Reading Reflection 4

1. Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.

·         Long on activity, short on learning outcomes- Essentially what this one means is that if there is not much of an opportunity for variety and really in-depth research in a project, what being learned could easily be put into a 20 minute lecture on it and move on. It can be a waste of time for you and your students.

·         Technology layered over traditional practice- Your students need to be challenged with technology. If the students are just using a power point, where’s the value? They could have easily done an oral report instead. Really try to get technology integrated into the project so it can challenge your students and maybe get their creative juices flowing.

·         Trivial thematic units- Try connecting all the projects throughout the year, on unifying fact.

2. Discuss the features of a good project.

·         A flexible framework- Take an opportunity for those teachable moments or if something is not working for your classroom, take the time to change it to better fit the project or students.

·         Get away from traditional thinking- Make a situation where the students want to know more. Get them to want to ask questions, make inquiries, and find more information.

Some more features are they are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths, are generative, centered on a driving question, they capture a student’s interest through complex real-life simulated experiences, and many more.

3. Discuss where project ideas come from.

Ideas can come from anywhere. They can come from the imagination of the teacher or they can come straight from the students. It can come from a “teachable moment” or come from walking down the street, or even just “barrowing” a lesson plan from another teacher.

4. Discuss the steps to design a project.

1.       Revisit the framework

2.       Establish evidence of understanding

3.       Plan the project theme or challenge

4.       Plan how you are going to start the lesson.

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

We can use what we have learned to better our projects and make them more interesting