Bring It Home

Bring It Home: As a current educator of adults and a future educator of teenagers, I feel that I have made a journey after reading this book. I allowed my students to be consumers instead of giving them that extra nudge to be producers. I was also reminded that before I can be as effective as I need to be as an educator, I must remain current with the newest technological advances. The section in this book entitled “Expanding Your Circle” was very beneficial to me. In the past, I have not allowed my students to lead. Students are capable of leading when given the opportunity. My future students will be producers. They will have a more hands-on experience within their own educational experience. They will use technology even more to connect and share ideas with others. This book was very beneficial, and I will become a better educator as a result of the knowledge that I gained through reading Reinventing Project-Based Learning.

Boss, S. & Kraus, J. (2007). Reinventing Project-Based Learning. International Society for Technology in Education. pp. 159-164.

Celebrating and Reflecting

Celebrating and Reflecting: Reflection is a key element in the learning process. Students are given the opportunity to reflect at the end of each class session. Reflection is meaning to each student because they must relate the assignment to some aspect of their lives. My students are asked, “How can you use what you learned today in some aspect of your life? What skills did you use? What did you learn today that you didn’t know yesterday or prior to enter this class?” Students must take their educational experience as a personal journey. Blogs and podcasts are well-suited to capture reflection. Students will be encouraged to use blogs and other digital tools to reflect upon their learning experience. Aside from reflection, it is important to celebrate what they have learned. Projects and other assessments will have a tangible outcome in which students’ work will be displayed. I’m an advocate of hosting socials which serves as the opportunity to showcase the work of my students. In the past, I taught a course entitled Administrative Technology and Support. The entire class was given a project in which they were required to use technology to carry out this assignment. Once all of the details were finalized, the students were able to host a luncheon they designed, and they were able to showcase their work to other teachers, students, parents, etc… Celebrating is always a key element in praising students for their accomplishments and motivating them to continue to make positive contributions to their learning experience.

Boss, S. & Kraus, J. (2007). Reinventing Project-Based Learning. International Society for Technology in Education. pp. 147-155.

Expanding Your Circle

Building Connections and Branching Out: Digital tools are important for students to connect and share ideas with others who may be geographically distant from their school. To make the most of this experience, there must be a database of experts in the required field of study who are willing to offer their expertise. This database would include experts from other schools, colleges and universities, parents of some of my students, etc… Furthermore, students would have the opportunity to practice interacting via digital tools through simulations within the class. This would provide the opportunity for students to become more familiar with the process and with asking questions. Therefore, when the students are allowed to interact with the experts, they will make the most effective use of their time as well as our experts’ time. The Flat Classroom Project was another example of using digital tools to connect and share ideas. My students would have had the same reaction as Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis’ students. In my past experiences as an educator, I have found that students go the extra mile, and they take a great deal of pride in their work when they know that others are observing them for doing something positive. The EAST Initiative Model is another example of using digital tools within the classroom. This model is built on the following essential ideas: student-driven learning, authentic project-based learning, technology as tools, and collaboration. If these ideas were incorporated into our current learning environment, these ideas would have an impact on the student learning experience. Students should take more of an active role in their learning experience. Students should able to take a hands-on approach in attempting to address a problem that is in their community. Again, in my past teaching experiences, I have found that students are more motivated when they understand why they are doing a specific task, how they will accomplish the task, and how the completion of the task will benefit them.

Making Assessment Meaningful: Though Elise Mueller says that it’s better to be a producer, my past students have more than likely been more familiar with being consumers. With today’s current educational system, it is important to allow students to lead. They must take a more active role in their education experience. Therefore, my future students will become producers. Each student learns at different rates, and they will travel at different speeds along the journey of education. The measure of the distance each student travels as a learner may be viewed through project-based learning in which a project may be assigned that tests students’ knowledge on specific learning goals. Furthermore, this progress can be determined through observations of students during the class. The conversation during group assignments may have transformed since a prior point in time. Students who didn’t have much to say may speak out a little more now because they are more comfortable with the material. Various assessments may be given to determine individual gains of each student.

Boss, S. & Kraus, J. (2007). Reinventing Project-Based Learning. International Society for Technology in Education. pp. 127-145.

Navigating the Learning Experience

Project Launch-Implementation Strategies: Chapter 6 presented many good ideas in terms of developing rubrics and strategies to effective teaching. I briefly worked in the secondary education system; however, I never allowed my students to participate in developing rubrics for assessments. The K-W-L approach appears to be an excellent approach. In contrast to my previous experience in the classroom, I have never fully implemented the K-W-L activity. This activity may have been effective in my classroom. The text discusses how Vicki Davis taught a particular subject for a year before a completing a project using what the student learned. This step is vital to ensure that students fully understand the subject matter prior to completing a project using this information. The analogy that was made to the approach of learning to drive was relevant. This example put the learning process in a better perspective for me. We as teachers must ensure that our students fully understand and can effectively apply what they are taught. Therefore, ample time should be spent on teaching the fundamentals and ensuring they have a full understanding of the information. In the future, I will ensure that I focus on building my students’ foundation skills. In projects that I’ve given in the past, I did very little to ensure that my students understood the fundamentals of the project that was assigned. It is difficult for the student to complete a project in which he must use Microsoft Word when he has never used this program. Foundation skills will be a fundamental part of the lesson for my classes prior to assigning any project.

A Guiding Hand - Keeping a Project Moving: What is the art of teaching? The art of teaching refers to individual and how that individual effectively teaches the subject matter for that course to his students. The art of teaching also refers to the teacher’s interaction with students, the teacher’s compassion for his students, and his willingness to go above and beyond to ensure his students are learning. It takes a special person to be a teacher. Teachers understand that not all students learn in the same manner. Therefore, various approaches must be taken to convey the information to all students. Sometimes students may be assigned to work in groups in which various dialogue takes place. One method that I use to keep my students on track is to provide guiding questions for their dialogue. The text mentions higher-order questions. Higher-order questions lead the students to think deeper about subject matter being presented. Furthermore, providing the students with questions helps to keep the students focused. Student-to-student dialogue has been effective in my past experiences because it provides the students to chance to share their ideas with their classmates away from a large setting. Some students are reluctant to share within large classroom settings. Furthermore, I circulate the classroom to monitor each conversation to ensure dialogue is conducted in a respectful manner. Sharing ideas is beneficial, but it requires a great deal of respect on everyone’s part.

Boss, S. & Kraus, J. (2007). Reinventing Project-Based Learning. International Society for Technology in Education. pp. 95-124.