Sarah Betzold
EDT 3470
Reading Reflection #6:
Project Launch-
Implementation Strategies
Technology
tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths because
students are constantly learning how to use technology. The students are
learning by doing and become more experienced after each project. It’s a great
idea for students to reflect and evaluate their own strengths before and after
a project. This will allow students to feel a sense of accomplishment and
forces students to think about their learning. Technology tools such as blogs,
ProfilerPRO, SurveryMonkey and Zoomerang are great for reflecting. Students can
create their own surveys to evaluate themselves or reflect over time using a
blog. Reflection and evaluation also helps teachers know if the students are on
track and learning what they are supposed to be learning.
There
are several ways teachers can get students’ minds ready for a project. Getting
students interested and excited about a project is very important. It’s
important to lead with what students already know and encourage students to ask
questions about what they don’t know. A great way to do this is by doing a
Know-Wonder-Learn activity. This activity allows students to think about what
they know, wonder and want to learn. It gets students excited about what they
will be learning. Teachers can encourage students to explore their project
topic as well. Teachers can also bring in artifacts that go along with the
project a week before the students begin their projects to excite the students
about what they will be learning. Technology can also be used for introductions
to projects. It’s important to get students thinking about what they will be
learning before they begin their projects.
Teaching
fundamentals first is extremely important. The teacher should teach students
prerequisite knowledge that the students will need to know in order to
successfully start their projects. Teaching a few lessons before the students
begin their projects, such as using technology and key information that
students will need to know is important so that students are on the right path
when they start their projects. Teachers should also set the stage for independent
inquiry before beginning projects. The K-W-L activity is great for that as well
as encouraging students to think deeper about the topic and come up with
questions they would be interested in investigating. It’s a good idea to share the assessment rubric with students
before they begin their projects as well. It will inform students of what is
expected and can be used as a roadmap for their learning.
There
are many important steps teachers do take to prepare students to use technology
in their projects. Demonstrating is a great way for students to learn how to
work with new technology. Teachers should allow students time to explore
technology and teach each other how to use the technology. It also is a great
idea to collaborate with the school’s technology specialist. It’s always a good
idea for the teacher to be well educated on technology so that students do not
run into any problems that the teacher cannot fix. The technology specialist
would definitely be able to provide support as the students are using
technology for their projects.
There
are many ways to promote inquiry and deep learning. It’s important for teachers
to push students thinking and guide their thinking to a deeper, more critical
level. The students can brainstorm how to go about investigating questions and
how to collect data. By student figuring out ways to problem solve through
their own questions, it will allow students to think deeper and be a great
inquiry based project.
The
concepts in this chapter relate to our projects because we are creating a unit
and need to know how to launch our projects. This chapter gave me great ideas
for how to get students prepared for a project. I will definitely look back at
this reflection as I plan for how to introduce a project to students.
The part that stuck out to my most in your reflection was where you talked about making sure the teacher teaches fundamentals before the students start the project. If students don't have any background knowledge on a certain tool or concept, they won't be able to strive to their fullest potential throughout the project. By first being aware of the basics, such as using a key, students can become better familiar with the technology that will be used in their project instead of starting off the project feeling completely lost. I also liked that you said it is a good idea for teachers to share their rubrics with students, so that everybody knows what the objectives are. I also talked about this in my reflection. I liked that you said it can be used as a roadmap throughout their projects.
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