Morse: Chapter 6 RR

Covers Chapter 6, Project Launch -- Implementation Strategies, of Reinventing Project-Based Learning, p. 93 to 112.

Your reflection should include:

1. Discuss how technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths.

Throughout the project, technology can be used to ask students to think about their thinking and processes. They can use the tools can help them articulate about the strategies they are using throughout the project. Students are encouraged to study, plan, evaluate, compare, collaborate, manage, create, and present their findings and throughout all of these different strategies students are able to find their strengths within an inquiry and technological based learning. Students are also able to lay out projects in the way they see their learning styles and can set and achieve their own goals. This process will allow students the opportunity to reflect upon these experiences throughout the project as well.

       2. Describe several ways in which you can get students’ minds ready for a project.

Identifying student's previous knowledge has and is always a necessary first step when planning any project or lesson. Engaging students is the next step for getting students' minds ready. Students need to see the value in learning the material and be able to explore and think about the topic both in and outside of the classroom setting. We can also do this by grabbing their attention through thought-provoking events. Some activities that can be used are role-playing, making predictions, and KWL charts. Students can start to learn and visualize the learning process ahead if students are able to see the importance of a topic. Next, make a list of the possibilities the way the project can be introduced and approached. This includes questions that need to be asked to promote higher-order level thinking. Questions that need a simple yes or no answer will not do a sufficient enough job and will flatten the learning process very shortly.

         3. Discuss the elements of teaching fundamentals first.

One element that needs to be addressed for is the previous knowledge or skills that students will need in order to work independently and successfully. By identifying what the students known and do not know for yourself and for the students, they are able to make sense of this information and create a place to build and learn from. Organization of thoughts and information is a key part for students. Another fundamental element would be to share the rubric you will be grading them from. This will provide the students with no surprises when working on the project.

        4. Describe the important steps in preparing students for using technology in project.

One of the ways that teachers can do to help prepare students for the use of technology in the project is by allowing the students to explore technology with and among themselves. Also recognizing what the students already know so that valuable time is not spent re-teaching what the students already know how to do. Students can also be used as resources to teach one another. Stations are a great way to help students learn many different techniques in a short amount of time. Checklists and procedures need to be set in place from the start so that students become aware of what is expected of them from botht eproject but also while they are using technology. Demonstrations can aslo be used to help show students processes and tools within technology.

        5. Discuss ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.

Teachers need to be guided and prompted with questins but also encouraged to create their own questions and plan their own investigations. Question starters can be used to help students develop further questions and ideas they have. Teachers can also provide a structure and environment where students are comfortable to ask questions and explore throughout the project.

        6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

Safety and setting up technology will be a necessity for students as they start their learning process. We also need to identify students' previous knowledge, ideas, and questions they have before we delve into a project. Teachers also need to ask what their curious about and relate these curosities to activities that can engage our students into the project. The more student engagement we have in the classroom, the more learning will take place.

Concept Map 2

We have organized this concept map based on lesson plans. Jessica's lesson plans are highlighted in blue and pink. These focus on "Selling Produce". Kyla's lesson plans are highlighted in blue and yellow. These focus on "Creating a Garden". We deleted components that we did not feel would be related to the main concepts that we were going to teach in our classroom.

Marshall: Chapter 5 RR

1.   Resources should be considered before starting a project with students. These resources include but are not limited to: supplies, tools and materials. Also the use of technology, new technology and the access to technology. If something is new to the teacher or classroom an expert may be needed to help. People such media specialists and technology coordinators may be of need for the project.

2.     Utilizing a project calendar that maps out different milestones along the length of the project will help keep you, the teacher, and your class on track. Depending on how large the project may be, creating smaller projects to complete that work towards finishing the final goal will help manage the project easier.

3.     Some of the technology applications that can be used to help with a project includes: a Project Wiki, Photos/Flickr, Blogs, RSSfeeds, Skype and personalized web pages.

Creating a classroom garden is a yearlong project. This chapter relates to our project because in our project we will have to split it up into mini projects until we successfully reach our goal of selling the produce in our garden. We will also need to use a variety of technology tools in order to help our students plant their garden, successfully harvest their produce and then sell it. 

Morse: Chapter 5 RR

Chapter 5 Reading Reflection: Project Management Strategies for Teachers and Learners

• Discussion on the items that should be considered before starting a project with students.

There are several items that need to be considered before starting a project with students. One item is to identify what materials you and your students will need for the project. If at first you cannot find these materials in the school in which you work, use the resources out side of school such as parents and other volunteer groups. You will also need to recognize which of these materials the students will need introduction to before you expect your students to use them. Another item is to create a way that technology will be easily and more readily accessible for students to use for research and other necessities. As well as technology, other resources such as experts and/or vitual field trips. If experts cannot come to the classroom, make sure that the technology necessary for them to be able to contact the students in this way is available. These accomodations and arragements can also be done with the help of both a technology coordinator and or a media specialist. These are two resources that are also important for you to contact before starting the project. While in collaboaration with these two resource specalists, being in contact with your taching team is also a very important way to share ideas and resources amongst the classrooms as well.

• Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.

For Students: Not only is time mangement important for teachers to have but also for the students to be aware of. Students need to be consious of their time frame, progress, and over arching goal of the project. One way that you can help students learn about this important concept is by having a project calendar with deadlines that are visual to act as reminders to the students of where their progress should be at. Each student should also be provided a briefcase or a special place where they can keep all of their materials and findings from their project. This includes an online storage space where students can access their material at school, at hoome, at the library, or other areas to provide opportunities for further exploration at any point at which they want to do so.

For Teachers: Teachers need to be aware of how their students will be arranged in groups to work colalboratively and ideas for how they will be rearranged throughout the year. This will provide the opportunity for students to work with a range of people allowing for access to different ideas and perspectives. Teachers also need to be aware of how the different learning styles and levels. How will students be challeneged or have their learning needs met? They also need to be aware of the seriusness of the project to both the students and the teacher. Responsibilities are a huge part of this project and these all need to be met by the students. One way to do this is by creating a contract for both the students and teachers to sign to set these high expecations in place from the very beginning.

• Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.

When considering applications to use for the project there must be a variety amongst them. A wiki of which students can create pages and paste basic information including Web links is one of the basic applications that can be used. Another is a blog which serves as a resource a tool to communicate with the community and other experts. Drupal and Textpattern are also two applications which can be used for the same purposes as the others; however, these include the opportunities to create forums and surveys as well. Podcasts and other personalized web pages are also important to consider, especially when trying to meet the needs of the different types of learners in your classroom.

• Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

For my topic/project, time management will be one of our major concerns and objectives that will need to be addressed amongst the planning and introduction of our project. We will also need to use a wide range of different technology applications. We have already planned on using podcasts as well as blogs to connect to an audience including the community. We can also use other web pages where students can put their stored information and resources and are able to access these through other computers - not just at home. Dropbox.com will be one resource we can use that is free so that students can create folders and organize their information in a way that makes sense to them. Using the resources that we have in our school and community are ways that will make our project sucessful.

RR Chapter 4: Marshall

Long on activity, short on learning outcomes. Avoid going through with a project if it only catches the attention but falls short of becoming a full project. Also avoid putting time into a project if the outcomes are not learned more than from the references that are already given.

Technology layered over traditional practice. Giving an electronic slideshow is not a project but is just a dressed-up version of a research paper.

Trivial thematic units. Thematic unites are interdisciplinary, collaborative and rigorous at times. A unifying theme can be used for a whole school year.

Overly scripted with many, many steps. Students should be making critical decisions about their project. This method could lead to limited and predictable results. If this happens a new approach to the topic should be sought.

A very important aspect to a good project is flexibility. If a project is not leading to the results that you or your students are looking for then starting over or reevaluating your project may be the best solution. This route should be taken even if you are running out of time.

When desiging the project it is important to get students away from traditional thinking. To engage the students they need to be put in situations that will make them want to ask questions. The roles need to be reversed; instead of the teacher asking the questions, it needs to be the students.

Steps to designing a project:

1.     Revisit the framework. Make a final list of learning objectives. Decide on the specific 21^st century skills you want to address. Identifiy learning dispositions you want to foster.

2.     Establish evidence of understanding.

3.     Plan the “vehicle”. This is the project theme or challenge.

4.     Plan entrée into the project experience.

Morse Chapter 4 RR

CHAPTER 4: Project Management Strategies for Teachers and Learners, of Reinventing Project-Based Learning, p. 75 to 91.

1.Discussion on the potential pitfalls in project design. The quality of the the students' experience is critical when designing the project design. Some things to keep in mind while designing the project are as follows:
A. Make sure that the outcome of the activty cannot be produced by just lecturing or a "normal" teaching setting.
B. Allow for technology to be used and incorporated but that it does not take over the quality of the project and become over used.
C. Keep in mind that these project designs need to colalborate with several different topics while still promoting higher level order thinking.
D. The learning path needs to not be scripted out so in depth that the students are not guiding the learning by making critical deicisions about their learning as well.

2.Discussion on the features of a good project. The features that are includced with a good project include different possibilities and outcomes of which are directed by the student's guiding and critical thinking when constructing meaning from these different concepts. The project needs to be centered around an ultimate question or engaging topic that the students are interested and can be/or is directly related to real-life situations. The topic needs to be able to cross all different subjects and even the community. Students need to be able to conduct research with primary sources as well as research amongst one another and their previous background and growing knowledge. Students should also able to become experts on the topic and therefore driving learning to a higher order critical thinking level by engaging in communication, management skills, and technological useage. Ultimately, students need to be the driving force of learning.

3.Discussion on where project ideas come from. There are several resources that teachers can use to find project ideas such as news/media, student's questions or interests in a particular topics, contempoary issues which include both social and political issues, and/or classroom or school issues that the students feel as if they can fix or try to solve.

4.Discussion on the steps to design a project. When designing a project, first learning objects for core subjects must be made and set before anything else must happen. It is critical that these learnign objects are met throughout the year in order for this project to even stand a chance in working within schools today. Once learning objects are set, 21st-century skills are needed to be chosen such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. Next, identify what the students background/previous knowledge is. It is important that we set a foundation for what they already have ideas and knowledge about so that we can build from there and restructuree if need be due to misconcpetions. After these are set, the structure for the background needs to be built. Plan an ideas as to how the students will go about learning, do to conduct research, and what they will create. These tasks should promote critical thinking amongst the students. Next, plan an anticipatory set - an activity to grab the students attention as well as management procedures that will be in place throughout the project.

5.Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project. While developing our project we need to be considerate of the potential pitfalls and make sure that we are not incorporating outcomes that cannot just be produced with a normal lecture or project within a normal class setting. We also have to be considerate of the topic going across all off the diciplines and can work under the objectives that need to be mastered in a particular time frame. As we are developing ideas for student research, we need to provide a variety of different strategies as well as effective and efficient strategies that are compatible with both the students and the research topic.

Podcast

Podcast information:
Talk about what project-based learning is - one concept from the book and how it relates to pbl and our project.
free music from the lecture with fading
use of audacity


concepts ideas:
promote inquiry and deep learning 106
higher-order thinking questions 114
optimize technology, even the podcast is mentioned here... discuss what technology you are using, chapter 7, pg 119-121


Possible Script:


Hello and welcome to our Gardening Team here at ____ Elementary. My name is Kyla Marshall and my name is Jessica Morse. We wanted to talk to you today about elements of Project Based Learning.


First, What is project based learning? Project based learning is an inquiry based process for both teaching and learning. Students focus on a question of their choice and use technology to find, organize, and present answers through a collaboration process of investigation over an extended amount of time. During the inquiry process, students learn content, information, and use higher-order level thinking to develop conclusions and answers to their focus question or problem.


Jessica: As teachers, we found that collaboration is a major concept in Project Based Learning regarding both students and teachers. First, by having students work together, they are able to build information with each other's help which includes students talking through their own ideas. By expressing themselves through web-based communication tools, students can also collaborate with other members of society. Students are also able to work collaboratively in a group and learn together. As for the benefits, they are able to learn new patterns of thinking, learn from others in a group, and most importantly how to learn together.
We have incorporated these benefits by connecting with students in Brazil, South America. Each of the students in the classroom have pen pals with a classroom in Brazil to which they can talk about the different cultural aspects considering gardening. Students have also been working in groups throughout the term to build and communicate ideas between one another and themselves. Second, Collaboration and communication amongst teachers are essential for this practice to be able for students to achieve the learning goals. Collaboration allows the opportunity for teachers to provide and receive constructive criticism and feedback on what they may have not thought about in their own lesson plans. In the end, all of these ideas were put towards the goal of the students learning the curriculum.

Another major Project Based Learning concept is higher order thinking questions. As a teacher it is important to Project Based Learning that questions posed to individual students, small group and even whole group get the students to think. This requires asking questions that put them in the investigator and researcher roles. This will require helping students develop these skills. A way to help develop the skills for this higher order of thinking is to ask students to analyze, compare, elaborate and evaluate the work they are doing.

A way that we have created higher-level thinking in our class is by consistently asking students to tell us more. Once we ask a deeper question, it probes all students to think and start to ask each other how they found their answers and what happens next. 

Thank you for listening to our ideas about project based learning and important concepts that are needed to make PBL a successful learning tool.

Marshall: Chapter 3 RR

1.   On finding “the Big Idea” for a project the teacher must consider “who cares about this?” and “who does it touch?”. This is extremely important because both of these questions relate to students. For a project to be successful, the students must be invested in it. This includes the students having interest in the topic and how it relates to their lives.

2.     When one enters the “real” world, they must analyze and evaluate everything around them. This leads them to create their world to their benefit of survival. Life 50 years ago was very simple as to what it is today. There are so many options for a lifestyle that today the American must analyze, evaluate and create everything around them.

3.     The 21^st literacy skills include digital literacies. This is extremely important because as time goes on technology advances and it is up to us to stay up-to-date with this. As teachers it is our responsibility to make sure that there is not a technology divide among our students. This begins with the teacher continuiously learning about the benefits of teaching with technology and incorporating it into lesson plans. The goal from students using technology in the classroom should be that when they are out of the classroom they are “independent, aware and productive citizens”.

4.     Tools like blogs or wikispaces are great for students to utilize technology inside and outside of the classroom. As a student myself, I have used both of these tools in the workplace, for other group projects and shared it with others after learning about them in the classroom. 

Finding information on the Internet that has already been filtered is very easy. Utilizing databases and primary sources for information will allow the student to create their own meaning from what they have gathered.

When giving a presentation, the audience always loves any sort of visual aid that the presenter can give. In my experience, audiences like to see pictures rather than words. Mapping something out, showing a photo slideshow or even a video is very helpful to the audience.

We all like to express ourselves and build community with our peers. A wonderful idea is to not separate this from school. Utilizing the Web as ways for students to express their ideas while building community in the classroom can bridge the gap.

Any sort of collaboration on project is only going to help promote success. It is beneficial to collaborate with others for new ideas, revision and support. Utilizing websites such as wiki and survey tools are easy to manage and quick to learn.

Research can help promote the critical thinking skills of any student. Providing proper search engines for students to do research and help them tell if a website is valuable or not is a skill that is needed for 21^st century projects.

Managing time, work, sources, feedback from others drafts and products during projects all boils down to organization and management. In order for a projects completion and success it must be organized.

One main idea that cannot be forgotten when it comes to projects is the reflection and iteration of what they have learned and the outcomes. Students can share digitally their projects and outcomes.

Students that are working on their own garden can use a blog to keep photos of their project and share so others can see the progress. Wikispaces is a great website that students can use to collaborate on ideas and organize the research they have all done on planting their own garden.

Morse: Chapter 3 RR

1. Discussion on what should be considered in finding “the Big Idea” for a project.
When planning the "big idea" for the classroom to study as a whole it is important that first and formost curriculum is considered. Ultimately, the students learning and understand the curriculum is what we're here to do as teachers; therefore, when we are selecting the "big idea". While thinking of the curriculum, the concepts and proceses that are built into these guidelines are also needed to be taught and built for our students. As another consideration, the more engaged our students are in the activities that are presented to them, the more they will take in content wise. In order to engage our learners, our activities must be authentic and valuable to their every day life - helping them realize that these concepts are important skills to learn. We can do this for our students by placing them into real world contexts that also offers value to the community to help them "see" the authentic applications of the concepts we are trying to teach.

2. Discussion on the 2lst Century skills.
The projects that we as educators are buildling allows our students to stretch their thinking and develop a higher-order thinking skill by moving from lower-order objectives to higher-order objectives. These objectives include analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Bloom's Taxonomy objectives can be readily used when planning these project-based learning tools and provide our students with critical thinking skills that may not be developed through traditional learning activities.

3.Discussion on the 21st Century literacies.
The four highlighted 21st Century literacies are the Digital-Age Literacy, Inventive Thinking, Effective Communication and High Productivity. Literacy within the 21st Century, students mastering literacy includes students being able to "identify, understand, interpret, create, communication, and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts". 21st century projects allow for students to use these printed and written materials to explore these concepts of literacy through real-life interactions and projects. Students are able to create and collaborate ideas through innovations and concepts of which information can be accessed through technological devices.

4.Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.
Ubiquity: Web-based applications allow students to learn from wherever they are, including both in and out of school. This abillity allows the students to see that learning and information can be done and accessed not just in school but any where they are!
Deep Learning: Technology that is used for learning allows for students to sort information and develop skills to master this technique. This and several other skills students need for learning through technology build higher-order level thinking by students sorting and organizing information to comprehend.
Making Things Visible and Discussable: Using viable pictures and artifacts for studnets to manipulate and look at allow for greater conversation and learning. Students can develop understanding through questions and collaboration by looking at these visible and digital tools.
Expressing Ourselves, Sharing Ideas, Building Community: Students should be given the opportunity to share and express their ideas and thoughts to not other student members but to the greater community. Social interactions through blogs and other web-based communication tools provides support for high-order level thinking.
Collaboration: Working together helps students build information with each other's help which includes students talking through their own ideas. By expressing themselves through web-based communication tools, students can also collaborate with other members of society.
Research: Students can use the Web for information through search engines to help make sense and organize information provided by a larger resource area.
Project Management: Helping students manage time, resources, feedback, and projects as a whole is a major part of project management. Providing organization allows for a smoother learning process. Reflection/Interactions: Students need to have the opportunity to reflect on their learning process and product. This helps to develop higher-order level thinking even further by looking back at drafts and final products.

5.Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
Our lessons can use collaboration projects and expressing ourselves through epals to allow students to share their ideas and think through their ideas with others. By using technology-based learning, we are also providing an outline for students to use the Web for information. By using the Web, students can build a higher-order level thinking by sorting and organizing information to build visials to discuss and learn from.

Lesson Plan 1

Lesson Plan 1: Marketing Plan (groups) for the the class to vote. Which ever group they like best or possibly combine, they will use for the classes marketing plan.

Lesson Plan 1

What type of Produce to plant in our garden and how to maintain our garden.

Marshall: Chapter 2 RR

I really like the idea of before launching a project with students to present it to other teachers. This provides the opportunity for critical feedback. This can be a stepping-stone to collaboration with other teachers.

Utilizing a Learning Community within the school can have major benefits. These benefits include “ensuring that students learn, create a culture of collaboration for school improvement and focus on results” (p 32). It can be demanding for the teachers to try a new approach to how they organize their curriculum but it can also be very beneficial. It can increase the productivity of creating lesson plans as well as be satisfying of having the support.

Students benefit from this as well because they are getting the best education put forth by you the teacher. This can also be a way for students to learn how to utilize a Learning Community in their own classroom or school.

My partner and I could create a Learning Community online with other teachers who are teaching any sort of units about gardening or plants in their classrooms. We could work together to have a mission, focus on the students learning, and collaborate on teaching ideas through shared values and beliefs. We would be able to utilize blogs, websites and online communication with other teachers and students.

Morse: Chapter 2 RR

Learning communities are defined by educators working in a collaborative group with colleagues to benefit the students learning in a way that allows them to develop skills using productive lessons. These lessons will be used and created as part of a team allowing for a range of ideas from the different perspectives. As part of a traditional classroom, teachers often forget that they have a team of teachers that are working on the same subject and it is important that they use their resources to build from one another and create the best lesson plans they can. These traditional classrooms can be changed into a learning community by one teacher taking the initiative to try something new. Collaboration and communication are essential for this practice to be able for students to ahiceve the learning goals. It also takes a group who has an open mind and respect for one another. The ideas that are brought to the table need to be respected, but also able to be constructively critized. Carmel Crane's high school shared a techniqued that allowed for the teacher to introduce her lesson plans to a panel of ten teachers before she presented into the students. This allowed for constructive critizism and feedback on what she may have not thought about. In the end, all of these ideas were put towards the goal of the students learning the curriculm. Students are also able to work collaboratively in a group and learn together. As for the benefits, they are able to learn new patterns of thinking, learn from others in a group, and most importantly how to learn together. Everyday businesses and jobs are looking for people who can work as a team and use these skills to accomplish big goals. Learning communities allows for just that. In order for educators to do this for their students, they must keep in mind that it is important that students learn, create a classroom that invites collaboration and focus on the results from the students and teacher. All of these aspects can benefit the teacher by allowing for the teacher to become less isolated from the rest of the school, shared responsibility of a team, and powerful learning from both the teachers and the students. This type of learning can be used in our project for several different lessons, especially with the lesson which plans on talking to Brazil through epals. It is also represented in our project through Kyla and myself working together to develop lesson plans and provide feedback and constructive critizism on the lessons we introduce to each other - and one day our students.