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.