Chapter 3 RR

What’s the “Big Idea”?

When designing a project or lesson, the teacher must think about what real-world context will help the students better understand the project and the main idea behind the project.  PBL can help this because the students will become invested in learning and researching about the project.  One great thing that can come from this, is when the students start getting involved in the community while doing their projects.  This helps build a better sense of community and tie with the people in their community. 

 

Planning for Rigor and 21^st Century Skills

Use high order thinking skills for your projects:

1.       Analyze

2.       Evaluate

3.       Create

Ask students to synthesize and evaluate during the project, not report the project, think deeper; this will help the students learn better and become better thinkers. 

 

21^st Century Literacies

This means that we must prepare our students to do be literate in the 21^st century.  This does not stop at the ability to read and write, we are a technology world now and our students must be able to use technology in an efficient way.  Being aware of technology and being literate in it allow our students to be independent, aware, and productive citizens of the country, and will contribute to society in a meaningful and helpful way.  I liked how the teacher from Canada worded it; “We want our students to be information artists. Can they find information, assess whether it’s good or bad, deal with raw data,……” (p. 50).  This is completely true of what we need from our students.  They are surrounded by information and have the ability to always have access to information, so as teachers, we must teach them how to do this and then what to do with the information they have found. 

 

Essential Learning Functions:

1.       Ubiquity: look for tools that will help students be more mobile and learn wherever and whenever they want. 

2.       Deep Learning: help students find and make sense of the raw information.  Primary sources are a great way to get students involved in this as are the databases. 

3.       Making things visible and discussable: one of the first steps in making the conversation going is to make the ideas visible.  A few ways to do this is by using: Google Earth, FreeMind Mindmapper, and a Visual Thesaurus. 

4.       Expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community: one way to do this in your classroom, school, and/or community is to have blogs, social software, virtual meetings, ect. 

5.       Collaboration: a great way to collaborate is by doing projects, it causes people to community and think and share ideas with one another. 

6.       Research: projects nowadays all involve research (for the most part) and most people use the internet to find their information and research. 

7.       Project Management: this helps students manage their time, sources, work, drafts, feedback, and products.  This is a skill that our kids need to be learning and a project is a great way to teach them this skill. 

8.       Reflection and Iteration: Blogs are a great way to reflect and go back through the entire process of a project and look and reflect on your process. 

Chapter 2 RR : Creating a Professional Learning COmmunity

Hello Everyone- Here are my reflections for the Chapter 2 Reading: Creating a Professional Learning Community.

1.) A Learning Community's focus is to optimize the educational experience for students and teachers in order for a specific project or problem to reach its highest potential;  thereby producing the best outcome. Through collaboration,  new ideas are exchanged and new solutions are obtained. A learning community values input from others in a group in an effort to achieve the same goals. People in a learning community make it a mandatory part of their curriculum to talk about different ideas with each other.  People engaged in a learning community consider themselves life long learners and are constantly hungry to progress and gain knowledge.

2.)There are several benefits of having a learning community. The opportunity to share knowledge and collaborate with people who experience the same type of situations that you do, but maybe they have a strategy that works.  One aspect of having a learning community that I particularity enjoy is how much emphasis is put on group collaboration rather than taking individual credit for every project that is completed. By focusing on making the outcome of something a group effort, it diminishes the element of competition, which can deter away from the main focus which is to ensure the students have an optimal learning experience. People seem so intent to want  individual credit rather than attributing success to a group that they may miss out on something spectacular. Also, a learning community is progressive and eager to gain knowledge. Therefore staying up to date 'technologically' during this digital age further the possibility of for collaboration and student success. 

3.) Teachers are can be greatly affected by Professional Learning Communities. When teachers discuss possibilities of  how to achieve the best outcome, it can seem personal when someone disagrees with what another may say. However, this is constructive criticism that needs to be considered and appreciated because it may help improve something about a teaching technique. It gives teachers the chance to observe other teachers and be honest, constructive (even critical, at times) but most importantly respectful. Also, the feedback from teachers will ensure students a more effective and efficient way to learn such as when a teacher who has a method for organization- which cuts down on time for distraction- gets through her lessons compared to another teacher. The collaboritve, group effort 

4.)Students are affected by project learning communities because it provides a sense of belonging to a community. PLC's are safe places to exchange ideas and it also makes everyone's input valuable and pertinent. Students may feel like their experiences are important in solving an issue, and their skills are being built such as : communication, problem solving, consistency and motivation- which align with the qualifications of living in a digital world. 

5.) The componants I believed to be highly important, and to ensure a successful learning community are for teachers to take the I out of teacher and insert an us.   Communities are based on similar visions for the students and a clear mission on how to create them. It's is all about collaboration and understanding eachother's experiences in order to determine the best practice in accomplishing their vision. Striving to continuously improve and setting goals give students and teachers motivation to be their best, together. 

6. ) Writing and Producing a play requires so much collaboration from various aspects of theater ( production, direction, acting, writing, filming, building etc...) and a clear vision for how we are going to optimize the result. It is a dynamic business that requires us to do lots of research and share what we have learned.  Since learning communities valaue technology and using technology to further the learning experience, we believe that filming the play would have more of a connection with students than just acting one out on stage. 

Chapter 2 reflection

Before reading chapter 2 titled “Creating a Professional Learning Community” I didn’t give much thought to collaboration.  The closer I get to become a teacher the more and more I am thinking about myself and how I will be as a teacher.  What I need to realize is that I am sure plenty of other future teachers have the same thoughts.  So just like Jeff Whipple talked about I could use my fellow classmates just like he used his fellow co workers to work together.  When Whipple was transferred from a school where he was working with other teachers to a school where he was the only teacher in the room made him realize how crucial it is to work and bounce ideas off of other teachers.  I like how Whipple said “If I could do one thing I would try and give teachers more time to work with each other.” (pg 25)  I think that in any line of work you need others to help bounce ideas off of therefore, I couldn’t agree more with his statement. 

            This chapter also talked about change and how sometimes change occurs just because a teacher tried something new.  Our society has evolved so much and continues to do so.  As teachers we need to keep our students up to date.  For example, when I was in grade school we still had the old box computer monitors and today schools have I pads.  I think this type of technology is great, but only to a certain extent.  Students don’t necessarily need to be using technology at all times only when they are learning something relevant (so like not just playing games).  The chapter talks about how as teachers we can work together to use technology with Project Based Learning.  I agree with this completely because students could look up and do the research for the project and then use a computer or other device to put the project together/ present it.  When teachers combine their work on a project it will come out even better than expected because it will involve all parts and not just one person. 

            Lastly, I liked how this chapter gave you ideas on how to start building communities within communities and the benefits of this.  My favorite benefit that was listed was more powerful learning.  I can relate to this personally because I learn so much more when I am working with others.  I really liked “Flat Stanley” website because of the forum it had to exchange project ideas.  I thought that was so cool because it gives you the opportunity to check out what others are doing with their projects.  In conclusion this chapter taught me how important teamwork among several other things.  I look forward to reading the nest chapter.    

Chapter 2

Reading Reflection Chapter #2

Creating a Professional Learning Community

 

With new opportunities come new ways and things to change.  By including technology into the classroom, change has already begun.  Technology is huge in our daily lives including our students’ lives, so why not bring it into the classroom? This also allows a great opportunity to collaborate and talk with other teachers in your school about what they are doing in their classrooms and how and where they are including technology.  One suggestion that the book makes is in regard to the technology standards and how these will help students in their daily lives while also making sure to provide this in the classroom.  I also liked how this chapter focused on “learning organizations”.  I think it is important to have good ties and relationships with colleagues for many reasons, but one of them being that then you can bounce ideas off of them and go to them when you have questions.  I especially liked this for PBL.  Since PBL is so new for many people I think have that community throughout the school or at least the grade you teach is so important so you (as the teacher) and ask for feedback or give it to others.  This is such a new and great learning experience that I know I personally would love feedback after doing PBL with my students.  Going from this, I liked how the author talked about getting involved in projects that help you (as a teacher) get started in thinking about PBL and how this will benefit your students.  The one that I really liked was the Flat Stanley.  I love the idea of getting students talking and interacting with other students from different countries and states that they would not get to interact and learn from otherwise.  Luckily, the internet is a great way to do this! I think PBL will really help our students better understand lessons in the classroom and problems and events that happen outside of the classroom.  This will hopefully turn them into problem solvers and the internet and other technology devices will be there to help. 

Web Evaluation Orginization

Hey ladies

First, I would like to know the best way to get ahold of you so we can coordinate this project? Is it WMU mail or communicate via our blog, since that's what I think we are supposed to do?

Secondly,  I have been working on my website evaluations and was thinking how to narrow down which websites the students should look at. We have all agreed to do a historical reenactment of an event in history that students should learn about. I have been researching some of those events on this website:
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/grade_level_help/history_fourth_4th_grade_social_studies.htm

Some events listed here are:

• The American Revolution: We could have a couple students narrate throughout the production  describing and detailing of how the American Revolution came to be, the major players in the Revolution, how it concluded and the social result of the American Revolution.
• Lewis and Clark
• Trail of Tears
• Settlement in the New World

What I am wondering is, assuming that as teachers we have covered all of these events- should we make the decision for our classroom on which event they are going to act out OR should we get them in groups of 5 (assuming we have 30 kids in the class) and they can pick their own historical event they would like to act out? If they pick their own event the pro's of that are they will be interested in the event and have a connection to the event specifically; They will be able to practice characteristics of  PBL because they will be divided into groups and have to do research. The cons are that the teacher will be more spread out as far as what we need to provide for the students. This will ultimately effect which websites we should be having students look at.

Thanks for your time!

Let me know what you girls think. Either on here or my email: elisa.k.zemlick@wmich.edu

Concept Map

Chapter 1

Chapter one talks about students learning through real world projects.  During PBL the students switch roles with the teacher.  The teacher ends up sitting back when the students decide what they want to do.  They create questions to investigate so that the students can find their own meanings.  I haven’t had much experience in PBL, but I do know it is supposed to increase student motivation because they are creating the projects.  Although, the traditional PBL has been effective they still want to try and make some adjustments with it to make it even better.  With the revamped PBL they want “projects to form the centerpiece of the curriculum, engage in real-world activities and practice strategies of authentic disciplines, work collaboratively to solve problems that matter to them,”  (Boss and Krauss 2007) and a few other things. 

            From what I know about PBL I think it is a great idea because it gets the students away from the everyday boring routine of using a textbook.  PBL allows the students to be creative  and chose what they want to learn about for a certain topic.  When I did an internship in a 3^rd grade classroom my mentor teacher hardly used the textbook.  Instead I remember her have her students pick a certain thing from the lesson they were on a use the computer to research things they wanted to know. 

Yes, PBL is almost 100% for the students, but it is also for the teachers.  On page 14 the texts talks about how PBL is still new to several teachers and they too have to learn about it and from it.  When I first learned about PBL I thought it was a great idea and was totally on board to try and incorporate it in my future classroom.  However, at the same time it scared me because I had no idea how to try and teach this way.  Like this chapter talks about though, it takes time.    In conclusion, I learned a lot about PBL and how it has been revamped as time goes on.  PBL teaches the students as well as the teachers themselves.  As teachers we have to be patient and know that as time goes on the more comfort we will gain in teaching PBL.  I look forward to reading the next chapter.  

Chapter 1

                Project-Based Learning is a new concept that I know little about.  This is a new idea for me to think about, especially while in the classroom, and is an idea that I believe more people should know about and be learning about.  My first experience with Project-Based Learning (PBL) was this past summer, while I was in school.  The summer class I took this summer explored many ways to teach lessons to children in a classroom, and PBL was one of them.  My professor had each of us create a unit that was built around a book that was PBL and had a project at the end of the unit for the students to complete.  This was a new way of writing a unit plan, for me, and I found it to be quite a challenge at first, but then began to love it.  I became invested in what I wanted these students to be able to show at the end of the unit, not write about in an essay form or test.

                This chapter really helped me gather a better understanding of what PBL is.  One thing that the chapter talked about that I thought was great insight for us was when the author said that teachers need to “teach less, learn more” in order for the students to gain the best experience and understanding of a lesson.  I think that this way of teaching is great because it involves the students so much. I enjoyed reading about the benefits that PBL has for the students and the one that really stuck out to me was that this allows the students to work collaboratively to solve problems that are important to them.  When in school, students need to feel as though what they are studying and doing are important and PBL can drive this in students and allow them to explore things that without Project-Based Learning they may not be able to learn and think about. 

Reading Reflection of Chapter 1: Mapping the Journey and Seeing the Big Picture ELisa Zemlick

1.)  Mapping the Journey- Seeing the Big Picture

            Project Based learning is a strategy used in the classroom that is influenced by "contemporary technologies" which design projects based on real-world situations.  It is different than traditional teaching techniques  for several  reasons. First, it allocates total responsibility on the learners to actively engage and participate in the project -which is designed by the teacher- in order to come up with the best solution.  For instance, in a PBL setting the student's are prompted to use their experiences and knowledge to answer open-ended questions in order to generate new knowledge and complete a project. Students typically work in groups which pertains to our naturally social behavior where we want to understand other people's experiences in order to have more balanced understanding of the world. 
             Secondly,  the teacher's responsibility is not to be in sole control of relaying information to students  but rather facilitate discussions within groups that deal with a real world issue. An interesting aspect of PBL is its design to make kids more marketable because global employers look for people who are able to be innovative, work in groups and solve real world issues to generate a better solution. A crucial part to a traditional PBL classroom is to incorporate different modes of technology in order to capitalize on the potential knowledge students are able to gain. PBL definitely aligns with the general direction  of the United States and potentially the world, which is to acquire all the knowledge neccessary through different means of communication which  will further define a learning community. 


2.) Teachers are Learners, too. 

             The PBL approach can be intimidating to teachers, especially ones like myself who are technologically inept. Technology is greatly favored over text book- as in computers should be readily accessible to each student. The world is gravitating towards digital means of doing everything, especially research;therefore the PBL method is greatly geared towards research. The PBL approach is thought to have more rewarding  feelings than taking a test and getting an A  because it really requires one to "figure it out" and if done right can be totally satisfying.  However one obstacle for incorporating PBL in the classroom is that it works best when all the members of the school are on board so that it can constantly be reinforced. This is really important because the opposite method of teaching (traditional teacher-lead method) conflicts with PBL method and could frustrate students. 

3.) New Technology Model and A design for Change

            The New Tech Model began in California when people decided that the way of the world was shifting to learning how to think critically, collaborate with other's by using technology to find solutions to problems. Since we want our youth to be more marketable in our Consumer Culture, then we have to train our students to make an impact in the real world by understanding how the world works.  The model is founded by lots of research on how students learn best. It is a personal setting where students and teachers really know each other, which maximizes on learning rather than classroom management. Technology is not the center of learning but rather a tool to aid in figuring out information.  One great aspect of PBL is the collaborative, group effort that is made among teachers- who look to each other for ways to improve their project at hand- and students who bounce ideas and experiences and knowledge off each other to reach a great height in learning.  

4.) Getting Ready and Being Prepared

             I love the word ADAPT! Being able to adapt to situations is so crucial as a teacher. Adapting in the education world means to be flexible with various scenarios and be able to act in a way that fits in with the actions of the environment. A teacher's environment, expectations and daily events change so often that being able to adapt is crucial for the success of the teacher and consequently the students. Being unsure or unfamiliar with PBL is part of the process of figuring things out. It takes time to change a teaching habit that we have been expected to run enact within our classroom. 
           
             It's important when learning about new material to understand what we should be looking for and  how to prepare a PBL in the classroom. First, the teacher is in charge of planning and preparing for the project extensively in order to set the stage for success of the students. By pre-planing each detail it will limit the amount of confusion when students take over to do their part of PBL. Students will work on the project designed by the teacher together, collaboratively and the teacher will then become the facilitator- walking around, guiding the students. We need to be prepared as teachers and work together as teachers to develop ideas that are going to benefit our students greatly.