Reading Reflection #3

1. Discussion on what should be considered in finding "the Big Idea" for a project.
The first element to consider, as a teacher, when preparing for a big project is what you want your students to learn from the project. Moving along the lines of project-based learning, we want to create a safe environment, equipped with the tools needed for students to complete the project successfully and prepare students for real-world situations. The teacher must consider all the different elements that go into a class project, including the tools required, what the students must know beforehand, and guidance to get students to where they need to be. Once these smaller steps have been analyzed, it is then time to dissect the project to find what the main theme is, or, the "Big Idea." This can be found by asking what it is you want the students to take away from the project.
2. Discussion on the 21st Century skills.
The 21st Century skills are tools that teachers can use to challenge their students. These skills come into play when creating lesson plans. In order to expand our students' learning and knowledge, our goal as teachers is to provide them with challenging situations, where they must analyze, evaluate, and create. These skills align very closely with the foundation of project-based learning.
3. Discussion on the 21st Century literacies.
There are many different types of literacy, and each type is essential to succeeding in the real-world. As teachers, it is our responsibility to make sure our students are fluent in each of these literacies. Again, being 21st Century literacies, these tools help students to identify, create, interpret, and communicate - all skills that are essential to obtaining a career later in life. Literacy is the foundation of learning; it is through literacy that students learn how to work independently and discover on their own.
4. Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.
There are 8 learning functions that are essential to our students: ubiquity, deep learning, making things visual and discussable, expressing ourselves, collaboration, research, project management, and reflection and iteration. Each of these functions serves a specific purpose when students' minds are developing. Ubiquity refers to the idea that children should constantly be learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Deep learning takes learning a step beyond just learning the basic facts about a topic. By encouraging our students to dig deeper, we are encouraging them to make a discovery and actually understand what they are learning. Many students have a difficult time learning something unless they have visualization of it. By making things visual and discussable, children are able to see what is being presented and be able to better talk about it. It is always essential to encourage our students to express themselves through their learning and presentation; they should always feel comfortable expressing their ideas and thoughts to the teacher, as well as their classmates. Collaboration and research are essential elements to any group project, which is what project-based learning is based upon.
5. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
The information presented in this chapter helps to prepare us for developing our main idea for our project, as well as tips on how to teach it to our students. Our students will be communicating with a 4th grade class from Rome, Italy, giving them an opportunity to ask questions, learn deeply, and have a discussion with students from another culture. The learning functions are excellent key points as we work through the lesson plan for our project. This information also gives us ideas on how to set up our project to encourage students to explore and collaborate with each other.