Reading reflection chapter 5

When it comes to chapter 5 project management strategies for teachers and learners their somethings are outlined. And I feel that gathering resources is super important. So before you start a project you should take a look at your inventory and see what supplies you need tools brother materials that are available to your school or maybe even offered from parents of your classmates or other supporters. Then you can make a website or class newsletter and post even a wish list of things you need in that newsletter that way if pans of extra are other people can bring him donate or recycle other objects to your classroom that will be beneficial and save money and time.

When it comes to management of your time and of your students need to make sure that your superflexible. Also it is important that you map out what children should get done each day in class so that the students don't end at a weird place and have to pick up on it tomorrow. It's good to have the sections broken down. Also you should make tools for communicating with the teacher and other students about the project. Make methods for getting resources to the students. Then you will need collaboration tools for the students, ways to get feedback to the students through self reflections, team input, and teachers advice.

As in all this class is completely about technology in the classroom. The chapter outlines some things that you can use in the classroom. Some good examples are like what we're doing in this class a blog is an easy way to edit and add things so everyone can see. Also the book suggests using wiki a simple webpage you just can share the content and collaborate.

This chapter is very useful for our project. We know we have to incorporate technology in the classroom for a project and we plan on using Skype and email things like that so the students can communicate with their ePals are using technology. They can also share their information using websites or blogs.

Reading Reflection Number 5: Chapter Five

Starting right off for chapter five, they brought up the idea of thoughtful preparation and how it will benefit the students and yourself as the teacher. No matter the size of the project or if it is an existing one and adding to it or joining in the group it is still very important to put thoughtful preparation into it. As teachers we do a lot of front-loading for projects in a project based learning approach because we want students to be engaged as much as possible but in order to front load correctly teachers need to use good time management so they are putting the time into the right things. There are things that should be considered before starting a project with students. Before starting a project a teacher should look at what they first have accessible to them in their classroom and in the school, the accessibility of technology and things like that to ensure that the students will have the tools they need to be successful with the project. Both teachers and students have management needs. Students as discussed on page 84 “need project management skills and technical support structures in order to grapple with the rich and complicated nature of projects, [where] teachers as team coordinators, enabling advisers, and evaluators need systems that make their work and communications more manageable, too”. Teachers’ project management needs/tools/strategies include things like tools for communicating with students and others about 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, and assessment tools and strategies. Student project management needs/tools/strategies include systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work, system 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, and lastly ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole. The technology applications that should be considered for use in a project include possibly using web-based applications like wiki, which is a simple and easily edited web page or even a blog or personal web page, and others. This chapter relates to what my group is doing because of the management aspect. Management is an important concept for teachers to understand and be able to implement correctly and for students to also understand. For our project, our students are skyping or video calling students from another area to gain more experience for the topic of healthy eating. The concepts learned so far are connecting together and are expanding my knowledge on project-based learning and I am excited to continue to learn more to gain even more knowledge so that I can use project based learning in my classroom one day.

Reading Reflection Five- Chapter 5

I like the comparison of a business manager and a teacher. On top of the common skills they list, the relationships are also similar. With a traditional teacher-student relationship, you picture the teacher lecturing and the student doing. With the idea of the teacher as a manager, the teacher is still in charge but students are in charge of carrying out their own work and problem solving when necessary. There is also more collaboration between “co-workers” or fellow students.

The small things that go into a project, like all the materials you may need, may be easy to forget about. I like that this chapter is keeping a focus on not only the things needed to start a project, but ways to get what you need. It would be things like this that can get over whelming, or forgotten. This chapter does a good job and focusing your attention on these things, while giving you the tools to manage them.

Putting responsibility of time management into the student’s hands is a good component of project-based learning. It is a 21^st century skill like any other that students need to master. It can be easier these days, with reminders on phones and electronic planners, but students still need to be taught to use these skills effectively and efficiently. I also like the idea of an online calendar so parents can stay up to date and involved.

I like the points that were made about the teams through out the project. A lot of the time teachers try to create equal groups, and keep control over all the groups at once. With project based learning there is going to be more flexibility. I do think this would be hard to get used to. The careful arranging of students is something I am used to, but having some students independent while others are in groups, and others still in pairs would be a lot to juggle. It will definitely make it more difficult to track each step, instead trusting students to keep focused on their own components of the project.

Using formative assessments is an idea I am comfortable with, and agree with. I think teachers can get more out of these informal tests of understanding and students are more open to participating. These assessments do not have to be a big deal, like standardized tests, they really are just to see how students are doing. It also plays into the idea of project-based learning well since there is nothing really standardized about the process in general. The type of assessment should match the classroom atmosphere, and formative assessments are a good match for project-based learning.

Making use of the web, and wikis and webpages is a really cool idea. Students are more likely to be engaged in these online resources since they are more in tuned with technology. It also makes use of the resources available; students are no longer limited to paper/pencil activities. It really broadens the possibilities.

Collaborative Concept Map

Collaborative Concept Map

This is our revised concept map that highlights all of the different aspects to our project.

Reading Reflection Chapter 4

There are many things that go into designing and implementing projects but the most important thing to remember is the experience and things students are taking away from it. Four pitfalls could occur within the project design. The first pitfall is long on activity, short on learning outcomes which deals with the length of an activity and looking at if a shorter activity will produce the same or even higher learning/knowledge retention then the activity should be shorter. The second pitfall is technology layered over traditional practice, which can be eliminated if the project focuses on making sure the project is focused on reaching significant learning outcomes not just presenting with a slide show. The third potential pitfall is trivial thematic units which deals with the structure of the unit and sometimes is not project based. The fourth potential pitfall is overly scripted with many, many steps, which look at the aspects to the final product, and the steps with in creating it for this if a project results in a “cookie cutter” product then the project should be changed to reflect what the students could do to show their learning. There are many features of a good project with some being having the student learning by doing, having projects that are designed with the possibility of students learning in different ways, having students working as inquiring experts, researching beyond school, which allows others to get involved in the students learning, and many others. An important thing I think teachers need to remember is the fact that if a project seems good for one school or even class it may not be for another and not to just take an idea and use it even if it does not work in your room because it can be changed if the teacher puts the time into changing and modifying it to fit the needs of his/her students. Ideas for projects can be found everywhere. A teacher can take an idea and incorporate it into a project if they think it would be a good fit for their classroom or they can search and research projects online. Teachers can look at the Global School Net and iEARN for some project plans that were developed by and for other teachers to gain more ideas. The steps to design a project are as follows: revisit the framework by making a final list of the learning objectives and decided on the specific 21st century skills that you want included and addressed, as well as identifying the learning dispositions that you want to use like reflection. Next, establish the evidence of understanding of what you want students to know and learn from the project. Then plan the project theme or challenge followed up with plan the whole project experience (page 67 and 68). Reflecting back and making changes as needed is important so that student knowledge and learning is maximized and every aspect is looked into and accounted for. Reviewing these steps for creating a project can be used with the project we are developing in the class because as we are creating the lesson we can follow them and review/reflect as well as collaborate with each other to make sure we are gaining the outcome we want and the students would be gaining the most learning experience as possible. This chapter was interesting and helped to make the process more clear and easier to understand.

Reading reflection chapter 4

when it comes to potential pitfalls there are four outlined in the book. The first one is labeled as long on activity, short on learning outcomes.The book states that if the project is busy and long but only reaches lower order thinking skills that it's not worth your students time your project should be the correct size for what it means to accomplish. Therefore needs to use higher order thinking skills and questioning. The second potential pitfall is labeled technology layered over traditional practice.this is saying that you need to have good project that focus on reaching the most positive learning outcomes not necessarily just using technology. They need to be able to use technology also but needs to have a significant project-based behind it.The third learning potential pitfall is trivial thematic units.you need to realize that Thematic themed teaching is not always project-based learning. It can be trivial but it doesn't have to be. The last potential pitfall that the chapter goes over is called overly scripted with many, many steps. You want to make sure that you're not over prescriptive about your questions in the amount of steps you're having your students follow because it leads to limited and projected outcomes.

The book outlines a bunch of good qualities that project should have. Their loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths. This way the students are able to find their own meaning with in the project and can take it different ways upon their wants and needs. A center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry. Inquiry-based learning the students discover it as their learning it. Project should be realistic and therefore across multiple disciplines. This goes along with having students learn by doing which is why inquiry-based learning it. Another one is Hessians working as inquiring experts might so all are along the lines of inquiry-based learning.

Good projects come from many different places. But they mostly come from a tried and true project with potential for more meaningful expressive  learning. Also inspiration for projects come from project plans developed by and for other teachers. Or new stories contemporary ideas student questions or interest which I find super important if you can base a project around what the students like then they will be more engaged. Also a mashup of great ideas and a new tool.

Now how do you design a perfect project. There are four steps identified in the book. The first one is revisit the framework you want to make a list of all the learning objectives and the disciplines. And then identifier learn just physicians that you want to faster as you can reflect on them. The second one is establish evidence of understanding. You got a figure out what the students will learn from it. The third  Step is plan the project femur challenge. Think about what the students might want to learn about how they might learn about it. In the fourth one is plan the project experience with things you might state of the students to get their attention and build excitement so that they will want to follow through with the project.

When it comes to our project I know we're going to need to be able to have the strategies for discovery for project based learning. We have to make sure that our project has a solid idea of how it can be a good project also we have to make sure that our project has some of the important features. And now that I know the steps on how to design a project I know which way to follow in order to make this project strong for the students

Reading Reflection Four- Chapter 4

I like the opening story about teachers making use of technology students already have. A lot of kids these days are going to prefer to be on a cell phone so it makes a lot of sense to incorporate it into the lesson and give it a purpose. It also demonstrate how to use what kids already know and are interested in when building a project, which leads into the idea of designing a good project.

Reviewing different projects is definitely is definitely a good starting point, unless there are other circumstances it would be really hard to have a fully developed idea for a project ready to go. I do agree with the fact that projects need to be carefully reviewed ahead of time though. Even if it is a well-designed project (which not all will be) it may not work for every school or every student. It has to work for your students, and work within the learning goals set for them. The pitfalls that were addressed make a lot of sense to consider, length of a project definitely does not mean a student is getting a lot out of it. It is also important to think about how technology is being incorporated into the project itself, not just added as an afterthought. Having thematic units that can change and grow with students is another good thing to look out for, versus trivial thematic units that may seem fun but do not really address key issues. I really agree with the last one about not wanting the project to be too scripted. If a project is about students learning and exploring they should be in the drivers seat, they should be nudged along and guided by the teacher but not hand a step-by-step road map for each component.

Looking at what other teachers who have experience with this method of teaching has done is definitely helpful. No one has all the answers, so the resources given to be able to look at the work other teachers have done will prove to be a valuable asset when faced with the challenge of actually implementing project-based learning. These things can only help, especially on top of the many important features of a project and where to get ideas.

Reading Reflection chapter 3

The big idea refers to what concepts and processes students should know after studying with you or what they should understand and of those what should be remembered. You teach the big idea through projects activities and then assessment. Every grade level and subject area focuses on big idea is that also relate to the outside world.  It is important that children can relate what they learn in school to situations outside of school.

When it comes to 21st century skills there are certain actions associated with them including apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. These are from Blooms taxonomy along with higher order thinking skills. A well-designed project has students stretch their intellectual capacity in ways that traditional learning doesn't always cover and when using these Bloome Taxonomy of Educational Objectives we are able to reach those.

The book states that by multiple definition Literacy means learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens. In order for these things to happen it is definitely a teacher's job to help the students accomplish literacy due to their own 21st century instructional goals.

There are eight essential learning functions. One learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time.this simply means that giving the students opportunities to learn anywhere and anytime. Number two is deep learning,which means students dig a little deeper her and go beyond the filtered information they will make sense of the wrong information they find. Number three making thinking visible in discussable,using things such as Google Earth Flickr free mind mind mapper and Visual the sources and being able to dissect and talk more about what is going on. Number for expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community, we are able to use different opportunities for expression. Number five which is super important it is collaboration – teaching and learning with others, this is just having tools to help learn together plan in writing together and using shared applications on how students can benefit. Six is research.simply using different means to research things for example google search. Or citation machine. Number seven is project management planning and organization,this is simply helping students manage time work sources and feedback from others during their projects. And finally number eight is reflection and this happens at the end of everything. Students go back and reflect on what they have learned and they can share their writings or activities or projects.

When to come this chapter I can see myself using some of the eight essential learning functions in order to come up with the best idea and best project my group can have as an outcome. Number five which express before I think a super important is collaboration. I'm going to need to use collaboration within my group in order to come up with the best possible project. Also research research is important in order to have information on the project and to make the project go smoothly. We also need project-management when planning to get everything accomplished on time. Those are just a few examples of how I will use some of the essential learning functions but I can see myself using all the other ones as well.

Reading Reflection Three- Chapter 3

I like the comparison of textbooks and published curriculums to projects. Seeing them explained back-to-back really showed how much more projects have to offer students. It also was a good lead into thinking about the big idea. There are always going to be big ideas that students need to grasp, but that doesn’t mean they have to go about it in the typical way. Students will actually get more out of a big idea by branching out and making it their own. It will also relate more to the real life and what students will experience outside of school.

I like the comment about how “life gets messy and overlaps multiple disciplines” it really says a lot about what students are going to be facing out of school, so why not bring it in and ingrain it in the projects being created. I believe projects can turn into great things when they are interdisciplinary because teachers do not have to worry about getting to everything. There is no cutting a math project short to move on to science or English. Instead it is all just one and the same, and students get so much more out of it.

I definitely agree with the importance of bringing in 21^st Century skills, it is a changing world and students need to be equipped to go out and be able to problem solve within the context of real world problems. The higher level thinking that is required of students within a project based curriculum would definitely give students experiences that they may not otherwise get, that can directly relate to real world situations.

Technology of course is going to play a bigger and bigger role as things move forward, and it will be integrated more into the classroom. The point about choosing the right technology and being able to back it up makes a lot of sense. I found the Romeo in Myspace story to be particularly interesting because it showed that the technology does not have to be something educational, it can be anything out there as long as it is safe for students and backed up by strong educational value.

In the end it really does come to keeping students in mind. Students do need to reach certain standards and scores, but how they learn is more flexible. If students are really going to get the most out of their education they have to be actively involved in it. This not only means designing an engaging project, but also making it so it sparks student interest and gives them something they can be passionate about. That should be the focus of education.

Reading Reflection Chapter 3

After reading chapter three I found “the Big Idea” for a project to be the main big picture/concept that you are trying as a teacher to teach your students or what the big things you want them to take away. The chapter referred to this as the overarching concept. One thing I noticed was that the big idea needs to be relevant to what your project is, and something that connects learning to the real world so that students are gaining a higher level of understanding and knowledge. On page 45 they discussed how after identifying the overarching concepts that are important and relevant to your project but after that is established one needs to reflect on why the concepts are important and the importance of doing this is because it gets you to think about their application or relevance for the student to make the real life connections as well as how to adapt your lesson to meet the needs of your students and to make it meaning full to them. The 21st century skills has students understanding the big ideas but they also need to imagine how the project will help the student to create the 21st century skills. I liked how they said on page 47 that “a well-designed project causes students to stretch their intellectual muscles in ways traditional learning activities may not. One way to ensure rigor in a project is to plan for learning actions associated with the higher-order categories of Blooms Taxonomy of Educational objectives”. I found this to stick out in the reading and was something that I could relate to because the special education department has us include Blooms Taxonomy in our lesson plans and because of that we have learned so much about it. I feel as though it is important to include that in a lesson because it does get students to the higher level thinking. The different levels of Blooms Taxonomy include analyze, evaluate, and create as listed in the chapter. The 21st century literacies pointed out that “learners acquire learning dispositions less through direct teaching and more through experiences and encouragement” (page 52). The section also bought up the term metacognition which is when students start to realize how they learn and because of that they can reflect on their own processes. This is a term that we just learned about in one of the sped classes and our teacher placed high emphasis on it because it is such an important term. There are eight essential learning functions. The first one is ubiquity: learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time. This is a function that is an overarching term but it supports project based learning, because it is allowing students to learn not just in the classroom but outside as well. This is having teachers look at providing students with the tools that help them to be more mobile with their learning. The second function is deep learning which is having and encouraging teachers to go beyond the websites that are just filtering information and provide them with sources that help them to make sense of the raw information they find on the internet. Students are able to have higher order thinking with this because they have to navigate, sort, analyze, and much more in order to learn and express their learning. The third is making things visible and discussable which discussed how teachers can make things digital to make it visible or using digital tools, for instance they said “a picture is worth a thousand words” (page 54) which is a common saying but it can create a discussion about many different things which is important to use and to get students to think outside the box and to get them to the higher order thinking. The fourth is expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community, which discussed how the world has many ways to express themselves with the most popular being sites like Facebook or Myspace as the book said to twitter but students are gaining the communication and are expressing themselves. Finding ways to express what they are learning is important. The fifth is collaboration-teaching and learning with others which brought up the idea that projects invite and encourage collaboration. I feel that collaboration is very important and using shared applications is a way to combat this. The sixth is research which the 21st century projects use because students can find out more information and learn new things by using research and as stated on page 55, “internet research puts information literacy to the test” and a good example of this is Citation Machine which is a popular tool for students to use. The seventh is project management: planning and organization which “helps students manage time, work, sources, feedback from others, drafts, and products during projects” (page 55). Project management is important part to success and is key to teaching students because it is something the can connect to the real world. The last one is reflection and iteration which is when one examines their ideas and breaks it apart to look at and think about all the possible different sides that could occur from it and looking at it from other points of view. Reflecting on what has been completed is important, I believe at least because it can allow one to see what they could have done differently or a different perspective, ways to do to differently, etc.. Reflection is key to not only the students but to the teachers as well. I can see these concepts being used and relating to my topic/project because we are putting these parts into it and have used the big idea to create the overarching concept for our project and then with reflection and collaboration we have broken it down through research to narrow our topic and focus. This chapter was interesting as it pulled in some concepts I hadn’t thought of before and some that I have learned a lot about, but it was still very interesting to read. -Michelle

Project Description

Project Description with ePals information

This describes our project and goes into detail of how our students are going to work with other students through an ePals program.

ePals Map

This is our map showing our students in Kalamazoo, Michigan and where they will be communicating with other students in Sweden. 

Chapter Two Reading Reflection

After reading chapter two I found a lot of areas in the text where I could relate to.  I originally went to a community college and then transferred to Western Michigan University where I joined the Special Education Program and in the two years of being in the program a big focus of it has been creating learning communities when we are in our practicum settings and when we are in classroom.  I feel as though because we have had this experience and have had time to work with the idea it will be easier to implement in the classroom.  I really liked how on page 30 the idea of needing trust, and respect to make the community work.  I also like how Peter Senge said “a learning organization can be any business work team, big or small, that engages in ongoing, collaborative problem solving focused on making the business better” (page 30) because I feel as though it sums it all up and really states that it is possible to use and can work with all groups because it is not a “one size fits all” or a “cookie cutter” idea where it only works in one way.  Within the SPED department our cohort has grown to learn to learn how to learn together and to work together to strengthen our ideas. Learning communities affect teachers because it gives them an opportunity for teachers to work together, brainstorm, and grow as educators.  Learning communities focus on three main things to make it more student-centered, first is ensuring that students are learning, second is creating a culture full of collaboration for school improvement, and lastly a focus on the results.  For both students and teachers learning communities are great things and affect both because it learning is relevant, both are learning to learn together,  developing skills for the real world, build bonds, and much more.  Benefits of professional learning communities include the following which came from page 33 “decreased teacher isolation, increased commitment to the mission, shared responsibility, more powerful learning, and a higher likelihood of fundamental, systemic change (Hord, 1997)”.  I think a big part to this is if students see teachers using and implementing it then they will start to work more a community because students look up to their teachers.  When teachers use learning communities they have a shared vision because they are working together and can get feedback from each other which allow them to grow as teachers and to truly get the best feedback and support there is.  I think all of this relates to our group project and topic because it shows us the importance of working together, listening to others ideas and accepting feedback so that we can grow as not only learners but also as a group.  We as a group are doing just what Peter Senge said in the chapter, as we are taking our small group and are collaborating to allow us to problem solve to make our project better.  This chapter was interesting to read and it was nice being able to make personal connections to the text because I am in the special education program and we have learned last semester to use learning communities which allowed us the hands on learning experience and knowledge that will only benefit us later on in life when we have classrooms of our own and from experience outside of the program.

Concept Map A

Concept Map A

Concept Map

Concept Map

Chapter 2 Reading Reflection-PLC's

• I am glad the chapter was about PLC's, last semester in the SPED program we spent a lot of time in PLC's. The main focus of PLC's is collaboration, which in my opinion is a very important thing that all teachers learn. I am very blessed to be in the SPED program and we have such a close cohort and are able to collaborate with each other. When it comes to the benifits of PLC's there are many. To start with,  there are small groups of faculity working together or collaborating ideas about how to serve the students. For collaboration to occur the staff needs to be able to have trust in eachother, so having these small groups of faculty makes it easier. And becuase they start to trust each other the teachers gain confidence in their own teachings knowing that their staff members are there to help them. PLC's also are meant to benefit the students. If a student has an issue or a problem that the teacher does not know how to solve, the other staff is there to lend a helping hand, so that the child receives the best possible services. The book notes a few strong benefits;
• Decrease teacher isolation
• Increased commitment to the mission
• shared responsibilities
• More powerful learning
• A higher likelihood of fundamental, systemic change

The topic of this chapter is important to our group project, because not only do we as staff members need to collaborate with each other to make the Living Healthy Cookbook, but the students need to work with each other to make sure they do not use the same recipes. And along with that, we as a PLC need to work together and collaborate ideas on how to have the activity should be carried out, along with all of the other factors.

Reading Reflection Two- Chapter Two

I really like the ideas brought up in this chapter. The idea of collaboration and working as a team has been a part of my education at Western, and it makes sense to carry it into the classroom. As a special education student, I have been part of a cohort for my junior and senior year. We are a group who rely on each other for help and support with classroom assignments, but also for ideas when working with students. This community sounds similar to the idea of using collaboration and technology as a part of project based learning. I can see how important collaboration is and hope to find a school that recognizes its importance and plans for that time. Especially as co-teaching becomes more popular, which takes collaboration to a more in-depth level.

The chapter mentions how respect is an essential condition of collaboration, and this makes a lot of sense. In order to collaborate fully teachers have to trust each other, and make themselves open to new ideas and corrective feedback. This only works if the other teachers show respect and make themselves worthy of gaining trust.

When teachers collaborate well, it can turn into student collaboration. Teachers collaborating can create opportunities like “The world is flat project”, by two teachers getting together their students had the opportunity to branch out and working with other students across the globe. This ties into what the book is saying about how there are similarities between professional learning communities among teachers and project-based learning collaboration among students. I believe teachers need to have that strong learning community before students can fully gain from the project-based learning.

Finding time, and willing teacher, to build a learning community from scratch would take a lot of work. The book brings up good ideas, such as using blogs to connect with other teachers. Technology does open more doors and make collaboration possible in ways that were not always an option, but there are more factors at play that can create problems, like finding time. Working with pre-existing groups is a good solution that the book brought up to help with some of these challenges. There are a lot of factors that the book mentions to make a community successful, but I think the most important are having a common mission and the dedication to follow through.