Final Concept Map

Our final Concept Map consists of more information regarding the presentations, along with more visual aids. With these visuals, it is more appealing to students. We didn't add anything more because we felt everything we need is already addressed.

Reflection #11

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

While using project-based learning, students are presented with the opportunity to use multiple strategies while learning. Students are able to work together and collaborate in a way that they weren't able to before while sharing ideas via blogs and many other technologies. PBL allows students to become more confident in learning when it comes from their own ideas. It also allows students to think outside the box. They are asked to use strategies they have learned outside of the classroom in every day life, including work in other classrooms. PBL is something that students will use for the rest of their lives.

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

Realizing pros and cons of a project and feeding off of those experiences with your classrooms can only make your students' learning experience in the future even better. Allowing yourself to share your insights for future projects can only bring a positive learning experience for yourself. Collaborate with colleagues and share experiences. Appreciate yourself for all that you have done for your students. Always start small, it will always lead to larger and better experiences!

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

It is important for us to remember that we have gone a long way since the beginning of the semester. We have learned a lot of different approaches we can share with our students for learning. This chapter helped me realized how much PBL will work in classrooms and how it will also help keeping peace in a classroom. PBL is something that I would definitely use in my classroom. 

Reflection #11

Reflection #11:

1. Description of what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach. As a result of using the Project-based learning approach, it allowed students to gain new strategies for learning, whether it be individual or in a group. It lets them explore within their project for research and share their ideas through websites, blogs, and many other programs. It also allowed students to become more confident in sharing their own ideas and opening up connections between people to gain new ideas. "Good projects don't lead to a dead end. Instead, they open new doors and create connections that you can build into future project designs" (Boss,Krauss, 159).
2. Discussion on ways to “bring your project home”.  Ways to "bring your project home" should be thought about to help make your project more successful for the next time. Invest some time to reflect on what you have learned and consider what worked best and what did not work so well. You must capitalize on your investment, critique your work, share your insights, become a resource for your colleagues, enter a contest, and enjoy the journey along the way!
3. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project. The concepts in this chapter can relate to our topic/project by reminding us how project-based learning works and because we are also at the final stages in our own projects and we have to remember where we started from and how far we have made it. 

Reflection #10

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

You need to set time aside for discussion because students need to take ownership of what they created and express that to others. Setting aside time, gives students the opportunity to think about things they might not have done otherwise, like what they learned, what they liked learning about, what they didn't like, and what they want to learn in projects ahead. This is the time to ask your students what did the project mean to you or how was our project important to you? Don’t be discouraged if the answer isn’t life changing, its just the fact that you gave the students time to reflect on it.

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

Taking time to reflect helps students feel good about their accomplishments. You want to plan your reflection questions so that your students leave the project loving it instead of hating it. You want to ask meaningful questions that matter most. This way you can prompt and prob your students to elaborate. Be sure to ask your students where they want to go in future projects, they're answer might be far more ambitious than you might think.

3. Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.
In this section I wasn’t really sure what the title meant until I read it, but I can say for some of my schools I can relate to the sports teams and for another was the music and theatre programs. I didn’t realize this but its definitely a tradition and what the schools are known for. I can also bring an example from my life about a tradition I couldn’t wait to do once I was in that grade, was fifth grade camp. My elementary school was known for a great fifth grade camping trip every year.  I agree with what this chapter says about involving the community, and how they come to expect to be involve in your classroom and outside activities.

4. Discussion on the importance of celebrating a project.

There are so many different ways you can celebrate your students work and finished projects. For example, you can put on an event, create a blog or hold a party. You want to most importantly celebrate learning and building your schools identity as a ground zero for PBL. You can display your students work in the classroom, this way the students take pride in seeing it everyday and know they accomplished that. I liked what the chapter said about a year-in-review retrospective to celebrate learning. I think this a great idea, where students take a look back at what they spent a whole school year doing.


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

In our project we have a fundraiser at the end of our project and I think that after the students present, that it will definitely be a celebration. I had never thought about the importance of celebrating students in the ways given in the chapters. I think we will put more time into having the students reflect on their work. I think this is going to be a very helpful tool in the future.

Reflection #10

Reflection #10:

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

Taking the time to stop and reflect after completing something or a project can really allow time for you and your students to realize what went well and what didn’t quite work as well. I like taking the time after I complete a project, test, or any activity to stop and reflect on how I think it all went. You want to look at the pros and cons of it, your communication skills, how well you worked with any partners, and how you can fix something that may have made you frustrated along the way.

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

Students need that time to reflect and collaborate because especially if they are working in groups they all need to discuss what they are going to do next and how it will be done. This may help our students grow as learners and become more excited and driven for what is ahead.

3.    Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.

To start a tradition and identity, students need to connect within the community and reflect back on what they are learning through project-based learning. This is important because when a community starts to realize these changes and traditions being made in schools through students then this is when that builds up of traditions and identity increase. It would be a great accomplishment for all of those students who worked hard to become a tradition and identified for their achievements in that school.

4.    Discussion on the importance in celebrating a project.

When celebrating with others on a project it allows for students to feel accomplished and show off their work to others. This also allows others to gain ideas and not be afraid to ask more questions and become educated about their project. If we keep encouraging our students and praising them for work well done then they will keep pushing through and working hard to be successful and show others how they can be successful as well.

5.    Discussions on how this chapter relates to your topic/project.

Going through each step of creating our final website it allows us to reflect and look at what we did well and what needs more work so far. We can elaborate as a team on our accomplishments and in the end we will be able to share our website and what worked well within our project with others to gain that sense of pride.

Reading Reflection #10

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

It is important to reflect on the process of a project and how well it went because it’s almost like trial and error experiment. As a student, it is important to realize what works best for you during a project regarding time management, what worked well/what didn’t work well, who you work well with, communication skills, and how did the technology fall in to play? The end of a project is a great place to start reflecting because it allows for a growth in learning dispositions. It is a good idea to help students reflect on what made them happy during a project and what made them frustrated and to learn how to avoid those frustrations in future projects.

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

Elaboration can help students figure out what the next step is after completing a project. This allows students to think about what they want to learn next; is it something new, or do I want to learn more about this topic? As a teacher, it is important to as students where they want to go with their ideas. This will lead your students into more of a student driven project whereas students will become more ambitious.

3.    Discussion on how schools build tradition and identity.

In order to build tradition and identity, think of ways that will reflect on student-based project learning. When older students set some sort of standard, young students look forward to what learning awaits them in their future years at the school. When a community starts to recognize these roles students are playing in a school, they begin to provide support that is much needed for many students or schools alone. It is important to show the community and school that your students are the one with majority power in leading these projects. This shows the community that your students are determined and successful in what they want to learn.

4.    Discussion on the importance in celebrating a project.

In order for students to feel accomplished and successful in their own way, it is important to show off their work, create a celebration for their accomplishments. Praise them for the work they have done and encourage them for future work. Display students work in a community and school setting so people can see how students’ work is being brought to the table. A celebration could be big or small, as long as it gives the opportunity for one more glance, acknowledgment of how hard work and commitment contributed to the success of the project, appreciation, opportunities to talk through their project to reflect on themselves to others, and an opportunity to present their work in a professional manner.

5.    Discussions on how this chapter relates to your topic/project.

Creating our website allows us to reflect and elaborate on our topic and see what we have accomplished and what we can do to better ourselves as team workers and our time management skills. I think celebrating in ones self-accomplishments are extremely important at a high school/college level. It allows students to take the next step in taking initiative in their own learning.

Reflection #9

1. Description of a method of understanding of prior knowledge of students.

Different assessment strategies work very well to understand students' background knowledge. Comprehension assessments are also a tool that you can use to see if students are understanding what you are teaching them. 

2. Discussion on the importance of establishing anchors for a project.

When establishing anchors for a project, you are able to see where the a students academic standing. This also helps you understand where the student will need some extra support and what areas they are strong in. As a teacher, you need to understand that not all students are in the same learning zone as one another. You need to be flexible and help each student individually rather than as a whole group.

3. Description of several ways to assess what students learned during the project.

There are many ways to asses your students' learning progress. A journal is a great way to keep track of what the student is learning and what the student needs to work on, have the students turn in their journal every day or every week in order for you to keep track on each individual student. A neat way and more of a competitive way to assess students is to have a panel of judges to asses final work. This will help students take work more seriously and possibly help them be more competitive which will help them work harder. 

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

When comparing this chapter to our project, as teachers, we need to know where students stand at all times. Knowing all of these different assessment tools are a great way to for us to keep on track with each student as an individual. Giving students a final goal will help them achieve more goals along the way to that final goal. When I have my own classroom, I want to be able to treat each child as an individual. Using prior/background knowledge and different assessments will help with this understanding as a teacher. 

Reflection #9

1. Description of a method of understanding of prior knowledge of students.

 Something that you can do to understand what the prior knowledge of your students is to use an activity with them and using different assessment strategies. Some type of assessment will allow you to see what they really learned and what you need to work on. Relying on assessment strategies is a good way to understand prior knowledge.

2. Discussion on the importance of establishing anchors for a project.

By establishing anchors for a project you can see where the student stands and what area they need extra support in. You need to remember that not all students will start at the same spot, so the work and help for each student throughout the project will be different. 

3.  Description of several ways to assess what students learned during the project.

Several ways where you can assess your students work and learning progress in a project would be creating a lesson of their own and actually using and summarizing the information they learned. You can also just ask the students what they have learned and have them write it down in a journal and then talk together as a class. You may be surprised with some of the answers and information that students tell you and you can also ask more challenging questions if they seemed confident in the material learned.

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

This correlates well with our project because we always need to know where students stand and we need to be able to help them along the way if they are struggling with different material than other students. Having that end goal in mind will help everyone in the class work hard, be helpful and supportive, and eventually reach that goal.

Reflection #9

1. Description of a method of understanding of prior knowledge of students.

Something that you can do to get the prior knowledge of your student is to use an activity. Make it fun and interesting, because your students have already learned this material and hopefully they are well versed on it to do your activity. Another method is establishing anchors. By this you can gain an understanding of where your students are starting from and how far they go, as they work to meet learning goals.

2. Discussion on the importance of establishing anchors for a project.

The importance of establishing anchors is like I said before, to find where your students knowledge begins about a certain topic. This is also important because not all your students are starting in the same place, when it comes to all the different lessons they have learned. Also where each students goes in there journey through the project will be different for each student.

3.  Description of several ways to assess what students learned during the project.

A simple but sometimes overlooked method of assessing students is to ask them what they learned. You might be surprised at the answers you will get and how in depth they might be. At the end of  project you can have your students create something new that asks them to tell you about the project. If your students can take what they have learned and apply it in a different context can be a way to assess them. Another way to assess students work, which i thought was really cool was, a teacher brought in a panel of experts to judge her students final work. I thought this was an fun and interesting way to get students to really take their work seriously.


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

This chapter is really informational about how to assess our students work in PBL. This is especially helpful to our group because we are having our students present their work to parents and other classes, so this gives us a few better ideas on how to grade them. I really like the idea of creating something new, to show what you have learned, I also like the idea of having your students enter a contest or submit their work for publication. I think having them be recognized for their own work is inspiring to them.

Reflection #8

1. Description of some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom.

Technology is a big part of our culture and is becoming an even bigger part in our education. Digital tools make it much easier for students to branch out and share and exchange their work with diverse audiences, peers, local community, and even the much wider world. There are so many other ways that technology allows students to branch and build connections outside the classroom by creating blogs, websites, and many other technology based communicating tools.   

2. Description of the EAST Initiative Model.

The EAST Initiative Model stands for Environmental and Spatial Technologies. These students in EAST have been demonstrating the benefits of using technology for a real purpose and make improvements in their communities. These projects make use of geospatial technologies and multimedia tools that are more commonly found in professional laboratories or studios. Students are working hard to make technology more useful outside the classroom and they master using these tools and applications in context while solving community problems that interest them. The EAST Initiative started in Arkansas in 1996 and now has grown to include more than 260 schools in seven states, which is a huge progression!

3. Discussion on some reasons to let students “lead” their projects.

When students are leading other student projects it allows them to develop greater leadership and communication skills. Everyone learns at different paces and in different ways so it really lets each student find their place when working on a project and interacting with others. For example, when Sarah’s teacher Elise Mueller told Sarah she should try communicating through a blog because of her dyslexia, she got the courage to reach out and communicate with others and shared her own strategies.

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

Concepts in this chapter can relate to our topic and project because we really want the students to reach out and share their interests and new ideas they found with the class. We want them to become comfortable with technology and realize all of the amazing tools you can use through technology. Having the students take lead in their projects is another big focus we have in our classroom.