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.