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.
Tessa,
ReplyDeleteI like how you took the time to thoroughly explain the different levels of discussion that can occur in a classroom. By understanding the levels of discussion one will be able to actively participate in them better. When determining whether or not to use technology it is important to take into account all the questions and aspects you brought up in your reflection.
Tessa,
ReplyDeleteI like that you noted the job of the teacher being always alert of what the student may do regarding their project. I also agree with the importance of the different types of communication and how necessary all the different types are needed for the students success.