Reflection 3 revised (I just found the rubric)

Brittney Cox

Reading Reflection 3

            Projects go beyond a set objective which is why they are so interesting.  Teachers make projects based on what their students need, how they learn, and what they are interested in learning.  It is nice that the textbook becomes more of a reference rather than the main source of information.  The students learn to be creative and take ownership of their learning.

            Projects can overlap multiple disciplines which is a teacher’s dream!  We have so much content that needs to be covered and projects can be the most efficient way to do so.  Instead of covering the content in a traditional style, projects can make learning relevant to the students’ lives.  They can also help the teacher scaffold each student on an individual level and challenge them to progress in Blooms Taxonomy. 

            Teamwork is essential when students are working on a project together.  This is my favorite aspect of project based learning.  It does not matter what job each student will end up getting once they are finished with school, teamwork is almost always used.  Literacy is also incorporated in almost every job available.  In chapter three, literacy incorporates identifying, understanding, interpreting, creating, communicating, and computing.  “Literacy boils down to learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens (p 49).”  I want all of my students to be fluent in all of these areas.

            Essential learning functions are the basic points we want our students to take action in when they are doing our project.  Ubiquity, deep learning, making this visible and discussable, expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community, collaboration, research, project management, reflection and interaction are all covered in a project based learning curriculum.  When our students are researching and writing back and forth with their pen pals we will assess and encourage them to ask questions, have fun, and connect new information to their prior knowledge.  As teachers we must study ways to form lessons that enhance our students’ experiences in the classroom as well as reach the benchmarks.