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.

Reading Reflection #8

  It's always a great way to branch out of the classroom and get experts helping with projects, a lot can be learned outside the classroom. This will also make it more fun for the students as well as more hands on. Connecting with experts on a topic online can be a great way to learn, maybe skype with the expert as a classroom or take a Field trip. A learning circle isn't just in a classroom but can be made around the world. Expand the students learning to distant countries, this can easily be done through pen pals and blogs. Learning doesn't just happen in the classroom so expand on ideas and get the students working with experts on a topic or project.

The EAST initiative model shows the benefits of using technology for a real purpose to solve problems and make improvements in their communities. EAST gets students using multimedia tools that are found in professional laboratories or design studios. They learn to master these tools and solve community problems that interest them. EAST students have used GPS to map tails of a national park. This idea started back in 1996 and now is used in over seven states and over 260 schools. The model is built on four essential ideas, these are 1. student-driven learning 2. authentic project-based learning 3. technology as tools 4. collaborations. The last critical component is training and support for teachers.

 As students become more comfortable with project-based learning they can be more than capable of leading their own projects and even coming up with the topic or idea that they care about. This will get the students more excited to learn. You will have control of the project of course but give the students a chance to lead on everything, from picking the topic, to what kind of technology and project they might put together. This will be more meaningful, getting the students working together better.

At some point it think it's would be a great idea to get the students leading on topics and projects. I believe they will get more out of it when they enjoy the project. The EAST model is great but most schools don't have this yet, so it might be cool to bring it into your classroom and project and show others how it can really help students learn . lastly branching out would be a great idea for our topic just to bring in an expert to better explain ideas to students and even me.

Reading Reflection 8

                Digital tools make it easy for students to share their work and exchange ideas with diverse audiences. Students can use blogs to connect with content experts, to reflect on their own learning, and to engage in global conversations that would otherwise take place. Digital-age projects offer almost unlimited opportunities for branching out from the classroom such as students consulting with experts in the course of researching a particular topic, students communicating with fellow learners, and students becoming more proficient at working in a culturally diverse world.

              The EAST Initiative Model demonstrates the benefits of using technology for a real purpose – to solve problems and make improvements in their communities. The projects make use of geospatial technologies and multimedia tools that are more commonly found in professional laboratories or design studios. EAST students master these sophisticated tools and applications in context while solving community problems that interest them. EAST Initiative started in rural Arkansas in 1996 and has grown to include more than 260 schools in seven states. It introduced novel ways to engage learners who were not successful in a traditional school setting. The EAST model is built on four essential ideas: 1) student-driven learning – students need to be responsible for their own learning, 2) authentic project-based learning – students should be engaged in solving real problems in their communities, 3) technology as tools – students need access to the relevant technologies that professionals use to solve real problems, and 4) collaboration – when students collaborate in teams to pursue authentic projects, they accomplish more than any one person can do in isolation.

                As teachers become more comfortable with the project approach, they sometimes find that students are quite capable of leading their own projects – starting with generating a project idea they care about. Through students leading their projects, students get to become the experts. Students get to research topics they are interested in and get to research it the way the want whether it’s through scholarly journals, newspaper articles, the World Wide Web, consulting with experts, and many other ways. By letting students “lead” their projects, it gives them a sense of responsibility and pride.

                The concepts in this chapter relate to our project because as teachers we need to understand that project-based learning lets students build connections and branch outside of just the school to other areas in the world. It’s also important that as teachers that we let students lead their own projects. By letting students lead their own projects, they become the experts of the topic and generate a project idea that they are interested in.

Reading Reflection 7

There are three different types of level of classroom discussion, the first being teacher to teacher. This is a great way to show a project to another teacher and ask them how they feel about it or just overall feedback, what might they change or do differently.  This is a great time to work together, maybe improve on old mini lesson plans. I like the idea if you want to work with teachers that are in another location and too far away to talk face-to-face start up a blog or other collaborative tool to get ideas and share thoughts. Another level of classroom discussion is student to students. It’s really important for students to be talking about the learning experiences as they happen, not only in their own groups but with other students in the class as well. As a teacher you can join in on conversation but make sure to not take over. It’s also good to model how to give effective feedback, give them opportunities to practice this with peers. The last level of discussion is teacher to student, this change with project based learning; you won’t just be standing and using a lecture format with the students. Most of the time you will be circulating, observing and talking in smaller groups of students, unless you need to give a mini lesson to make sure the whole class understand an idea.

It’s very important as a teacher to check in on students during a project, procedural is making sure we are staying on schedule. Track the progress of students and make sure they know when the deadline is coming up. Teamwork is very important, make sure all the students are working together and not just one or two students are doing all the work. Understanding, spend some time observing teams at work, ask questions. If students start to go off task bring them back to main ideas. Lastly self-assessment, ask questions that encourage self-assessment and reflection. If students don’t feel comfortable asking their questions have them post them up on a blog.

  Students who use technology will most likely learn more and have more fun than other students. It is your job to help teach different types of technology to the students, some may be great with computers and others may have a really hard time. This is when a mini lesson comes in handy, give a brief over view of the technology you plan to use for your project to the students. Also make sure the technology you are using is helping the students to learn something. Some classrooms might not even have the technology your project calls for so keep that in mind as well when planning. 

  Not having the right technology can make or break any project, as well as not being prepared. Teamwork is a huge make or breaks a project as well. You might need to help teams along or point them in the right direction. Coming up with a team contract is a great way to make sure every student put all they can into helping there group out. Make sure everyone is helping out and focusing on the same main ideas. Having them evaluate their peers in also a really great idea.

       The ideas in this chapter were very helpful when thinking about my topic. Checking in with students is so important to make sure they stay on task. Overall thinking about what can really make or break a project, we have talked a lot already about technology being a problem but thinking about students need to really work together to have a great learning experience is so important.

Reading Reflection 7

Classroom discussions take place on several levels during project implementation. One level is teacher to teacher. Teacher conversations will likely touch on everything from the procedural to formative assessment. Another level is student to student. Students should be talking about their learning experiences as they unfold. Good communication skills are part of effective teamwork and will help keep their team organized and on track. Teachers should listen in to students’ conversations. Model how to give effective feedback and then give the students opportunities to practice with their peers. The last level is teacher to student. At this level, you as the teacher may decide to lead a whole-group lesson to introduce a new concept or demonstrate a skill that all students need to understand to move their projects forward. As the teacher you may decide to use a whole-class discussion to check in on student understanding or wrap up a certain phase of the project with some class reflection. However, most likely, you are circulating, observing, and talking with smaller groups of students which is ideal for practicing your own listening skills and asking questions that push students toward higher-order thinking. Student teams are likely to be going in many directions and working at different speeds. Frame your questions to get at the information you want to discover, and use the right tools to help keep projects moving. You may want to ask questions regarding procedure, teamwork, understanding, and self-assessment. Procedural questions you the teacher can ask are: “Are we staying on schedule? Do we have the right materials available? When’s the best time to schedule a field trip, expert visitor, or other activity?” Questions regarding teamwork are: “How are team members getting along? Is one student carrying too much of the load for the whole team? Are students able to manage conflict themselves, or do they need my help?” For understanding, spend time observing teams at work, listening to student conversations, and asking probing questions. If you see students going way off task or basing their decisions on faulty information, ask questions or suggest resources to redirect them. If you see opportunities for students to go beyond expectations, encourage them to push themselves. For self-assessment, ask questions that encourage self-assessment and reflection. Project journals or blogs offer space for students to describe challenges or frustrations, to ask questions that may not feel comfortable asking in class, or to share their excitement about a project. Before using technology in the classroom, you need to consider some questions that may help you maximize the potential of technology during a project. Some of these questions are: Is technology helping students reach learning goals, or is it leading them on side trips? Is technology helping students stay organized? Are students taking advantage of available tools to help them organize their research? Are students able to use technology to expand their horizons by connecting to outside experts or a boarder community? Do students have ready access to the technologies they need? With optimum use of technology, you may find students gaining benefits you did not envision at the beginning of the project. One benefit students may gain is new insight into how to communicate with a culturally diverse audience. Troubleshooting is a 21st century skill that distinguishes effective project managers. Help students understand that real-world projects come with real-world challenges, and help them learn from setbacks and fine-tune their strategies for getting a project back on track. Teamwork is another 21st century skill that can make or break a project. If you detect trouble, help students learn to manage their own team conflicts. It’s a real-life skill that will serve them well for years to come. By making teamwork a focus of formal assessment, you help emphasize the importance of this 21st century skill. You can ask students to evaluate their peers on a teamwork-scoring rubric or you might ask students to reflect on teamwork in their project journals. The concepts in this chapter relate to my topic/project because conflict will happen. Students and teachers alike need to know how to manage conflict and work around it. We are all humans and we all make mistakes. We then have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and make adjustments. That is what learning is about. The levels of classroom discussion also relates to our project on the student to student level because we want students to communicate with each other to create their project using good communication and teamwork skills.

Reading Reflection #6

 Technology tools such as using a blog can be great for any level student. This gives them a chance to write and record ideas over a long time, going back every so often to evaluate how there writing and ideas have really developed. Also with a blog other students can view the work and share there ideas on the post, giving you something to think about and reflective over. In the last class we talked about ipads, these can be great when a student is trying to evaluate themselves. They could be playing a game and see where they might need to improve on, instead of just talking a test.
 A great way to really start getting students minds ready for any project would be to get a feel for their prior knowledge. I really loved the Know-Wonder-Learn activity, this would be awesome to really get the students minds working and ready for the project at hand. I think it would be important to not just jump into the topic right away but let the students really explore and really think about the topic. I like the idea that the topic is brought up a little each day, to really get the students more and more excited and really thinking about the overall topic. Its important to get the students interest and to not just throw them into groups and say start.
 As it is really important for students to be working together it is also important to think about teaching prerequisite knowledge or skills students need in order to work with a degree of independence in their investigations. When students are than aware of what they know and don't know, they can establish a good point of departure and a sense of purpose when doing the project. Again the K-W-L would be really helpful. Another important idea would be to share the assessment rubric. Like the book states it can be their road map toward great achievement. All students should be aiming for the highest rating performance on each dimension.
 The first really important step would be to find out and understand how much technology background the students really have. Whether that be with a computer, ipod or even a smart board. Maybe your project involves the students making a broadcast, they will need to learn how to record and use that kind of technology. Some of this many need to be teach before the project can really start. If the students don't have a lot of background with a lot of technology maybe let them pick what they feel must comfortable with. You could also bring in a specialist to help the students as well. The idea one size fits all is not true at all, some students many be great with all kinds of technology and others may lack in that field, you can always work around that.
 Promoting inquiry and deep learning is really great idea, guide students as they choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action. Brainstorming as a group is always a great idea. Its also important to share with the students that sometimes doing less research on the Internet is good and just take a step back and really think about everything a little and than go back to researching with a clean open mind. Being there to really guide the students through research and mini lessons or activities will make for a better project overall.
Of course all the ideas and topics in this chapter are really important but I didn't find them as useful or helpful when thinking and planning about my project. I love the K-W-L activity and defiantly want to work that into my project because it seems so important. As well as getting the students minds ready but it seems a lot like the ideas we talked about in the chapters before and some of these ideas i believe would leave the students bored, just ready to start the project already.

Reading Reflection #6

Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths in many different ways. Blogs offer students space where they can reflect over time about what they are learning. ProfilerPRO allows you to identify the learning characteristics of an individual and also among members of a group, and you can identify interests, strengths, and weaknesses, and use this information as you guide learning. Tools such as online survey sites, Zoomerang and SurveyMonkey, can help you set up online surveys and use the results to track trends and help students see how their self-assessment compares to the larger group. Several ways in which you can get students’ minds ready for a project is by starting with students’ prior knowledge, get the students’ attention and give the idea time to settle in their imaginations, invite them to open their eyes to possibilities before digging in, encourage students to explore and think about the topic, and to discuss their ideas with friends and at the dinner table for several days. Discrepant events and role-playing predictions are two ways to arouse curiosity and start students thinking about the learning ahead. The elements of teaching fundamentals first are set the stage for independent inquiry and share the assessment rubric. Students need to know their starting point and have some idea of their destination. When students are aware of what they know and don’t know, they can establish a point of departure and a sense of purpose. Teachers need to give students an assessment rubric because it’s the students’ roadmap toward great achievement. A good rubric shows students what performance look like through a qualitative description of each rating. The most important steps in preparing students for using technology in projects are set up a technology playground, tap student expertise, introduce project management tools, demonstrate, rely on your technology specialist, and one size fits all – or not. Set up a technology playground where students can explore and encourage students to teach each other. Let technically able students teach each other. Set up computer stations, each with one tool students will use in the project, possible an online database at one station, a presentation software on another, and a shared wiki on another. Have small groups rotate from station to station as the student trainers demonstrate how to use the tools. Encourage students to write about their own progress toward goals because you as the teacher can gain in insight into where and why they may be struggling or falling behind. If you are comfortable enough with the tools students will use, demonstrate their use. Collaborate with your technology specialist to match learning objectives with technologies that help students meet them. Think about the usefulness of the technical skill within and beyond the project will help you decide what and how much students need to learn. Ways to promote inquiry and deep learning are to transform limited questions in questions for a deeper inquiry, guide students toward skilled questioning by imagining what practitioners or experts might ask, consider guiding inquiry using question starters such as, “which one” questions, “how” questions, “what if” questions, “should” questions, and “why” questions. “Which one” questions ask students to collect information and make informed decisions. “How” questions as students to understand problems, to weigh options from various points of view, and to propose solutions. “What if” questions ask students to use the knowledge they have to pose a hypothesis and consider options. “Should” questions ask students to make moral or practical decisions based on evidence. “Why” questions ask students to understand cause and effect and helps us understand relationships. The concepts in this chapter relate to our project because as teachers we need to know how to get our students’ minds ready as well as promote inquiry and deep learning for our students. If we can get them interested in the topic, students will be more accepting to learn deeper about the topic at hand. They will be able to open their eyes to many possibilities. Getting our students interested in the topic will also help promote students to get a deep learning and ask more advanced questions.

Revised Concept Map

Some of our topics were at a higher level than the grade level we are expecting our lessons and project to be based around. We expanded on all of our ideas.

Reading Reflection #5

     A lot of preparation is needed when working with project-based learning, so there of course are still many items that need to be considered before starting a project with the students, such as, keeping your project within budget is a 21st-century skill. It is now time to gather all the resources you will need as well. Look back at the project and consider how specific resources could support the project. Its also important to see what materials you will need, what supplies do you already have or what supplies does the school offer? Technology is a major key to these project, what kind of access will the student have to it. Of course there is always a lot more to consider when starting a project just remember the students need to learn from it, so have a great plan set up and be prepared for anything.
      When starting a project and working through it, its important for both the teachers' and students' to manage there time and flow of work. Teachers' need to have tools for communicating with students and others about the project, they need to have methods for getting resources to students as well. What I believe to be the most important is structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time. Students on the other hand need to have methods for seeking assistance and have collaboration tools. Students need ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole. Lastly they need ways to get and use feedback on their work, either through self-reflection, team input, or getting the teachers advice.
      When thinking of some great technology applications that should and can be considered for any project the best place to start would be simply the web. With the use of a computer and the Internet the students can do so much, find a pen pal, look up great information, start a web page and the list can go on and on. A computer is also a great tool to use, you can work with skype, make a simple power point or even edit a video to share.
     Like before, these concepts can all relate to my project, I need to have my "items" in place before the students can really begin the project. I need to consider where I might find my tools and how I might go about getting them. Management will play the biggest role in a project I believe, both students and the teacher need to learn management to really have a successful project overall. Plan ahead what kind of technology might be best for the project as well.

Reading Reflection #5

The items that should be considered before starting a project with students are what materials you will need, will your project involve the use of technologies that are new to you or your students, will you need to expand your students’ access to technology, will your students need access to experts to answer the questions that are apt to come up during the project, and who else can help with your project. We need to see what supplies, tools or other materials are available at school or offered by the parent community and other supporters. We need to think about the essential learning functions we need technology to deliver, and then select the tools that will help students meet the learning goals. We need to think creatively about how to make access more frequent and equitable. Teaching students to become effective managers of their own time should be a primary goal of any project. It’s a skill that will support them throughout their education and beyond. Teachers should plan a project calendar with milestones along the way because it will help students see deadlines of upcoming milestones so they can plan ahead, track their own progress, and double shoot potential delays before the fall behind. Learning management systems offer teachers and students another way to organize the components of a project in an online environment. The project-management tools and strategies teachers need include: 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, structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engages in a variety of learning tasks at the same time, and assessment tools and strategies. The project-management tools and strategies students need include: systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work, systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts, collaboration tools, methods for seeking assistance, ways to get and use feedback on their own work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice, and ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole. A wiki, blog, or a Web-based “desktop” application are some of the technology applications that can be considered to use in a project. A wiki is an easily edited Web page. Users create pages of sharable content using just a browser and the most basic markup language to format text, add Web links, or build new pages. Collaborators can write and edit together, from anywhere. Wikis are great tools for developing information that flows from many to many. A blog is an easily edited Web page, but in structure and flow it is more of a one-to-many delivery system, with one author controlling the contents. Viewers can comment on postings made by the author, but interaction in a blog is less of a free-for-all than a wiki. Blogs offer great tools for communicating about progress or milestones and to broadcast news related to the project. The concepts in this chapter relate to our topic/project because it helps me think of different management needs I should be putting into my project as well as what should be considered before starting a project with students. If we don’t know what to consider before starting a project, then we will struggle developing the project for the students. If this happens then the project may be a complete waste to do with the students.

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Reading Reflection #4

               The potential pitfalls in project design are long on activity, short on learning outcomes, technology layered over traditional practice, trivial thematic units, and overly scripted with many, many steps. If the projects is busy and long but reaches small or lower-order learning aims, it’s not worth investing your time or your students’ time. If learning aims are lofty and technology helps your students reach them, then the integration of technology is essential to the project. Thematic teaching is not necessarily project-based learning, but when examining thematic projects or creating your own, look for ways a theme elevates and connects the learning. As teachers, we need to be wary of over-prescriptive project plans that have many discrete steps.

                The best projects share important features. These features are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths, generative, causing students to construct meaning, center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry, and capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences. Good projects also are realistic, and therefor cross multiple disciplines, reach beyond school to involve others, tap rich data or primary sources, are structured so students learn with and from each other, and have students working as inquiring experts might. They also get at 21^st-century skills and literacy, including communication, project management, and technology use, get at important learning dispositions, including persistence, risk-taking, confidence, resilience, self-reflection, and cooperation, and have students learn by doing.

                Project ideas come from everywhere. Some examples are a tried-and-true project with potential for more meaningful, expressive learning, project plans developed by and for other teachers, news stories, contemporary issues, student questions or interests, a classroom irritant put to educational use, or even a “mashup” of a great idea and a new tool. There are other ways where teachers can find project ideas.

                As teachers we must remember that our project exists within a context. We need to keep in mind as we plan the school calendar, curriculum sequence, student readiness, and student interest. To design a project we need to revisit the framework. We need to make a final list of learning objectives for core subjects and allied disciplines. We also need to decide on the specific 21^st-century skills we want to address. Then we identify learning dispositions we want to foster. Next we establish evidence of understanding. We need to imagine what students would know or be able to do once they have learned as well as how they would be different as learners and as people. After this we plan the project theme or challenge. We should strive for enough structure and enough flexibility to serve the needs of the project, and true-to-life connections. Lastly we plan entrée into the project experience. What are the first things you might say to get students’ attention and build excitement for the learning ahead?

                Concepts in this chapter relate to our project because as teachers creating a project, we need to be wary of the downsides in project designs so we don’t make the projects a waste of the students’ time as well as our own. This chapter helps me as a teacher know some of the qualities that the best projects share so as a teacher I can find or create projects that help the students’ knowledge grow.

Reading Reflection #4

    There are many pitfalls in project design but there are many ways to over come them. A potential pitfall would be having a very long activity/project but very little learning being done, this would be a waste of time for the students. The project should be "right sized", if the reference material is easily found the task is lower-order, at the level of recall and understanding. Other potential pitfalls would be, technology layered over traditional practice, trivial thematic units and overly scripted with many, many steps. This is why it is very important to go back to what we have learned in the chapters before and really put those ideas into practice when coming up with a project, so you don't end up with a pitfall in your activity.
     All good projects share the same distinguishing features when it comes to the main framework of the project. The best project share the same qualities and they are: loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths; center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquire; are realistic and therefore cross multiple disciplines; get a 21-st century skills and literacy's, including communication, project management, and technology use. The book also explains many more but I believe to be the most important feature is have students learn by doing. Being hands on and working together is one of the most important ideas to project based learning.
      Good project ideas are everywhere and can be almost anything that will get the students working and learning together through project design and based learning. An idea can come from the classroom, a book being read in class or something the students really would like to learn more about. There really is no one single place or book that all your ideas will come from. To have a good, even, great project idea you need to have an open mind, even take many ideas from other teachers.
      The book breaks the ideas of designing your project into many steps, the first thing you must remember is that your project exists within a context. The school calendar, curriculum sequence you must follow as a teacher and well as students interests are all things you must keep in mind when putting together your project. The first idea would be to revisit the framework of project based learning. Come up with a project sketch, this should go into great detail and really explain what your project will be all about. Creating an asset map would also be a very good idea. This can really get the project going and break all your ideas down. The book really helps to break these ideas down into great detail but overall its very important to have a good framework of ideas down and how you will go about your ideas, to really start the basic design of your project.
    I believe this chapter concepts relate best to our projects in class. This chapter has been the most helpful to me by showing me the pitfalls to good and bad ideas, how I can start my project and what are good ideas. The best projects part of the chapter was really helpful to read and gave me a really great understanding of what I need to think about when starting my projects for this class and in the future.

Reading Reflection #3

     Every grade level and subject are focuses on a big idea, those big ideas are broken down to help the students with project based learning. Once you have understood the overarching concepts and processes you want your students to understand, figure out what ones are the most important. This will than help with the application or relevance in the real world, this will than help give you realistic ways to teach and guide your students. It will be hard to teach about one big idea, like earth science in the book but break that down and come up with ideas and teach off those instead. You want to remember to always come back to your big idea though.
      21st Century skills plays an important with your big ideas, this means you will need to look beyond the subject. Having a well-designed project  gets the students learning in ways they hadn't before.With project based learning  you can follow three different higher-order thinking skills and the many actions that go along with them. The three skills are: Analyze, really examine the big idea and project, have other teachers look over it or work in the communities like we talked about last chapter, really explain your ideas and points, compare and illustrate. Evaluate, this meaning you must take the time to really improve, debate you ideas, convince and overall assess what it is you want the students to really understand. Lastly create, you might need to adapt in the middle of a project but just be prepared to nothing is ever perfect. So be about to anticipate, combine, compose and imagine. I really like the ideas of reconsider, not just on a biography but anything that might be boring to students and that don't get them involved.
      I really liked the question that was being asked in the book about "21st-century literacy mean for today's learners?"I believe that we will look at books and writing paper in a new way, that will get the students excited to read about boring topics but making it fun with project based learning. "literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials with varying contexts." This goes way beyond just reading a book and writing a paper on it. Creativity needs to be put in place as well as innovation.These idea will help the students become independent.
      There are 8 really important essential learning funcations: 1) Ubiquity: learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time. Taking the students outisde of the plan old classroom will help them open up and learn in new exciting ways, they can also be more hands on. Everything and everyday can be a new learning experience for a student so make sure to keep that in mind as well. 2) Deep learning or going beyond whats right in fornt of t you and the students, as the book says find "raw" information on the web. When students have to dig deeper and look hard for answers but in a fun way they are using a higher order of thinking. They might come up with a lot of imformation so get them using a new way of organiztion. 3) Making things visible discussable, start using digital tools, they are very hands on and fun for the students. 4) Expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community gets students on the web and share ideas with people all around the world. Maybe start up a blog to express personal ideas and than students can comment and share there ideas with them as well. 5) Collaboration- Teaching and learing with others is so important in the project based learning system, everything for the most part is done together in pairs or a large group. Collaboration will get the students sharing ideas and planning together. 6) Research, as a teacher you are coming up with the big idea and sub parts to the big ideas but once a project is put together let the kids have fun and do much of the research on there own. They arent looking in books for answers anymore but to the real world or thw web for help. 7) Project management: Planning and Organization, this will be very important when it comes to project based learning. Students need to learn to manage time, get feedback from others and have everything set and organized to make the project flow. 8) Reflection and lteration, once again deep learning happens when you look at all side and others points of view. It might help if you are stuck to look back at everything you have done up to that point. Get ideas out on the table and share what ypu have come up with together, maybe you missed something and others can help.
   All these concepts will need to be put in place when it comes to our project, only because they are important to project based learning but because they will help to shape are ideas and be able to come out with something really great for the students. All these ideas will shape how we plan and teach for the 21st student, using all new ideas and ways.

Virtual PenPals and Google Map

Virtual PenPals and Google Map

Over the Ocean and through the English Woods to London, UK We Go

Michigan and London, UK

This map shows the distance between the United States and London, England. We want to show the distance between Michigan and London. London is further North than Michigan is, so we want our students to communicate with other students in London, England to see if they have similar or different weather conditions than Michigan does during the current season.

Reading Reflection #3

            “The Big Idea” for a project should have students invested in their learning. Thinking about real-world contexts helps to reveal the interdisciplinary nature of a project. “The Big Idea” for a project should incorporate science, math modeling, language arts, and civics. Students can use technology in order to find out information about “the Big Idea,” and students will have learning opportunities they normally wouldn’t have without project-based learning.

                The 21st Century skills for project-based learning are particularly relevant to the last three Bloom categories of objectives: analyze, evaluate, and create. Analyzing means to examine, explain, investigate, characterize, classify, compare, deduce, differentiate, discriminate, illustrate, and/or prioritize the information the student have gathered about “the Big Idea.” Evaluating means to judge, select, decide, justify, verify, improve, defend, debate, convince, recommend, and assess the information that the student has analyzed. Creating means to adapt, anticipate, combine, compose, invent, design, imagine, propose, theorize, and/or formulate new ideas, questions, and mini projects to “the Big Idea.” By analyzing, evaluating, and creating through project-based learning, students are able to expand their intelligence in ways traditional learning activities do not.

                The 21st Century learning literacies highlight digital-age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity. 21st Century learning literacies have incorporated core subjects such as mathematics, science, language arts, etc., along with 21st Century content (global awareness, entrepreneurial and civic literacy, and health awareness), learning and thinking skills (critical thinking, problem solving, communication, creativity, collaboration, and information and media literacy), information and communications technology literacy, and life skills such as leadership, self-direction, accountability, and adaptability. 21st Century literacy can basically be broken down to be explained as learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens.

                The essential learning functions are: 1) ubiquity-learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time, 2) deep learning, 3) making things visible and discussable, 4) expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community, 5) collaboration – teaching and learning with others, 6) research, 7) project management – planning and organization, and 8) reflection and iteration. Ubiquity is when students are given the opportunity to learn anytime, anywhere, and with whomever they want to learn it with inside and outside of the classroom. Deep learning is when students are engages to navigate, sort, organize, analyze, and make graphical representations in order to learn and express learning. Making things visible and discussable can help students share ideas about the material being shown to promote conversation between students. With technology becoming so widely used, students have many ways of expression themselves, sharing their ideas, and building communities through websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Projects invite collaboration and help us learn together. There are many different things students and teachers alike can do with each other such as share writing and reading. Students now-a-days look to the World Wide Web for research. Search engines can help find materials that are related to “the Big Idea” being researched. Project management helps students manage their time, work, sources, feedback from others, drafts, and products during projects. By reflection and iterating on their own work, students can determine the difference between what is acceptable and masterful work. Students deep learn when they examine ideas from all sides and from other points of views.

                The concepts of this chapter relate to our project because we have a “Big Idea,” weather monitoring. This “Big Idea” needs to be researched, analyzed, evaluates, and created into a project that will get students to have a deeper understanding of weather besides the temperate, the precipitation, and the clouds outside. By researching “the Big Idea” through many different features just as this chapter states, we can create a lesson plan that will help students understand why the days become longer near the summer time and shorter during the winter instead of just understanding that the days are longer during the summer than in the winter. This chapter relates to our project because as teachers we also need to have project management. We need to plan accordingly and be organized.

RR #2

     Learning in communities is important  and helpful  way to share ideas with other teachers, other students at any age level and people in the community. This is a great way to get feedback or change something you never thought to to better your classroom overall. Like Whipple had stated "I'd find a way to have teachers have more time to work with each other and to develop collaborative projects."

      Learning communities can benefit many teachers, they can share ideas on projects they have done with classrooms that either went great or may have gone way wrong to help out the other teachers in the learning communities. They can than work together to improve on projects and ideas to benefit not only one classroom but many. Also this can help new teachers work with ones that may not have a lot of experience with PBL and share there ideas and give each other feedback.

      These communities affect teachers in many great ways, like the book talks about working in teams to get better ideas and "learning organization" you can bounce ideas back and forth to really get the best ideas together. It builds a better school system as well for the teachers if they are all working together on ideas and PBL. This gives the teachers a chance to give critical feedback to each other and gives you a chance to see what you many have overlook in a project. This will also help any new teacher that maybe new to PBL.

       Learning communities will help give students a better education by getting the best from every teacher now with PBL. The projects will be better prepared and better understood by both students and teachers. Teachers who are part of the communities are more focused on the student, giving each student a better understanding of whats being learning through PBL. Like I stated a few times before, the communities help to give feedback and improve on every project making it a better learning experience for everyone.

       Each teacher holds clear values and beliefs with how they go about teaching a classroom. Learning communities must shared a similar vision of PBL to help benefit one another. They share a great responsibility when it comes to helping students achieve a goal with learning. Everyone  must have a clear sense of the mission, share the same ideas to achieve the mission, be able to work together in collaborative teams the best practice to achieve a mission, are goal- and results-oriented and see themselves as life-long learners.

   The concepts in this chapter relate to my project because my members need to share the same ideas and goals with me to make the best project we can together. I have to trust that my members will be well organize and have ideas ready to share so as a group we can collaboratively come up with the best project for the students or whom ever might see this project in the future. Overall be able to work together and open to new ideas.

Reading Reflection #2

                Learning communities is a great way to work with other teachers, people in the community, coworkers, etc. to create ideas together and get feedback from one another about changes or good ideas. When working in a learning community you get to work on communicating with other people whether they are in your school, different schools, different states, or even different countries. It’s a great way to get to know other peoples’ ideas on project-based learning.

                The benefits of learning communities are as instructors you learn different ideas and how to use them in your classroom from other teachers who have used them previously and successfully, or collaborate on a new idea by bouncing around ideas and getting feedback from each other. By being a part of a learning community, you are learning to work as a team and cooperating together. Team work and cooperating well together are important aspects of life.

Learning communities affect teachers by working with other teachers, people in the community, and professionals to create ideas of project-based learning that will help have a deeper understanding the material of what they are learning. It helps teachers collaborate with each other because by working in a team, you must be comfortable enough to tell a team member that their idea is good bad, try something different, or to make tweak it. It also affects teachers because they as a community are focusing on student learning as the priority.

Learning communities affect students because, as stated above, the teachers who are a part of the learning community have the priority of focusing on student learning. With this as a priority, they are focusing on how they can together make project-based learning for students more interesting so students have a deeper understanding and connection with the material being taught. Through project-based learning, students are learning to work as a team, learning to communicate with each other, and work on how to problem solve.

Members in a learning community share many components to see their ideas being done in a classroom. Some of these components are a clear sense of mission, share a vision of the conditions they must create to achieve the mission, work together in collaborative teams to determine the best practice to achieve the mission, organize into groups headed by teacher-leaders, focus on student learning, are goal- and results- oriented, collaborate with each other, hold shared values and beliefs, commit themselves to continuous improvement, and see themselves as life-long learners.

Concepts in this chapter relate to my topic weather monitoring because as a group member, I need to be able to trust my group members that they will get their work done accurately and accordingly as well as providing feedback to each other on things that may need to change or good ideas. By working together, we will be able to create our project more efficiently and without some unneeded stress.

Weather Monitoring Conept Map

Reading Reflection #1

           What I need to keep in mind as I start the journey through Project-Based Learning (PBL) is that I should use whatever technology is given to me in the classroom with the students. Weather it be a smart board or taking the students weekly to the computer lab but get them using all the great technology we have. Of course some teachers may have more technology in the classroom than others but to just work with whatever is given to me. When using all this new technology, get the students working together with the mind set of using PBL. Weather it be getting the kids to make a film of what they learned (like the book talks about) to get them more excited about the subject they are learning. Unlike writing a boring essay on there own, the kids will have a better chance of remembering working together and using all the different technology, as well as learning together instead of alone. As a teacher it would than be my job to work in all the standers for that topic but using PBL.

       Overall benefits of the PBL approach is almost like "teaching in a different way" and "turning the traditional classroom upside down". Getting the students to learn in a real world sitting changes there whole experience of how they learn. It becomes fun and the students aren't just being feed a bunch of boring information they most likely wont remember later but learning together with new technology, in a real world sittings will change how they see and learn new topics. This will also change how I will go about teaching as well, I'll set up the framework to the projects but the students will come up with the questions as well as find there own answers to those questions using technology to access there information. Projects would also be the centerpiece of the curriculum, so PBL wouldn't be extra work on top of the unit but built all in one.

      There are many benefits to students who participate in PBL, such as getting students using technology at a young age. This will help them not only in learning but in the real world and later in life. Getting to find information online, that me as teacher might never have found to share with the students. When students ask there own questions and need to go out and find those answer they are more likely to be excited about what they are learning and remember it more than just having a teacher stand in front of a class teaching or having students doing busy work. Students will also collaboratively work together to solve problems getting there questions answered more easily, overall working on projects together because face it no matter what job you get later in life you will have to work with others. This gets students doing it a young age as well.

     When using the PBL approach you must considered a lot, such as the kind of classroom you have, technology wise and what kind of students you may have. Everyone learns at different speeds so its important to figure out what approach will work best with the students you have. As the book states teachers are learners too so its important to really understand what PBL is before you just jump into it with a class. Everything comes with trial and error but its important, like with every lesson plan to have a lot of the project worked out ahead of time. With PBL the students will be doing a lot of there own work in groups but its important that your guiding them to the right answers as well. Being up to date with technology is something that will also need to be considered as well. You can't expect students to know how to work an ipad if you can't.

      The New Technology Model. Paul made a good point that we as teacher might face one day if we plan to use PBL, if your trying to use PBL in any classroom as a new idea and no one else in the school agrees with it you might be fighting an uphill battle like he talks about. How would you go about still getting to use PBL in your own classroom if no one else agrees with you on it? Unlike Paul you may not be able to just leave and go to a school that does agree with it. How might I go about still being able to use it in my classroom? Yes a lot of schools have great new technology but lets face it most schools don't. That will be a huge problem you might face when trying to teach using PBL.
     

Reading Reflection #1

                What I need to keep in mind as I start the journey through Project-Based Learning (PBL) is that students are up to the challenge because many students already have technologies within their lives. Students will also live and learn in the real world. By creating a project, the students will be able to think more critically about the subject at hand as they learn to analyze certain components. They also can make stronger connections between what they were learning and their own world.

                The overall benefits to students who participate in PBL arethe students’ aspects of their experiences are being changed. As stated above, students are able to think more critically about the subjects are hand and learn through experience instead of just reading out of a text book. Students also learn to work together with other classmates, community members, experts, and many other people. Students are engaged more deeply in meaningful learning.

                The benefits to students who participate in PBL are they getting hands on experiences like they would in real life situations such as problem solving when something doesn’t go the way it’s supposed to. Students develop good communication skills, inquiry skills, learn to be flexible with their working hours, develop a better understanding of how the world works, and students achieve the feelings that individuals can do something about changing the world we live in.

                The issues that need to be considered in PBL approach is the need to prove that technology has an educational side when properly utilized. Some other issues are what are the learning goals, classroom management style, how to talk and engage with students, assessments, and how to communicate with parents and colleagues.

                New Technology High is considered an example of New Technology Model because they are preparing students for their futures by having them learn to think critically, collaborate as part of a team, and use technology as a tool for problem solving.