Friday, September 28, 2012
reflection 2
Reflection #2
Chapter 2
1. “The learning organization can be any business work team, big or small, that engages in ongoing, collaborative problem solving focused on making the business better. They learn new patters of thinking, they learn how to capitalize on the wisdom of the group, and, most importantly, they continually learn how to learn together.” Pg. 30. This is what we all strive for,to learn how to learn together. I believe that teachers as well as students need to keep learning in order to stay on top of the newest technology and information available. Teachers need to consult with other teachers in order to get necessary feedback on their teaching and their instruction.
2. Benefits of the learning community start at teachers not being so isolated, which is a good thing. Teachers need help too, if they can learn from other teachers they will be more willing to help others in need. Increased commitment to the mission is another benefit. This is beneficial to all how need that extra help from their colleagues. Shared responsibility and more powerful learning are other benefits of the learning community. We all need to help each other with anything that might come up, in or out of a classroom. The last one is a higher likelihood of fundamental, systemic change. Everything is changing all the time, we have to keep up and keep on top of these changes. It is easier to do this as a group where we will have help and encouragement to change.
3. Learning communities affect teachers in that there is a “shift from looking at what you teach to focusing on what your students learn.” Pg. 32. The learning is relevant and rigorous. Teachers as well as students learn the skills necessary for the real world, from communication to problem solving and motivation. By getting other teachers involved we create a critical mass of dedicated teachers who share the common goal. By doing this we can be the driving force that moves a school forward.
4. A learning community has the same effects on students as it does on teachers. There are more student centered ideas, collaboration is a critical measure for the real world, and project management helps the students in many ways. We must do everything we can as teachers, and as parents, to help our students gain the knowledge of and for the real world.
5. Components of a learning community are as follows: have a clear sense of the mission, share a vision of the conditions teachers must create to achieve the mission, work together in collaborative teams to determine the best practice to achieve the mission, organize into groups headed by teacher-leaders, focus on student learning, are goal-and results-oriented, collaborate with each other, hold shared values and beliefs, commit themselves to continuous improvement, and see themselves as life-long learners.
6. I believe our project relates to the concepts in this chapter in that the project is set for collaboration with others, it will be a project that will use technology as well as a hands on activity, and will help the students gain knowledge of the weather.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Reflection
#1
Chapter 1
Janice
Alff
1.
There are a few things you should keep in mind
as you start your journey through Project-Based Learning. You should be ready to rethink your
expectations of the students and their work.
You should be ready to interact more with your students. You should help your students get better at
managing their own progress. You should
be ready to reorganize your room to help with teamwork and collaboration. The biggest thing, I believe, is to be ready
to explain your reasoning for taking the 21st-century project
approach.
2.
Some
of the benefits of the PBL approach are projects allow for student choice which
sets the stage for active learning and teamwork. Some tools open new windows onto student
thinking which can help with more productive conversation. PBL can have instant global connections if
using the internet. The students get
real world activities and practice the strategies of authentic disciplines.
3.
The
benefits to students are: they use hands on projects instead of just sitting
and listening to lecture. They use
teamwork to do much of the assigned projects.
It enhances their communication skills as well as their inquiry skills. They learn to be flexible with their working
hours like they will in the real world.
They also get a fuller understanding of how the world works, and realize
that individuals can do something about changing the world.
4.
The
issues that need to be considered are: teachers need to be comfortable in the
learner role as we start own journey. We
must be able to adapt to change as the projects and information is always
changing. We need to be able to meet the
complex needs of the digital-age learner.
5.
We
all need models to help us along. In my
English class we talk about modeling our writing for our students. If we show them how we do it and how we can
make mistakes, they are more apt to understand better and enjoy it more knowing
they are not alone in the process. The
same goes for the New Technology High; it was modeled, found to work effectively,
and endorsed by the community. Because
of these things, other schools and communities want to implement it as well.
Reflection: Week 1
Project-based learning is a strategy where students collaborate
to work on real-world projects. Students
pursue their own ideas using technology and outside resources while the teacher
acts as a guide to help students when they need it. This type of education is much different
those used in the past because the teacher in no longer the content expert. The students must investigate open-ended
questions and use their knowledge to provide an authentic answer. These projects are centered on the
curriculum, while also engaging students in real-world activities.
As you begin project-based
learning, it is important for teachers to be prepared. In this activity, you will be sending
students off on their own to find information and work together. This will cause the teacher to act as an aid
instead of the main source of information.
You must have good open-ended questions to push students thinking, know
resources that students can use, and be able to gain control if the project
gets to be too out of hand. This means
you have to have a good classroom organization and good classroom
management. It is also important to keep
an open relationship with the parents, students, and other people involved in
the project.
You may be wondering
why to choose project-based learning if it takes so much extra work and change
on the teacher’s part. You must remember
that you are doing project-based learning for the benefit of the students. Project-based learning is a great way to get
the students interested in projects and issues throughout the community or
world, and it could be a great way to get the community involved in the
education at your school. Project-based
learning pushes the educational thought process, and engages the teacher and
student in a new way. It pushes both the
teacher and the students to grow in their roles as a learner.
The person who will
benefit the most from project-based learning is the most important person in
the school, the student. The reason that
most people begin teaching is to make an impact in students’ lives. This is your chance! Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Project-based learning will have such a positive
benefit on the students in your class.
Students will develop better communication as they work together and
they work with people in the community, students will develop better inquiry
skills, students will learn to be flexible with working hours because people
are counting on them meeting their deadlines, and students will gain a fuller
understanding of the world. The best
benefit will be that students will feel like they are experts in the subject
they are studying.
Some issues you
should think about when using project-based learning is the importance of
monitoring your students as they work through these projects. Planning is a very important thing to
remember for the teacher when he or she is planning a project. If the teacher is not organized, the whole
project will fall apart. The teacher also
needs to plan open-ended to push the students when they come to a dead-end.
The New Technology
Model took years of research and data to finalize, and I guarantee that it will
continue to change during the years as it is implemented into more
schools. New Technology High, a school
in California, was founded after business people voiced their concerns about
students not being able to meet the workforce needs. These business leaders pushed the school to
use critical thinking, collaboration, and technology as a means to better
prepare the students for the workforce and needs of this new technological
age.
I believe it is
important for project-based learning to continue being implemented into school districts
because it gives students a new way of learning that will better prepare them
for problems they may face in the future.
Simply standing in front of students and feeding them information will
never be as effective as students being placed in a real-world setting and
having to use critical thinking and collaboration to solve the problems they
are given.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Websites...
Hey,
I found a great website that ties into our topic and is aimed at young children. If you find any, post them here so we can share :)
I found a great website that ties into our topic and is aimed at young children. If you find any, post them here so we can share :)
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
topic for project
We have decided to do Weather Monitoring for our project.
Thank you,
Janice & Heather
Thank you,
Janice & Heather
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)