Reading Reflection 7

1. Description of the levels of classroom discussions.

Good questions are an important ingredient in effective classroom discussions. Classroom discussions can take place on several levels during project implementation, these levels include:

·       Teacher to teacher- Teacher conversations will likely touch on ideas such as procedural and formative assessment. If you don’t have time for face to face collaboration you can still communicate through a project blog, or other collaborative tools to keep the conversations going.

·       Student to student- Students should be talking about their learning experiences as they unfold. Good communication skills are a part of effective teamwork and help to keep the students organized and on track. Explaining their thinking gives students an opportunity to learn from and change each other. Teachers are observers this discussion and can go around and listen in on conversations as long as they don’t take over the conversation.

·       Teacher to student- In this discussion you may talk to a whole group to check in on students understanding and to wrap up or begin a new lesson. Most often teachers will be circulation, observing, and talking with smaller groups of students. This is ideal for teachers to practice their listening skills and to ask questions that push students towards higher-order thinking.

2. Discussion on the questions for “checking in” on students during a project.

In the middle of the project students are likely to be going in many directions and working at different speeds. Because of this teachers need to pay attention to many activities at once and they need to ask certain questions to get the information from their students that is necessary to make adjustments in the project. Some questions include:

·       Procedural- Questions asked to track progress toward milestones and deadlines.

·       Teamwork- These questions are asked to determine the team dynamic.

·       Understandings- These questions guide further learning by giving suggestions and encouraging students to go beyond expectations.

·       Self-Assessment- To find out what the students are thinking about the project and to get them to reflect on their work thus far.

3. Discussion on the benefits to students when optimizing the use of technology.

During a project we should ask ourselves questions to help us maximize the potential of technology. Asking ourselves questions can help students reach their learning goals, focus on communicating key content, help the students use technology to stay organized, use technology to expand their horizons by connecting to outside experts or a broader community, and teachers are able to assess if the technology is equitable and accessible to all students. With optimum use of technology you may find students gaining benefits you did not envision at the beginning of the project.

4. Discussion on the 21st-century skills that can make or break a project.

Trouble shooting is a 21^st century skill that distinguishes effective project managers. This helps the students understand that real-world projects come with challenges and help them to learn from the setbacks and to get their project back on track. Another skill that can make or break a project is teamwork. Teachers need to pay close attention to the team dynamics and if conflicts arise help the student manage their own problems.

5. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

All of this information could be useful in our project-based learning assignment. During the project I will need to discuss with other teachers and see how each class is progressing, talk with my students about how they doing in the project and to walk around listen in to their conversations to see how the team is working together and what kind of information they are gaining. As well I now know what type of questions to ask the students to make sure they are headed in the right direction and so that I can ensure they are taking advantage of the technology available to them. Finally the text gave ideas about how to get the students to manage their troubleshooting and teamwork skills so that the project and the students can live up to their potential.

Lesson Plan 2

For my second lesson plan I am going to have the students find data about what region they believe had the most similar diet and food  choices to their own.They will take a poll of their class and two other fourth grade classrooms and compare the results.

Reading Reflection 6

1. Discuss how technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths.

During projects students will inquire, study, plan, evaluate, compare, collaborate, manage, create, and present. Technology tools encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their strengths in many ways. One tool that allows reflection are blogs that offer students space to reflect on their progress. ProfilerPRO is also available, it is an online survey to identify learning characteristics. ProfilerPRO allows you to identify interests, strengths, and weaknesses, and to guide your learning. Other online surveys are SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang which allows students to see their assessment in comparison to the whole class.

2. Describe several ways in which you can get students’ minds ready for a project.

Good project’s stat by tapping into student’s prior knowledge and a good way to do this is to do a KWL chart when introducing the project. Before beginning a project it’s all about the possibilities so you want to instill passion for the project into the children so they want to explore the topic further. To get the students minds ready for a project means getting them excited and interested in the topic so they will begin discussing it further with their friends, family and even their teacher. To do this teachers shouldn’t throw the project at the students all at once, they should begin talking about it for a few minutes every day and ease them into the project.

3. Discuss the elements of teaching fundamentals first.

Before launching a project teachers should think about teaching the prerequisite knowledge or skills students need to be independent and successful in their project. By teaching the fundamentals you ensure that your students will be pointed in the right direction when they start the project. It is easier to give the students the basics so they can branch out on their own and start the investigation and discovery into their project. As well teachers should give the students the assessment rubric for the project before they begin because it gives the students a road-map for achievement.

4. Describe the important steps in preparing students for using technology in project.

Technology is not the project, it is how the project gets done. The teacher needs to decide what tools are needed for the project, their availability, what the students know about the technology and what needs to be introduced and explained to the students about the technology. One of the beginning steps is to setup a technology playground where the students get introduced to the technology and get a chance to explore the technology. Here the students can try new things on their own, ask for assistance from the teacher or the media specialists and it allows the students to teach each other.

5. Discuss ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.

Teachers should guide students as they choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action. As well teachers should try to incorporate many subject areas into the project so it gives students the opportunity to build connections and to establish deeper learning.  When students ask questions about the project teachers should not only give them the answer but transform the question to promote deeper inquiry. When teachers ask questions they should also promote deeper learning, these types of questions are “which one”, “how”, “what if”, “should”, and “why”.

6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

When planning our project based learning assignment we need to keep in mind many of the key ideas presented in this chapter. In the planning stages we need to decide what types of technology we need, where we can find them, and what experience our students have with the type of technology required. When starting the project I should introduce the topic of food and culture to my students slowly and build up their interests. As well before I start I could use a KWL chart to see what the children know and what they hope to learn as a result of this project.

Reflection 6

Brittney Cox

Reflection 6

            Laying the ground work for a project is a very important process.  Before the project begins, teachers and students need to self-evaluate what they know about what “dispositions you expect them to develop” (P 95).  This will help the students set the foundation for learning new information.  Krauss states “Throughout the project, as you ask students to think about their thinking and process, they will become more aware and articulate about their metacognitive strategies” (p 95).  Blogs, ProfilerPRO, SurveyMonkey, and Zoomerang can help students self-assess while they are working on their projects.

            To get students’ minds ready for a project teachers must start by assessing what the students already know and what they want to know.  Teachers want students to be personally invested in the project so they can be excited and take ownership of their learning.  A good amount of time should be spent forming questions and talking about different areas of a project the students would want to research.

            Setting the stage for independent inquiry is an important step in the project process.  First teachers need to share the assessment rubric so the students can have a guideline.  Next they need to set up a technology playground by letting students explore, ask questions, and teach each other about the technology they are going to use during the project.  This will leave more time for learning during the project.  This should be followed by introducing project-management tools that will help “a project log or journal offers another tool to help students track their progress toward goals” (P 103).  Demonstrations are the last step of setting the stage.  Some students may need to see the teacher, or technology specialist, demonstrate the technology so their questions can be answered. 

            Promoting inquiry and deep learning is the goal of all projects.  Teachers need to “guide students as they choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action” (p 107).  Students need time to think about their project and engage in activities collaboratively.  Students need to be guided “towards skilled questioning (and) inquiry using question starters” (p 108).

            Our project will incorporate all of these main points.  We would make sure the students know how to use the technology and give the students time to explore the culture they would want to study.  We want our students to be prepared technologically and excited about the culture they chose to research.    

Insp. 2

Reading Reflection Five

1. Discussion on the items that should be considered before starting a project with students.

Before starting a new project it is important to gather the resources you need. Teachers should take a look at their inventory and see what supplies, tools, and other materials are available at the school or offered by other support groups. As well you have to think about what technology you plan to incorporate into the project and if it is new to the students you need to plan how you will teach them about it and where you can access this new technology. Teachers should also keep in mind that in some projects students may be required to ask the experts or interview people to gain information. Teachers need to inquire about getting these experts to talk to the students before the project begins and if you can’t get them to come to the class then see about using technology to reach them. For these types of interactions it would be helpful to ask for assistance from the technology specialists or the librarian so you need to think about when you will set up these interactions. Another thing you should take into consideration is if you are collaborating with a teaching team then you need to plan who will do what taking into consideration everyone’s strengths.

2. Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.

As teachers we need to teach our students to become effective managers of their own time. One thing to do is to plan a project calendar with milestones along the way. Students are more aware of deadlines when they have a visual representation. As well we can create a class website, project blog or group email so that the parents are aware of the deadlines and milestones also. In addition to being aware of deadlines students and teachers also need to agree on how the teams will be organized and how they will plan out the activities. Overall in teaching, effective project management involves minimizing risks while maximizing opportunities. Teachers project management needs include tools for communicating to the students about the project, tools for making deadlines visible, ways to make resources available, system to manage work, ways to assess the students, and a way to give them feedback. While the teacher needs to have management techniques, the students do as well. Students need to have tools to manage their time, collaboration tools, methods to seek assistance, and ways to get feedback from their peers and teacher.

3. Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.

When thinking about what technology should be incorporated into project based learning consider selecting from web-based applications and servers to suit the needs of the project. Teachers can link a set of tools together in a wikki, a blog, or even a web based desktop application. Probably the simplest way to begin using the web to support projects is to build a project wikki. From here teachers are able to build a main project page with announcements and links to build team pages for the students. Technology allows the students to communicate with the teacher as well as with their peers. Overall the technology should assist in the learning process so teachers should find tools that will aid the students and are suitable for their abilities.

4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

Our project is about food and culture in other areas of the world. Since the students are not able to go to these parts of the world and actually see what then culture is like and how the culture affects peoples food choices they can use technology to learn new information. Before starting this project with our students we would need to set up and find resources ahead of time like sites they can visit, blogs where they can communicate with each other, and ways to talk to experts or in this case people from these other locations through emails or Skype. As the teacher I would need to manage how I would group the students for the project and how I would show the students through visuals the milestones and deadlines. All of this planning and use of technology is presented in this chapter.

Reading Reflection 5

Brittney Cox

Reading Reflection 5

            There should be many things considered before starting a project with students.  First the teacher needs to have done thoughtful preparation to ensure there will not be confusion that could have been avoided.  Time needs to be invested wisely and we must be sure the resources we will need is available.  Boss says “effective time management, teaming, and assessment” (p 75) needs to be addressed prior to the introduction.

            Teachers project-management needs 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, and assessment tools and strategies” (p 84-85).  Students project-management needs 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, and ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole” (p 85).  To be successful both the teacher, and the students, need to be prepared.

            There are many technology applications we can use in our classrooms.  Some of these applications are: wiki, blogs, Flickr, Skype, and ClustrMap.  Each one of these applications can be helpful if the teacher is prepared and have specific uses for each.  The students will have freedom to create projects that are relevant to their lives because these technologies support creativity. 

            Our students in the project we have created will be emailing pen pals through a trusted web site, which is much like the technology application I have discussed above.  We did not plan for our students to use Skype for this project, but that could possibly be an option if we were able to set something up with the students from around the world.  We want to use technology in our project in an effective way.