Celebrating and Reflecting
Chapter 10

Once the project comes to a close the students must realize how they can wrap up the project. When the students reflect on their work they realize how much they learned, what was difficult, what was frustrating and what was interesting throughout the project. If the teacher reminds the students of what they learned form the PBL the students can reflect on the overall experience. If the students can reflect on their experience then they can view what they learned from the project. Have the students write down ideas or start up a conversation with group members or class discussion to talk about what they learned about PBL. Finally have the students present their project to the community, school, or parents about their project. Have the students teach the people what they lean red about their project. Have the students discuss what they learned about their project. Once the students have shared their information ask them if they would like to do another project in the future or create PBL as a necessity learning tool for the classroom. Have the students become involved in their learning from PBL.

Chapter 9 Reading Reflection

It is very important for students to reflect during their project. As a teacher we need to set time aside for students to reflect. The school year moves very fast for student and you need to set time aside for students because reflecting helps students feel good about their work and students really learn from their reflections. Setting aside time helps students think about things they may not have before, like what they learned, what they enjoyed, their growth, and what and how they want to learn in the future.
As students wrap up their projects they need to reflect and elaborate on their learning journey. Projects open students minds and the more decisions they have to make the better they will learn. focus on the questions that matter most to students, those that make the material stick and having them develop and think for themselves and about themselves as evolving learners. Teachers need to prompt, probe, ask why, and encourage them to elaborate.
Schools build tradition and identity for students. School can make project based learning a tradition. Continuing projects year to year will prepare younger students for the future projects to come. Most students will look forward to the projects when its their turn. Communities can get involved in the project traditions as well. Doing this will establish an identity as a community of learners.
Celebrating students achievements is very important for students. Teachers can use displays, dioramas, parties, blogs, or anything.  Students learn the value in their work when it is displayed in the community, and they are proud of their work.
This is relevent to our project because the students need to reflect on their work at the end of the project and celebrate what they have done.

Making Assessment Meaningful
Chapter # 9

Once the students have completed all phases of the project what is the next step is to discover if the students learned something from Project Base Learning using an assessment. The teacher wants to find out if the students have learned anything from the project or did they not understand anything about the project. There were some key ideas on how assessments can help encompass on the students learning. One of the concepts in assessment is active learning. Active learning is a concept in which students can benefit from being involved in their project, and they can measure their growth from the assessment. "Assessing your students project work requires deliberate strategies to take stock not only of what they have created, but also the teamwork, effort and creativity that went into the project". (pg. 139) This gives the teacher an insight in which the students were able to comprehend from the project rather than having a multiple choice test at the end of the project. There are alternatives in assessing the students comprehension of the project rather than having a multiple choice exam to see if the students were able to understand PBL. Another concept that helps with assessment is introducing the KWL chart in the beginning of the project and have the students fill it out with ideas they want to figure out from their project. Then the teacher can reintroduced it when the students finished the project by going back and have the students fill out what they were able to grasp anything from the project by filling out the rest of the KWL chart as part of an assessment. Finally another part of assessing the students learning abilities of the PBL is by applying their concept to a real world problem and figuring out. Many projects requires for students to use different types of technology disciplines in which gives the student a hands on experience in learning through ideas.It then becomes factual given the students effort in creating something responsive from their project is how you find out if the students captured something from their hard work and effort from PBL through assessment.


                                                                                       
                                                                 

Chapter 9

Michelle Webb

Knowing where your students are at the beginning of a unit is very helpful so that you know what you need to teach them.  The book called these beginning places “anchors”. “Anchors” are the knowledge of which the student already has a good grasp. A common way for teachers to establish anchors for their students is to do a KWL chart. Once they have finished the unit students always need to review what they have learned. Ways to do this include interviews with the students and presentations the students can give to the rest of the class. Concepts in this chapter relate to what I am doing in the gardening group because as we set us our website we are using all different kinds of ways to present knowledge to our students. These can help us in the future when we have our own classes because we will know how to take these different ways of presenting information and delivering it to our students who might learn better from these techniques. 

Chapter 8

We all want our students to be able to handle things independently, but it takes time for that to happen. Sometimes for this to happen, you need to provide examples for the students. This chapter’s headings guide us to understand what it is we can provide for our students by way of enhancing the independent learning.

·         Connecting with experts

·         Expanding the learning circle

·         Communicating findings

·         Let students lead

·         Extending the benefits

If we model these suggestions we can show students different cultures and adults that use these ideas as ways of learning independently. The EAST initiative model is a network of schools that using technology to “solve problems and make improvements in their communities.” This model is built on four essential ideas.

1.       Student-driven learning: Students need to be responsible for their own learning.

2.       Authentic project-based learning: Students should be engaged in solving real problems in their communities.

3.       Technology as tools: Students need access to the relevant technologies that professionals use to solve real problems.

4.       Collaboration: When students collaborate in teams to pursue authentic projects, they accomplish more than any one person can do in isolation.

This is essential for our gardening project and any other project we do. We must allow our students the opportunity to take charge of their learning and by providing examples and allowing students to use the EAST initiative model we can achieve this.

Chapter 7

I love this quote provided in the chapter and thought it would be nice to open with it. “Keeping a project moving requires teachers to support students on their learning journey. It doesn’t always unfold the way you expect. This is where the art of teaching comes into play.” Basically we as teachers need to provide communication for our students, whether it is;

·         Teacher to teacher

·         Student to student

·         Teacher to student

All of these forms of communication will help to make the learning experience better for our students.  According to page 118, “In the middle of a project, student teams are likely to be going in many directions and working at different speeds.” Some questions we might ask depends on the types of information we want to know. The different types of questions are:

·         Procedural

·         Teamwork

·         Understanding

·         Self-assessment

Remember to always be the teacher and manage conflict when it arises but to also allow for student inquiry. I think this is important when putting together our gardening project. We want our students to be able to work collaboratively with each other but also with us as the instructor.

Chapter 6

This chapter is full of information about launching projects and the implementation strategies to do so. After reading the chapter, I really feel the headings are the most important in getting the concept across. The idea of using technology to address the launching of a project is mind blowing to me. Thinking back to how I used to brainstorm on paper during elementary school seems so old fashioned now to compared with all the advances in technology these students get to experience. While using paper is never frowned upon, the advances of technology help to make those old ways more beneficial.

The names of the headings and subheadings that I believe help to shape this chapter and really explain everything are as follows:

·         Laying the groundwork

·         Get minds ready

o   Ideas for generating interest and promoting inquiry

·         Teach the fundamentals first

o   Set the stage for independent inquiry

o   Share the assessment rubric

·         Prepare for technology

o   Set up a technology playground

o   Tap student expertise

o   Introduce project-management tools

o   Demonstrate

o   Rely on your technology specialist

o   One size fits all-or not

·         Promote inquiry and deep learning

·         Build toward information literacy: less looking , more thinking

I believe that if we as a group and teachers follow these guidelines then our gardening project should prove to be successful in teaching students about inquiry and the use of technology.

 

Chapter 5

As a group we need to start thinking like teachers. I believe the project management strategies listed in this chapter have/will help us to complete assignments for our gardening project. We need to use the headings from the chapter as guidelines for maintaining a successful project.  Those headings are:

·         Gathering resources: what (and who) will you need?

·         Milestones and deadlines: It’s about time

·         Team planning

·         Plan for assessment

·         Web-based applications

·         Start simply, then elaborate

·         Personalized web pages

There are strategies listed for teachers using technology that should be followed. They are:

·         Tools for communicating with students and others about the project

·         Tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur

·         Methods for getting resources to students

·         Systems for managing work products

·         Structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time

·         Assessment tools and strategies, including:

v  Ways to gauge whether students are working productively and accomplishing project goals

v  Ways to assess the load balance within a team so no individuals end up doing too much or too little

v  Ways to give just-in-time feedback on student work as it develops. Not just when it’s completed.

There are also strategies listed for students using technology that should be followed. They are:

·         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 iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole

 

 

 

Chapter 4

When deciding to use project based learning as part of their lessons, teachers need to weigh the possibilities of pitfalls and the qualities that best projects share. The potential pitfalls are as followed:

·         Long on activity, short on learning outcomes.

·         Technology layered over traditional practice.

·         Trivial thematic units.

·         Overly scripted with many, many steps.

When trying to design a project based learning lesson, it is important to look at what criteria is needed for the best projects. The book lists what they call “The best projects share the following qualities. They”

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

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

·         Have students learn by doing

When designing the project, teachers must follow these important steps:

1. Revisit the framework

2. Establish evidence of understanding.

3. Plan the “vehicle” (the project theme or challenge).

4. Plan entrée into the project experience.

If we as teachers follow these four steps, we can be sure we can create successful project based learning opportunities for our students.

Chapter 3

I think the “big idea” of this chapter is having the teacher decide on what they want to teach and then find the appropriate benchmarks to link to the lessons.  When taking in effect of the 21^st century learning it is important to remember the following:

·         “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”

When we use these guidelines it shows us exactly what we want each student to obtain from each lesson. As the teacher we need to keep these ideas in the backs of our minds at all times.

Of the eight essential learning functions, I believe every one of them is important to our children’s learning process. The functions are:

1.) Ubiquity: Learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time

2.) Deep learning

3.) Making things visible and discussable

4.) Expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community

5.) Collaboration-teaching and learning with others

6.) Research

7.) Project management: Planning and organization

8.) Reflection and iteration

I think it is important when figuring out everything we as a group want to do for our lessons to remember to focus on these eight essential learning functions. I believe we can get the most out of our students if we remember to focus on these as part of our lessons.

Chapter 8
Building Connections and Branching Out

Once the students have created their Project then they are able to seek other ideas or inspirations for improving thier learning. It could either be by adding new concepts or ideas from the project or seeking guidance from others.  When seeking guidance from others you must pertain to what is significant to the project, what types of teacher facilitated blogs are available for the students to use, given that the learning is based on the project the students are creating. Sometimes when the teacher is guiding the students learning you sometimes forget what students are thinking and what inspires them to think of why they are using that idea in their project. When the teacher gives the students different choices but guides them in their learning you can be inspired to what your students come up with in their projects. When the teacher is trying to find an expert on the topic the students are trying to understand there are different ways to approach them.

• The teacher can contact the expert from making phone calls, e-mails, mail and any other communication process available to have a different voice to speak to the classroom about the  project.
• If the teacher is able to find an expert you must create an introduction on the topic of discussion, try to get the expert to give you some helpful hints or learning experiences to help the teacher guide the students learning toward the project.
• If the communication process then is successful and the teacher has communicated with the expert, then try to create a way to have the expert to try to communicate to the classroom. 
• If the expert agrees to communicate with the classroom, have the expert know the grade level of the students, have specific information of the project and try to make the expert feel comfortable with talking to students. 
• If the teacher has been able to set a day for the students to talk to expert about their project remind them that the expert can help facilitate the experience of the project since they are experts, have the students understand that the expert has limited time to talk to the students and if the students need questions answered and there is no time left then we can set up another session that the expert can speak with the students.

Once the expert has talked to the students about the project then communicate with the students if they have a different understanding of the project. Let the students know if the expert has challenge their thinking to what understanding of the project they can capture or if they need a different challenge to help with the students expectations. 

Chapter 8 Reflection

When the project near completion, teachers cannot overlook opportunities for extended learning. Teachers need to guide students to reflect and synthesize their understanding on what the learned.

Some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom are connecting with experts, expanding the learning circle, and communication findings.  To connect with experts, look for parents who are experts or use the class website to ask for volunteers. Connecting with experts can have mutual benefits, the experts may be able to improve their practice while the students are learning from their experiences. Expanding  the learning circle can include trying to include participants from distant places. With the assistance of technology in the classroom teachers and students can communicate with people from all over the world. Working with international students can have a major impact on students and they will take pride in their work and learn from each other. Communicating findings is very important during a project. Some projects can address real problems and when they share finding they advocate for change. Communicating findings is nice contrast than the typical report method at the end of the project. Students can teach others of their finding that can be beneficial to others.

The EAST Initiative Model demonstrates the benefits of using technology for a real purpose, to solve problems and make improvements in the community. The students use technology that is commonly found in professional labs or studios. The EAST students master sophisticated tools and applications in context while solving real problems that interest them.
The EAST model has four essential ideas:

1. Student- driven learning
2. Authentic project-based learning
3. Technology as tools
4. Collaboration

It is important that students learn to lead their projects. By letting student take the lead they can work on something they are passionate about, they take on their own learning and the teacher is there to support them. They take a lead in something that is important to them. 

This topic relates to our research because we need to continue to expand on our circle during and after the project. Students will learn more about their project and when they can take the lead themselves. 

Michelle Webb

Reading Reflection 8

Your students can build connections by going out and meeting experts on their topic. You could help them do this by giving your students contact information of those you know would not mind helping them. They can expand their learning by reaching out to those who are not directly in their community. They could reach out to people on the other side of the country or on the other side of the world.

The EAST Initiative Model demonstrate the usefulness of technology for a real purpose, within classrooms we can use it to help students learn to solve problems and make a difference in their communities. EAST stands for Environmental and Spatial Technologies, the national program director states, “Technology is the hook we use to get kids into significant projects, and to get communities into significantly wanting to support those projects.”

Students should lead their own projects because then they can work in a way that makes the most sense for them. They can use the technology that best fits their specific project. Students will also get more invested in their work if they feel that they have full control.

Concepts from this chapter relate to my project because we have to figure out the best way for our students to do their project. If we feel that they are comfortable enough with the technology we then have to make the decision to let them take more of a leadership role within their groups.

Chapter 7
A Guiding Hand Keeping a Project Moving

Once the project stated moving, now what's next. The teacher is learning new ideas to improve the students thinking. The students are involved in the process of improving their project. In order to keep the students learning new ideas from PBL what is another learning experience that will encourage the students critical thinking. There were some key points that were informative in PBL. From the classroom discussion are they productive in the students critical thinking or are they just questions on if they are doing their project the correct way. Some level of discussion are significant in PBL. (Chapter 7, Pg. 114-115)

• Teacher to Teacher: What does a teacher do if they have questions on the project they are facilitating in the classroom. The teacher can ask their peers about the project, or they can find some helpful resources from other teacher that are doing a similar concept on the project to get ideas. 
• Student to student: The students need to collaborate on ideas on which person is doing what on the project. The students can collaborate on ideas on what works and what doesn't. The teacher can listen to the students ideas while understanding the challenges of the project. 
• Teacher to student: The teacher can do a whole group discussion on what part of the project is difficult to accomplished based on technological issues. The teacher could even have group discussion to help facilitate learning by inquiring the students thinking. 

When asking questions to figure out the groups collaboration or overall experience what should be expected from the studnets if they are learning through experiences. There are some question that could help the project move along smoothly. What David Fragg (2007) discovered from his project is that the students had questions on the overall experience. David Fragg was able to interpret the students progress on the blog is, "My students tended to want to check every answer with me! This showed that they were not used to independant investigation work." (chapter 7, pg. 117) Students want their teacher to validate their question by saying yes or no. How can you validate the students progress if they don't want to do the work, or if they are ecstatic on doing the project but have never had the chance to work on something and not being able to know if they are doing it correctly or not. Students need to validate their own work from the amount of time, knowledge, skills, teamwork, and overall confidence that their project is heading to a right direction on getting a good grade if applicable.  

Michelle Webb

        The levels of classroom discussion are teacher to teacher, student to student and teacher to student. These different levels of discussion can be helpful to find a deeper meaning to the project because different people will come up with different questions to ask. During these conversations different questions can be asked, this is a good way to check-in on your students. Ways to check-in are procedural, teamwork, understanding and self-assessment. Students can maximize their learning by using technology by allowing it to help them reach their goals, keeping them organized and connecting them to outside professionals. Technology can make or break the project because it can give the students more information to use or they can become frustrated by not understanding how the technology works. All of these concepts work with our gardening project because they help us set up better ways to help our students and be more prepared when thy have questions.