Reading Reflection 12

1. Discussion on deeper learning through PBL.
2. Discussion on the forecasts brought about by using PBL.
3. Brief discussion on the technology tools for deep learning with original works and raw data.
4. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for bringing ideas into the open.
5. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for teaching and learning with others near and far.
6. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for helping students bring coherence to their project studies.
7. Brief discussion on the technology tools used on small devices that are particularly helpful in PBL. 

PBL allows for a deeper learning because a student is able to inquire and search for answers in their own way and create a meaningful project that will be memorable and teach them concepts in an in depth way. Forecasts brought up about by using PBL are achieving scale thoughtfully and students will have opportunities to invest learning time with engaging projects. Technology tools can be used for deep learning with original works and raw data and for bringing ideas into the open. Discussion is more prompted during the PBL process. You can uses technology to communicate during projects using blogs and others resources or even Skype with people across the world to take part in projects together. Technology tools that are particularly helpful in PBL are apps such as pinterest, twitter, face time and others that can be found on small devices.

CH 12 Reflection

1. Discussion on deeper learning through PBL.

• it helps students become good citizens and develops their sense of agency. Many skills such as collaboration, soft skills, and good habits are reinforced through PBL. They learn how to learn in the real world by using PBL.

1. Discussion on the forecasts brought about by using PBL.

• Because of common core, education is more rigorous. This forces students to learn in other ways, forcing students to collaborate. This will bring better communicators. 

1. Brief discussion on the technology tools for deep learning with original works and raw data.

• This allows students to learn how to use technology and use their original projects . 

1. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for bringing ideas into the open.

• Technology such as powerpoints, podcasts, and videos allows new ideas to be shared in a classroom. This allows students to display their works with others.  

1. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for teaching and learning with others near and far.

• Social media and other google applications are good ways for students to share their ideas to others. They can make their words public and able to receive feedback from other students. 

1. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for helping students bring coherence to their project studies.

• There are many applications out there that students can take advantage of for PBL. For an example google docs works well for PBL. Students can work together on one document from multiple devices and allows them to clearly communicate their goals. 

1. Brief discussion on the technology tools used on small devices that are particularly helpful in PBL.

• Cell phones and tablets allow students to usefully share their ideas. They can use social media apps such as twitter and instagram to share ideas and pictures. There are many applications on these small devices that are helpful and allows the students to share their ideas. 

Reading Reflection 12 (Week 12)

1. Discussion on deeper learning through PBL.
2. Discussion on the forecasts brought about by using PBL.
3. Brief discussion on the technology tools for deep learning with original works and raw data.
4. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for bringing ideas into the open.
5. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for teaching and learning with others near and far.
6. Brief discussion on the technology tools used for helping students bring coherence to their project studies.
7. Brief discussion on the technology tools used on small devices that are particularly helpful in PBL.

"Deeper learning" is a term used "to describe the multifaceted outcomes of project-based learning" (pg. 225). It is about developing critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration. 

The forecasts brought about by using project-based learning are that students will be involved in engaging projects that enhance the standards already set in place, more critical thinking, and assessments that are all about applying knowledge instead of rote memorization. 

Some technology tools used for deep learning with original works and raw data include sources for finding experts, primary source repositories, free media, and rich data sources.

Technology tools used for bringing ideas into the open include anything that makes ideas visible and expresses ideas creatively. 

Technology tools used for teaching and learning with others near and far involves project collaboration, capturing group-thinking, videochat, collaborative expression, and screencasting.

Some technology tools used for helping students bring coherence to their project studies are tools that help organize investigations, classroom learning platforms, and note-taking and organizational tools.

Lastly, technology tools used on small devices that are particularly helpful in project-based learning can be obtained through some of the applications for tablets and smartphones. 

Reading Reflection #11

1. Description of what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.
2. Discussion on ways to “bring your project home”.
3. Discussion on the importance of sharing your journey through PBL.
4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

As a result of the PBL learning approach students have the feel of going through a learning journey together. This gives them an overall good experience to remember and to motivate them to set goals for future projects. The students truly go through the learning process with inquiry and end results. Ways to ''bring your project home" are to share your project with an existing network, publish your own project library, contribute photos of your project activity, publish your project, and submit a session.The importance of sharing your project is to be a resource for your colleagues and also to celebrate your students hard work. This relates to my project because I never thought of sharing the projects of my students and before reading this chapter would have never known where to do this but now I do.

Chapter 11 reflection

1. Description of what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.

• Creates connections that can lead into other projects. Enables students to set goals, work on teamwork, work on conversations and help fine tune their work. 

1. Discussion on ways to “bring your project home”.

• Through networks, a project library, contribution of photos, publishing, and submitting.

1. Discussion on the importance of sharing your journey through PBL.

• It allows to share your good thoughts and work to others. It helps other learn from them. 

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

• In my project we used lost of pictures to really bring home the project. It allows visuals to be shared with others so they have a better idea. 

Reading Reflection 10

• Discussion on the importance of setting aside time for reflection.

• Reflection helps students feel good about their accomplishments and will allow their learning to really stick. It gives them time to think about what they learned. If they liked what they learned and what they still want to learn. They can reflect and see how collaboration with their peers has helped their projects. This encourages students because they can look back and see what obstacles they have overcame
• 
  
• Discussion on the reason students need to reflect and elaborate.
• Students can feel a sense of pride when their hard work pays off, that is why reflection and elaboration is so important. Students find out what they are good at and how they have grown. They appreciate the journey of learning because they see the strides they have made through their projects. Elaboration helps the students want more from their words. It allows them to think what do I want to become of this project, what can i do next?

• Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.
• Tradition and identity is tied together. It could be based on your schools tradition of earning metals or sucsess. Or it could be even smaller scale of the classroom. If your third grade classroom has a project every year dealing with live butterflies teaching their life cycle younger children may anxiously await being a student in your classroom. Community involvement plays a important role in the celebration of learning. The community has the ability to form relationships with the students making a fun learning environment. 
• Discussion on the importance celebrating a project.
• There are many reasons why celebrating a project is important. It allows students to have the opportunity to look back at their project, appreciate helpers, the resources you have used to make this project. This allows time for learners to talk about their process of their work and their growth. This also gives students opportunity to show off their works in the schools to feel a sense of pride of their hard work. 
• Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
• I could see how the school identity could be created from my project through traditions. I think that any hands on group project is memorable. I think that students will go home and talk with younger siblings about the plant project that they got to do in Ms. Brown's class and be excited about this tradition. 

Reading Reflection #10

1. Discussion on the importance of setting aside time for reflection.
2. Discussion on the reason students need to reflect and elaborate.
3. Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.
4. Discussion on the importance celebrating a project.
5. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.  

The importance of setting aside time for reflection is to make students feel good about their accomplishments and make learning really stick. The reason students need to reflect and elaborate is because this is how they develop and maintain useful skills. Schools build up tradition and identity by first establishing the tradition of excellence and honoring students hard work. They will have a sense of pride and continue the work  and be excited about it in the future. For this very reason it is important to celebrate a project.  The more focus put on the project the more likely students will keep up the good work. This is important for my project because I will incorporate a way to tie in traditions and identity into it.

Reading Reflection #9

1. Discussion on ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom.
2. Description of the EAST Initiative Model.
3. Discussion on some reasons to let students “lead” their projects.
4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

Ways to build connections and branch out of the classroom can be done easily through technology. Students and teachers can communicate with other students and teachers across the world. People in local communities and across the world can have access to read and take part in PBL together. The EAST Initiative Model is Environmental and Spatial Technologies Initiatives. It has been developed to demonstrate the benefits of using technology for a real purpose to solve problems and make improvements in communities.  Reasons to let students "lead" their projects is to give them a sense of responsibility of their own learning, engaging in real life problems, to collaborate with one another, and to access relevant technologies. These concepts can relate to the project because it will allow students to lead their own projects and work together to collaborate across the world.

Ch 9 reflection

1. Discussion on ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom.
1. The internet has an unlimited amount of opportunities for branching out beyond the classroom. Social media allows students to branch out to connect with other students. Blog discussions allow students to communicate on each others pages about an array of topics. Skype allows students to communicate to other students without being with those other students. These connections allow students to communicate their thoughts across the entire world.
2. Description of the EAST Initiative Model.
1. They found benefits of using technology to solve problems and use it as a tool. They have made their tools able to help in labs and studios. They have helped create maps and geographical findings. 200 schools have adapted to use EAST labs in their schools. 
3. Discussion on some reasons to let students “lead” their projects.
1. The students are able to find out what they are passionate about. Teachers don't have to micromanage each project. The students are allowed to take on their own learning. 
4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
1. These concepts find their way into my project since they will use technology/webpage to build connections and to further learn their project. They could use the data in the graphs they have made and post them to a blog so that their peers can see their work.

Reading Reflection 9 (Week 9)

1. Discussion on ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom.
2. Description of the EAST Initiative Model.
3. Discussion on some reasons to let students “lead” their projects.
4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

There are many ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom. You can ask experts that are willing to communicate online, reach out to family members and friends, seek help from community members, etc. By reaching out beyond the classroom, you lead your students to a more meaningful project. 

The EAST Initiative Model is all about using technology to solve real-world problems. Students are able to learn the necessary material while helping their communities. 

There are a lot of reasons to let students students "lead" their projects. The students will be able to feel responsible for their own learning, they will be more engaged, and it will often lead to other topics that need to be explored. In the book, it says that, "projects spiral in unanticipated directions and live on into the future to create extended benefits" (pg. 199). This is helpful especially because as teachers, we think we know the right time to end a project, but there could be other learning opportunities within the same project.

The concepts in this chapter relate to the lesson that I wrote for this topic because I had to understand the importance of letting the students take charge of their own learning. Sure, the teacher needs to be there to guide the instruction, but the students will feel more responsible for their learning and be more engaged if they have a more important role in their own learning. 

Ch 7 reflection

  Know what the students already know, let them explore more for themselves through this project. Inspire them to know more. Give them optimism with a topic that they already care about to make a pleasant and exciting learning environment.

Set up a technology playground can be helpful in student’s learning and exploration. It allows students to learn from play. Another way to prepare students for using technology in a project is by taping their expertise. Teachers can first demonstrate and show expectations then the students then can explore devises or technological tools.

Screencasting allows you to narrate your voice and emotion or caption through presentations that a person isn’t physically giving. Tutorials are great ways to teach through technology. It can be watched again in any location at any time. Presentations can be helped with screencasting by adding music or other additions.

 Plan out chapters think about efficiency, ineractivity, smooth voice, and clarity. Practice before recording. Record your voice. Edit out the bad parts keep it shorter. Publish and save it with the correct file size. Promote easy assess to the screencast.

Ask questions to the students to understand problems and then to propose a solution. It’s the teacher’s job to shape the students learning interest in real inquiry. Students should collect information to make informed decisions. Asking why questions help students understand cause and effect.

         Screencasting is interactive and helps the students add to their projects. The students will be able to make presentations using the voice in screencasts. Screencasts help the students add to their presentations and enables them to show their projects without being there.

Ch 6 Relfection

Quality communication, management of time budget and trouble shooting are all necessary skills to manage a project. These skills can later be applied to real world jobs. These skills are important to teach our students.

·      Online tools or social media devices such as twitter can be resourceful to communicate to others. Make use of community resources such as recycling centers. This is a good idea since it is cost efficient and teaches our students a good lesson of recycling. Look local for help when students are need of supplies, such as libraries.

The teacher will need to use tools to communicate with students and be able to show that students are hitting benchmarks to show their success. I will need to adapt a system to manage products. It is also important to assess which students are doing the most work and which aren’t doing as much and enable them to all be doing the same work load. Teachers should also look for ways to give feedback to students as the project goes on not just at the final project.

Students need to develop a system that they can use tools to help them manage their time and work flow. They need to be able to collaborate with peers to develop good communication. Students will be able to seek assistance from different resources at times of struggles.

·      Some of the technology applications that should be considered is using wikis, a blog or other web pages using forums or surveys. All these resources allows students to explore and use other variations of displaying their learning. For an example, skype is a resource to communicate with others to gain knowledge that other could help them with. Shared media allows students to learn more from others that cannot be near. 

·      My students will need a variety of plants. They will use youtube to watch informative videos of plants. The students will then also use programs like excel to record numerical data and use engines to create those numbers into visual representations.

reading reflection #8

1. Discussion on the teacher’s role in keeping the project moving.
2. Discussion on levels of classroom discussions.
3. Discussion on the type of questions needed in project-based learning.
4. Discussion on Expeditionary Learning (EL) and how it relates to project-based learning.
5. Discussion on what needs to be considered in order to maximize the potential of technology during a project.
6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

The teacher's role in keeping the project moving is to be a person of support for the students on their learning journey. A teacher must be able to think on their feet when unexpected situations arise or when students veer from their learning goals. The levels of classroom discussions include teacher to teacher, student to student, and teacher to student. The types of questions needed in PBL are questions that allow for inquiry to occur. Questions should be higher-order and  reach new pieces of understanding. EL is a model of instruction that puts equal emphasis on rigorous academics, higher order thinking, and active citizenship. What needs to be considered in order to maximize the potential of technology during a project is introducing different technology and encouraging its use. As a teacher you must ask yourself if the technology is helping students reach their goals or if it is causing them to be side tracked. You must be sure that the technology is equitable, used to expand student horizons, and keeping students organized. Concepts from this chapter helped me realize when and when technology is not appropriate for PBL.

Ch 8 reading reflection

1. Discussion on the teacher’s role in keeping the project moving.
1. Teachers must support their students on their learning journey. The ending may not always end up as expected so its part of the teachers role to keep the project on task. It is our job to keep the project on task. We have to see where the project may be struggling and be able to tend to those needs. It is also our responsibility to stay open to possibilities. 
2. Discussion on levels of classroom discussions.
1. Teacher to teacher- helps create projects and sharing lessons to best teach our students. We can collaborate with other teachers to help with confusion or other teachers opinions. 
2. Student-student-talking in their teams teaches them good communication skills. By communication it helps the students stay on track and organized. It is important to allow student-student discussion to enable them to be able to work together in the future as well. 
3. teacher-student: limit lecturing to entire classroom and instead try to talk to the students in a smaller group setting. Sometimes it is more beneficial to talk to students in small group or class discussions to allow a different kind of communication/learning. 
3. Discussion on the type of questions needed in project-based learning.
1. high order questions: asks students to analyze, compare, evaluate, and elaborate. such as, what did you try next, why do you think that happened. Sometimes it is best to ask more questions when a students is struggling. 
2. Questions for inquiry: these questions allow for students to make themselves into experts such as a scientist, politicians, historians, and others. If this is a new learning experience for the children helping the students develop a list of questions could be helpful.
4. Discussion on Expeditionary Learning (EL) and how it relates to project-based learning.
1. EL allows students to take learning in a more rigorous, high-order and active manner. 
5. Discussion on what needs to be considered in order to maximize the potential of technology during a project.
1. Does the technology help the students or does is stray from the goal. Is the technology being used a helpful tool? Does is allow students to organize and collaborate with others. Is technology able to help the students communicate with others? Are they taking advantage of all the ways of reaching out to others. 
6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
1. This chapter relates to my topic in many different ways. There are ways that i have learned in this chapter that i could integrate in my project. I really liked the  different types of communication. Learning should come from all kinds of communication not limited to just class lectures. Student-student communication is necessary for the project to be successful. my students will need their peers to be able to commucation skillfully to get to their goal aligned with communication with me(teacher). 

Reading Reflection 8 (Week 8)

To keep a project moving, teachers must constantly be thinking on their feet. Facilitating student learning requires a teacher to be flexible and anticipate/be observant about student struggles and unexpected directions that students may take.

Levels of classroom discussion throughout project implementation include teacher to teacher, student to student, and teacher to student. Teacher to teacher conversations include everything from procedural to formative assessments. It is important to collaborate with other teachers throughout project planning. Student to student conversations should be about their learning experiences as they occur. They can provide feedback, challenge each other, and become an organized team. Teacher to student conversations can be done in whole group, but PBL encourages teachers to meet with smaller groups of students to in order to push their students to a higher level of thinking.

The type of questions needed in PBL are those that push students to a higher level of thinking, set students up for inquiry based learning, and questions used to check in with students.

"The Expeditionary Learning (EL) model of instruction puts equal emphasis on rigorous academics, higher-order thinking, and active citizenship" (pg. 173). This should be at the core of every inquiry-based project to make it the most meaningful for students.

When using technology for a project, it is important to consider what impact it is having in your classroom. Making sure that technology is helping students stay organized, research what experts say, and helping them reach the learning goals is necessary to consider when deciding whether or not to include it in your project.

This reading relates to my project because I will need to make sure that the technology used in my lessons is pushing students to a higher level of thinking instead of holding them back. Sometimes people think that technology is always good for the classroom, but taking a step back to see what the true purpose of it is for each project could be helpful.

Reading Reflection 7 (Week 7)

1. Discussion on preparing students for the project.
2. Discussion on preparing students for technology to be used in the project.
3. Discussion on the benefits of screencasting.
4. Discussion on the steps for screencasting.
5. Discussion on promoting inquiry and deep learning.
6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

Start by laying the groundwork and getting students excited for the project. It’s important to know students prior knowledge and what level they are at in their learning and teach the fundamentals.

Begin by planning effective ways to get students ready to use technology. Set up a technology playground so that students can learn to troubleshoot on their own and also helps in encouraging students to ask questions to each other. Tap into student expertise by setting up tools that will help students. Then, discuss the purpose and expectations of each tool presented and finally do a practice run. Also, provide tools where students can map their progress  and helps teachers understand the difficulties they might be facing.

Screencasting is a way to narrate, caption, and record material on a computer screen that can help students share it with each other. Screencasting can help in setting up tutorials, narrated slideshows, flipping a lesson, and to give feedback.

There are a few steps to follow for screencasting – plan where you have to storyboard the content and narration. Practice with or without the microphone. Record, edit the unwanted information, publish to be accessible, and promote by adding screencasts to the classroom webpage to be available on a widescale

It is important to get students curious about what they are going to learn about. Projects that promote inquiry, will provide what is needed to encourage deep learning.

Concepts in this chapter relate to our project because it is important that students are learning through inquiry. Also, allowing students to use screencasting as a way to present their information will provide a way for students to make something that is all their own, and that they are very proud of. 

1. Discussion on preparing students for the project.
2. Discussion on preparing students for technology to be used in the project.
3. Discussion on the benefits of screencasting.
4. Discussion on the steps for screencasting.
5. Discussion on promoting inquiry and deep learning.
6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

To prepare students for a project you should have them do a self evaluation and have them set personal goals. You must get the students mind ready by giving them prior knowledge you can use techniques such as K-W-L. Your job as a teacher is to teach the fundamentals and then allow for inquiry to occur among students. To preparer students for technology that is going to be used in a project you can set up a technology playground, tap student expertise, introduce project-management tools and demonstrate. The benefits of screencasting are to use them for tutorials, narrated slideshows, flipping a lesson, and feedback on work projects. The steps for screencasting are to plan, practice, record, edit, and publish. By promoting inquiry and deep learning there is an understanding that a relationship between need and opportunity and scarcity and abundance, money bartering and other means of exchange have occurred throughout history, economics, health and well being are related, money means different things to different people, humans are interdependent. The concepts in this chapter give me a clear cut idea on how to start a project in PBL in a way that will guide my students in the right thought process.

Revised Concept Map

Reading Reflection 6

1. Discussion on the skill set needed to manage a project.
2. Discussion on gathering resources for a project.
3. Discussion on teachers’ management needs.
4. Discussion on students’ management needs.
5. Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.
6. Discussion on what resources your group will need for your topic/project.

The skills needed to manage a project are being resourceful, able to collaborate, critical thinking, open minded, persistent, and more. Ways to gather research for a project while on a classroom budget can be difficult. Take advantage of web based Donorschoose and IncitED are all good places to find free or cheap resources. Teachers management needs include tools for communicating and making milestone and events visible for notifying students, methods for getting resources to students, systems for managing work projects, structures that provide support, assessment tools and strategies. Students management needs 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, ways to work iteratively and see how parts add up to the whole. Technology applications that should be considered for the use in a project are a LMS software package like moodle, desire2learn, blogs, propriety web spaces, and wikis. My group will need resources to track and communicate information between each other. We will collaborate and store work progress on google docs.

Reading Reflection 6 (Week 6)

There are several skills that are required in a business world – a good communicator, efficient time management, budgeting, troubleshooting, etc. A teacher can utilize a combination of skills to facilitate learning.

When launching a project, gathering the right kind of resources would be beneficial to both the teacher and student. Understanding what resources compliment the project and therefore enhances student learning is vital. Use on-hand and basic resources such as email, twitter, facebook, and community resources. Gathering resources depend on if the project is using technology that is new to the teacher and student, student access to technology, student access to experts, virtual tours, and specialists.

Some of the tools and strategies teachers need include tools necessary for communication, tools for milestones and events, methods for accruing resources, tools to check if students are working productively, and tools to balance work load.

Some of the tools and strategies students need include those tools that help in time management and workflow, tools that help in collaboration, methods for seeking assistance, and tools that help in getting feedback.

There are several technological applications that could be used in a project. Digital tools can help teachers as well as students to facilitate learning. School servers can be utilized as a simple way to manage files. For students to work on projects outside of schools, LMS can be quite handy. Web-based applications can be useful as well. Some of them are wikis, blogs, and proprietary web spaces.

Our group will need to use the blog during our project, but we will probably use other technology applications as well. 

1. Discussion on the benefits of assessing during the project and after the project.
2. Discussion on the planning summative assessment.
3. Discussion on some options for summative assessments.
4. Discussion on the planning of formative assessment.
5. Discussion on the options and tools for formative assessment.
6. Discussion on the benefits of using rubrics.
7. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

The benefits of assessing during the project and after the project so that teachers can learn how to support their students and think differently about standards. The planning summative assessment is assessing students at the end of a project. They can do so by grading against a rubric, presenting a performance task, giving a test, or asking other teachers to help assess. The planning of formative assessment consists of setting milestones, planning check ins, and looking for progress markers.  The options and tools for formative assessment are white boards, mind or concept mapping software to record interest inventories, needs assessments, listening, polls and more. The benefits of using a rubric are to have a guide for what you are hoping to see as an outcome from the students. It helps to set goals and milestones for students to reach and know what is expected ahead of time. Concepts in this chapter relate to my topic/project because they teach me how I can set guidelines for my students when partaking in PBL.

Chapter 5 reflection

There are many benefits of assessing the project during the process. We can see what the misunderstandings are. How each student is flourishing or maybe falling behind, or perhaps change the direction of the original goal.

Summative assessment allows us to see the end result of our students work. We can use this type of assessment by giving test or rubrics. We can gather information using summative assessment by using objectives, looking for evidence, and activities.

Formative assessment is a way of seeing the child’s abilities during the process rather than the end. We can give our students projects that they are able to have free reins to  chose the direction of their project. We can see if they are on task and reaching the goals or if they are not grasping it. Good ways to use this type of assessment is by setting mile stones. We can track their progress by seeing if they mastered the marker.

· Rubrics are beneficial so that all students have a common understanding of what is required or expected. It is helpful when teachers use the same rubic so that students don’t have to change to meet teachers unique expectations.

  I can relate this to my project because I am learning from my mistakes on the blog and concept map. I have the option to see what I am doing wrong and correct myself. That is a good example of a formative assessment. Also I will be assessed formatively by my groups finished project.

Reading Reflection 5 (Week 5)

While many teachers assess their students after a project is finished, it is also necessary to assess them throughout the project cycle. Formative assessments helps to check in on the students so the teacher can adjust the project accordingly. A summative at the end of a project is helpful in evaluating the project as well as giving the students a final grade.

Planning for a summative assessment involves three very important steps - objectives, evidence and activities. When planning for a project, teachers need to determine what the students will learn on completing the project. The next step is to determine what would the students need to demonstrate learning. Lastly, activities  must be designed or picked in order to help students acquire the required learning.

There are many options for summative assessments, but there needs to be a "natural fit" between objectives, activities, and methods for assessment. Some summative assessments teachers used are school-wide while others are in-class.

Formative assessments enable teachers to guide students to the right path with  the already existing objectives and goals in mind. It helps to make adjustments to get the required results. Create a timeline following the arc of the project. Set up milestones and check-ins. Lastly, be sure to add main aspects along the arc to reflect the learning process.

Some of the assessment options teachers can use are brainstorming to know what students care about, coffee talks involving differentiated attention, and concept maps showing relationships between ideas. There are tools that are designed or useful for each assessment options. Some are whiteboards, Evernote, Prezi, and Lucid Chart.

Rubrics helps students understand how their project is being graded. They are also a means for teachers to grade fairly.

This chapter helped to brainstorm ideas for how to assess students throughout our lesson, not just at the very end of it. Using rubrics and formative assessments are crucial in making sure that students will know exactly what you want from them.

Chapter 3 and 4 reflection

In chapter three the reading explained how using the verbs analyze, evaluate, and create all can offer a better result. These three skills will be able to make the students think more about their project when they are making a plan to complete it. It will allow projects to be more informational, passionate, and purposeful.We want more than just a plain informative project. From our students we want a project that has been analyzed and evaluated. As teachers we want to be able to teach our students to utilize the best learning dispositions. Some of the important traits that they spoke about will give our students the confidence for tackling their projects are attitude, habits and feelings. Which leads them to be able to work well and cooperatively together to make great projects. It is important to give students projects that they feel passionately about. This enables them to be more enthusiastic and have the ability to connect the social and emotional aspect of their experience.

Chapter four discussed ways to evaluate students projects to make sure that they can get the best results possible. They gave ideas to think about to make a quality project. We can ask our students two compare and contrast, predict, cause and effect, determine how parts relate to the whole, look at change over time, patterns and trends, and look at points of view. This allows the students to look at their project from different perspectives to see which parts could be changed or bettered. I also really liked the features that they shared to produce the best products. It talked about how a project should do more than answer a question it should reach out. It should offer other learning paths, construct meaning, capture real life experiences, involve others, rich data resources. This allows the students to be able to have a strong connection with the audience. Their research will be engaging and beneficial to themselves and also to whoever is learning about their topic. I liked that this chapter helped me understand how important it is to teach students to have well developed projects.

Reading Reflection #4

1. Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.
2. Discuss the features of a good project.
3. Discuss where project ideas come from.
4. Discuss the steps to design a project.
5. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

The potential pitfalls in project design are an activity taking long while the outcomes on learning are short, technology layered over traditional practice, trivial thematic units, overly scripted with many steps, not enough focus on formative assessment, and assessment that doesn't feel authentic. The features of a good project are they are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths, are generative. center on a driving question, capture students interest, are realistic, reach beyond school to involve others, tap rich data, are structured, and get at digital age skills and literacies. The project ideas come from online, in books, the ideas can literally come from everywhere. The steps to design a project include revisiting the conceptual framework, deciding on specific skills, identifying learning dispositions, planning the "vehicle" and entrée into the project experience, and writing a project sketch that you can share with others and follow through with.  This chapter has helped me better understand what a good project should consist of and where I should go about finding project ideas. 

Reading Reflection #3

1. Discussion on what should be considered in finding “the Big Idea” for a project.
2. Discussion on the digital-age skills.
3. Discussion on the digital-age literacies.
4. Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.
5. Discussion on the prompts to developing a conceptual framework for a project.
6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

When finding "the Big Idea" for a project is scanning the curriculum along with the Common Core Standards and figure out what you want the students to understand. Digital age skills should have the students engaged in the subject matter and analyze, evaluate and create through pbl. Digital age literacies deal with the behavior required of accomplished people in the 21st century. This means being able to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute using printed and written materials. The essential learning functions are learning, to make ideas visible, express ideas creatively, collaboration, project management, reflection and iteration, supported study or enrichment using open educational resources. To develop a conceptual framework for a project you must narrow down your topic and make a wiki to organize your thoughts by answering a series of questions. Concepts in this chapter helped me to figure out a way to organize my thoughts and know what to focus on when creating my lesson plan.