Reading Reflection 6

1. Discuss how technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths.
Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths. It can also offer a captivating introduction to a project.

2. Describe several ways in which you can get students’ minds ready for a project.
To get students ready, you'll need to get an idea of what they know about the project and find a way to excite their curiosity about the project. Invite them to open their eyes to the different possibilities the project can have and encourage them to think about the topic. Have them discus the idea with their friends and family. AS you slowly introduce the project in bits and pieces, their curiosity makes them more willing to participate in the project.

3. Discuss the elements of teaching fundamentals first.
To make sure the basics are covered for your project, it is best to teach prerequisite knowledge that the students will need. Many times big projects contain many fundamentals that need to be covered and without proper knowledge of these fundamentals, students will have lacking projects from lacking information. Fundamentals also set a starting point for indepentent inquiry where students put their prior knowledge with their new questions.

4. Describe the important steps in preparing students for using technology in project.
The important steps to preparing students for technology are:

• Set up a technology background- consider how you could teach them to teach themselves using opportunities
• Tap student expertise- let the more technologically ableled students teach the less able
• Introduce Project Management Tools- Use logs or journals to help them track their progress
• Demonstrate- show them how it's done

5. Discuss ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.
Guide students as they choose questions, plan investigations, ad begin to put their plan into action. Have them further explore their thinking and ideas. They explore the ways to combine social studies with academics in the learning ahead.

6. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
We've been using a lot of new and interesting types of technology for the different parts of our project.

Reading Reflection #6

Chapter 6: Project Launch---Implementation Strategies

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

• Technology tools encourage students to reflect and evaluate their own strengths by because they are easy to use. the students become very familiar with how to build and apply to it. It helps them track their progress toward their goal and they gain new skills in troubleshooting delays or other setbacks. 

2. Describe several ways in which you can get students’ minds ready for a project.

• In order to get students ready for a project, the teacher must first activate the students' prior knowledge. Get the students attention and give them ideas to settle their imaginations. encourage your students to explore and think about the topic and discuss their ideas with peers. 

3. Discuss the elements of teaching fundamentals first.

• Before beginning a project, a teacher must teach prerequisite knowledge or skills students needs in order to work with the degree of independence in their own investigations. As a student starts to wonder, encourage deeper questioning with transforming questions like "why?", "should", and "how" questions that will lead to more complex and interesting investigations. Also, giving a student an assessment rubric is like a road map to great achievement. Discuss the dimensions of performance and the scale of each values for rating performance on each dimension. 

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

• In order to prepare students for a technology project, the teacher must set up opportunities for students to learn by and among themselves. Set up a technology playground for students to explore. Learning to use technology or an application for a project can be a rich problem-solving experience in itself. Let technology able students teach others. Have a student use a project log in order to help them track their progress towards goals. Also,If you are comfortable with the tools students use, demonstrate their use.

5. Discuss ways to promote inquiry and deep learning.

• In order to promote inquiry and deep learning is to guide students and have them choose questions, plan investigations, and begin to put their plan into action. Engaging projects goes into many directions and they learn many things together, students are challenged to explored their own interest too. Guide students toward skilled questioning by imagining what practitioners or experts might ask.

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

• The concepts in this chapter relate to my project because the use of technology and learning more on how to use it is a great way of students collaborating with one another. Students who do not know much about technology can be helped by those who do and that student can benefit that student by applying their own strengths. 

Revised Concept Map

Reading Reflection 5

1. Discussion on the items that should be considered before starting a project with students
Before starting a project with students you need to consider the following:

• What and Who You Will Need- What materials you'll need, you can also put out word about the upcoming project. If your project uses new technologies then think about the essential learning functions you need technology to deliver and select the appropriate tools. Having an expert come and talk to the students also helps and now videoconferencing and virtual field trips can help with this.
• Milestones and Deadlines- Time management is a skill that will support students throughout their education and beyond. A project calendar is helpful because it breaks up big tasks into smaller ones and it's a helpful tool to have in the future.
• Team Planning- How will student teams be organized? Remember students will be doing different things at different times so how will you ensure that all students are challenged? Team approaches require you to reset your expectations and experiment with different combinations.
• Plan for Assessment- With planning and practice, you can take advantage of assessment opportunities throughout the project. How will you know that it has been a successful learning journey? A complex project requires multiple assessment methods.

2. Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.
Teachers need to include:

• Tools for communicating with students and others about the project
• Tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur
• Methods for getting resources to students
• Systems for managing work products
• Structures that support a productive learning enviornment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time
• Assessment tools and strategies

Students need to include:

• Systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work
• Systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts
• Collaboration tools
• Methods for seeking assistance
• Ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice
• Ways to work interatively and to see how parts add up to the whole

3. Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.
Two web-based applications are wikis and blogs. A wiki is collaborative and anyone can edit and read from anywhere. It can be syndicated so readers can learn about new content as it changes. It also maintains a version history so if something goes wrong, users can revert to an earlier version. A blog is a one-to-many delivery system with one author. The simplest way to begin using the Web to support projects may be to build a project wiki. Students can communicate with teachers and build more pages on their own as the project progresses.

4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
Our project is focused on using a blog as the center of our topic. This also focuses on our learning of project-based learning.

Reading Reflection #5

Chapter 5: Project Management for Teachers and Learners

1. Discussion on the items that should be considered before starting a project with students.

• The items that should be considered before starting a project with students are first to take a look at your inventory and view as to what materials, tools, or supplies are available at school or offered by the parent community and other supporters. You would have to ask yourself does your project involve the use of technologies that are new to you or your students and what will you need to do in order to expand your students' access to technology? Also you would have divide responsibilities to a collaborating team and decide which tasks they will be responsible for and how will that team organizes who does what. 

2. Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.

Teachers' Management Needs: 

• Tools for communicating with students and others about the project.
• Tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur
• methods for getting resources to students
• systems for managing work products
• structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time
• assessment tools and strategies

Students' Management Needs:

• systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work
• systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts
• collaboration tools
• methods for seeking assistance
• ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice
• ways to work interactively and to see how parts add up to the whole

3. Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.

• Some technology applications that can be used in a project are wiki which is an easily edited  page. Another technology application is using a blog. The structure and the flow is a one-to-many delivery system with one one primary author controlling the contents. 

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

• The concepts of this chapter relates to my topic by knowing the roles that a student and a teacher has .in participating in a technology-based project consisting on collaboration. It is important for students to feel responsible for a role in an organized assignment in order for them to be engaged in a job succeed in making the project come together nicely. 

Reading Reflection 4

1. Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.

• Long on activity, short on learning outcomes: If the project's outcome is solely information that they could read or find in a book then the activity was a waste of time because of how long it takes.
• Technology layered over traditional practice: Good projects focus on reaching real life learning strategies, not just using electronics to show what you learned using electronics.
• Trivial thematic units: Thematic teaching is not necessarily project based learning but have the potential to to be trivial if the theme can unify a year's worth of projects and teach the real life learning strategies.
• Overly scripted with many, many steps: If the instructions are overly scripted then they leave no room for real learning to take place, they are simply following step by step instructions.

2. Discuss the features of a good project.
The best projects:

• are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths
• are generative, causing students to construct meaning
• center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry
• capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences
• are realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines
• reach beyond school to involve others
• tap rich data to primary sources
• are structured so students learn with and from each other
• have students working as inquiring experts might
• get at 21st-century skills and literacies, including communication, project management, and technology use
• get at important learning dispositions, including persistence, risk-taking, confidence, resilience, self-reflection, and cooperation
• have students learn by doing

3. Discuss where project ideas come from.
Good projects can come from anyone and a successful project can be the beginning of a new project. Ideas can come from project plans developed by and for other teachers, news stories, contemporary issues, student questions or interests, a classroom irritant put to educational use, or a "mashup" of a great idea and a new tool. Technology helps by connecting us to view and explore other projects to improve our own.

4. Discuss the steps to design a project
First you'll want to revisit the framework. Make a list of learning objectives and dispositions you want to foster and accomplish. You also will want to decide on the 21st century skills you'll want to address. Next you'll want to establish what you you believe the students will know and what different things they will be able to do once they have learned. Then you'll want to plan the theme or challenge. Imagine what life connections students will get out of the project and how real life people would address the topic you've chosen. Finally you'll plan on how to get the students interested in the project you have. You'll want to edit and revise the material a few times before you create a sketch to get an idea of what your project will look like.

5. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
With a theme like growing tomatoes, there is a wide range of project ideas that teachers can use. The concept map we made is proof of that. Making a good project will help students get more out of the lesson.

Reading Reflection #4

Chapter 4: Strategies for Discovery

1. Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design.

• Long on activity, short on learning activities
• Technology layered over traditional practice
• Trivial thematic units
• Overly scripted with many, many steps

2. Discuss the features of a good project.

• A good project must require "a flexible framework" for the people in the group. A group must think about the importance of straying away from traditional thinking when starting a project. In order to engage learners, there has to be a situation set up in which they want to ask questions, want to learn more, need to know something that don't already know, and believe it is really important to them, and to the community to find out. 

3. Discuss where project ideas come from.

• project plans developed by and for other teachers
• news stories
• contemporary issues
• student questions or interests
• a classroom irritant put to educational use
• a "mashup" of a great idea and a new tool 

4. Discuss the steps to design a project.

• revisit the framework
• establish evidence of understanding
• plan the project theme or challenge
• plan the entree into the project experience

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

• This topic relates to my project because my group member and I have to set up a procedure in order to make the outcome of this project successful. The concepts in this chapter really helped me understand all that I need to include in my project in order to make it seem better. I also think know what are the flaws of designing a project are is also beneficial to me because everything has pros and cons.

Reading Reflection #3

1. Discussion on what should be considered in finding “the Big Idea” for a project.
We learn that the more complex an idea is, the better suited it is for the 21st century project treatment. You can find the big ideas in the table of contents, curriculum standards, or even by asking colleges. Once you identify these big concepts you want the students to understand, figure out why these concepts are important. What is their application or relevance in real life? Who outside of school pays attention to this fundamental idea? When students think about what affect their project has on their community, they become more involved and interested.

2. Discussion on the 2lst Century skills.
The book describes 21st century skills as thinking beyond subject mastery. It says a well designed project causes students to stretch their intellectual muscles in ways traditional learning activities may not. Bloom asks how your project can evolves using the following skills: analyze, evaluate, and create.

3. Discussion on the 21st Century literacies.
A well done project can prepare students for activities in the real world using the tools they have learned to better their community. 21st century literacies come down to students learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens. 21st century literacies are based off of visual and technological literacies.

4. Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.
-Ubiquity: giving students the opportunity to learn inside and outside the classroom
-Deep Learning: Using higher order thinking to go beyond "filtered" information to come up with your own answers
-Making Things Visible and Discussable: Tools like google earth, flickr, and other digital tools to show more than tell
-Expressing Ourselves: Using the social media to find ways to expand your thinking and analize other's work
-Collaboration: Working with others
-Research: Learning to filter through an abundence of information given to us through search engines
-Project Management: Teaching students to manage time, work, give feedback, make drafts, and manage products
-Reflection: How will this project help in the real world

5. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.
This relates to our topic because gardening is much older than a 21st century concept. But gardening has evolved through people coming up with projects and considering how it will benefit the real world. Even today, people look to the web to see how the 21st century gardeners grow their favorite plants. Each of the learning functions is essential for any project because they teach us how to think beyond a normal graded project.

Reading Reflection #3 - Chapter 3: Imagining the Possibilities

Reading Reflection #3 -  Chapter 3: Imagining the Possibilities 

1. Discussion on what should be considered in finding “the Big Idea” for a project.

• The things that should be considered in finding "the Big Idea" in a project is by identifying the core concepts and processes when teachers teach the first step of project planning. scanning the table of contents of your teaching guides and reviewing the curriculum standards of your subjects are great ways of finding it. 

2. Discussion on the 2lst Century skills.

• In the textbook, it states that 21st century skills such as well-designed projects cause students to stretch their intellectual muscles and use their knowledge for granted. It also discusses about the higher-order thinking categories of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which move from lower-order to higher-order of thinking. 

3. Discussion on the 21st Century literacies.

• For learners, 21st Century Literacies are based off of visual and technological literacies by having the ability to effectively use real-word tools. Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute  using printed and written materials associated with different contexts. 

4. Discussion on each of the essential learning functions.

• Ubiquity: Learning inside and outside the classroom, and all the time.
• Deep learning
• Making things visible and discusable 
• Expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, and building community
• Collaboration---teaching and learning with others
• Research
• Project Management: planning and organization
• Reflection and Iteration

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

• The concepts in this chapter relate to my topic because the idea of combining literacy and 21st century skills will benefit the students drastically and they will be more engaged to learn and be able to do what they want that interests them. 

Virtual Penpals Project Part A

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t_Fh4ooQGO6TWqb_PCbGY_z9TwKXBiDCaRnUaGHa1vc/edit#heading=h.njqm0fqcwssd

Virtual Pen Pals Part B

Gardening in Kalamazoo

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl