Final Concept Map

 

 

We changed our concept map by making misconceptions its own subject about weather. There are many misconceptions students believe are the reason for certain weather conditions. We also updated the seasons subject by only having subjects that relate to what will be shown in our website. 

Reading Reflection #11

      As a result of projected-based learning students get a better understanding of what they had overall learned because they had done most of the project in groups, asked their own questions and got the answers themselves. They are learning in the real world and working to think critically, they learn to collaborate in groups and work together, as well students use technology as a tool for solving problems that they normally wouldn't  with a normal lesson plan. With using projected-based learning they engage in a more meaningful learning experience.

      A great way to bring a project home is to get the whole family involved and the community. Have a night and bring the community in and share ideas. Show the community what the students have learned and let them teach the community, this gives them a chance to express ourselves. Websites and blogs are another way to bring a project home as well.

     Concepts in this chapter relate to our project to give us an idea what worked and what didn't work. As well gives us a chance to show the community what the students have learned and share are ideas with other, as well get feed back to better improve on the next project.

Reading Reflection #11

                What occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach are students are learning by engaging in real-world projects which better prepares students for the future by having them learn to think critically, collaborate as part of a team, and use technology as a tool for solving problems. By using the project-based learning approach students are engaged more deeply in meaningful learning.

                Good projects open new doors and create connections that teachers can build into future project designs. Building time for student reflection into the end of each project is not only for students’ benefits, but also to help teachers with future planning. Teachers think about the concrete planning that helped made their project successful, and what other parts can be added in or changed. Teachers can recall the most engaging learning activities which really grabbed the students’ attention and where the students comprehended the topic at hand well.

                Concepts in this chapter relate to my project because my partner and I can critique our work to find out what worked and what didn’t work and make changes to it for future use, and critique how well students’ work products together. We can also share our insights with our teachers through an existing network where teachers from around the world turn for inspiration, good ideas, and ongoing projects they can join and create a project library for future use by others as well as yourself.

READING REFLECTION #10

     Its important during and after a project to set time aside to reflect over both how the whole project went and is going, as well as how the students are doing, both in groups and alone. Plan reflection questions you can ask students and yourself to better understand how the project went and get feed back to how the students felt about the project. Did they really learn anything from this topic or was it wasteful? What will you always remember about this project? These are a few questions that you can ask your students.

     Students need to reflect and elaborate on how a project went to understand what they are taking away from the experience, if anything. If a student can't come up with anything they will remember from this topic/project maybe it needs to be planned better on the teachers part or maybe the student really just didn't understand what was being learned. Reflecting on a topic/project at a mid-way point might be helpful as well to make sure students are taking away something from this experience.


     Many schools' identities are tied to their traditions. Some schools are known for having great sports teams or having something special happen over the years. In a community come up with ideas so that your class and school can establish a tradition and from an identity. When you have everyone working together this alone builds a foundation for tradition.


      Students have worked so hard towards this go and final project, celebrate this with them and everything they learned. Hold a party, put on an event, overall celebrate learning and build your school's identity as a place where kids get to learn through projects. This will only get the students even more excited for the next one and show the community what great classes and school you have.


   Building identity is important for furture classes and to have a better school overall, this goes back to getting the community involoed as well. reflecting is very important to understand what the students are taking away from this project and how this helped them to learn a topic. As well celebrate how far they came and how well they did, this is very important.

Reading Reflection #10

                Reflection is acknowledged as being essential element in learning. Taking time to reflect helps students feel good about their accomplishments, but more importantly, reflection can be the thing that makes learning really stick. When students create their own meaning, it’s important that they look at it from all sides while meaning is taking shape, and then view it from a distance, too, as they get ready to step beyond the experience to the next learning challenge. Setting aside time for conscious reflection helps students reveal things they might not otherwise think about such as what they learned, their growth as learners, and what they want to learn in projects ahead.

                Students need to reflect and elaborate because they can look at the topic from all sides while meaning is taking shape, and then view it from a distance as they get ready to step beyond the experience to the next learning challenge and where or what more they want to learn more about the topic. By reflecting and elaborating, the students get to thinking deeper about the subject at hand. What does this get them wondering about next? What do they want to learn now, and how do they want to go about it? Students can create more projects themselves to get a deeper understanding and have a sense of pride doing their project since it’s their own responsibility.

                Schools build tradition and identity. Your class can establish a tradition of exemplary project work. Part of the recipe is building awareness in others. You have a foundation for tradition when families, the community, and students coming up through the grades know what you are up to. Younger students will be ready for the learning that awaits them. Students can anticipate the time when they get to a part of your classroom tradition. People in the community begin to notice and value students’ accomplishments and give you enthusiastic support.

                Celebrating a project is celebrating learning. This build’s your school’s identity as a place where kids get to learn through projects. By celebrating projects, students feel a sense of accomplishment and pride by displaying their projects during the celebration. Through this celebration, it encourages students to continue to do projects and to make a deeper understanding of the topic at hand.

                The concepts in this chapter relate to our project by having our students reflect on the assignments and projects they did with our project. By reflecting, students can reveal things they may not otherwise think about. It’s also important for us as teacher because it’s an opportunity to look back one more time, acknowledge of how hard work and commitment contributed to the success of the project and a culture of excellence at our school, and to give students a sense of pride on their projects.

Reading Reflection #9

    Establish anchors with the students to understand prior-knowledge of topics. Like the book talked about before, a great activity is K-W-L. This activity will help to get a better understanding of your students prior understanding. Keep in mind all students wont be at the same place or have all the same prior-knowledge so this might be a great time for a mini-lesson.


    This goes along great with the topic of understanding prior-knowledge and pretty much goes hand and hand with it. By establishing "anchors", you gain a sense of where students are starting and how far they are going as they work to meeting learning goals. When considering assessment, think about the quality of the learning experience.


    A great way to assess students is a rubric, this way they can see what the learning goals are even before the project starts and what they need to have learned and/or completed. Maybe stay away from traditional tests and give more informal that assess the analysis or real reading. Asking students what they have learned is always an idea or have them test their project in the real world. Trying something new to grade students is always a great idea and will truly test if they have really learned anything or not.


   Ideas and concepts such as new ways to grade is great when ending a project and trying to find out how much a students has really learn. Instead of just taking a boring test. As well understanding prior-knowledge is very important because you need to know where the class is with these ideas and topics to make sure they understand what is going on, if not take the time and help teach what they are unsure of before moving on.

Reading Reflection #9

               A method of understanding prior-knowledge of students is the K-W-L activity. This activity is used to have the student put down what they already know about the topic (K-know), what they want like to learn (W-want), and what they have learned (L-learned). Not everyone is starting at the same place. Similarly, the distance they travel during a project will not be the same for each learner.

                The importance of establishing anchors for a project is to find out your students’ prior understanding. You gain a sense of where students are starting and how far they are going as they work to meet learning goals. In a project-based classroom, you expand the opportunities to differentiate instruction and help all learners be successful.

                Several ways to assess what students have learned during the project are an online grade book, a traditional test at the end of a nontraditional literature project, ask students what they learned through a reflection paper or an interview, and  have students create something new that asks them to summarize or synthesize what they have learned. This novel task gives you the opportunity to look for transfer of knowledge.  Modeling real-world assessment is also a good way to assess what students have learned during the project. This promotes critical thinking and this additional level of assessment was a natural connection.

                The concepts in this chapter relate to our project because as future teachers we need to know the appropriate way as well as many ways to assess our students on what they have learned. We also need to be able to assess them to see if they got a general knowledge of the topic or if they were able to know the topic inside and out and become an expert.