Reflection #6

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

Technology tools can be very helpful for students in many ways, but one we may not think about is, how it can help students reflect on their own work. Blogs are great for this because they offer a space where students can reflect over time about what they are learning. Another example the book gives is ProfilerPRO, I had never heard of this site until we had to use it for class, but I think it can be very beneficial for student reflection and to learn more about the way they learn.

2. Describe several ways in which you can get students'' mind's ready for a project.

I liked what the book said about "good projects start by tapping into students' prior knowledge". I completely agree with this statement, you don't want to throw completely new information at your students. If this project was your idea be sure to instill passion when you transfer the project to your students. Give them time to really let the idea settle and to let their imaginations run wild with it. In an example in the book a teacher brings up the topic of their project for a few minutes everyday leading up to it, it helped get the students really excited for it.

3. Discuss the elements of teaching the fundamentals first.

Before you get into a big project you want to make sure your students have the skills needed for a sufficient amount of independent work for the project. you want your students to know the basics before you get into the deeper part of the projects, the part where it is student driven. For that to happen successfully your students need to know the fundamentals of the project so they can navigate it for themselves. I like what one teacher said from the book that when learning how to drive "you would never put a beginner out on the interstate. You want to build up to that, so they're ready" I agree with this and I think it relates to this subject immensely.

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

As like I said before you need to ask yourself, what do the students already know about this topic, what do they need to know in order to pursue this topic. You need to remember that technology is not the project, but how it gets done. Some of the steps for preparing students for using technology in projects is to set up a technology playground. Students are so intrigued by the our fast past change in technologies, so set up a time and place where they can explore and play with the technologies they will be using for the project. this will be a great opportunity for student to student teaching and learning. Another step is to tap into student expertise, which is kind of what I said earlier, let them figure some things out for themselves and when needed get into small groups to discuss and share what they know. You can introduce project management tools, like a log or a journal to help students track their progress toward their goals.

5. Discuss ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.

The example given in the book was really interesting. A group of sixth grade teachers, who taught all different subjects got together to do one big project, that spans into each of their subjects. They started by putting a seemingly bunch of unrelated things together and told to the students that they were all the same. So that got the students attention trying all week to figure out what these things were or had in common. this sparked inquiry and deeper thinking for the students. Once they told the students that the things were all forms of currency, they had them get into teams and they basically established a rate of exchange.


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

This chapter really opens my eyes to how deep PBL can really become with the right tools and steps taken. You really need to know what your students already know, in order to help them have a successful project. Its important to take the proper steps when using technology with students and be sure to let them investigate it before you start, you never know what they will come up with.