Reading Reflection #6

1. How technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths:

• Blogs offer students space where than reflect over time about what they are learning.
• ProfilerPRO (an online survey tool) allows students to identify the learning characteristics of individuals and also among members of a group.
• SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang allow you to set up online surveys, which students can use to gather information from their peers, their school population, or even from the general public.

2. Several ways in which you can get students' minds ready for a project:

The first step in getting students' minds ready for a project is to tap into their prior knowledge. Relating a project to something that is familiar to them will make it much easier for them to grasp the concept and become interested. The introduction of the project to the students is crucial. Invite them to open their eyes to the possibilities before digging in to the project content. Building anticipation (especially for younger students) is an excellent way to get them excited to dive into a project.

3. The elements of teaching fundamentals first:

• Set the stage for independent inquiry: when students are aware of what they know and don't know, they can establish a point of departure and a sense of purpose. Let the students differentiate between what they know and they wonder about a topic - this helps them generate what they want to learn. KWL is especially effective when students are already inspired and have had time to think and explore the topic.
• Share the assessment rubric - this can serve as a roadmap for students of the project, leading them toward great achievement. A good rubric shows students what performance looks like through qualitative description of each rating. Be sure to leave room for unanticipated findings from students.

4. The important steps in preparing students for using technology in a project:

• Set up a technology playground - this can be an environment where students are encouraged to learn technological devices on their own, as well as teach each other. Most students learn best by "doing," and providing them an opportunity to work through these process with their peers can be one of the best learning experiences you can provide.
• Tap student expertise - let technically able students teach other. Students who are already familiar with these devices, or have enough background knowledge to easily maneuver the devices, can be excellent "tutors" to their peers.
• Introduce project-management tools - students can use tools such as keeping a log, or a project journal, to keep track of their progress. This offers a place for them to reflect back and gain an insight to where and why they might be struggling or falling behind. By tracking students' progress and possible errors, this opens the door for conversations about possible course corrections.
• Demonstrate - for any of the tools that you introduce to your students, be sure to demonstrate the use of these tools so that students know how to use them most effectively. If you, as the teacher, are unfamiliar with any of the tools, allow a student or even a technology specialist demonstrate for the class.

5. Ways to promote inquiry and deep learning:

• "Which one" questions ask students to collect information and make informed decisions.
• "How" questions ask students to understand problems, to weigh options, perhaps from various points of view, and to propose solutions.
• "What if," or hypothetical, questions ask students to use the knowledge they have to pose a hypothesis and consider options.
• "Should" questions ask students to make moral or practical decisions based on evidence.
• "Why" questions ask students to understand cause and effect.

6. How concepts in this chapter relate to our project:

One of the most important concepts that stands out to me is sharing our rubric with the students. Our project involves a lot of different steps, which can feel overwhelming at first. By providing our students with our rubric right away, they can know what is expected of them and how we wish to see their planning process progress. Background knowledge is also key for our project. We are requiring multiple different types of opportunities for assessment (reports, presentations, and performance [at the dinner]). It is expected that the students will already know what elements are involved in a report, as well as how to gather information from their country for their presentation.

Chapter 6 Reflection

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

Teachers should have students complete a self-evaluation before and after a project to help them become more reflective. These self-evaluations should focus on the learning dispositions you expect them to develop during the project. When students assess themselves they think about their capabilities and how they direct their own learning. Students should be asked about their thinking and processes throughout the project so they become more aware of their metacognitive strategies. When students self-evaluate at the end of the project they should be able to identify certain experiences and activities that helped them learn. This will help them feel accomplished and ready to begin the next project. Technology can help students be reflective and evaluate their own strengths. Blogs can be a space for students to reflect over time about their learning. ProfilerPRO can help teachers identify student interests, strengths, and weaknesses and this information can help them guide their students learning. Finally, survey tools like SurveyMonkey can help you compare students’ self-assessments.

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

Good projects start when teachers tap into their students’ prior knowledge. KWL and similar activities can help accomplish this. Teachers need to be careful in how they first introduce their project to students. They need to get the students attention and then give the project time to settle into their imaginations. Students need to think, explore, and discuss the topic for several days before beginning their work. The more students think about the upcoming project, the more they anticipate hearing more about it. This will make students ready to begin the project as soon as it is launched.

3.             Discuss the elements of teaching fundamentals first.

Before beginning a project, teachers need to consider what prerequisite skills or knowledge their students will need to work independently on their project. Teaching these fundamentals first will ensure student success on the upcoming project. Teachers need to first set the stage for this independent inquiry. Doing something like a KWL activity helps students connect with their prior knowledge and imagine where their learning can go. Students consider what they know, wonder, and want to learn. Teachers should help students transform factual questions into questions that will lead to more complex and interesting investigations. Teachers should also share their assessment rubric with their students. This shows students what performance looks like through a qualitative description of each rating.

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

Technology should not be the focus of projects; it should be how the project gets done. Teachers need to plan efficient ways to get students ready to use technology before they begin the project. They need to recall what resources are available to them and identify the learning functions that are important to the project. They then need to consider what tools will best accomplish these learning functions. Teachers should set up a technology playground where their students can explore new technology. They should encourage students to help each other and provide brief demonstrations when needed. By doing this, teachers can let technically able students teach others. They can set up stations with different tools, do a practice run with student trainers, and help them find demonstrations they may use. Students can then rotate stations as the student trainers demonstrate how to use the tools. However, before students begin the project, teachers should discuss the purpose of each tool and set expectations for its use. Teachers should also introduce project-management tools. A project log or journal can help students track their progress toward their goals. Students should be encouraged to write about their progess, and this will help teachers gain insight into how their students are doing. Finally, teachers should demonstrate the tools their students will be using. If they are not comfortable doing so, they should find a technology specialist, or another teacher, to demonstrate so they can learn with their students.

5.             Discuss ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.

Teachers should guide students as they choose questions, plan investigations, and put their plans into action. Students should explore their own interests and teachers should help shape student interests into real inquiry. Teachers can guide students toward skilled questioning by imagining what experts might ask. They can also guide inquiry by using question starters. “Which one” questions ask students to gather information and make informed decisions. “How” questions ask students to understand problems, weigh options, consider various points of view, and propose solutions. “What if” questions ask students to use the knowledge they have to develop a hypothesis and consider options. “Should” questions ask students to make moral or practical decisions based on evidence. Finally, “why” questions ask students to understand cause and effect.

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

Teaching the fundamentals first will be important for our project. Our students will have to have background researching and writing reports to complete the first phase of the project. From there, our students will have to understand how to write a recipe as well as how to cook that recipe. As teachers we would have to provide demonstrations on how to write recipes and we would also have to encourage our students to learn about kitchen safety. Finally, we would have to share our assessment rubric with our students so they would know what we expect out of their entire project.

Collaborative Concept Map II

Chapter 5 Reflection

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

Teachers first need to consider what materials they will need. You can begin this process by finding out what supplies, tools, and other materials are available to your school. If you don’t find what you need, you can put the word out about your upcoming project and post a wish list of supplies. You can also consider community resources. Next teachers need to consider if the project will involve the use of technologies that are new to them or their students. You need to think about the essential learning functions you need the technology to deliver and then select the tools that will help students meet your learning goals. If students will be using unfamiliar tools, you need to build in time to introduce them. Teachers also need to consider if they need to expand their students’ access to technology. You will have to think creatively about how to make access more frequent and equal. Teachers need to consider if their students will need access to experts to answer their questions that might come up during the project. You will need to get create to come up with ways to engage with experts both in person and from a distance. Teachers should consider who could help with their project. You need to remember to contact the technology coordinator, media specialist, or other specialists available to you. They can help your students complete more complicated project activities like multimedia presentations or videos. Finally, teachers need to consider how they will divide responsibilities between their teaching team. Individual strengths and interests should be considered and everyone should know what tasks they are responsible for.

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

Digital tools can help teachers organize their projects and help students learn through their projects.

Teacher’s project-management needs:

• ·      Tools for communicating with students about the project
• ·      Tools for making milestones 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 where teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time
• ·      Assessment tools and strategies, including:

o   Ways to gage if students are working productively and accomplishing project goals

o   Ways to assess the load balance within a team so no individuals are doing too much or too little work

o   Way to give feedback on students work as it develops, not just when it’s completed

Student’s project-management needs:

• ·      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
• ·      Ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole

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

Teachers should consider selecting from an assortment of technology applications to find ones that best suit the needs of their project. Teachers can link these tools together in a wiki, associate them with a blog or use a web-based desktop application. A wiki is basically an easily edited webpage. Users can share content through text, web links, or new pages. Wikis can be open to the public or limited with a password. They can also be reverted back to older versions if something goes wrong. Wikispaces and PBwiki are two wikis that are primarily used with educators. A blog is also an easily edited web page but its structure is more similar to a one-to-many delivery information system. Viewers can comment on others posts but interaction is less than within a wiki. A blog is a great pace for teachers to communicate with students about progress or milestones and to broadcast news related to the project. Teachers could also create separate blogs for their students and have them publish and link to their blog. Even as students write in their own blogs, teachers can keep control of the publishing and help students decide when their work is ready to be published. There are also more sophisticated web spaces that combine content management with a blogging engine. Drupal and Textpattern are examples of this. They allow teachers to create discussion forums and surveys and they offer many functions for web collaboration.

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

This chapter really made me think about the project-management needs of both teachers and students. Our project of making a class cookbook and hosting a class dinner is something that students will be working on both in and out of class. We will need different ways to communicate with students so they can access the information both in and out of class. We will also need different ways to provide feedback to students throughout the project process so they can do their best work throughout. Our students will need methods of asking for assistance, both in and out of class, and they will need tools to help them work collaboratively (especially when planning the class dinner).

Reading Reflection #5

1. What items should be considered before starting a project with students?

Before beginning a project with students, it is especially important to make sure you know the project inside and out. In order to manage multiple students in completing a project, you must be familiar with the project and perform careful preparation. Be sure to have the correct resources and an agenda to best manage your, and your students' time. As needed, gather materials, any technologies that are necessary, and access to experts in the field of your project topic. If the project is to be done in groups, or pairs, have a thought-out plan on how you are going to group your students together. Every assignment, including projects, must be assessed. Develop an appropriate and applicable assessment, and be sure to be prepared to provide feedback to your students.

2. What are the teachers' management needs and what are students' management needs?

Teacher's Management Needs:

• 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
• assessment tools and strategies

Students' Project-Management Needs:

• 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

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

Technology is making its way into the classroom a little more every day. There are multiple technology applications available to help make group or partner projects a lot more interesting and engaging for students. For a group project an application like Wiki-pages or Google Docs would be very useful, as students can share one document and contribute their findings without having to be in the same room. Blogs are also extremely useful if students need to communicate, share documents, thoughts, images, and etc., but are unable to meet in person. A blog is also an excellent place to store information for a project - all group members can access it and you can refer back to the information later on.

4. How do the concepts in this chapter relate to our project?

For our class project, we are working in groups and communicating through a blog, similar to what this chapter discusses. We are using multiple different technological resources such as our blog, Google docs, Taskstream, and hot lists. Through using these resources, we are able to communicate and share information relating to our project.

Reflection 5

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

Firstly, what materials will you need? What kind of supplies or tools will the project require? Will you need outside help like other teachers or parents? Will you need technology, if so what kind? Will your students need experts in the field of study? These are all questions that a teacher needs to consider before starting a project.

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

Teachers need these project management tools:

·        Tools for communication with students and others about the project

·        Tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur

o   So like a class website or email list

·        Methods for getting resources to students

o   Library

o   Computer lab

·        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

Students need these project management tools:

·        Systems and toold that help them manage their time and work flow

o   Agendas

·        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

·        Ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole

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

The book talks about wiki pages but I have come to realize that, for group projects, google documents are the easiest way to share information and edit the different papers being used at the time. Blogs are also a good way to get your information out there. Your partners can see them as well as teachers and outside persons.

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

This all deals with how our group project is going. We are using different technology based components to really make our projects not only more fun and exciting but also very diverse and unique.

RR#5

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

Before starting a project with students the teacher needs to take into account what managing a project requires and to become a successful manager. It is more of 21^st-century type skills. Once the teacher becomes a successful manager the students will later become one too. Thoughtful preparation is also a huge benefit for both students and teachers. The teacher needs to make sure they invest enough time in the project and to use time wisely.

2Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.

Both teachers and students have project management needs. Managing complex projects are a lot of work. Management is important for both so they can tackle the concentrated project in front of them.

Teacher management tools:

-Tools for communicating with students and others about the project.

-Tools for making milestones and events shown while notifying students when changes occur.

-Methods for getting resources to students.

-Systems for managing work products.

-Structures that support a productive learning environment.

-Assessment tools and strategies.

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

There are a lot of technology applications out there, which means that there is a lot to choose from during a project.  The most favored technology applications are most likely the ones where the whole classroom can connect with each other including the teacher. A familiar example of this is Desire2learn and Moodle. There are also several different ones.

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

These concepts relate to my classroom kitchen topic because developing a classroom cookbook and hosting and pulling off a classroom family dinner will take a lot of patience and proper management by both the students and teachers because there is a lot of work and organization involved in this project. 

Reading Reflection #4

 1. Potential pitfalls in project design:
There are at least four potential pitfalls when it comes to project design:

• Long on activity, short on learning outcomes. When the work outweighs the results, the effort is hardly worth the time. This applies to any project, whether it be in the classroom or the work field. Projects are intended to engage students, and allow them to learn more than they would from a traditional method. If the projects are too involved, then the learning process can be inhibited with the student feeling overwhelmed with the process.
• Technology layered over traditional practice. In this context, traditional practice could mean assigning something as basic as a report, but requiring the sources to be from the internet. During this "learning process," students are just sitting in front of a computer screen looking for information, rather than engaging in the content or discussing the topic with their classmates, thus eliminating the critical thinking process.
• Trivial thematic units. Projects should avoid having trivial themes that don't encourage further learning in the topic they represent. Having trivial themes prevents students from thinking collaboratively, and can also limit the scope of learning, confining it to the constraints of the theme.
• Overly scripted with many, many steps. Our ultimate goal as teachers is to grow our students' knowledge. If we give them a project with step-by-step instructions, we are essentially discouraging them from thinking on their own, providing them with an exact script of what is expected. We need to develop projects that encourage students to come up with their own ideas and explore their learning from there.

2. Features of a good project:
There are many different features when it comes to creating a good project. Most importantly, a project should be loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths, as well as have a specific learning goal that students are working toward. Project-based learning is all about encouraging children to develop their own learning path, come up with their own thoughts, and take the project in a direction that is interesting to them. In order to encourage this process from students, projects must capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences.  Another feature of a good project is to have the project structured so students learn with and from each other. Projects encourage collaborative work, and often interdisciplinary work.

3. Where project ideas come from:
Project ideas can come from anywhere. Similar to writers, inspiration could strike at any moment. If you are having trouble gaining inspiration from everyday occurrences, or your current background knowledge, start by looking at project plans developed by, and for, other teachers. During the planning process, or learning process, of one project, you may come up with another idea for another project. It is also critical that we keep our students current on what is going on in their community and the world. News stories and current events are excellent sources for project ideas. Children get the chance to learn about real-life events and work through a collaborative project with their classmates.

4. Steps to design a project:

• Revisit the framework. Your first step should lay out your learning objectives for the project, and how you plan to obtain those objectives. Make sure these objectives align with core standards, and incorporate at least two 21st century skills you will address. In addition to curriculum requirements, contemplate personal skills and learning disposition you want to foster.
• Establish evidence of understanding. As children are working through their project, make sure they have measurable goals. If they don't feel like they are making any progress, they may quickly feel discouraged. In addition, include steps throughout the project where you as a teacher can measure their learning growth.
• Plan the "vehicle." Coming up with a theme can be difficult. A theme is usually the "face" of a project, and it is important that this "face" appeals to everyone. Put yourself in the children's shoes - what would these students be interested in learning more about? Make sure the vehicle can be flexible and manipulated to fit the needs and directions of the project.
• Plan entree into the project experience. Getting students excited and interested in a topic is one of the most important aspects of a project. Plan an entry into the project, something to get the students excited about beginning this learning experience. A game or a story that relates to the vehicle or the topic is an excellent way to capture students' attention.

5. How these concepts relate to our topic/project:
Our project will definitely use all of these concepts. Now that we have a good outline of how to design a project, as well as features that make up a good project, we can much better design our own project to be useful in a real classroom. Our project has many opportunities to incorporate many of these concepts.