Chapter 11 Reflection

Chapter eleven was the final chapter in our Reinventing Project-Based Learning book.  This chapter focused on bringing it home. Something this chapter discussed was what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.  There are many things that come from using this approach but some of the things listed in the chapter were the concept and idea that comes from the project is coming to an end but with this thought it is not really ending but instead it is opening up the doors and minds for new ideas and projects to stem from. Another thing was reflection, which as we see once again is an important part in project based learning because at the end of a project if a reflection is used then it is easier for the teacher to assess things like what went well, what didn’t go well, what should stay the same if implemented again, what would be done differently, did students perform the goals and objectives, and all of those questions plus many more help to guide this reflection. It is also important for the students to do a reflection. Ways to bring home our project was also discussed and with this brining it all together and making those key connections is important and is part of this.  Using collaboration can connect things to learning, it is important to have with colleges because if you collaborate what worked with your project and gave feedback and reflection to them then they are more likely to use your project and can also help you to make it even better as they can offer feedback and reflection from their perspective. This collaboration could even turn in to a topic of discussion at a professional development meeting which is actually a great time to discuss things like this as it might be the thing needed to connect and pull in all the students in a classroom. I really liked how project based learning is giving students a chance to learn in their own way and it is a lot more tailored to the individual student and it is giving them great experience and practice with problem solving skills and with real like situations. This concept relates to my groups project because we use reflection at the end of the project to see what worked and what didn’t and to see what we can do to make it even better. We also use a lot of collaboration as we have found that to be very important with teaching and with project based learning. It is important to mix things up and by using project based learning it does just that. I have enjoyed reading this book and I feel as though it helped me a lot to understand project based learning.