Chapter 10 Reading Reflection

1.) Setting aside time for reflection:

 There is rarely any time to reflect upon new knowledge being learned  in school. When students have the chance and time to reflect, they can think about what was really important to them about the project as well as what they learned.  Reflection allows students to look back at the project in hindsight and evaluate the successful and unsuccessful parts of the project- what they would or would not  do differently


2.) Reasons why students should reflect and elaborate:

  It's noted that reflection is a crucial part in learning. When students are able to reflect, they can create their own meaning to every aspect of the learning process. The reflection should be meaningful, personal and important to them. Setting aside time to reflect gives the students a chance to think about every aspect of the project, such as skill development, learning behaviors associated and how the project has changed some aspect of their learning process or knowledge gained.

  It may be a good idea for the teacher to provide their students with reflection questions that emphasize what the teacher's objective were for their students- such as overcoming obstacles, collaboration and other 21st century skills that the teacher wanted her students to learn. 

  Successful projects can potentially change the ways students view the learning process, and increase their passion to become better learners.  They may be excited and anticipating their next challenge.  When students reflect, they are able to elaborate on what they need for their next project.  

3.) Schools Tradition and Identity

   Establishing a culture in the classroom is the first step for students to have pride in their school and learning. Students want to be proud of where they spend 7 hours of their day, so establishing a tradition or culture in the classroom that entails being really good at PBL is something that can be done by teachers. A key word in this section of the chapter is Enthusiasm. If the teacher is enthusiastic about what the students are learning then that will show the students that its ok to be excited. Schools establish their identity by what the students accomplish, so if the students accomplishments are shown throughout the school, then it shows potential students and parents that this is a great place to go to school.

4.) Celebrating a project

  
 Who doesnt love to celebrate? After all the hard work the project demands, its extremely important for their to be a celebration of recognition. Involving either just the class, the school, the families or the community will make the students feel proud.  Classroom displays, hall displays, reward ceremonies or planned events are some ways the students can celebrate. Even taking a field trip or having a guest speaker come can be a way for students to celebrate.  Letting the students take charge in planning the celebration can be another part of the PBL experience. At the celebration, make sure there is time for looking back at the project process, showing the hard work and dedication of the students, a display of what was learned,  opportunities for students to speak about their experience.

5.) I really enjoyed reading about how to plan a celebration. Since we are going to have a performance at the end of the year, it was insightful to know what goes into planning a celebration.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Making Assessment Meaningful

Establish Anchors

·        When does the students learning start?  You have to set a start point or an anchor for the beginning of learning. 

·        “By establishing anchors you gain a sense of where students are starting and how far they are going as they work to meet learning goals.” (140)

·        The quality of the learning experience is important

Grades that Matter

·        How will you measure student progress?

·        How will you know that your students completed the learning goals?

·        Design a rubric that is easy for students to follow.  If you have a complicated rubric that is difficult for students to follow they may not complete the assignment properly.

·        “Teachers want a reliable way to assess how well students have mastered key content.” (141)

Ask Students: What did you learn?

·        Ask your students to reflect on the things they learned

·        Have your students give you specific examples of things they learned.

Create something new

·        When the project comes to a close have your students create something new to show what they learned in the project. 

Model Real-World Assessment

·        If the students are doing real world projects then they must be assessed in the same way.

Enter a contest or submit for publication

·        “Taking the idea of discipline-based assessment a step further, some teachers encourage students to submit their best work to a competition or enter it for publication.” (144)

·        Students may find opportunities like this to be motivating and also challenging.

Chapter 9 RR

1.) Method for understanding the prior knowledge of students:

One method for understanding the prior knowledge of a student is to do a KWL chart. KWL charts allow the teacher to evaluate what the students already know, what they want to know and what they have learned in the project. The students need to be actively involved in the learning process and have an idea of what success looks like to them individually.

2.) Importance of establishing anchors for a project:

When anchors are established, the teacher has an idea of  where students are at and where they are heading in order to meet their learning objectives.Project based learning provides oppurtunities to learn different ways and to meet multiple needs of individual students.


3.) Description of ways to assess students during a learning project:

One teacher established an online grade book that assessed multiple categories of a project and measured different levels of progress for students. In a typical classroom there are only a few parts of a project a student gets graded on, that is mainly academic. In project based learning there are so many components and skills the students are acquiring and therefore can earn credit for, rather than just one or two aspects. Being creative with the assessments so the students dont feel like they are being assessed is a productive strategy. Teachers can have students communicate with eachother about the project and listen to their conversations.

Another assessment tool is to conduct interview with students at the end of the project, making it so they become the professional  on the project and the teacher becomes the learner. Another strategy was having students create something new to show their knowledge gained. One teacher had students create a comic book, and another teacher had a student write a short story that summed up the project. This put a creative spin on what could have been a potentially mundane "write a paper that summarizes what you have learned" assessment.

Connecting the project to the community and real world situations gives the project meaning and substance. Its important for students to know that what they are doing in the classroom will strengthen other skills that need to be used outside of the classroom. Making the information relevant and real will help students take pride in their work.

4.) How this chapter relates to our project:

This chapter has motivated me to think of ways to creatively assess my students. Our students are going to be creating a movie which will not only assess their knowledge on the colonial period but also their knowledge on how to create a digital movie. Creating a movie requires good writing skills, communication skills, managing of time and people and being creative.

Chapter 9 RR

Reading Reflection Chapter 9

Making Assessment Meaningful

 

“It’s better to be a producer. That means you’re creating something that brings our learning to the next level.” –Elise Mueller.

 

The first paragraph in this chapter has this quote in it and I thought this was a great way of looking at teaching and learning.  Students should want to create their own learning and create something that helps them.  If students think of learning as only sitting in a desk and having the teacher lecture at them, they will never be creating anything to benefit themselves. 

 

Establish Anchors

When you establish an “anchor” it helps you (the teacher) know where each student is starting their academic journey and how far they will have to go in order to reach the learning goal.  When thinking about assessment in PBL, the teacher must think about the quality of the learning experience that the student is receiving. 

 

Grades that Matter

From this section the one thing that I really liked reading about was the teacher who talked about what was important in a students’ work.  Was it the fact that they turned it in a day or two late? Or was it more important to focus on the critical thinking and content? Personally, I would rather focus on the student’s content of a paper instead of when they turned it in.  I think by deducting points from a student for not turning something in on time sends the wrong message.  As a student, I would much rather turn in my best work to my teacher a day late than bad work on time. 

 

Create Something New

I liked how this section of the chapter talked about bring able to take all of the information that the students have learned during this project and having them create something new.  For example, have the students work together to create a board game.  This will also allow them to show everyone what they have learned by creating questions and answers. 

 

I think assessment is very important, but only if it done the right way.  We (teachers) must remember that we need to put an emphasis to the students on what is important.  They need to understand that their learning is what we care about and that we want them to come out of any project with new knowledge that they can apply. 

Chapter 8 Reading Reflection

1.) How to Build connections and Branch Out:

Technology has made it possible to connect with people on a faster and wider scale. Whether it be through blogs, digital story-telling projects or live cam tours of a deep sea diving experience, technology has made it possible to branch out and see things that could have never been possible. Technology can be a personal motivation for students to discover their writing voice and verbalize their opinions through blogs and digital aged projects.  This can result in building connections  with people on a global scale because of the accessibility of information and the instant feedback that is able to be received and utilized. 

 Technology also helps students to branch out and network more efficiently  with experts regarding research projects or just getting information.  Students can gain information about a topic much quicker now and by being so quick, students and teachers will have more opportunities to engage in other projects. The skills that are acquired and necessary  to be  efficient with technology, as well as the PBL process are:  being well-prepared when networking with experts and professionals such as,  efficiency with questions, brainstorming the idea that needs to be communicated and taking as many opportunities needed to retain the information. 

2.) The EAST Initiative Model:

The Environmental and Spacial Technologies, otherwise known as the "EAST" Initiative Model focuses on addressing real problems and raising awareness  to solve problems and make improvements in their communities on environmental issues. They utilize Geo-spatial programs such as  GPS, GIS and CAD's to map out trails that people can use or in another instance  design a museum dedicated to WW 2 Vets. These students use technology to make a real difference in communities and to advocate for changes. Technology can be used to improve the lives of others through raising awareness and calling attention to issues reaching larger audiences. 

Characteristics of the EAST model have four main ideas  that can be replicated in all classrooms:

1. Making the projects student driven: Students should be motivated by the topic and interested in learning more about it. 
2. Authentic Project Based Learning: The project needs to be realistically relevant and have results that engage their community or find solutions for issues affecting their community. 
3. Technology as Tools:  Technology has to be a key factor in a PBL setting. It needs to be accessible and up to date with modern technology.
4. Collaboration: Students, like teachers and most everyone else in the workplace, need to be able to communicate ideas, collaborate to accomplish authentic projects.

3.) Letting Students Lead the Project: Why?

One reason students need to lead the project is because when the student is interested in something and they care, then the result can only be a better project. If you listen to a kid asking a question (which usually they have a ton of them) they aren't about allusive topics or things that aren't interesting. We are fortunate now to live in an age where those questions can lead to a broader knowledge of their interest. These occurrences can happen on an academic level, so long as it relates to something currently applicable. 

Projects can lead to future professional endeavors. A student may fall in love with a subject that was covered during a project because with projects, students have to delve deep  to understand what they are learning.  It's not a situation where you hear it, practice it, write it, then forget it and move on. Projects require time, interest and the yearning to gain information about a subject that can be effective in reality and future ideas.

4.) The concepts that most identify with out project of   Writing and producing a play have been how useful technology has been with preparing and planning this project. Even though the title is so simple- Writing and Producing a play, there are so many aspects to this. Technology has broadened my view of what it takes to make a project fun and and all the learning opportunities that make the project dense. There is so much preparation involved and researching that by the end, I feel like I could write and produce a Broadway production (not really, but maybe a dive theatre production). 

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Building Connections and Branching out

Connecting with experts

·        “When projects are designed to incorporate inquiry, asking questions of experts becomes a natural component of the learning experience.” (128)

·        Sometimes teachers may connect their students to online experts.

·        Connecting them to experts may take some effort however.

·        Start small and develop a list of experts.

·        Knowing what skill level your students and their parents will help you begin.

Expanding the learning circle

·        Expand the learning to participants from distant countries.

·        The Flat Classroom project is a great example of collaboration across distances

·        The class liked the fact that other students were looking at their projects and they were looking at theirs.

·        They all knew they had a deadline to meet.

Communicating findings

·        Sharing what happened in projects with classrooms in distant countries

·        “These authentic opportunities for students to share their research or advocate for a cause offer a robust contrast to more traditional report out methods at the end of a project—which can seem like an endless parade of PowerPoint presentations.” (132)

·        Students communicate with audiences who can benefit from their work.

Let Students lead

·        After teachers have had some experience with project approach they eventually will let students lead.

·        The teacher sits on the sideline and let the students decide what they want with a project.

·        Students figure out the questions they want to have addressed.

Extending the Benefits

·        Just because a project has been completed doesn’t mean you still can’t learn from it. 

·        Keep recalling what you did in a project to keep it fresh in the students minds

Chapter 8 RR

Building Connections and Branching Out-Reflection #8

Expanding the Learning Circle

Ina classroom community, it is very important to have a learning community within yourselves but also with the other people in the school and in the community.  Another great way to have an expanding community is to link up with a classroom from a different part of the world.  Just like in our project(s) when we have pen pals in another country.  A great example from the book is the Flat Classroom Project where two classrooms (one from US and the other from Bangladesh) discussed a book they read.  This is a great way to get your students involved with other cultures and other people as well as interested in something that you would like to teach.  I really like that our groups are doing this throughout our projects, I think it is a great way to expose students to new cultures and people. 

 

Let Students Lead

Allowing students to develop ideas and questions from their own experiences that they wish further explore is one great way to get inquiry into your classroom.  a lot of the times, students have ideas and/or struggles that teachers are unaware of; this being said, if students lead a project or classroom idea using their own ideas, the students will be more invested into their projects.  If a student is truly interested in exploring a topic and/or idea, then they will put all of their ideas and efforts into the project while making it really fun for them.  With PBL projects, this is a great way to learn about what the students are curious about and then have them furthering their own explorations on these topics. 

 

Extending the Benefits

Not all projects must come to a complete stop.  This is important to remember when doing a project with your class.  Students like being scientists and explorers, but we (teachers) must remember that explorers and scientists never stop investigating things and ideas that they are interested in.  By allowing students to continue exploration, they will learn to love learning and continuous learning.