Reflection #8

Some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom would be connecting with experts and expanding the learning circle. Teachers can use experts for students to incorporate inquiry which is an important component in the learning experience. Using student's parents and knowing their occupations is a great tool when you want the students to use experts. The parents students are probably the most willing to help out but other experts will be wiling if you give them enough notice. When asking experts to come into the classroom, make sure they know the topic you are focusing on so that the expert can direct his or her answers to student questions. This is a great way for students to relate topics to the outside world and real professions. Connecting students to other countries is a good way to go beyond the classroom. Like virtual pen pals or flat Stanley projects.
The EAST (environmental and spatial technology) initiative model is a network of schools that have been demonstrating the benefits of using technology for a real purpose. This project uses technology and multimedia tools and geospatial technologies. The EAST model used digital media and the middle and high school collaborated to produce an award-winning documentary about a Japanese American internment camp that had nearly disappeared from their community's collective memory.
Some reasons to let students “lead” their projects is that students are more than capable of making and controlling their own projects. As a teacher we won't have to micromanage each project. Students can decide what they are passionate about and develop their own learning and the teacher can be there for support and provide the tools to help them achieve what they want to know.
Concepts in the chapter relate to our project in many ways. I think we can use experts in our project to help connect what the students are learning. Using a nutritionist or maybe a physical therapist who knows a lot about staying healthy. WebMD is also a good website for students to do research. Also students can lead their own projects as well. Maybe at the beginning of the project having the students brainstorm ideas about what they really want to know about nutrition or physical activity.

Reading Reflection #8

Sarah Betzold

EDT 3470

Reading Reflection #8

Using technology is a great way to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom. Wikis, podcasts and Skype can be used for real conversations that can be used to reach others in the community or across the globe. This allows students become aware of the culturally diverse world we live in and discover new information through real conversations rather than books or through lecture. Teachers need to know how to contacts experts and can involve parents in that process. Teachers can set up a blog or website informing parents of what type or expert is being looked for. Parents can often help as well as coworkers, friends etc. There are several ways to branch out by communicating to people you know and by using technology.

The EAST Initiative Model represents four main ideas. The first idea is that students should be held responsible for their own learning. The next idea is that students should engage in problem solving in their communities. Another idea is giving students the necessary technology and experts to help solve the problem. The last idea is collaboration. When students work together they learn what it is like to work in the real world with others and problem solve.  EAST stands for Environmental and Spatial Technologies. The EAST Initiative Model focuses on student-driven learning and allows students to learn by doing.

Teachers should let students “lead” their projects because they can generate project ideas that they are passionate about and take interest in. Students can learn a lot through their own interests and gain independence by creating their own project. The teacher will be there for support but the student will ultimately be responsible for his or her own learning. Allowing students to lead their own projects prepares students for the real world where someone will not be telling them exactly what to do.

   These concepts relate to our projects because we are designing a unit that focuses on all of these ideas. We will need to know how to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom when we one day have our own classrooms. Our Virtual PenPals project was a great example of this. The EAST Initiative Model is also important because it gives those ideas are ideas that we have learned about throughout the semester and have incorporated in our projects. Also, allowing students to lead projects is an important idea that we may want to try in our future classrooms. All of these concepts are extremely important to think about as we begin our teaching careers. 

Reflection #7

Reflection #7
There are different levels of discussion that should take place in the classroom. There should be teacher to teacher, student to student and teacher to student. All of these types of discussion will be important for a successful project. Collaborating with other teachers will help better the projects procedures or assessments. Two or more heads are always better than one. Students should be interacting with each other as well. They will be able to form questions that other students may be able to help them with. It is important for them to give them the opportunity to challenge themselves and each other. Students and teachers should also be interacting. There could be times where it is a whole group discussion but teachers should also not be afraid to work with small groups or even individually. It is a great time to assess students for understanding.
When the students are divided into teams they most likely will be at different points so the teacher should be checking on student process. Types of questions to ask are divided into 4 categories. Procedural, teamwork, understanding, and self-assessment. Procedural questions are questions that will remind students of project deadlines or milestones and the teacher will know where the students are at. Teamwork questions are questions to ask about the group dynamic. Teachers can have the students blog or journal on their teams progress or raise any concerns they have about their team. Understanding questions can direct students to other resources if their project is off task. These questions can also push the students to thinking outside the box and going beyond the expectations. Self-assessment questions can find out what the students are learning or thinking about the project. You can ask the students to journal or blog about what they are finding frustrating or interesting.
There are benefits to students when optimizing the use of technology. When integrating technology into the project make sure that the technology is ultimately helping the students reach a learning goal. The students should also stay organized. The students should take advantage of all the tools. The students should also use the technology to expand their horizons. Students may really benefit and learn something they didn't know or intend on learning.
There are some 21st-century skills that can make or break a project. Teamwork is a very important aspect and 21st century skill. Teachers should pay attention to problems within groups and help them learn to manage their own problems. Having students reflect on how their team worked together at the end of a project and if there was anything they would do differently is a great for students. The students will be able to recognize what they learned as a team and individually and recognize and interpret their mistakes.
I really like the teamwork aspect of this chapter and how it emphasized how important it was. In our project there can be many opportunities for students to work as a small team. Also with the virtual pen pals the students would be optimizing the use of technology. Maybe they could do some sort of blog about their virtual pen pals which would work on their organizational skills another 21st century skill that will benefit them greatly.

Reading Reflection #7

Sarah Betzold

EDT 3470

Chapter 7:

A Guiding Hand- Keeping a Project Moving

            Levels of classroom discussions take place while implanting a project. Teacher to teacher is one of the levels and is important because teachers can share ideas, plan together, talk about what is taking place in the classroom and if students are understanding what they are supposed to be learning. Working with other teachers is helpful and a great resource. If talking face to face is not a option, other tools can be used such as blogs, wiki and others collaboration tools. The next level of classroom discussion is student to student.  Students to be discussing things together as they work through their projects. This includes explaining things to classmates, asking questions, giving feedback, etc. Modeling for students how they should be working together will help students effectively collaborate with each other and they will continue to  learn how to work as a team. The next level of classroom discussion is teacher to student. This is important during projects when a teacher needs to make an announcements, check for understanding, introduce a new concept, etc. However, most of the time teachers will not be having a whole class discussion because students will be working out their projects.

            Checking in on students during a project is important so that a teacher can know where students are at in their project. Checking in with students also allows the teacher ask herself or himself certain questions along the way to make sure the project is running smoothly and effectively.  For instance, when think about procedures, the teacher may ask herself or himself, “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?” (Boss & Krauss, 2007).  When thinking about teamwork a teacher might think about if students a working well together and allowing students a safe place to raise concerns about their team. An online survey tool such as wiki, might be a good way to do that. When teachers are thinking about students’ understanding, the teacher may want to plan questions that might probe students to think further and encourage students to go beyond the expectations. Students can learn a lot from a teacher asking students questions throughout their projects to make them think further. As an assessment a teacher might also want to check in on students to determine what they are thinking and learning. Asking questions that allow students to reflect and think back on what they have done is a great way to assess.

            There are many benefits of optimizing the use of technology in a classroom. Technology can help students reach their learning goals. Many students enjoy working with technology and it gets them interested in what they are learning.  Sometimes it’s even a good idea to even let students pick the technologies they want to use. The students can think about which technology tools with help students reach their learning goals. Students benefit and get to new ways to communicate and learn by using technology.

            It’s important to think about things that can make or break a project. A 21^st –century skill is troubleshooting. If students are struggling or there are setbacks, it’s important to help students get back on track or brainstorm ideas to help students feel better about their assignment. Sometimes students can be intimidated when using technology or communicating with others. Teachers should keep these things in mind and set up ways to make students feel more comfortable.  Troubleshooting should be a skill that teachers need to have otherwise a project may not meet its learning goals. Teamwork is another 21^st century skill that needs to be seen in a classroom. It’s important to take notice of who gets along with each other, who slacks and how groups works together. Teachers can have teamwork-scoring rubrics that students can fill out for students in their groups. I also like the idea of students keeping a journal about their teamwork. Teachers will then also get a good idea if the team is working well together. If teams do not work well together it can be an issue in terms of the students meeting their learning goals.

            This chapter relates to our projects because we want our projects to run smoothly. These topics are especially important to consider when we one day have our own classrooms. Since we are not actually doing our projects with students it’s important to keep in mind obstacles that we may be faced with and how certain tools can be of used to benefit our projects.  

Reflection #6

Reflection 6
Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths. Blogs, ProfilerPro, and things like SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang can help with these aspects. Blogs offer a great space for students to get down all their thoughts in one space and then be able to go back and review their thinking. This will allow the students the opportunity to evaluate and potentially change any thoughts that they had. ProfilerPro is an online survey tool that allows students to self evaluate themselves. It will give them a chance to evaluate their weaknesses and strengths and then re-assess themselves and compare their results at a later date. SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang are online survey tools that students or teachers can create on their own. They will allow students to be creative and make up their own surveys as well as track different trends as they allow other students to take the survey.
There are many ways to engage your students to prepare their minds. A good way to before starting a unit or topic is by tapping into students prior knowledge or schema. KWL charts are a great way to start getting the students thinking in the direction the lesson is going. A KWL chart taps into what the child knows, wants to learn, and then finally learn. Another great aspect to add to the KWL chart is making a KWHL chart. The students can write down what they know, what they want to know, how they are going to find that out, and then finally what they learned. The How is a great way to get the students involved and explore ideas within the subject they will be learning.
There are positive outcomes when you teach the fundamentals first to the students. Students will gain more out of the bigger chunk of a project if they spend the small amount of time building their skills. Teachers should set the stage for independent inquiry. Before a project or lesson students should assess on what they know and don't know. KWL charts are a great way to let the students process this information before diving into the project with no understanding why. Another element that teachers should do is share the assessment rubric with the students. This way the students know the ultimate goal that they should reach at the end of the project. This will set the students up for success since they know the scale and values they should be shooting for.
There are important steps in preparing students for using technology in project. The important steps are set up a technology playground, tap the student expertise, introduce project-management tools, demonstrate, rely on your technology specialist, and analyze if the technology is a one size fits all or not. I really like the aspect of having students explore among themselves by setting up technology based assignments. This will increase students problem solving skills, which is a 21st century skill. I also like that after the students explore they can share with their classmates and collaborate with each other.
Teacher should also promote inquiry and deep learning. Guiding students to choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action. This produces many great ideas that the students will want to explore and be engaged in. Teachers should also guide students toward skilled questioning. This will lead to deeper thinking because they are tapping into their prior knowledge and applying what they know to what they want to know.
I think the whole aspect of promoting inquiry and deep learning applies in our project. By making the student develop their own meal plans or workout plans allows them to question what goes into a meal, or how a meal is served or prepared. This could be used doing a blog in which the students can collect their initial ideas and build on what they have written. This can help with the strengths and weaknesses while at the same time heightening their 21st century skills.

Concept Map #2

Reading Reflection #6

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.