Blog Post #9

What can Teachers and Students teach us about Project Based Learning?


The video Seven Essential for Project Based Learning discusses seven different things that should be done when doing a project. These seven essentials include:

1. Need to know: teacher introduces the project with something interesting, such as a video, a field trip, a guest speaker, or a lively discussion, instead of just giving the students a stack of papers that will make them not want to do the project.
2. Driving Question:students create a driving question that focuses on a specific area of the project topic.
3. Student Voice and Choice: students choose how to design, create, and present their products.
4. 21st Century Skills: students build and practice skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology.
5. Inquiry and Innovation: students created their own questions which leads to the search for answers which then leads to new questions, and testing ideas, and coming up with conclusions.
6. Feedback and Revision: students critique each other's work using rubrics that they created.
7. Publicly Presented Product: students present their projects to a public audience.

The video Project Based Learning for Teachers describes what Project Bases Learning really is and what it includes. This video helped me better understand what to expect or what I should do when doing project based learning. As a future educator I should know what PBL is and how it will help students.

The video What motivates students? includes different students who describe what motivates them to do good in school and what rewards that make them want to do better. One student said that he just like for teachers to simply complement him on his good work. A couple other students said that wanting to have a good job and better future is what motivates them to do good in school. Rewarding students on their good work makes the students want to do better in school.

The video and article Two students solve the problem of Watery Ketchup by designing a new cap is very interesting. I, along with many other people, do not like watery ketchup on anything. With the use of PBL, these to high school students were able to create something that will solve the watery ketchup solution.

In the article Ten sites supporting digital classroom collaboration in Project Based Learning, it introduces collaboration tools on the web that can be used in a Project Based Learning classroom. These sites include communication and collaboration with student to student, student to teacher, and student to expert. The ten sites include:

• Titan Pad
• Wall Wisher
• Corkboardme
• Google Docs
• Microsoft Live
• Today's Meet
• Will You Type With Me
• Linoit
• Skype in Education
• Quick Screen Share

C4K Summary for Month of March

C4K #5
The kid that I commented on is a seventh grader named Jesse. The post that I commented on, he talks about his basketball season. He says that he is on a traveling basketball team and they have had some good games and has also had some bad games. He says that whenever one of the players "gets there head down, then the rest of the team gets their head down." They have one more tournament game to play and they want to "end it with a bang."
The comment that I left for Jesse said "Every team has their ups and downs. You just have to stay positive, keep your heads up and continue to practice to get better. Whenever you see one player put their head down, remind them and the rest of the team that you guys did your best and there will always be another chance to do better at the next game. I hope that you and your team win the last tournament game. Good Luck."

C4K #6
This blog was from a sophomore named Kaylee. Her post was about her job shadowing experience. She says that she wasn't able to go with her first job choice, which is a forensic analyst, so she had to go with a pharmacist. She talks about how her experience wasn't very exciting, but it was interesting for her to watch them mix the medications in lotions and how they made chewable gummies.
The comment that I left for Kaylee said, "My name is Kiyana and I attend the University of South Alabama. I like how you were able to shadow one of your dream jobs. Even though the experience wasn't what you expected or that interesting, at least you were able to do it and know that being a pharmacist isn't what you really want to do. I wish that I was able to shadow my dream job when I was in high school. I hope you are able to make a final decision on what you really want to do in your future. Good Luck!"

C4K #7
This blog was from a seventh grader named JT. In his post he talked about football and that it is his favorite sport. He says that he plays lineman and has been playing football since he was in the fourth grade. He also describes a few of the different positions and what type of a person would play that position. For example, he says "You need fast people for running back, bigger guys for lineman, people who are fast and can catch for wide receiver, and people who can do everything and stay calm in intense situation should go out for quarterback."
The comment that I left for JT said, "My name is Kiyana and I attend the University of South Alabama. This post about football is very good. I like how you describe a few of the different positions. I'm not really a big football fan but I have learned a lot about it these past few years with the help of my boyfriend. He played football when he was in high school and has taught me some things so that I can better understand the game when I am watching it. I hope you continue to play and get better and maybe one day you will become a pro football player."

Project #9 Video Book Commentary

Blog Post #8

In Randy Pausch's Last Lecture video, he talked about his childhood dreams and how to enable the dreams of others. He is really a inspirational educator and this videos made me look at a few things differently. He is a very positive person even after being given the news about his health. In his video, he talks about following your dreams and not letting other people get in your way. As an educator, you want to be honest with your students and encourage them to dream big. He also says in his videos that you have to get the fundamentals down in order to be successful. Something that he said that I really liked is "When your screwing up and no one is saying anything to you no more, that means they gave up." It's really bad when someone gives up on, it makes you just want to give up on yourself. I will use that lesson towards my future as an educator. As an educator, in order to better teach your students you have find the strengths and weaknesses in each student. Learning the students strengths and weaknesses will help better understand how each student learns and what better suits them. You have to make learning fun by using different technology and project based learning.

This video has really encouraged me to follow my dreams and encourage other people to follow theirs.

C4K Summary for Month February

C4K#1
My first kids name was Lizzie H. from Mr. Boylen's eighth grade language arts class. The blog that I commented on was her talking about how she loves apple juice and always has to have a bottle next to her bed filled with apple juice every night. She wanted to know if anybody else does this. I told her that I do it all the time. When I was a kid I always had apple juice by my bed as well. Now, it doesn't have to be apple juice all the time. I have different kinds of juice by my bed every night.

C4K#4
This post was by Jesse B. who summarized the book Shiloh. He gave great detail about the book and described how the boy really felt about the dog Shiloh. I commented and told him that I had never read the book or seen the movie. His summary of this book has made me want to go actually read this book and then watch the movie.

Blog Post #7

Using iMovie and the Alabama Virtual Library in Kindergarten
In this video, Dr. Strange introduces Elizabeth Davis and Michele Bennett, who are both elementary educators. Mrs. Bennett discusses how kindergarten students are using iMovie to create and edit book trailers from books that they have read. She explains how the students get very excited about editing the videos to their liking.
Mrs. Davis talks about Alabama Virtual Library (AVL), which is completely free for students where they can go and do basic research on anything. Once they start their search, they are able to look at different images and encyclopedia articles that pertain to what they wanted to look up.

We All Become Learners
This video is about how using different devices changes the dynamics of learning. The teachers teach the students, the students teach the students, and the students teach the teachers. With using all the different types of technology everybody becomes a learner and a teacher in some sort of way.

iPads In The Classroom
In this video, it shows schools in Chicago that have started using iPads in the classroom. One of the teachers says that the iPads allow students to take virtual field trips everyday by searching web content that is user friendly for early childhood students. The use of these iPads keeps students engaged in lessons and materials.

Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education
This video discusses the 10 reasons why technology is a great way in helping students learn.
These 10 reasons are:
1. Students Love It
2. Engages Four Key Components to Learning
3. Professional Development
4. Makes Life Easier for Teachers
5. Improves Test Scores
6. Helps Students with Low Attention Spans
7. Learn from Experts
8. Engages Completion of Homework
9. Saves Money
10. Remove Obstacles