Discussion on items to be considered before starting a project with students: The idea of project based learning includes a ton of planning and careful consideration on the teachers part before you start the project with students. It is important to collaborate with your team of teachers and other school workers to create the strongest and most effective project you can. As a teacher it is your responsibility to make sure all of the resources you will need to successfully implement the project. This includes materials, technologies, guest speakers/presenters, and anything else that is needed for the project.
Teachers' and students' management needs: It is the teachers job to plan the project in a way that lays out a "road map" for students. This plan should give students a calendar to refer to so that they can practice management skills necessary to complete long term projects.
Technology applications that should be considered: Technology is a huge part of project based learning. Throughout the project, students should be taught how to use the technology they are expected to use in their project. Furthermore, the teaching of technology should be incorporated into the project's schedule so that these lessons build on each other and eventually help the students create their culminating product.
How the concepts in this chapter relate to our project: Our project involves a lot of components that need to build off of each other to create optimal learning. For example, learning the basis of weather monitoring, field trips, and student created weather reports all have to happen in sequential order in order to be most effective. As a team, we will have to work out a well-managed schedule to keep our project on track.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Chapter 5 Reading Reflection
Discussion on the items that should be considered before starting a project with students.
Many things will need to be considered before starting this project. First of all, it is extremely important to outline what and who will be needed to complete this project. Questions should be asked which pertain to this category. Will it be helpful to bring in an expert? What kinds of materials will be needed. Secondly, it is important to establish deadlines for this project. Deciding when it will start and when it should be completed are extremely important. It is much more effective to do your projects this way. Thirdly, team planning should be considered before starting a project with students. Perhaps you have come up with something that might work in theory but with a group of 25 kids, there is always room for error. Being able to bounce ideas off of another person is helpful and will ensure the success of your project. Finally, you should have a plan of how you are going to assess your students on whether they understand the material or do not understand it. It is important to plan out every aspect of the project before doing it so as to minimize errors and maximize efficiency.
Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.
For the teachers' needs of management, it is important to consider the tools and strategies that teachers will need which include but are not limited to: 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...etc. Students will require much different management tools and strategies which include ways for seeking assistance, ways to get feedback, ways to work in a team, and making sure that they are able to see the purpose of the project.
Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.
Of course, in this digital age, we need to require a section of how technology can be applied in projects. My simple answer for this is: the internet. Students can do so much online and as long as we make sure that the websites that our children are visiting are safe and effective to use, then we have a great chance of success of using the web with our students. Students can use pre-determined websites to encourage their growth and increased knowledge of the subject matter, whatever it may be.
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
If we as teachers do not plan ahead and look for all of the possible problems which could go wrong, then we might end up planning an unsuccessful weather project with our students. It isn't fair to our students or to ourselves to not plan ahead like that. I'm very excited to use the strategies I have learned when I become a teacher.
Many things will need to be considered before starting this project. First of all, it is extremely important to outline what and who will be needed to complete this project. Questions should be asked which pertain to this category. Will it be helpful to bring in an expert? What kinds of materials will be needed. Secondly, it is important to establish deadlines for this project. Deciding when it will start and when it should be completed are extremely important. It is much more effective to do your projects this way. Thirdly, team planning should be considered before starting a project with students. Perhaps you have come up with something that might work in theory but with a group of 25 kids, there is always room for error. Being able to bounce ideas off of another person is helpful and will ensure the success of your project. Finally, you should have a plan of how you are going to assess your students on whether they understand the material or do not understand it. It is important to plan out every aspect of the project before doing it so as to minimize errors and maximize efficiency.
Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.
For the teachers' needs of management, it is important to consider the tools and strategies that teachers will need which include but are not limited to: 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...etc. Students will require much different management tools and strategies which include ways for seeking assistance, ways to get feedback, ways to work in a team, and making sure that they are able to see the purpose of the project.
Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.
Of course, in this digital age, we need to require a section of how technology can be applied in projects. My simple answer for this is: the internet. Students can do so much online and as long as we make sure that the websites that our children are visiting are safe and effective to use, then we have a great chance of success of using the web with our students. Students can use pre-determined websites to encourage their growth and increased knowledge of the subject matter, whatever it may be.
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
If we as teachers do not plan ahead and look for all of the possible problems which could go wrong, then we might end up planning an unsuccessful weather project with our students. It isn't fair to our students or to ourselves to not plan ahead like that. I'm very excited to use the strategies I have learned when I become a teacher.
Reading Reflection 5
- Discussion on the items that should be considered before starting a project with students. There are so many different items you should consider before starting a project with students. You have to make sure that you have the proper resources to use in your project. Knowing what tools and materials is crucial to make a project good or bad. Next, you have to make sure what kind of technology you are going to be using. When you use technology you have to make sure that your students know how to use it. Another item you could consider is having real life experts come into the classroom and talk about the project and what they do. This will help the students gain an idea of what this professional does and how they can use it in their project. One more thing you should consider is if you are team teaching with another teacher, you should get in touch and talk to each about your strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly.
- Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs. When we have such a short amount of time with our students, we have to make sure that we have everything planned for each day, week, and month. If we want to teach our students about time management we need to show them what that looks like by out actions and and the things in our classroom. In the book it mentions to have a project calender to show the students what we expect of them and when things are due.
- Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project. Technology is a big part of Project based learning. If you want to use technology in your project, you have to make sure your students know the proper ways to use that technology correctly. For many students now, learning how to use technology is something they have already learned at home and has become a second language to them. But we should teach them anyways because some students in their classroom may not have that luxury at home. It won't hurt to learn more about technology. Knowing about technology can help their projects grow and make them more efficient.
- Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project. For our project we will take the students to a news station where the students will be able to meet and talk with an actual meteorologist. They will be able to ask questions, walk around, take a look at the equipment that the meteorologists use. The will have a chance to watch an actual weather report. In order to make this trip happen we have to manage our time and get done what we need to get done before we make this trip. We have to manage our time as well as the students time to get where we want to be. We also plan on using technology in our project as well. We will want the students to Skype with students that live in New Zealand to talk about weather conditions in each country.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Reading Reflection #4
Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.
With any project you do in your classroom there are going to
be potential pitfalls to any project. We
do not want pitfalls to our projects because we want our students to have a
quality experience, but they happen. Some
of the potential pitfalls in project design are long activity, shorten learning
outcome, technology layer over traditional practice, trivial thematic units,
and overly scripted with many steps.
Knowing what these pitfalls when you are doing your project will help
you design a project that students will take away as much information as
possible.
Discuss the features of a good project.
There are many features to a project that make it a good
one. Being loosely designed with the possibility
of different paths means that if you find that your students are not learning
what they are supposed to, than you can be ready to go down a road or approach
so that they learn the material. The
next two good features are structured inquiry and realistic. The last feature of a good project is having
the students learn by doing. We have
learned that PBL is all about hands on experiences. I do believe that students learn more when
they are active.
Discuss where project ideas come from.
An idea for a project can come from anywhere around
you. The internet, real life
experiences, and other teachers are just a few places where you can get great
ideas for fun and active projects. But
the best place you can get great ideas is from your students. Your students are full of creative ideas for different
project ideas. When you involve your
students in coming up with ideas for projects, you build relationships with
each and every one of your students. You
also build their self-confidence.
Discuss the steps to design a project.
1.
Revisit the framework by reviewing you learning.
2.
Decide on the specific skills you want to
address.
3.
Write a project sketch –quick overview of the
project.
4.
Creating an asset map.
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your
topic/project.
This chapter helped me realize that there are so many
aspects that go into designing a project.
For our project we have to make sure that we recognize our pitfalls in
our project so we can fix them and that our students get the best learning
experience. We can use other students to
help us design our project. We want our
students to take away as much as they can from our project.
Chapter 4 Reading Reflection
Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.
Some of the pitfalls include that the project is long on activity but short on learning outcomes, that technology is layered over traditional project, that thematic units are trivial, and that the project is over scripted with many, many steps.
Discuss the features of a good project.
A good project is loosely designed and lets many paths of learning be explored. They are generative and let students construct their own meaning instead of handing it to them. They center on a driving question and the question (or Big Idea) is obvious. The project relates to real life and students can personally relate to it. Bla bla bla. The project is realistic, reaches beyond the school to involve others, such as other students or parents, it taps rich data or primary sources, it is structured so students learn with and from each other, students work like how experts might work, it uses technology, and students learn by doing. I find it extremely strange that this book is all about project based learning, but we're learning about it by traditional methods. (ie: reading chapters and writing these silly reflections.) It seems odd.
Discuss where project ideas come from.
Good project ideas come from the imagination. The book talk about a whole lot of boring examples, but this is a pretty straightforward question that can be answered much better without the dry, boring text of this book. Where do good ideas come from? So many places. Look at what your students are interested in, look at their background, look at their age, their friends, and then make an educated decision about what would be fun if you were in their position. Make this stuff fun, yo.
Discuss the steps to design a project.
1.) Revisit the framework
2.) Establish evidence of understanding
3.) Plan the vehicle.
4.) Plan entree into the project experience.
Now, that's what the book says. Here's what I think should happen, because I got nothing out of what the book said:
1.) WHAT: Brainstorm your goal. What do you ultimately want students to learn?
2.) WHO: Look at your students lives. What do they like? How old are they? What kind of personalities do they have?
3.) HOW: Come up with a super sick idea for a project. Figure out the details (Who is doing what?)
4.) UH OH: Make a list of everything that could possibly go wrong and plan accordingly. For example, if you're doing a section about cooking, kids could cut themselves or catch on fire, so be smart.)
5.) ACTION: Do it. Put your sweet plan into action and provide assistance wherever necessary without babying the kids.
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
This chapter relates to life. All too often, we find ourselves surrounded by texts which make no sense or are too wordy or are poorly written. So this means we have to create things for ourselves and think outside of the poorly constructed box.
Some of the pitfalls include that the project is long on activity but short on learning outcomes, that technology is layered over traditional project, that thematic units are trivial, and that the project is over scripted with many, many steps.
Discuss the features of a good project.
A good project is loosely designed and lets many paths of learning be explored. They are generative and let students construct their own meaning instead of handing it to them. They center on a driving question and the question (or Big Idea) is obvious. The project relates to real life and students can personally relate to it. Bla bla bla. The project is realistic, reaches beyond the school to involve others, such as other students or parents, it taps rich data or primary sources, it is structured so students learn with and from each other, students work like how experts might work, it uses technology, and students learn by doing. I find it extremely strange that this book is all about project based learning, but we're learning about it by traditional methods. (ie: reading chapters and writing these silly reflections.) It seems odd.
Discuss where project ideas come from.
Good project ideas come from the imagination. The book talk about a whole lot of boring examples, but this is a pretty straightforward question that can be answered much better without the dry, boring text of this book. Where do good ideas come from? So many places. Look at what your students are interested in, look at their background, look at their age, their friends, and then make an educated decision about what would be fun if you were in their position. Make this stuff fun, yo.
Discuss the steps to design a project.
1.) Revisit the framework
2.) Establish evidence of understanding
3.) Plan the vehicle.
4.) Plan entree into the project experience.
Now, that's what the book says. Here's what I think should happen, because I got nothing out of what the book said:
1.) WHAT: Brainstorm your goal. What do you ultimately want students to learn?
2.) WHO: Look at your students lives. What do they like? How old are they? What kind of personalities do they have?
3.) HOW: Come up with a super sick idea for a project. Figure out the details (Who is doing what?)
4.) UH OH: Make a list of everything that could possibly go wrong and plan accordingly. For example, if you're doing a section about cooking, kids could cut themselves or catch on fire, so be smart.)
5.) ACTION: Do it. Put your sweet plan into action and provide assistance wherever necessary without babying the kids.
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
This chapter relates to life. All too often, we find ourselves surrounded by texts which make no sense or are too wordy or are poorly written. So this means we have to create things for ourselves and think outside of the poorly constructed box.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Scripts for Audacity Project
Hey guys! So I figured that it would be easiest if we can all see each others' scripts in one place, so once you decide what you want to say, you can type it here by editing this post! That way, we can easily see if we're repeating information.
Natalie (On Project Based Learning) :
Hello Parents,
My name is Ms. Mahoney and I am going to tell you a little about Project Based Learning. Project Based Learning is a fun and innovative way for students to be engaged in a project and shy away from the traditional way of learning. Students that are involved with Project based learning gain hands on experience with the use of technology. With project based learning it teaches students many different skills that they will need in the future such as communication skills, leadership skills, organization and time management skills along with many more. Project based learning deals with real life situations put into a project form for the students to learn an complete throughout the year. **Timed and about 55 seconds, feel free to change or add anything :)**
Jen (On what we have done so far) :
Dianne (On what will come next) :
My name is Miss Taylor and I am going to talk about the direction in which this project is going and what our students will be doing next. We have, so far, laid a strong foundation for our student's learning and we have become well-versed in the subject of weather monitoring. We are going to being to focus on the job of a meteorologist. We will talk about what a meteorologist actually does and everything that goes into the job description. Soon, our class will even get to visit our local weather station! There, we are going to take a tour, get a lesson on being a meteorologist, and watch a live news broadcast. We are looking forward to our students getting this real life learning experience. After our field trip, the class will be making our own weather stations. For this project we will learn about weather stations and how to use them, construct our own, and put them to use with our daily weather observations. As we continue with our project based learning experience, we are lucky to be able to provide such rich and rewarding experiences that are sure to make this project one our students will always remember.
Natalie (On Project Based Learning) :
Hello Parents,
My name is Ms. Mahoney and I am going to tell you a little about Project Based Learning. Project Based Learning is a fun and innovative way for students to be engaged in a project and shy away from the traditional way of learning. Students that are involved with Project based learning gain hands on experience with the use of technology. With project based learning it teaches students many different skills that they will need in the future such as communication skills, leadership skills, organization and time management skills along with many more. Project based learning deals with real life situations put into a project form for the students to learn an complete throughout the year. **Timed and about 55 seconds, feel free to change or add anything :)**
Jen (On what we have done so far) :
"My name is Ms. N, and I'm going to talk a little bit about what our class has accomplished so far. Our students have received introductory instruction in our weather unit. To start off, we began making general observations about our daily weather. Our students kept a weather journal and carefully recorded what they saw each day. As part of our classroom routine, we would travel outside to make note of anything that we found interesting. As time went on, we made more detailed observations. What we once wrote down as “cloudy” became “low, thick clouds covering most of the sky.” After making observations of the weather, we then began to talk about the concepts and vocabulary that accompany this unit. We performed experiments and many projects to gain a better understanding of what weather is and where it comes from. We learned about the different types of clouds, what causes our seasons, and talked about the water cycle. Our students also demonstrated their knowledge of high and low pressure systems, and warm and cold fronts. They also learned how to read a weather map which will come in handy for what we will be learning next. Though there are many detailed parts to the things that our students are learning, they are picking up quickly and are very excited and curious to know more and to apply their knowledge to the real world."**I timed my part and it was about a minute and five seconds**
Dianne (On what will come next) :
My name is Miss Taylor and I am going to talk about the direction in which this project is going and what our students will be doing next. We have, so far, laid a strong foundation for our student's learning and we have become well-versed in the subject of weather monitoring. We are going to being to focus on the job of a meteorologist. We will talk about what a meteorologist actually does and everything that goes into the job description. Soon, our class will even get to visit our local weather station! There, we are going to take a tour, get a lesson on being a meteorologist, and watch a live news broadcast. We are looking forward to our students getting this real life learning experience. After our field trip, the class will be making our own weather stations. For this project we will learn about weather stations and how to use them, construct our own, and put them to use with our daily weather observations. As we continue with our project based learning experience, we are lucky to be able to provide such rich and rewarding experiences that are sure to make this project one our students will always remember.
Hello there--
I am still at home (2 hrs away) and I am having car troubles this morning. I am going to try very hard to get there in time for class but if I don't, I wanted you to know why. I have read about the podcast for today (not due until march 2) and I am familiar with Audacity. If I don't make it to class today, I will be going to the lab on Wednesday to make up and I will be in touch with you guys this week.
Thanks!
Dianne
I am still at home (2 hrs away) and I am having car troubles this morning. I am going to try very hard to get there in time for class but if I don't, I wanted you to know why. I have read about the podcast for today (not due until march 2) and I am familiar with Audacity. If I don't make it to class today, I will be going to the lab on Wednesday to make up and I will be in touch with you guys this week.
Thanks!
Dianne
Friday, February 10, 2012
Google Document-Assignment 4
So here is what happened when I put the embedded code into blogger under "Edit HTML." I will try to modify it to make it look not-so-awkward, but until then, here is the link which I will post also:
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1II74IUvJf0KfmliMgsha4o3j75_6oJcut377X0m1Mb8
You can all edit this at any time and it will show the saved changes on this post, so if you haven't posted anything yet or would like to post more, then you have the freedom to do so! I'll try to check on this later but I didn't want to wait much longer to post this because I was afraid I would forget.
Have a great weekend!
Reading Reflection #3
Discussion on what should be considered when selecting a "big idea":
This chapter talks about finding the "big idea" for the project. The "big idea" is where the project is going. To know how to get somewhere, you need to first know where you are going. Th"big idea" is what students should, at the culmination of the project, have put all of their work towards. As a teacher, you can plan a so many different activities and projects based on a single "big idea". You are helping your students experience hands on learning centered around the topic at hand.
Discussion on the 21st Century Skills:
School is no longer about drilling students in math problems, testing students out of a science text book, and asking students to write out words 100 times to memorize their spelling. School is evolving to supply students with the tools to become explorers of learning, and great thinkers. By using project based learning in the classroom, students have to higher their thinking to evaluate situations and synthesize information by creating their own new thoughts and ideas about all different topics and subjects.
Discussion on 21st Century Literacy:
This section of the chapter talks about the idea of literacy moving beyond the simplistic idea of reading and writing. Literacy instruction has moved on to require thinking about, talking about, creating, and immersing students into all different literacies. The section also talks about how students learning in a digital age need to learn in a way that will embrace new technology. I strongly believe, however, that it is still important too keep books, pencil, and paper an important part of literacy instruction.
Discussion on How the Information in this Section that Relates to mu topic:
This information relates to my topic because it highlights what a good project based learning situation looks like and goes into the importance of what children take from project based learning. This section made me better able to implement an effective project based learning experience for my students so that the project itself does what is should for my students' learning.
This chapter talks about finding the "big idea" for the project. The "big idea" is where the project is going. To know how to get somewhere, you need to first know where you are going. Th"big idea" is what students should, at the culmination of the project, have put all of their work towards. As a teacher, you can plan a so many different activities and projects based on a single "big idea". You are helping your students experience hands on learning centered around the topic at hand.
Discussion on the 21st Century Skills:
School is no longer about drilling students in math problems, testing students out of a science text book, and asking students to write out words 100 times to memorize their spelling. School is evolving to supply students with the tools to become explorers of learning, and great thinkers. By using project based learning in the classroom, students have to higher their thinking to evaluate situations and synthesize information by creating their own new thoughts and ideas about all different topics and subjects.
Discussion on 21st Century Literacy:
This section of the chapter talks about the idea of literacy moving beyond the simplistic idea of reading and writing. Literacy instruction has moved on to require thinking about, talking about, creating, and immersing students into all different literacies. The section also talks about how students learning in a digital age need to learn in a way that will embrace new technology. I strongly believe, however, that it is still important too keep books, pencil, and paper an important part of literacy instruction.
Discussion on How the Information in this Section that Relates to mu topic:
This information relates to my topic because it highlights what a good project based learning situation looks like and goes into the importance of what children take from project based learning. This section made me better able to implement an effective project based learning experience for my students so that the project itself does what is should for my students' learning.
Reading Reflection #3
Discussion on what should be considered in finding “the Big
Idea” for a project.
In this chapter the book talks about the “Big Idea” for a
project to do in the classroom. Finding
the big idea for a project is very important.
If you do not know or understand the big idea for a project then how do
you expect your students to understand? You
want your students to be excited and engaged with the projects that you do in
your classroom. I liked the example in
the book where a teacher wanted her students to get the “big idea” about the
number 1,000 and what it means. She knew
she did not have much room in the classroom for her students to collect things,
so she decided to collect names on a web program called “wiki.” She started by showing her students how to
use the program with editing and adding their own names. Then she asked the students in her classroom
to help their parents add their names to make the list larger. She invited three other classrooms to
participate and found out that the word spread like wild fire. Every week she would show her students using
wiki, allowed her to reinforce the meaning of 1,000. They watched together as the number grew and
grew till they hit 1,000. I think this
is a great idea to have in the classroom.
Discussion on the 2lst Century skills.
When you think of doing a project in the classroom you have
to think of how this project will help them develop 21st-century
skills. A well-designed project causes
students to stretch their “intellectual muscles” in ways traditional learning activities
may not. When you are planning a project
you have to make sure that the objectives for your project are associated with
the categories of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. I am just starting to lean about Blooms in my
other ED classrooms. These objective
categories move from a lower-order to a higher-order. These verbs will come in handy when you are trying
to design questions to drive your students.
Discussion on the 21st Century literacies.
This part of the chapter I was really confused on what I was
reading. I didn’t understand what the
organizations were and what the significance of knowing all of these. I can understand that if we are going to be
teaching in PBL School, but I am still confused on what all of the
organizations were.
Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.
This part of the chapter it discusses what each of the
essential learning functions are and how they relate to PBL. The eight different learning functions contribute
differently to the idea of PBL and explain why they are important. There were some functions that I have never
heard before and learned a lot about and there were some that I have heard
of. I liked the idea of the
Collaboration- Teaching and learning with others. Having projects collaborate will help
everyone learn together.
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your
topic/project.
This chapter relates to our topic by the strategies of
Blooms Taxonomy and the “Big Idea”. We
need to make sure that our students, and as a teacher, understand the “Big Idea”
of our project on weather monitoring. We
want our students to be excited and interested in our project. We have to make sure that we have the right
objectives to help explain our project and challenge our students.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Chapter 3 Reading Reflection
Discussion on what should be considered in finding “the Big Idea” for a project.
This section in the chapter discussed why understanding “The Big Idea” is important. It gave a really neat example of how to use technology to show a class what 1,000 of something looks like, which I thought was a really neat idea. The reason as to why knowing what the big idea is is important is because otherwise, the children have no reason to learn it. If there is no big idea, or no uniting feature as to why this project is being used or how it applies to the real world, then people will lose interest quickly. I can remember so many times in high school when we had to do ridiculous math problems which seemed to have nothing to do with the world we lived in. I remember saying to myself, “Well, I don’t really care if I don’t understand it because I won’t have to use it outside of this class anyways…” These are the sorts of things that children should never say. Unless there is an obviously stated “Big Idea,” then whatever it is that the students are doing won’t be meaningful and they will not want to partake.
Discussion on the 2lst Century skills.
This section discusses what is needed to plan a successful classroom in this modern age. I have already learned about Bloom’s taxonomy in a different class. The book kind of confuses these subject areas, I think, so here is a link to a more comprehensive description. http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm
It is said that by incorporating different strategies of learning (by choosing different words from the chart to covey your objectives,) you will become a much more proficient teacher and will be able to affect a lot more children than if you were to solely choose from one category of the pyramid.
Discussion on the 21st Century literacies.
The first part of this section lists a whole bunch of things that, frankly, I don’t care about. What I enjoyed about this section is how they defined literacy. Usually, when we think of literacy, I think of books, reading, writing, and things like this. However, the definition in the book re-defines literacy as “…learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens.” This is a much more comprehensive definition, to me, and I think that our current schooling system does not provide literacy very well at all. However, I was disappointed on the next page where Jeff Whipple labels children as “information artists.” I mean, seriously-is nobody else reading this?! Information artists?! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY CAN’T CHILDREN JUST BE CALLED CHILDREN!? I am so fed up with everyone thinking that children are these empty vesicles, needing to be labeled and pushed through the system, given packaged bits of INFORMATION to be sent into the real world to apply what they know and the skills they earn…This is NOT the way we should look at children. They are not simply “information artists,” no. They are people. Real human beings. Crazy, right? I’m sorry, Jeff Nipple, but schooling is NOT ALL ABOUT INFORMATION. It’s about the kids. I’m so over this book.
Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.
This section outlined the different types of learning functions and how they relate to PBL. The first heading discusses the importance of learning outside the classroom. The second heading discusses deep learning, or finding raw information so that children can make their own meaning of the words they read. This is a great idea. The third heading discusses how it is important to make things visible and discussable. Fourthly, it is important to express ourselves, sharing ideas, and building community. It is also important to collaborate, which I’m fairly certain is the entire goal of this book. It is important to research projects and to have some good project management. These are all self-explanatory, but I’m listing them because I want to get my full point value on this assignment. And finally, if you’re still reading, we must reflect on our successes and failures so that we can try better next time. Yippee!
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
Of course, this section relates to our topic. We need to create different strategies for children to learn using Bloom’s taxonomy. We also need to ensure that each of our students understands the “Big Idea,” and the real world applications for studying the weather. By instilling a sense of curiosity and excitement in our students, we will easily be able to teach our students what they would like to know, learning more about ourselves as teachers in the process.
This section in the chapter discussed why understanding “The Big Idea” is important. It gave a really neat example of how to use technology to show a class what 1,000 of something looks like, which I thought was a really neat idea. The reason as to why knowing what the big idea is is important is because otherwise, the children have no reason to learn it. If there is no big idea, or no uniting feature as to why this project is being used or how it applies to the real world, then people will lose interest quickly. I can remember so many times in high school when we had to do ridiculous math problems which seemed to have nothing to do with the world we lived in. I remember saying to myself, “Well, I don’t really care if I don’t understand it because I won’t have to use it outside of this class anyways…” These are the sorts of things that children should never say. Unless there is an obviously stated “Big Idea,” then whatever it is that the students are doing won’t be meaningful and they will not want to partake.
Discussion on the 2lst Century skills.
This section discusses what is needed to plan a successful classroom in this modern age. I have already learned about Bloom’s taxonomy in a different class. The book kind of confuses these subject areas, I think, so here is a link to a more comprehensive description. http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm
It is said that by incorporating different strategies of learning (by choosing different words from the chart to covey your objectives,) you will become a much more proficient teacher and will be able to affect a lot more children than if you were to solely choose from one category of the pyramid.
Discussion on the 21st Century literacies.
The first part of this section lists a whole bunch of things that, frankly, I don’t care about. What I enjoyed about this section is how they defined literacy. Usually, when we think of literacy, I think of books, reading, writing, and things like this. However, the definition in the book re-defines literacy as “…learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens.” This is a much more comprehensive definition, to me, and I think that our current schooling system does not provide literacy very well at all. However, I was disappointed on the next page where Jeff Whipple labels children as “information artists.” I mean, seriously-is nobody else reading this?! Information artists?! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY CAN’T CHILDREN JUST BE CALLED CHILDREN!? I am so fed up with everyone thinking that children are these empty vesicles, needing to be labeled and pushed through the system, given packaged bits of INFORMATION to be sent into the real world to apply what they know and the skills they earn…This is NOT the way we should look at children. They are not simply “information artists,” no. They are people. Real human beings. Crazy, right? I’m sorry, Jeff Nipple, but schooling is NOT ALL ABOUT INFORMATION. It’s about the kids. I’m so over this book.
Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.
This section outlined the different types of learning functions and how they relate to PBL. The first heading discusses the importance of learning outside the classroom. The second heading discusses deep learning, or finding raw information so that children can make their own meaning of the words they read. This is a great idea. The third heading discusses how it is important to make things visible and discussable. Fourthly, it is important to express ourselves, sharing ideas, and building community. It is also important to collaborate, which I’m fairly certain is the entire goal of this book. It is important to research projects and to have some good project management. These are all self-explanatory, but I’m listing them because I want to get my full point value on this assignment. And finally, if you’re still reading, we must reflect on our successes and failures so that we can try better next time. Yippee!
Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
Of course, this section relates to our topic. We need to create different strategies for children to learn using Bloom’s taxonomy. We also need to ensure that each of our students understands the “Big Idea,” and the real world applications for studying the weather. By instilling a sense of curiosity and excitement in our students, we will easily be able to teach our students what they would like to know, learning more about ourselves as teachers in the process.
What is Due For Tomorrow
Alrighty, group!
So here's what's up.
We have three things due for tomorrow:
1.) Assignment 3
2.) Assignment 4
3.) Reading Response
For Assignment 3, we each have to do ONE web evaluation, but submit all three as ONE document under "Submission of Web Evaluations found in Module #3." I will take care of the submission, as long as you email me your separate Web Evaluation by tomorrow so I can compile it into one document.
Email me as an attachment at: jennifer.m.nummerdor@wmich.edu and I will take care of it!
For Assignment 4, we have to do the Virtual Penpals thing. The two parts involve Google Documents and Google Maps. First, go to Google Docs and add to the document that we already made! (: Here is the link, but I'm not sure if it will work: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1II74IUvJf0KfmliMgsha4o3j75_6oJcut377X0m1Mb8/edit?hl=en_US
Then, we have to post that document to this blog via embedded link.
The second part to Assignment 4 is to generate a map (which has already been finish and is posted, so you don't need to worry about it.)
And the Reading Responses will be done separately.
Does this make sense? Sorry-you guys prolly already knew this, but I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page because this class can be confusing sometimes.
Enjoy the sunshine, team!
So here's what's up.
We have three things due for tomorrow:
1.) Assignment 3
2.) Assignment 4
3.) Reading Response
For Assignment 3, we each have to do ONE web evaluation, but submit all three as ONE document under "Submission of Web Evaluations found in Module #3." I will take care of the submission, as long as you email me your separate Web Evaluation by tomorrow so I can compile it into one document.
Email me as an attachment at: jennifer.m.nummerdor@wmich.edu and I will take care of it!
For Assignment 4, we have to do the Virtual Penpals thing. The two parts involve Google Documents and Google Maps. First, go to Google Docs and add to the document that we already made! (: Here is the link, but I'm not sure if it will work: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1II74IUvJf0KfmliMgsha4o3j75_6oJcut377X0m1Mb8/edit?hl=en_US
Then, we have to post that document to this blog via embedded link.
The second part to Assignment 4 is to generate a map (which has already been finish and is posted, so you don't need to worry about it.)
And the Reading Responses will be done separately.
Does this make sense? Sorry-you guys prolly already knew this, but I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page because this class can be confusing sometimes.
Enjoy the sunshine, team!
Hi!
Hope you're feeling better, Natalie! I am not sure what I am doing my lesson on yet, but I will post it soon & it won't be either of those topics.
Also, should we all post the websites we are using for Friday's assignment? I have not finished it yet, so I don't have my full list yet...but we cannot do any of the same ones. I am going to finish it tonight and my websites will be on a post before tomorrow morning.
One more thing..do we turn this into the dropbox on e-leaning? (Or Desire to Learn, or whatever it is called these days)? It probably says it somewhere on the site, I just haven't seen it yet.
Talk to you guys soon!
Dianne
Hope you're feeling better, Natalie! I am not sure what I am doing my lesson on yet, but I will post it soon & it won't be either of those topics.
Also, should we all post the websites we are using for Friday's assignment? I have not finished it yet, so I don't have my full list yet...but we cannot do any of the same ones. I am going to finish it tonight and my websites will be on a post before tomorrow morning.
One more thing..do we turn this into the dropbox on e-leaning? (Or Desire to Learn, or whatever it is called these days)? It probably says it somewhere on the site, I just haven't seen it yet.
Talk to you guys soon!
Dianne
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Hey guys I am so sorry that I was not in class on Monday. I have a virus and there was no way I was coming to class and getting you guys sick. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for this week and weekend to get caught up. So sorry about missing the class and I can ensure you that it wont happen again.
Thanks,
Natalie
My email is natalie.l.mahoney@wmich.edu if there is anything I can do
Thanks,
Natalie
My email is natalie.l.mahoney@wmich.edu if there is anything I can do
Monday, February 6, 2012
About Lesson Plan
Hey! So today we talked about the lesson plans we are going to have to do on TaskStream. Since we aren't allowed to choose the same ones, I call dibs on doing a lesson plan about the water cycle. Therefore, you guys can do any other topic you want.
(The reason I'm posting this is because she said if we do the same topic on our lesson plans, then we get a zero.) :(
(The reason I'm posting this is because she said if we do the same topic on our lesson plans, then we get a zero.) :(
Friday, February 3, 2012
Chapter 2 Reading Reflection
The entire theme of chapter two emphasized the importance of "working together." This is something that I truly struggle with. I really dislike doing group projects-it isn't the people that I work with, but at this stage in our college lives, everyone has something else going on and finding meeting times outside of class is difficult. In high school, there was the problem of getting paired with others outside of my social class that might not have liked me or vise versa. However, I think that working with groups like how the book talks about will be much easier because everyone has similar schedules as far as work goes. I think that working together collaboratively has some obvious benefits that the book points out.
Something that I think this book talks about that I disagree with is that doing project based learning within the classroom is ineffective unless the entire faculty is in on it as well. I think that there are so many ways in which to involve PBL within the classroom. At first, one might have to be creative in order to get the desired results, but I don't think that it is nearly as difficult as the book outlines it to be.
There are also a few wording things that I really dislike in this book. I feel like this chapter framed students as commodities instead of human beings. On two pages, the authors talked about how to "capitalize on the wisdom of the group." I feel like a much better word could have been used. Capitalizing on children's wisdom sounds sinister. I would have instead phrased it as: "Integrating children's wisdom to make the project more productive and rewarding." There were quite a few other things that I think could have been phrased differently. I think that this chapter is all about the projects and not about the children, which I hope will change as the chapters go on. We aren't teaching subject matter or projects or whatever it may be. We are teaching CHILDREN and I think the further we stray from that, the worse off we will be.
I really did enjoy the last part of this chapter, though. The book provides some really good websites and great ideas for which to utilize project based learning within the classroom. What I would personally like to see is more examples of how this works in the classroom instead of just explaining why. It has become quite obvious that PBL is beneficial to children, but with just the framework for being able to explain why it is effective, we are ill-equipped with good ideas from which to base our PBL adventures on. I like the "beg, borrow, steal" theory that a lot of teachers use. I think that we need to be studying more examples of how teachers have used this in their classroom.
Bye.
Something that I think this book talks about that I disagree with is that doing project based learning within the classroom is ineffective unless the entire faculty is in on it as well. I think that there are so many ways in which to involve PBL within the classroom. At first, one might have to be creative in order to get the desired results, but I don't think that it is nearly as difficult as the book outlines it to be.
There are also a few wording things that I really dislike in this book. I feel like this chapter framed students as commodities instead of human beings. On two pages, the authors talked about how to "capitalize on the wisdom of the group." I feel like a much better word could have been used. Capitalizing on children's wisdom sounds sinister. I would have instead phrased it as: "Integrating children's wisdom to make the project more productive and rewarding." There were quite a few other things that I think could have been phrased differently. I think that this chapter is all about the projects and not about the children, which I hope will change as the chapters go on. We aren't teaching subject matter or projects or whatever it may be. We are teaching CHILDREN and I think the further we stray from that, the worse off we will be.
I really did enjoy the last part of this chapter, though. The book provides some really good websites and great ideas for which to utilize project based learning within the classroom. What I would personally like to see is more examples of how this works in the classroom instead of just explaining why. It has become quite obvious that PBL is beneficial to children, but with just the framework for being able to explain why it is effective, we are ill-equipped with good ideas from which to base our PBL adventures on. I like the "beg, borrow, steal" theory that a lot of teachers use. I think that we need to be studying more examples of how teachers have used this in their classroom.
Bye.
reading reflection #2
The text described a learning community as the collaboration
between teachers and students to further develop an experience. The main focus of a learning community is
having the education professionals collaborate amongst each other.
Collaboration is a great way for teachers to give their valued opinions to what
needs to change in the school system. Collaboration should be key in any school
system. Collaboration gives the teachers
a chance to talk and communicate with other teachers in their buildings. Having teachers collaborate with each other
gives them a chance to help each other with all the new technologies in the
buildings or just help with certain lesson plans. Teachers can collaborate with each other on
what they want their students to learn and how they are doing to teach that
lesson through different projects. The benefits
of Learning communities are just as I said above it gives not only teachers a
chance to give their opinions and have a voice but it also helps that students. As the teacher develops new ways of teaching,
the students are getting to learn something in a totally different way than
before. The students are learning new
skills and ways to learn something. In order
for the learning community to be successful, all members have to cooperate with
one another. All members have to have
the same goal and what possibilities would work for the students. All of the components of a learning community
must be met otherwise it will not run as smooth as it should run. The concepts in this chapter relate to our
topic of weather monitoring by working together as “teachers,” to help our
students learn the basics of weather monitoring. The students will also work together with
students from another country to gather data about the weather from one country
to another. We will make sure that our
students are connecting our learning communities with their learning
communities.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Hi girls!
I was so sick on Monday morning and there was no way I was going to make it to class. I am making up the lab at 6:30 Wednesday night. Just wanted to let you guys know why I wasn't there. Please let me know what I can/should do before class on Monday.
My e-mail is Dianne.m.Taylor@wmich.edu if you need anything from me! Thanks for understanding! I will see you guys on Monday morning.
Have a good weekend,
Dianne
I was so sick on Monday morning and there was no way I was going to make it to class. I am making up the lab at 6:30 Wednesday night. Just wanted to let you guys know why I wasn't there. Please let me know what I can/should do before class on Monday.
My e-mail is Dianne.m.Taylor@wmich.edu if you need anything from me! Thanks for understanding! I will see you guys on Monday morning.
Have a good weekend,
Dianne
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