Reading Reflection #7

There are different levels of classroom discussions.

• Teacher to Teacher
• This is making sure the use of your project blog, wiki, or other collaborative tool to keep your teacher-to-teacher conversation process going
• Student to Student
• Students should be talking about their learning experiences as they unfold within their teams as well as across teams
• Teacher to Student
• Circulating, observing, and talking with smaller groups of students and help practicing your own listening skills and a sing probing questions that push students toward higher-order thinking.

There are questions that need to be asked while you are checking in with the group.

• Procedural: Are we staying on schedule? Do we have the right materials available? When's the best time to schedule a field trip, expert visitor, or other activity?
• Teamwork: How are team members getting along? Is one student carrying too much of the load for the whole team? Are students able to manage conflict themselves, or do they need my help?
• Understanding: Have you considered this research? Encourage them to push themselves.
• Self-Assessment: Project journals or blogs offer space for students to describe challenges or frustrations to ask questions that they may not feel comfortable asking in class.

Students gain a new insight into how to communicate with a culturally diverse audience. You will notice some benefits when students are optimizing with technology. You will notice the improvement how creating blogs, graphs, folders, and the usage of portfolios. They will keep their focus going on reaching their key goal. They will be ready to use this technology now and elsewhere.

There are 21st century skills that can make or break a project. During project implementation, pay close attention to team dynamics. If you detect trouble, help students learn to manage their own team conflicts. It's a real-life skills that will serve them well for years to come. There is peer structure in the group that can incorporate the group to become successful. Then there can be the group 'slacker' who doesn't do much and brings the group down. Some teachers use a teamwork-scoring rubric as an assessment. Skills can be both beneficial and crucial when used accordingly.

There are different parts of this chapter that relate to our work we are doing in our classroom and on our project. We need to know how to communicate with each other in other to understand what we want to do in our project as a group and what it takes to get the job done. We need to have a certain relationship with both each other and the teacher in order to become successful as well. We need to understand the 21st century skills that benefit and hurt our group if used. In order to understand these concepts, we can sue them to apply to our group project and make it exactly how we want it to be.

Inspiration - Part B

Chapter 6 Reflection

Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths by:

-            Blogs offer students a time to overview their own thoughts on what they are learning.

-            Various online sites such as ProfilerPRO offer surveys that can be taken or created to help learn your personalized learning characteristics as well as create them.

-             Tools such as SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang allow you to set up online surveys you can use the results to track movement and help students with self-assessments.

There are several ways to get a student’s mind ready for a project:

-       Bring in a visual of the topic to get the wheels rolling

-       Encourage them to talk about the topic in discussion

-       Give them time to think about the topic and reflect on it

-       Posters, pictures, slideshows, and visual aids

The elements of teaching fundamentals first:

-       Teaching how to learn for more in depth learning

-       The K-W-L process

-       Helps students grasp knowledge

-       Taking steps with the learning

There are many important steps in preparing students for using technology when doing a project:

-       Set up a technology playground so students can explore the technology they will be working with.

-       Encourage students to teach each other

-       Give brief demonstrations of the lesson

-       Do practice runs with student trainers

-       Keep a project log or journal to offer student a place to track their progress

-       Write reflections at the end of class

Ways to promote inquiry and deeper learning.

-       Turn their questions around to have them research more

-       Have students work together so they can discuss and reflect on learning

-       Ask which ones, how, what if, should, and why questions to inquire further learning

-       Steer students toward skilled questioning

This chapter relates to concepts we have learned and done in class with our project staying healthy. The teacher gives us brief demonstrations of technology being used for different assignments and we then practice by working together and asking questions. Also we use online tools such as our blog to get feedback on our work.

Reading Reflection 6

Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths.  A blog offers students space where they can reflect over time about what they are learning. ProfilerPro is an online survey tool that allows you to identify the learning characteristics of an individual and also among members of a group.  ProfilerPro identifies interests, strengthens, weaknesses, and uses this information to guide learning. Tools like online surveys can also encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths. SurveyMonkey allows students to set up online surveys and the results are used to track trends and help students see how their self-assessment compares to the larger group.

By tapping students’ prior knowledge will result in a good project. Many teachers introduce projects with a Know-Wonder-Learn (K-W-L) activity. However, it is suggested that a teacher should establish interest and excitement in other ways before becoming task-orientated with K-W-L. The first thing in order to get students’ minds ready for a project is getting the students attention and giving the idea time to settle in their imaginations.  It’s important to encourage the students to explore and think about the topic, and to discuss their ideas with friends.  Before starting a project have students thinking about the topic a week before the project so that they can explore.  Having the students do assignments, research, and readings on a topic before starting the project is a great way to get their minds ready.

As a teacher before launching a project it’s important to think about the teaching prerequisite knowledge or skills students need in order to work with a degree of independence in their investigations. As a teacher we should make sure our students know information about the topic before starting the project. We want our students to know some information or skills so that it will guide them independently on their research. Our students should be presented with knowledge and skills before starting their project. We want to set the stage for independent inquiry for our students. Sharing a rubric with the students will provide the students what needs to be included in their project.

There are several steps in preparing students for the use of technology in a project. As a teacher you want to ask yourself: what tools are best for the job? What do students already know? What will they need to know? Before teaching about a technology, consider how you can set up opportunities for your students to learn by and among themselves. A way to get students familiar with a piece of technology is by setting up a technology playground where students can explore. Give your students a piece of technology and have them try to figure it out. Students can work together to figure out how the technology works or is used. Watch your students and then help them when needed. Have students that are good with technology teach other students. A way in doing so is by setting up computer stations each with one tool that students will use in their project. Have the student trainers demonstrate how to use the tools at each station. Once the student understands the tools at one station have them move to the next. Make sure to discuss the purpose of each tool and set expectation for its use before students begin to work on their project.  Introduce project-management tools to students such as a project log or journal. A project log or journal encourages students to write about their own progress towards goals. As the teacher you can gain insight to where and why the student may be struggling or falling behind. As the teacher, if you feel comfortable with the tools students will use then demonstrate their use. If you don’t feel comfortable ask someone who is to demonstrate such as the technology specialist, another teacher, or a student so that you and you students learn together.

As your students begin to put their plan into action guide your students as they choose question and plan investigations. There are several ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.  All students should understand the following:

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            There is a relationship between need and opportunity, and between scarcity and abundance.

       

      Money, bartering, and other means of exchange have existed throughout history and across civilizations, and they continue to change.

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      Modern money has symbolic worth as an exchange medium.

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            Economics, health, and well-being are related.

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      Money means different things to different people.

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           Humans are interdependent.

A concept in this chapter that relates to our project is the use of technology.  In this chapter it discusses how technology tools can encourage students to be reflective. In our project we are doing this by using a blog to reflect on our learning with others in the classroom. I have never used a blog before and in our project we are posting everything on our blog.  By using a blog throughout this course we are learning how to use the tool so that we can use it for our future students.  The chapter discusses how to prepare our students for the use of technology which we are learning throughout our project.

Reading Reflection 6

Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths. Such as:

• Blogs offer students space where they can reflect over time about what they are learning.
• ProfilePRO is an online survey tool that allows you to identify the learning characteristics of an individual and also among the members of a group. You can identify interests, strengths, and weaknesses, and use this information as you guide leaning. Create your own survey in ProfilePRO or adapt a template to meet your needs. You can also have students reassess their profile over time and cop are how their "badge" changes as they acquire new skills and understanding.
• Tools such as SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang allow you to set up online surveys. You can use the results to track trends and help students see how their self-assessment compares to the larger group.

There are ways to get students' minds ready for the project.
Start by getting students' attention and giving the idea time to settle in their imaginations.
Invite them to open their eyes to the possibilities before digging in.
Encourage students to explore and think about the topic, and to discuss their ideas with friends and at the dinner table for several days.

The elements of teaching fundamentals first are:

• Setting the Stage for Independent Inquiry
• And Sharing the Assessment Rubric

There are steps in preparing students for using technology in a project.

• Set Up a Technology Playground
• Tap Student Expertise
• Introduce Project-Management Tools
• Demonstrate

The ways to promote inquiry and deep learning are:

• knowing there is a relationship between need and opportunity, and between scarcity and abundance
• Money, bartering, and other mess of exchange have existed throughout history and across civilizations, and they continue to change
• Modern money has symbolic worth as an exchange medium
• Economics, health, and well-being are related
• Money means different things to different people
• Humans are interdependent

There are concepts form this chapter that relate to my project. We need to know about technology tools and how they can encourage us to use our own strengths. Such as blogs which is what we are using now. We have to think about ways to get our minds ready for our project. We also need to know the steps to prepare ourselves for suing technology about our project. It is very important.

Reading Reflection 5

There several things needed before starting a project with students. The first thing to think about is what materials will be needed for the project? Make sure you have all materials before starting the project. The second thing to think about is if the project will involve the use of technology that is new to the students or yourself? Make sure to be prepared for the use of unfamiliar tools. The third thing to think about is will you need to expand your students’ access to technology. It’s important to think creatively about how to make access more frequent and equitable. The forth thing to think about is will your students need access to experts to answers and questions that are apt to come up during your project? Consider ways to engage with experts both in person and from a distance.

No matter if a project is small or complex you as the teacher want to make the best use of your time and your students’ time. A way to make the project organized and to manage time is by planning a project with a calendar with milestones along the way. When making deadlines visual, students will manage their time wisely. A good project calendar will help students see the deadlines of upcoming milestones so they can plan ahead, track their progress, and troubleshoot potential delays before they fall behind. Make sure students are aware of the smaller deadlines they will need to meet along the way if you’re planning a project that lasts several weeks. Share the calendar with parents so they are aware what their student needs to accomplish. Learning management systems offer teachers and students another way to organize all the components of a project in an online environment.

The project-management tools and strategies teachers need include:

-          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:

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

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

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

The project-management tools and strategies students need 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.

-          Ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole.

When planning a project think about how technology could be used in the project. A link of tools together in a wiki could be used, associate them with a blog, or alternatively, use a web-based “desktop” application. Using a wiki, users create pages of shareable content using just a browser and the most basic markup language to format text, add web links, or build new pages. Wiki is used by many collaborators to write together and then pull the contents off the wiki to publish in another form. Wikis are great tools for developing information that flows from many to many. A blog is another technology application that should be considered for use in a project. A blow offers a great tool for communicating about progress or milestones and to broadcast news related to the project.

A concept in this chapter is to invest out time wisely on the “front loaded” part of design before we engage students in project work. It also focuses on what things we need to consider before starting a project with our students. Lastly, it discusses the use of technology we may want to use to manage our projects and maximize learning potential. All these concepts relate to what our group is doing throughout our planning process for our project. One key thing this chapter discusses is the use of a blog in a project. Throughout this course we are using a blog to communicate with others on what we learn and plan to have our students do. Now that I know how to use a blog I will definitely consider using one in a future project for my students.

Chapter 5 Reflection

11. Items that should be considered before starting a project with students:

·      Available resources in your school.

·      Inventory the skills, tools, expertise, and community resources available to your students.

·      Gather materials your class will need for the specific project.

·      Make a newsletter for parents of a wish list and supplies. Send the newsletter home with the kids.

·      Do you need to reserve the library for Internet use?

22. Teachers’ management use:

·      Tools for communicating with students and others about the project.

·      Time management

·      Calendar with deadlines for upcoming milestones, share with students and parents.

·      Track students progress so students don’t fall behind

·      Online environment teachers can see students work progress, giving feedback, resolving confusion and answering students questions.

·      Ways for managing work products.

·      Ways to give students resources.

 Students’ management use:

·      Tools that help manage their time and flow of work.

·      Tools that help students manage materials and control work drafts

·      Collaboration tools

·      Ways to seek assistance

·      Ways to get feedback, advice and team input on their work

·      Ways to work together and see how parts make up the whole project.

33. There are technology applications that should be considered for use of a project, such as a wiki. A wiki is the simplest edited Web page, students can open, write and edit together from anywhere. The page can open to anyone or a limited group with a password, also keeping a history of the work. Blogs are also easily edited and helpful. Drupal and Textpatter are two popular blogging spaces.

44. There are many concepts in this chapter that relate to our project, Staying Healthy. The most important concepts I found were; available resources, teacher and student time management skills, teacher feedback, ways for students to ask for feedback, and working together as a team, seeing how parts of the project make a whole. Also we are using a blog to edit, send work, keep a history of our project and a place to receive feedback from other stuents. 

Reading Reflection #5

There are some things you need to have prepared before starting a project with your students. One might need to take a look through their inventory and see what supplies, tools, and other materials are available at the school or offered by supporters. The community can have a wide variety of sources if needed. It all matters what you have offered around you, and what you don't.

Teachers have management needs:

• 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
• ways to gauge whether students are working productively and accomplishing project goals
• ways to assess the load balance within a team so no individuals end up doing too much or too little
• ways to give just-in-time feedback on student work as it develops, not just when its completed

Students have management needs:

• 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 sue 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

There are some technology applications that should be considered when doing a project. A wiki is the simplest application to use. Two wikis that are popularly used in education are Wikispaces and PBwiki. Blogs are very effective. Two good blogging engines are Drupal and Textpattern.

Topics in this chapter relate to our project in numerous ways. We need to know what we have and who we have before we even start our project. Without the correct tools, then there will be no project. It is important to know and understand what us as teachers will need when it comes to management needs and we know what to hope our students will have when it comes to their management needs. Since it all technology, we must know important applications in order to create and update our projects. It is one of the most important things.

Reflection Chapter 3

1. Project pitfalls of project design include:

            -Projects are lengthy and demanding but the learning outcome is small.

            -Technology use is to heavy and the learning outcomes aren’t being reached.

            -Work is not interdisciplinary, collaborative, or rigorous.

            -Many steps to follow, students are not making critical decisions.

2. Features of a good project include:

            -Different possibilities of learning paths.

            -Have students find a meaning behind their work.

            -Structured for inquiry.

            -Are realistic.

-Students are interested in their work because it relates to real-life experiences.

-Having students learn material, because they are doing the work themselves.

3. Project Ideas come from:

            -A tried project with potential for more meaning.

            -From teachers.

            -New stories.

            -Contemporary issues.

            -Student questions or interests.

            -A classroom irritation that is put to education use.

            -Great ideas and new tools.

4. Steps to design a project:

1. Revisit the framework. Make a list of learning objectives, skills you wand to address and identify learning dispositions.

2. Develop an understanding of what you want your students to receive from the project.

            3. Plan the project theme.

4.Plan how you would get students interested in learning and doing the project.

            5. Where can students take this project?

            6.Get feedback from your colleagues.

5. All the concepts in this chapter relate to my project “Staying Healthy.” I think the most important thing to look at from the chapter when creating our own lessons is the steps to designing a good project. They made good points on important things to revisit, focus on and things to include in the lesson you create for your students.

            

Reading Reflection 4

In chapter 4, it states that, to improve your own critical- thinking skills when it comes to reviewing project plans you should look past the “window dressing” of projects that seem appealing or make use of dazzling technologies. Teachers should pay attention to the quality of the student’s experience. Here are a few pitfalls in project design to watch for:

-          Potential pitfall: Long on activity, short on learning outcomes. If a project reaches small or lower- order learning aims and is busy and long, it’s not worth the students’ or teachers time.  Projects should be “right sized” for what it accomplishes. It’s important to look at the learning outcome.

-          Potential pitfall: Technology layered over traditional practice. Good projects focus on reaching significant learning outcomes, not merely making use of technology applications. When reviewing a project plan, consider whether technology is used to bring people together, connect students to rich data or primary sources, or provide some other way to allow students to create unique and high quality learning products.

-          Potential pitfall: Trivial thematic units. Thematic teaching is not necessarily project- based learning. There are different valuable ways in teaching. A thematic approach can be trivial, but it doesn’t have to be. A theme for a whole year’s work can be used. A theme can help students make important connections. Look for ways a theme elevates and connects the learning when examining thematic projects or creating one on your own.

-          Potential pitfall: Overly scripted with many, many steps: Be wary of over prescriptive project plans that have many discrete steps. When evaluating a plan look to the description of learning, objectives, and the students outcome.

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.

Finding good projects can come from everywhere.  A good project can come from blogs, reports, as well as issues in the public. A good project can come from something a student has expressed interest in.  Projects can come from other people and other teachers projects. One successful project can led to another successful project. A good project can come from a mixture of tools or resources and from projects that already exist.

Projects that are designed must be within a context. The school calendar, curriculum sequence, student readiness, and student’s interests are all factors to keep in mind while planning a project. Here are the steps to designing a project:

11)    Revisit framework

a)      Make a final list of learning objectives for core subject and allied disciplines.

b)      Decide on 21^st century skills you want to address.

c)       Identify learning dispositions you want to foster, such as persistence and reflection.

22)     Establish evidence of understanding. Think about how all the students are all different learners and people. Think about what the students know or be able to do once they have learned.

33)  Plan the project theme or challenge. Think about what the students inquire about, do, and create? Strive for “optimal ambiguity”--- that is, both enough structure and enough flexibility to serve the needs of the project.

P4) Plan entrée into the project experience. Think about the things you first want to say to get the students’ attention and build excitement for the learning ahead.

After designing your project get feedback on your ideas from you colleagues. It’s important to revise and rework your plan a few times so that your project can be the best that it can be for the students.

These concepts relate to our project by giving us the features that our project should have. It also gives us steps on how to design a good project.  It gives us ways on how to get our students interested in the project and also on how to get the project started.  This chapter also gives us information on where project ideas come from.  Overall, the concepts in this chapter will help my group and I make our project be the best that it can be.