Final Concept Map

1. Description of what occurs as a result of using the Project-based learning approach.
2. Discussion on ways to “bring your project home”.
3. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project

What occurs as a result of project based learning is opening of new doors for you as a teacher and for the students. There is a new authentic learning experience that your students will never forget which is a goal in education, to create life long learning. 

Ways to bring your project home is to reflect on what went well in the project and what needs improvement. Also what can you use for the future students. Finally it is important to make your lessons accessible to the community by broadcasting it in some way. For our project we will be making our lesson plans accessible for others by the creation of our website. 

reflection 11

     After learning about Project Based Learning, both teachers and students will be learning in a new way.  Project-based learning is about the students and how can you as a teacher improve their learning experience plus your teaching experience.  Also be aware that it will be a big change in the way you teach and you will be in a way learning alone with your students.  The more you practice this teaching style the easier you will be able to incorporate Project-based learning into everyday teaching and it will be worth it. 

     Through project based learning students have the opportunity to control they're own learning rather than just reading out of a textbook everyday.  Students would also be more prepared for the work force especially since many of the jobs that are in high demand have something to do with technology.  When students engage in real world projects their experiences totally change.  Projects become the center point of the curriculum rather than just something extra or something to do when the teacher has run our of things to teach.  With Project Based Learning allows students to learn how to do things by doing not just reading.  

     Good projects don't lead to a dead end.  Instead they open new doors and create connections that you can build into future designs.  You can bring your project home by capitalizing on your investment.  You also want to critique your work, and share your insights, become a resource for your colleagues, enter a contest, and enjoy the journey.  

     This chapter relates to our topic because now that we are almost done with our class we have to continue with project based learning.  We have to "Bring our project home."

Chapter 11: Bringing it Home

Ricki Feuereisen

         After taking the project-based learning approach, you learn many different things as a teacher and a student. This approach teaches you that you can learn wherever you are and whenever you want to. You may not even realize that you are learning something new. With project-based learning, you learn about web-based productivity tools and multiple communication options, from handheld devices to web-based applications. Within these two, students can use storage devices that help students store and share their files. With the web-based software is where students are allowed to create, collaborate, store and access digital work products from any Internet ready computer. Next there is deep learning, you have primary sources and rich databases along with higher-order thinking. Students are interested and engaged in learning and completing the project. With project-based learning, students are using scenarios that are relatable in engaging.

         When thinking about how to bring the project together, you want to take time to reflect on what you have done. Think about what next steps you may want to take, or where you want to go next with your research. As a teacher, you can blog about your experience, if the project worked well or you want some ideas to improve. Teachers should also give students the chance to reflect. Reflect on their experience, what they learned. When students have the chance to reflect, ask them to reflect what could have gone better, what they liked about the project, or what next steps they might want to take with the project. Teachers should talk with their colleagues and discuss the project and see if they can give any ideas, also if the project went really well you want to share it with your colleagues so that they can incorporate it in their classroom possibly. At the end of the project, your students and teachers should feel like you guys took an adventure. Look back at the memories and artifacts, and ideas for shaping their next adventure.

            This chapter relates to my topic/project because at the end of the project, we want to have students to reflect on what they have done, but also give feedback on how they think the project went and what went well and what could be improved. You want students to walk away from the project having learned something.We want to think about what we have done throughout the project and the steps we have taken to get there.

reflection 10

       It is important to set aside time for reflection because it helps students reveal things they might not otherwise think about, such as what they learned and what they enjoyed about learning, their growth as learners, and what (and how) they want to learn in projects ahead.  You also need to help students think about how joyous and gratifying the learning journey can be.  

       Students need to reflect and elaborate.  they need to focus on the few things that matter the most-- those that anchor the learning and get kids thinking about themselves as evolving learners.  They need to ask what does this get you wondering about next? also what do you want to learn now, and how do you want to go about it?

       When you build tradition and identity you need to think about how your class and school can establish a tradition of exemplary project work.  Part of the recipe is building awareness in others.  As community members begin to notice and value students' accomplishments, they will give you enthusiastic support.  Ask your community to participate in a celebration of learning.  Once you have established a tradition of excellence, students will feel it's a privilege to honor the tradition with their hard work.  

       It is important to celebrate a project.  Show student work, put it on an event , create a blog, or hold a party.  Any way you do it, celebrate learning, and build your school's identity as a place where kids get to learn through projects.  

       This relates to our project because we are creating a festival where we are showing off what we have learned.  We are also creating a website what displays all of the projects we have completed.  

Chapter 10: Celebrating and Reflecting

                                                                                                       Ricki Feuereisen 

When completing a project or even a homework assignment, it is important to set aside time for a reflection. The reason this is an important factor is because, it helps the student feel good about their accomplishments. More importantly, reflections can be the thing that makes the learning really stick. It also helps them think about what they learned throughout the project and/or assignment. Not only do students need to reflect on what they learned but they can also reflect on how they completed the assignment and how well they thought they did. Reflections helps students reveal things they may not think about, the book gives examples of what the student learned, how they grew as a learner and what students want to learn ahead from other projects.

Students need to elaborate on their reflections because it opens the student’s eyes. Student’s elaborating on their reflection, allows them to think about where they want to go and what they want to learn next.

            Schools build traditions and identity by building awareness in others. Teachers should hold class traditions, meaning, to teach something year after year that students are excited for and talk about with their friends and family. Teachers and schools should hold a class celebration at end of the year, unit, and semester, where anyone can come. Students will work hard to keep up a tradition and they feel it’s a privilege to be apart of the experience.

            The importance of celebrating a project is because you’re celebrating students learning and the hard work they put into completing the project. You want to celebrate student growth and display student work so that friends, family, and community members can see. You are also celebrating the class and the work they complete in the classroom. You are celebrating the end product.

            This chapter relates to my topic/project, because at the end of the unit, we are putting together a festival of all the research that we have done. We will be creating advertisements and getting sponsors and inviting people from the community to come check it out and see all the work that was done.

1. Description of a method of understanding prior-knowledge of students.
2. Discussion on the importance of establishing anchors for a project.
3. Description of several ways to assess what students learned during the project.
4. Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

According to the book one way you can access students prior knowledge is by the use of a KWL chart. This directly tells the teacher what students know about the topic, what they want to know and what they have learned. Anchors are important for understanding what students know and how they will progress through the unit. 

Several ways to assess students is by creating a final form of assessment that requires them to synthesize the information. You can have them work on a writing project or create something like a portfolio that they would potentially have to do in the future. This chapter relates to our project because we will have to create a form of assessment for our web page. 

reflection 9

     A method that is discussed when talking about understanding prior-knowledge of students is the K-W-L chart.  K is for what you know, W is for what you want to know,  and L is for what you learned.  This is critical to the teaching process so you know from where you need to start your teaching on a project so as no one is left behind.  It is important to establish anchors for a project.  By doing this you gain a sense of where students are starting and going as long as they work to meet their goals.  In a project based learning classroom, you can expand the opportunities to differentiate instruction and help all learners be successful.  In considering assessment, think about the quality of the learning experience and how will you measure the distance between each student travels as a learner. 

     A way to assess what students have learned is to use rubrics.  You can even get students involved in developing these tools and help them understand the criteria by which their work will be graded.  There was also one teacher who had their students create books to show what they have learned in class.  Another teacher video taped his student in interviews of the projects they finished. 

     This chapter relates to our project because we use rubrics to grade our assignments.  We are graded on how well we understood the material.