PBL Final Reflection

I  have aligned the bridge project with NETS holding the expectations that my students will be able todemonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes, throught the construction of a virtual bridge as well as use digital media and environments  to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, on our classroom wiki. My students will apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information to learn about different types of bridges and they will use critical thinking skills, to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisons using appropriate digital tools and resources while creating their final smart note book presentation about their bridge design and process. 

My project incorporated various criteria from the final, composite table we outlined as a group in the course Wiki. The bridge project will be academically challenging requiring students to complete research on which type of bridge structure will be the most structurally sound and cost effective to build. Students will build on their knowledge of bridges and create new knowledge through problem solving as a group and they will be engaged through the hands on bridge building process. My students will gain knowledge about technology through the use of online websites, our classroom wiki, and the smart notebook software for the final presentation. Finally, my students will work collaboratively with other students in order to successfully complete all aspects of the bridge project.

From the readings, the website references, and the assignments, I have learned much about project–based learning with technology. I have gained an understanding of the time and dedication it takes to create an authentic learning experience for students. My bag of resources has increased greatly and I have furthered my understanding of how to successfully incorporate technology into my classroom. I will be applying my new knowledge of project based learning by actual implementation of the bridge project in May of this school year. My goal is to evaluate the project design while it is in process and once the students have finished in order improving the educational outcome.

Now that I “know what I know” about project based learning some different steps or strategies I might take in a future project are to collaborate more online and with my fellow colleagues. Working with others opens the opportunities to many ideas and processes that I may not see. I have enjoyed exploring the classroom 2.0 blog and reading about other educator’s experiences. I feel that my students learning will only benefit with my desire to work with others to improve my teaching.

I see several differences using the project-based learning with technology approach to what is typically happening in schools today. The majority of learning is through direct instruction or small projects that are not designed to challenge students with higher level thinking. Additionally, the incorporation of technology is limited not only due to lack of access but also due to the lack of understanding from educators themselves. I strongly feel that project based learning with technology is a teaching and learning strategy that takes time and dedication to become successful. After completing this course my goal is to continue my education about project based learning with technology through implementation of a new project each year. This is an ideal way to build a foundation of ideas and continue to change and shape each project to meet the learning needs of my students. Additionally, working on one new project a year will limit the feeling of becoming overwhelmed. I am excited to begin this process with the bridge project this spring!

Screen Cast Reflection

I have finally finished my screen cast and I am excited to share it with my students. It has taken me multiple and I mean multiple recordings to get to one that I thought was decent. In the future when I am creating a screen cast I will be using an outline of the steps to make the process easier and faster. I struggled with forgetting particular steps especially the little ones that you need to include when teaching students how to complete a task online. I hope that my students will find my screen cast beneficial and I also hope that I will improve! What a process!

Web Page Process Reflection

                I have slowly but surely added, improved and tweaked my webpage. This has not been an easy process for me and although I have struggled I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish at this point. I have included a Picasa slide show along with a power point that will support my bridge project. I have also begun including the required links and have spent a large amount of time thinking about organization.

                Additionally, I have been working on my screen cast to teach my students about our class wiki but have yet to settle on a final version. At this point I am finding the screen cast to be the most challenging aspect of the required elements for our webpage. I am looking forward to becoming more comfortable with the process in order to provide my students with the opportunity to learn at their own pace. I like the idea that they will be able to watch the screen cast and to stop and play it at will, in order to become comfortable with our class wiki! In fact I am eager to share with them that I have just recently learned how to create a web page from a screen cast myself! I just know that they will enjoy the fact that I have learned a new skill in the same manner that they are about to.

PBL Ch. 7 Learning Reflection

As I began reading chapter 7 the following statement jumped out at me; “It doesn’t always unfold the way you expect. This is where the art of teaching comes into play” (Boss & Krauss pg 113). This statement is undoubtedly the truth and in fact things seem to very rarely go as planned! So as I move forward with my project I would like to include the necessary modifications to be prepared for various situations. I have implemented the bridge project once before and have already learned what I need to change in order to ensure that I meet the educational goals.

Providing students with the opportunity to share and discuss their thinking with one another is the first thing that I am changing from my initial completion of this project. This will give students an opportunity to learn more about themselves and each other. I will also be changing the questions I pose to my students, asking more questions that require higher level thinking and inquiry skills. My hope is to include several questions from each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Another important piece that was mentioned in chapter 7 is to assist the kids in focusing on the learning goal and not get sidetracked by the “cool” things in their presentations. I will be requiring a smart notebook presentation, which is a new piece that I am including, in order to integrate more technology. I feel that this maintaining educational focus is a valid point! Students and teachers alike have a tendency to get caught up in the aesthetics of presentations rather than the content.

Additionally, I liked the idea of having the bridge teams agree on their individual roles and create a group agreement clearly defining any consequences for neglecting their job. This seems to be a great idea to manage and prevent conflict amongst the team members. I will be including this process in my project plan.

PBL Ch. 6 Learning Reflection

One piece that stood out to me from reading Ch. 6 is to teach the fundamentals first. This allows the students to be able to be more independent when beginning a project. I plan on teaching both the math and science vocabulary that will be required to complete our bridge project. I will also provide multiple whole group opportunities for my students to learn about and explore our class wiki. This is what I plan to create my screen cast around so that they will have an example to refer to.

I like the idea of setting up a technology playground and having students teach each other. I have several students who have been in a smart technology classroom since third grade and whom are familiar with many applications! The stations I will be setting up are for the class wiki, building a bridge website, and how to search the internet properly for information.

The final section I found helpful in the guidance of improving my outline for the bridge project are the guiding inquiry question starters offered by Joyce Valenza (http://joycevalenza.edublogs.org). These starters will help me form and refine my essential questions providing the students with more room for independent thinking.

PBL Ch. 5 Learning Reflection

At this point in the course I am enjoying the process of fine tuning the Bridge Project that I do with my students in the spring. I would like for my students to have access to my web page and a wiki for the project by the end of February. I am struggling with setting up the webpage just a bit, however with persistency and practice I feel confident that it will be functional in a week or two.

Using the guiding activities from the text has been useful in beginning to learn what I will need for my project and how I can incorporate technology.  As stated above I will be creating a wiki and I have also found a site that will allow my students to build a virtual bridge which is pretty neat. I am still hoping to have my students create a smart notebook presentation of their learning process; however I will not be addressing that until I am comfortable with the general outline of the project.

After reading Ch. 5 two of the topics that I found helpful were “Team Planning” and “Start Simple, then Elaborate.”  I feel that I have a greater understanding of how to organize my student teams. In the past I have grouped them solely on ability and now I will look at my grouping in a different light. Grouping my students based on how they will complement each other versus solely on skill will allow them to be challenged and have a more active role. Additionally, I believe that creating the wiki for this project will be a great tool not only for me, but for my students as well and I have a tendency to become overwhelmed and so taking it one step at a time is ideal. I would actually like to introduce my students to the wiki and have their input as it is being created for the bridge project. Not only will they have had an opportunity to practice prior to the project but they will have an opportunity to mold it.

One other general idea that I am excited about putting into place is working backwards from the end goal while tweaking this project. There is a common thread throughout the reading and the Project Based Learning method to work from the end essential questions and learning objectives that you want the students to know and understand in order to assure that they are being met. This is an ideal way to plan and I now have the perfect opportunity to practice and refine my skills in this process.

PBL Ch. 4 Activty 1: Design Your Project

1.     Revisit the framework.

a.    Make a final list of learning objectives for core subject’s allied disciplines.

                                          i.    Students will be able to:

1.     design and construct a bridge out of toothpicks.

2.    measure and calculate the weight of their bridge.

3.    complete a cost analysis of their bridge

4.    conceptualize how their completed project will look before building their bridge.

b.    21^st-century skills to be addressed.

                                          i.    NETS – 1b and c

                                        ii.    NETS – 2a and b

                                       iii.   NETS – 3a through d

                                       iv.    NETS – 4b and c

                                         v.    NETS – 5a through d

                                       vi.    NETS – 6a

c.    Identify learning dispositions you want to foster.

                                          i.    Scientific method

                                        ii.    Problem solving

2.     Establish evidence of understanding.

a.    Students will complete a worksheet to demonstrate their understanding of the following science and math vocabulary: truss, pier, trestle, cable, caisson, acute angle, angle, congruent, diagonal, edge, obtuse angle, parallel lines, parallelogram, perpendicular line, polygon, quadrilateral, right angle, straight angle,  trapezoid

b.    Students will build a virtual bridge and then draw their bridge blueprints.

c.    Students will construct a bridge using a design of their choice that they have researched that will withstand x amount of weight

3.    Plan the project theme or challenge.

a.    Durability

b.    Environmentally safe

4.    Plan entrée into the project experience.

a.    Engineer guest speaker

b.    “Building Big Bridges” Discovery video

PBL Plan Reflection Questions

1.     What is an important and enduring concept that is fundamental to a subject you teach?

a.    Science

                                          i.    Engineering Design: Engineering design is a process of using science principles to make modifications in the world to meet human needs and aspirations.

2.     Why is this concept important?

a.    The importance of engineering design is to be able to make modifications in the world while minimizing the negative effects on the surrounding environments in addition to creating structures and that are both safe and efficient.

3.    Outside school, who cares about these topics? What is their relevance in different people’s lives and in different parts of the world?

a.    Engineering is a meaningful process to all communities around the world. Engineering allows for areas, people, and communities to be connected as well as providing a means for natural resources to be more readily available.

4.    What other subjects might be incorporated?

a.    Other subjects that may be incorporated with the science concept of engineering design are math, cost to build as one example, and language arts, the ability to communicate and comprehend information.

5.    How might you push pass rote learning into analysis, evaluation and creation?

a.    By providing a real world problem for students to research, analyze, and create a solution to. Then giving them the opportunity to put that plan into action.

6.    Imagine authentic ways students might engage in the project and the ways 21^st century skills might be addressed.

a.    I would like to develop and expand upon a project I have done in the past for this science content standard, which is having my students design, build, and test a bridge. 21^st century skills that might be addressed are: use of the internet to search different types of bridges around the world, using a wiki to post findings, and creating a smart notebook presentation to express their ideas and/or the steps in their design process.

7.    What aspects of these topics will interest your students?

a.    I think my students will be especially interested in the opportunity to build a model of a bridge as well as exploring our interactive smart notebook software.

8.    What learning dispositions should you cultivates and ask your students to pay attention to?

a.    I would like my students to pay attention to the scientific process and how it is applied to engineering design in addition to creating a structure that is safe and not damaging to the environment.

Thoughts About PBL

As I begin diving into and exploring project based learning I am both excited and a bit overwhelmed. I am enjoying the opportunity to explore so many great resources online. However, I search all of these resources with the overpowering question of “where do I begin?”

I have come across some great project based learning ideas such as the “Flat Stanley” movement. This is a great example of how to utilize technology effectively in a project based learning format. The website is phenomenal with many ideas and ways to connect with students and teachers around the world. “Flat Stanley” also gives many cross curricular options which you can incorporate into your lessons.

I strongly believe in the opportunities that PBL is able to provide students such as being engaged in real world activities and working collaboratively with peers. Additionally, by incorporating technology into the PBL process students are given the tools that will help them further the skills they need for the twenty first century work force.

I am eager to dive into the process of creating and collaborating with my professional colleagues on this topic, both online and at my building. I have joined the educational blog classroom 2.0 to begin learning about the online community. I hope to both learn and share various ideas with others to further my skills in the classroom.

I have taken some time to explore classroom 2.0 and have found many great topics of discussion as well resources. For example, once a week there is a live screen cast that all members are able to take part of if the topic interests you which is really neat. I also appreciate that classroom 2.0 separates discussions by tool. This has allowed me to go directly to those discussing smart boards as it is applicable within my classroom!