveys can also work as a self-assessment for students to reflect on.
Before starting a project students' minds need to get ready. Project should start by tapping into students' prior knowledge. K-W-L activities are a great tool to assess prior knowledge. Teachers need yo be intentional on how they instill passion and transfer the project into the students' hands. Teachers should give students' ideas time to settle and blossom in their minds. Invite students to think about the possibilities of it before starting. Encourage students to expand on the project and discuss with their peers. Students ideas should generate interest and promote inquiry.
Teachers need to teach the fundamentals first before starting the project. Teachers need to think about teaching prerequisites and skills that students need in order to work with a degree of independence.  teachers need to set the stage for independent inquiry and share the assessment rubric with the students.
Teachers need to prepare for technology when it will be used in the classroom. Teachers need to set up a technology playground, and encourage students to teach each other about the technology while discovering it.  Teachers need to tap into students expertise and introduce project-management tools. It is also very important that teacher demonstrate the technology for the students.Teachers should rely on the technology specialist, that is why they are there. Teachers need to remember that one size does not fit all, they need to remember the usefulness of the technical skill within the project and decide how much the students need to know.
Teachers need to promote inquiry and deep learning for their students. They should be asking themselves questions throughout the project like, "Which one?" "How?" " What if?" "Should?" and "Why"
This is important in our  lesson because when we introduce a new project to students teacher need to promote inquiry and deep learning so they and understand it the best they can.

Chapter 6

Project Launch Implementation Strategies

When you lay the ground work for the students to use what's next? If you don't find a way to find the project seem interesting to the students then they lose interest. When the students are engaged they enjoy doing their project. The project has to have a certain interest to them. The PBL can have different types of topics but it has to be worthwhile to make the students own their own work. There are different ways in getting the students to reflect on their project. As a future educator you can generate the students progress by using a KWL chart. The KWL chart can be introduced to the classroom in the beginning before the students work on the project. The KWL chart can be then introduced close to the end when the students are almost completing their project. Project base learning does not only rely on technology to explain the topic but the students input and ideas. A computer can generate ideas from topics, facts, and other learning material, but the student must also rely on prior knowledge, interest and teamwork to complete a project. When students become engage in their ideas from the project have them reflect on what they learned. Have the students think and speak of what they want to learn. Have the students gain knowledge and appreciation to what they are discussing. The students can sometimes draw blank in the KWL chart but can reflect on what they want to know when doing their project. If you have questions written on the board of what students want to learn it can generate the students thinking skills. Students can also ask questions as to why they are doing their project, what knowledge will they gain, what interest will they get from the project and overall have the students validate their own work. Let them speak of what they learned by drawing our their ideas from group work. The students can reflect on what they do not understand from the project by asking them questions such as, "Which one, How, and What if." (pg. 108) Draw out the students interest and understanding by encouraging their learning abilities and interest from the project. 

Michelle Webb

       New technology is a great way for students to reflect on their work and figure out their strengths. They can look at their work over time and/or use survey tools to figure out what they have learned up to a certain point. Setting the stage for independent inquiry and sharing the assessment rubric are elements of teaching the fundamentals first. You can get students ready for a project by setting up a technology playground, tapping into student expertise, introducing project-management tools and demonstrating. Ways to promote inquiry and deep meaning are to allow the students to figure out how they want to answer the questions themselves. Topics in the chapter relate to my gardening project because we are able to use the key ideas to create our lesson plans and other teaching tools.

Salsa Garden Map 2

Chapter 5 
Reading Reflection

When creating a project what do you do? After the planing has been set what's next? Students need guidelines on what to follow. When students work in groups each student has a section of the project to complete. When each students work is complete the the group combines ideas to make the project flow. Students should be able to have enough time to plan and what materials to turn in. So what's next after the students have completed the project? Is there a way to figure out what the students know before they started the project? You can asses the student's knowledge by what they learned form the project they are creating by having the students show the teacher what they have created before they turn in the finished product of the project. Technology is a big asset to a project and can be utilized given a set of guidelines. There are some application that are useful when using the internet. The teacher can help the students decide what to search on the internet that is useful in a project. This can also help by researching which links to use when using the internet for a project. So when students have question on what kind of project they are doing they can discuss ideas, who is doing what part of the project, and overall being able to have an open communication to complete the project is the main goal.

Reading Reflection #5

                     Michelle Webb

Before you start a project with your students you, as the teacher, should consider what resources you will need, what appropriate deadlines and milestones the students would be able to reach and how you are going to assess there work. Teachers project management needs were located on page 84,

·         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

Students management needs were located on page 85,

·         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

·         Ways to work interactively and to see how parts add up to the whole

Applications that should be considered when working on a project are possible web-based apps. Anything to help the students make their project more interactive or interesting to work on are helpful. Topics in this chapter are helpful in our gardening project because we can use the management tools to really help guide us in our planning.

Reading Reflection Chapter 4

                When deciding to do project based learning teachers need to make sure they are choosing the appropriate project for their classroom. Teachers want to avoid common pitfalls in project design. Some common pitfalls are projects that have long activity and short learning outcomes, projects that have technology layered over traditional practice, projects that have trivial thematic units, and projects that are overly scripted with many, many steps.  Teachers want to avoid these problems so they can have the best learning activities for their students.
             Teachers want make sure their projects have good features. The features of a good project are, as listed on page 65, “ loosely designed with the possibility of different learning path,are generative, causing students to construct meaning,center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry,capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences,are realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines,reach beyond school to involve others,tap rich data or primary sources,are structured so students learn with and from each other,have students working as inquiring experts might,get 21^st century skills and literacies, including communication, project management, and technology use,get an important learning dispositions, including persistence, risk-taking, confidence, resilience, self-reflection, and cooperation, and have students learn by doing."
                        Project ideas come from many places. Some projects ideas come from, and listed on page 65-66:

• a tried and true project with potential for more meaning, expressive leaning
• project plans developed by and for other teachers
• news stories
• contemporary issues
• student questions or interests
• a classroom irritant put to educational use
• a "mashup" of a great idea and a new idea

Teachers will often design their own projects to use in their classrooms.  In order to make a successful project teachers need to follow these steps, as listed on page 67-68

1.Revisit the framework.

• make a list of learning objectives for core subjects
• decide the specific 21st century skill you want to address
• identify learning dispositions you want to foster

2. Establish evidence of understanding. Imagine what students would know or be able to do once they have learned. 

3. Plan the "vehicle", project theme or project. What would students inquire about,do,create?  

4. Plan entree into the project experience. What are the first things you might say to get students attention and build excitement?

These topics relate to our project because we need to design good projects for out students. We need to make sure it is a good project and we avoid the common pitfalls. 

 

Reflection #4

Michelle Webb

The potential pitfalls are long on activity, short on learning, technology layered over traditional practice, trivial thematic units and overly scripted with many, many steps. A project should be “right sized” there should be a good amount of learning in a short amount of time that are given. The Technology shouldn’t be used as an interactive poster, it should be used to deepen the knowledge. One project can give the students different interaction around one topic, instead of just the same thing over and over again. The project should not have too many steps, it should be basic enough so that thy students are able to be successful with their work.

Good projects al have a few things in common, they are listed on page 65.

·         “Are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths

·         Are generative, causing students to construct meaning

·         Center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry

·         Capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences

·         Are realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines

·         Reach beyond school to involve others

·         Tap rich data or primary sources

·         Are structured so students learn with and from each other

·         Have students working as inquiring experts might

·         Get 21^st century skills and literacies, including communication, project management, and technology use

·         Get an important learning dispositions, including persistence, risk-taking, confidence, resilience, self-reflection, and cooperation

·         Have students learn by doing”

Ideas for projects can come from anything. Let your students help you, if they feel like they are coming up with the project themselves then they will be even more invested in the outcome. Steps for designing a project are to pull your ideas together, and figure out how they will flow, then create a project sketch. Once the project sketch is created and shared with your peers you will be able to make adjustments before presenting the idea to your students.

These ideas will all help with my groups gardening project because the way to make successful projects is easier to understand with the steps laid out.

Chapter 4
Strategies for Discovery

By: Suann Dorsett

What makes a project interesting and fun. Is it the teacher's motivation to drive the project to make it fun, and ability to be well informed from the project the class will a-dress. Is it the students interest to create the project. If not then is it the information that you understand when viewing the project. What make a project fun, interesting and gives it a wow factor is the students knowledge on the project, the teacher's positive motivation to capture the students creativity and above all the content that it is being addressed. For a project to considered a suceess is by having all parts combined to make the project informative to the reader. There are many ways technology can be used to help the students creativity in the project. Computers and cell phones can be used only if the classroom is following the rules of using technology. If its from using a computer, camera, video recorder to cell phone, the teacher must address the proper handling usage of technology in the classroom. The project that the classroom will choose has to be realistic, it has to have meaning to the students and teacher. If the project is informative from learning the water cycle, but does not have the proper information on what the water cycle is about or how it affect the world then the project needs extra help to fix the problems or it is not very informative. The teacher and students have to be aware of what topic they are adressing and the audience that is learning about the topic.

Revised First Concept Map

Reading Reflection 3

              When starting a project identifying the "big ideas" is the first step in project planning.. The "big idea" for a project it the concepts and processes. To determine the "big idea" as a teacher you need to ask what core concepts and processes should the students know once they complete the project. Once we decide on the concepts we need to reflect on why these are important
         
             When looking at the big picture of the project you also need to take into account how this will help students develop 21st century skills. These important 21st century skills are:

• Remember(Knowledge)
• Understand(Comprehension)
• Apply
• Analyze(Examine, explain, investigate)
• Evaluate(Judge, select, decide)
• Create(Synthesis) 

            While learning 21st century skills students learn 21st century literacy.  21st century literacy encourages learning to be independent, aware, and helps create productive citizens. Students can take what they learn in the class room and apply it to real life situations out in the world.

          There are many essential learning functions that are used to help students accomplish their goals. The essential learning functions are as followed:

1. Ubiquity; Learning inside and outside the classroom, all the time. Things that promote ubiquity are mobile tools that helps students learn wherever they are. This encourages student to keep learning anytime and anywhere.
2. Deep Learning. We want to encourage students to go beyond the "filtered" information and try to make sense of the "raw" information. 
3. Making Things Visible and Discussable. We want to student to learn by showing not telling. We want to use visual representation to help our students learn as much as possible. 
4. Expressing Ourselves, Sharing Ideas, Building Community. With the availability of the internet we can easily share ideas with people all over the world. Knowledge is flowing from all over, and its at our fingertips. 
5. Collaboration-Teaching and Learning with others. Collaboration is essential for projects. Collaboration helps us learn together and share ideas. 
6. Research. Project will almost always involve research and with the internet, it has never been easier. You can yield thousands of results at a moment. Students need to filter through the information and make sure they are getting quality information. 
7. Project Management:Planning and Organization. Project management helps students manage time, work sources, drafts, feedback, and products throughout the project. This encourages organization and planning throughout the project. 
8. Reflection and Iteration. You get the most out of a project when you examine all possible sides to the story. Students will learn more when they look at other people's point of view. 

This chapter relates to our project because we need to go through all the essential learning functions in order to have a great project. Every step will be used at some point during out project. With this project we also want to help develop 21st century skills in ourselves and students. 

Suann Dorsett
Reading Reflection # 3

There are many possibilities that go through someones mind when creating a project. From building a boat, house, car, to using skills and ideas to make the project possible. When a teacher creates a project they think of many ways on how to engage the students, common core standards that reflect on what is being taught and most of all what the classroom gets out of creating a project. Some of the big ideas a teacher can think of when creating a project are based on skills. The 21st Century skills that helps students to their expectations  are based from Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. SOme of the objectives help guide the student's higher order of thinking skills.

• Analyze : The students will examine, explain, investigate and categorize their project.
• Evaluate : The students will select, decide, justify and verify what is important from their project.
• Create : The students will adapt, imagine, compose and invent ideas of making their project. 

The 21st century literacy skills affect how students learn when creating a project. Teachers use the common core standards to develop a framework to help the students learn from the  project they are creating. This helps the teachers guide the students while they stay on task. Some of the concepts that we as a group can relate to is finding out different types of methods to create a project. When you think of the project you create, you think of the common core standards that you need to use when choosing a topic. Then branch out the project by making investigations on the topic, research, commitment and enthusiasm when presenting the final product.

Chapter 3

Michelle Webb

When trying to find “The Big Idea” for a project you should do as they say on page 44 and “scan the table of contents of your teaching guides. Review the curriculum standards for your subjects. Ask you colleagues: What do these add up to?” When you combine all of these together you will be able to find something that can be a jumping off point for your class projects.

On page 47 of our reading the 21^st Century Skills were pulled out and bulleted:

·         “Analyze – examine, explain, investigate, characterize, classify, compare, deduce, differentiate, discriminate, illustrate, prioritize

·         Evaluate – judge, select, decide, justify, verify, improve, defend, debate, convince, recommend, assess

·         Create – adapt, anticipate, combine, compose, invent, design, imagine, propose, theorize, formulate”

All of these actions will help the students get more out of what it is that they are learning.  If given these tools correctly, students will be able to steer their own learning in a way that is engaging and very effective.  The 21^st century skills along with the 21^st century learning go beyond literacy.  They are more about the way a student reaches the answer to a problem then how they wrote out the question.  On page 49 it reads, “A true-to-life project naturally involves opportunities for learners to become literate in the 21^st century sense of the word…”

                There are 8 essential learning functions, 1) Ubiquity: Learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time.  This is about getting students to transfer how they learn inside the classrooms to how they can learn new things that are going on through their world outside the classroom. Taking the skills they already know as learners and transferring them over. 2) Deep Learning. The deep learning gets students past what we are hand feeding them inside the classroom and gets them to find more information on their own that they might not have gotten from us. 3) Making thing visible and discussable. “A picture is worth a thousand words” it is a lot easier to get the kids interest in a picture or a movie than it is for someone to be standing in front of them just talking. 4) Expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community. The students get more views on one topic if they are able to go online and look things up. 5) Collaboration – teaching and learning with others. Using the tools that come with technology students are better able to communicate their ideas together. 6) Research. The vast research that students are able to find online can be very helpful when they are trying to find out new information. 7) Project management: Planning and Organization. On page 55 it says that “this helps students manage time, work, sources, feedback from others, drafts, and products during projects.” 8) Reflection and Interaction. This is an important part of deep learning. Students need to be able to reflect upon what they have learned otherwise they cannot be proud and show off of the products they produced.