Reading Reflection 3:
When looking for the big ideas for a project, make sure to review the curriculum and standards so you have a clear direction. After you have done this, find a way to make it relate to your students by giving real world contexts for the material.
While planning the projects, keep in mind the skills that the students need to develop in the digital age. By using Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, we are able to get students to use these skills such as analyzing, evaluating, creating, etc.
The definitions of digital-age skills and literacies mean more than the simple ability to read and write and hence the focus is being shifted towards the behaviors of accomplished people in the 21st century. Teaching students the processes that go along with literacy is always important, but doing so digitally helps this generation learn it in a way that relates more to them.
The essential learning functions enable students with the help of tools to interact, collaborate, interpret raw data, sift through information easier, get responses from team members or other students, and encourage thoughtful reflection.
When planning to develop a conceptual framework for a project, it is important to keep in mind the concepts you want to teach throughout the year. Make sure to list key concepts for each subject
This chapter helped to give ideas on how to get started with developing our project. I need to remember to keep in mind the goal for the lesson and design a project that is constantly aiming for that goal. While remembering that our students are from a different generation, we can design our lessons to fit their needs of a more project and technology based learning.
Reading Reflection 4:
One of the potential pitfalls that stood out is the problem of having a lot going on and being very lengthy reduces the learning potential. Another pitfall is the inability of the assessment to feel authentic by not measuring the quality of the work accordingly.
A few features that make a project really good are - the possibility of the project having different learning paths, being realistic, being a collective effort, having a practical feel rather than all theory, and well structured so that students learn with team members and other students.
Project ideas are everywhere. It could come from student interests/questions, new stories, tried and true projects, projects done by other teachers, and relevant issues.
Designing a project involves several considerations to be taken into account. By revisiting a conceptual framework previously established, it would give the opportunity to decide on which skills are to be addressed, and to identify learning dispositions. Establishing evidence of understanding teaches students to gain the ability to show what they have learned and emphasizes on the reflection part of the project. Last two are capturing the students attention and striving for an optimal ambiguity.
The concepts learned in this chapter relate to our project because we will be needing to design a project for our topic. It is nice to know where our areas of struggle will be, as well as what is considered to be a good project and how to obtain that. Getting started is often the hardest part, so being able to get ideas on how to start is very valuable information.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Monday, October 5, 2015
Friday, October 2, 2015
Reading reflection #2
In chapter two I learned how great of an effect that project based learning can have on the students but also the children. Teacher collaboration in schools can make a better environment. It is a great opportunity for us teachers to team up with other teachers to make our classrooms the best they can be. In chapter one I really liked the sentence, "If we're going to connect kids, our teachers need to know how to connect to each other" (pg 34). I agree we need to be able to connect with our fellow teachers so that we know how to get out students to engage and connect. It is good to remember that in order to communicate best we have to be honest, appreciative and trusting of other teachers. When we communicate in these ways we are able to grow and improve. Teachers can collaborate in many different ways. They can come together in small meetings, conferences, and means of social media. Another line i liked from the reading was on page 37, this experience forced us to become learners. It is important to know that as teachers we are always going to be learning. It is important for our students to learn and we can do this best by learning together in collaboration with other teachers. In collaborative learning it allows teachers to spend more time on whats most important and less time dealing with other issues.
Reading Reflection #2
1. Discussion on the successful ways to create a professional learning community.
2. Discussion on how to restructure interaction with other teachers in project-based learning (PBL).
3. Discussion on what teachers can learn from HTH’s model of PBL.
4. Discussion on the protocols to frame collegial conversations.
5. Discussion on the benefits of professional learning communities and online communities.
6. Discussion on what features the community involving digital-age projects should share.
7. Discussion on how to take the advantage of online supporting materials.
The successful ways to create a professional learning community are working together and learning from others who are trying to reach the same end goals with their students in project-based learning. Teachers must push each other to the next level with projects and not be fine with it working out "just okay". A way to restructure interaction with other teachers in project-based learning is to learn how to give critical feedback, take part in new patterns of thinking, and take the time to listen and share ideas that you can give each other feedback on. Teachers can learn from HTH's model of PBL that it is important to emphasize teacher-as-designer role, adopt formal protocols, and find your community. The protocols to frame collegial conversations are to frame the request for feedback with a question, mix it up, and include students. These are used to invite critical peer feedback, troubleshoot problems, and examine student work as a team. The benefits of professional learning communities and online communities are making your professional life more productive and satisfying because you are connected to so many people in your goals of developing yourself while helping students develop. In online communities you can create a culture of collaboration and have more access to successful results and ideas in PBL. The community involving digital age projects should share a clear sense of mission, a vision of the conditions that they must create to achieve the mission, organize into groups, be goal oriented and collaborate together. You can take advantage of online supporting materials through ePals.com, Flat Stanley.com, globe.gov and more. These are project sources from around the world with built in suppost from a community of educators that share a common goal as you.
2. Discussion on how to restructure interaction with other teachers in project-based learning (PBL).
3. Discussion on what teachers can learn from HTH’s model of PBL.
4. Discussion on the protocols to frame collegial conversations.
5. Discussion on the benefits of professional learning communities and online communities.
6. Discussion on what features the community involving digital-age projects should share.
7. Discussion on how to take the advantage of online supporting materials.
The successful ways to create a professional learning community are working together and learning from others who are trying to reach the same end goals with their students in project-based learning. Teachers must push each other to the next level with projects and not be fine with it working out "just okay". A way to restructure interaction with other teachers in project-based learning is to learn how to give critical feedback, take part in new patterns of thinking, and take the time to listen and share ideas that you can give each other feedback on. Teachers can learn from HTH's model of PBL that it is important to emphasize teacher-as-designer role, adopt formal protocols, and find your community. The protocols to frame collegial conversations are to frame the request for feedback with a question, mix it up, and include students. These are used to invite critical peer feedback, troubleshoot problems, and examine student work as a team. The benefits of professional learning communities and online communities are making your professional life more productive and satisfying because you are connected to so many people in your goals of developing yourself while helping students develop. In online communities you can create a culture of collaboration and have more access to successful results and ideas in PBL. The community involving digital age projects should share a clear sense of mission, a vision of the conditions that they must create to achieve the mission, organize into groups, be goal oriented and collaborate together. You can take advantage of online supporting materials through ePals.com, Flat Stanley.com, globe.gov and more. These are project sources from around the world with built in suppost from a community of educators that share a common goal as you.
Reading Reflection 2 (Week 3)
To create a successful learning community, it is necessary to have respect and collaboration with everybody.
Along with that, teachers need to be respectful and collaborate with other teachers if they want PBL to be successful. Often times, teachers will need to restructure the way that they interact with other teachers in PBL because it is still a learning process. Keep in mind that you can learn from other teachers, and working together based on the shared goals that you have will make an even more meaningful project for your students.
High Tech High is a school based on a "head-and-hand model of learning" (pg. 41), where they know that it takes action to really teach a student something. They go out into their community to practice what they have learned in the real world for things that actually matter. Teachers can learn from HTH because this head-and-hand model is just like PBL - making learning meaningful for the students. Teachers can also learn that collaboration is key to this model (HTH even has glass walls separating the classroom). With HTH, the teachers learn to become skilled designers of lessons. They want to do this because that's how they want their projects to be, but also to emphasize that we are a collaborative adult learning community.
To help have a successful collegial conversation, make sure that you have made time for collaboration. PBL is something to get excited about, but you need to make sure you have enough time to get ideas rolling. The most important concept about this is that teachers share their work. Everyone has ideas that you can use in your class and visa versa.
Some of the benefits of professional learning communities and online communities are that the you are not restricted to just utilizing the people in your own school, especially if there are not a lot of PBL teachers in the school. All of the teachers are like-minded colleagues that lobby together to make necessary changes (pg. 48).
Some features that the community involving digital-age projects should share are having a clear sense of the mission along with the conditions they must have in order to reach the mission, goal and result oriented, student-focused, and commit themselves to continuous improvement.
To take advantage of online supporting materials, all you need to do is get involved in collaborating with the teachers on some of the websites. The book recommends that before launching a project that you alone have came up with, first try to join a project that has the same goal as you and collaborate with the teachers involved in the creation of that project.
Along with that, teachers need to be respectful and collaborate with other teachers if they want PBL to be successful. Often times, teachers will need to restructure the way that they interact with other teachers in PBL because it is still a learning process. Keep in mind that you can learn from other teachers, and working together based on the shared goals that you have will make an even more meaningful project for your students.
High Tech High is a school based on a "head-and-hand model of learning" (pg. 41), where they know that it takes action to really teach a student something. They go out into their community to practice what they have learned in the real world for things that actually matter. Teachers can learn from HTH because this head-and-hand model is just like PBL - making learning meaningful for the students. Teachers can also learn that collaboration is key to this model (HTH even has glass walls separating the classroom). With HTH, the teachers learn to become skilled designers of lessons. They want to do this because that's how they want their projects to be, but also to emphasize that we are a collaborative adult learning community.
To help have a successful collegial conversation, make sure that you have made time for collaboration. PBL is something to get excited about, but you need to make sure you have enough time to get ideas rolling. The most important concept about this is that teachers share their work. Everyone has ideas that you can use in your class and visa versa.
Some of the benefits of professional learning communities and online communities are that the you are not restricted to just utilizing the people in your own school, especially if there are not a lot of PBL teachers in the school. All of the teachers are like-minded colleagues that lobby together to make necessary changes (pg. 48).
Some features that the community involving digital-age projects should share are having a clear sense of the mission along with the conditions they must have in order to reach the mission, goal and result oriented, student-focused, and commit themselves to continuous improvement.
To take advantage of online supporting materials, all you need to do is get involved in collaborating with the teachers on some of the websites. The book recommends that before launching a project that you alone have came up with, first try to join a project that has the same goal as you and collaborate with the teachers involved in the creation of that project.
Monday, September 28, 2015
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