Class Today!

Hey Guys! I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be a few minutes late to class today :) see you soon.

Bruner Scheets Ch 11 RR

Bringing It Home 

At the end of project it is important to not just stop, but figure out ways to reflect and expand on your project, leading to another one. As a teacher, it is vital to look back on the project and see what was successful and what might need some more work. You can take those successful parts and use them to lead into the next project and definitely use them for the next year!

With your planning team, you should critique yourself. Look at the evidence of student understanding and how it has taught not only your students, but yourself as well. If the project worked well, share it with others! Find different ways to share with other teachers, parents, and the community. By posting your project on the web you are allowing easy access to all of the data and planning that you did, helping other teachers educate through project based learning.

Finally, it is important to always enjoy the journey. Think about how far you have come as a teacher and where are going to go next. Each project and each class makes you a better teacher. Notice your growth and the impact that you have on the students.

For our project, this is an important step that I think I could forget to do. I would be so focused on making sure the students enjoy the project and are learning, that I would forget to reflect for myself and see the positives and negatives of what I was doing. By doing this at the end of our project, we can see what works and what doesn't and improve as teachers.

Parker- Chapter 11 RR

Reading Reflection #11

1.     Describe what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.

Projects should leave teachers and students with vivid memories, souvenirs and artifacts teachers have collected along the way, and plenty of ideas for shaping the next learning adventure. Good projects don’t lead to a dead in. Instead, they open new doors and create connections that you can build into future project designs.

2.     Discuss ways to bring your project home.

Critique your work with your planning team and use the opportunity to draw out each other’s best ideas for improvement.  Share your insights, with other teachers, existing networks. Become a resource for tour colleagues. 

Bruner Scheets RR Ch. 10

Celebrating and Reflecting 
When finishing a project, it is important to not just say "well that's it. We're done" but to celebrate the project and reflect on what everyone was taught. By taking time to reflect on the project, students can feel pride in the accomplishments. Reflection also will make the whole project stick and the students will remember it.

When planning your reflection, it is important to take the most meaningful parts of the project and focus on that. If you ask tons of questions on every little detail, students will end up resenting the project, even if they had a blast during it. Focusing on the few things that matter most make the reflection period the most meaningful.

For a project to be successful, it need to be continued and carried on to the next project. Ask your students about what they are wondering about next. What ideas did the project spark in them? With the extension of another project, the whole year will be a meaningful experience, one that the students will remember.

Schools are known for traditions. If you and your school make a tradition of meaningful projects that are involved in the community, people will know and will want their children to go there and be a part of it. Younger students will know your classroom and already be excited for projects that they hear about through students already in your classroom. How exciting to already have ready-to-learn students waiting to enter your classroom!

Finally, be sure to celebrate and show off students' work. Hold a party, put on an event, and display their work to facilitate pride in your students. If they get to show off what they have done, they will feel more powerful in their own education. They will be more involved.

For our project, I think it would be awesome to ask the local news station if our students could have a party with the "weather-person", either at the news station or in our classroom. They could go and see how a news team does the local news and get first hand experience with how the weather is read to bring it to the public.

Cobb Chapter 11 R.R

1. Description of what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.

Good projects open up new doors and create connections that you can build into future project designs.  Upon completion of a successful project, students and teachers alike should walk away with vivid memories, souvenirs, and artifacts that have been collected along the way, along with plenty of ideas for structuring your next great learning adventure.

2. Discussion on ways to “bring your project home”.

“Bringing the project home” requires the organizer to reflect on the entire project. Think about the planning that you did to make the project successful. Did you use technology? Have you found new ways to organize your classroom or communicate to parents and professionals? Can this project “roll-over” to new projects and ideas? Critique you work, the project you created and implemented. What needs to be changed? What can stay the same?

Always share your insights with others. Sharing your successful project with others will benefit the education community widely. You can do this by blogging, posting on learning networks such as iEARN and Global School net, or creating a project library that you allow others to have access to. This will make you a resource to other teachers. You can also enter your project into a contest to show your good work.

Finally, enjoy the journey because it will develop you as a better teacher, which will profit students exponentially!

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

The reflection tips are great ways to wrap up a project. I am going to keep this book and use it as a skeleton for future projects that I will do as a teacher.

Cobb Chapter 10 R.R

1. Discussion on the importance of setting aside time for reflection.

Reflection helps students to reveal things they might not otherwise think about. Life is already fast paced. When a child is going through the day they tend to not stop and think and because of this they miss out on important learning opportunities. Through reflection they are able to ponder what they learned and what they enjoyed about learning, their growth as learners, and what and how they want to learn in future projects!

2. Discussion on the reason students need to reflect and elaborate.

Students have to reflect and elaborate in order to gain an enriching experience that causes them to learn fundamental content better. Learners should be asked where they want to go in a project. This allows the student to elaborate on their project in order to show you where they are going and how they will get there. This is an excellent outcome that all teachers should want to see.

3. Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.

A teacher can build tradition and identity in her school by establishing exemplary project work. Fostering relationships with the community allows others to know what you are doing and word will get out that will encourage others to give you enthusiastic support. Your acts will place your classroom in a new identity, make it good!

4. Discussion on the importance of celebrating a project.

Party time! All people love celebrations regardless of ethnicity or gender. This is something that is naturally multi-cultural! It can be an event where students work is displayed, a party or a blog. However you decide to do it, remember to celebrate learning! Mini celebrations can be done throughout the year to honor the completion of projects but, a major event at the end of the year, a “Year-in-Review,” can be done to show students all of the hard work they accomplished through the year.

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

This chapter encourages me to put more into the projects that I develop as a future teacher. I hope to make a mark in my own school that shows my devotion to excellence in education.  

Parker- Chapter 10 RR

Reading Reflection #10

1.     Discussion on the importance of setting aside time for reflection.

Setting aside time for conscious reflection helps students reveal things they might not otherwise think about. Offer students a chance to reflect on what they learned and how the project became personally meaningful. Ask students to reflect on their skill development. Give student an opportunity to reflect on ways they can overcome obstacles or persisted when the work was hard. But remember, having students answer a lot of questions can cause students to leave the project hating it instead of loving it. So instead focus on the few things that matter most. Focus on the anchors that learning and get kids thinking about themselves as evolving learners.

2.     Discussions on the reason students need to reflect and elaborate.

As students become more accomplished project-doers, teachers will put more and more decisions for subsequent projects in their hands. The projects will open student’s eyes. So ask students to reflect and to also elaborate. Ask students what they want to learn now and how do they want to go about it. Be sure to ask the students where they want to go, since their answers might yield a more ambitious project than you would imagine.

3.     Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.

Many schools’ identities are tied to their traditions. Some schools are sport powerhouses, while some schools send students to science competitions where they medal year after year. Part of the recipe for establishing traditions is to build awareness in others. When families, the community, and students coming up through the grades know what the teachers are up to, teachers have a foundation for tradition. As community members begin to notice and value students’ accomplishment, they will give enthusiastic support. After a time, they’ll expect to be involved, so teachers should invite them in. Ask the community to participate in a celebration of learning. Share with the challenges and rewards of hard work. Teachers should show how the class accomplishments are the result of students’ commitment to their own learning.

4.     Discussion on the importance celebrating a project.

It is important to show students work and celebrate their learning. This helps build the schools identity as a place where kids get to learn through projects. Classroom displays are a common way to share projects with other students, parents and the community. This gives students a sense of pride in their work.

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

This relates to our project because this is another way to branch out and make connections to the community and to the parents.