Shelly Henderson - EDT 3470 - Reading Reflection #6

Technology tools can help and encourage students to assess themselves, their strengths and their progress.  They can keep a journal of sorts through the use of a blog or some sort of document where they can record their thinking and their learning processes as they go along.  You, the teacher, can set up surveys that they can take at points during the project that will not only help them but also give you some insight into what is going on.  It is important for students to see where they came from, where they ended up and how they got there.

I think getting students’ minds ready for a project could be really fun!  I love the ideas in the textbook where the teachers created a mystery of sorts by presenting artifacts or asked thought-provoking questions without giving much information.  You could also use stories or articles to get students thinking about a topic.  You can even tap into some technology resources to help introduce your topic.  I think giving them just a taste every day and building up their curiosity is a great way to go.  You might even be surprised by what they think or even by what they discover along the way.  It might bring a new perspective to what you were thinking about the project.  Go with their enthusiasm!

Teaching fundamentals first is very important.  When planning a project you don’t want to simply throw the instructions to the students and let them go.  If you teach the fundamentals first, they will head in the right direction with confidence and then be better able to work independent of you along the way.  You don’t want them getting bogged down figuring something out that you could teach them.  Also, it is very helpful to give students an assessment rubric so they know what good performance looks like and what you value.  Give them what they need to move along smoothly and continue with the big picture of your project and they will be more successful.

Preparing students to use technology in a project requires some attention.  As we learned earlier in the book and were reminded of here, technology should not be the project itself, but rather the means by which the project gets done.  Look over your asset map that you created early in your planning process and line those resources up next to what you feel the most important learning functions are.  Then, figure out what the best tools for the job are and think about your students using them.  Think about how they can learn new technology by themselves or by helping each other.  Use technology-advanced students to teach other students. Setting up computer stations and moving students through them in pairs or small groups is a great way to do this.  Be sure to help your students track their progress by showing them some project-management tools where they can journal and keep on top of what they have accomplished.  Also, demonstrate technology to your students if you are able and comfortable.  If you’re not, ask for help from another teacher, a tech-smart student, or your technology specialist.   Think about what technology will really be beneficial for your students to know in the long run and what technology will be useful for the project and teach that. 

Promoting inquiry and deep learning can be done by guiding your students toward skilled questioning.  Help them imagine what the experts would ask or what they would do.  Use question starters like “which one”, “how”, “what if”, “should”, and “why”.  These will help your students to think on a deeper level and look at things differently.  There is so much information out there for students to look at and sift through.  It can be pretty overwhelming.  They need to learn how to assess information with a critical eye and then how to evaluate how much it is worth.  You can help younger students with this process by giving them fewer sources to look at.  You can then give older students richer sites and databases to explore.  After that, students can tap into search engines from which they can get good results.  Beyond that, students could be introduced to the “Big6” which is “an entire information literacy problem-solving approach.” 

The information in this chapter is good to have for planning a PBL project.  It is important to consider how you introduce the project to your students, how you plan for the use of technology, and work towards deeper learning.  I liked reading about different ways of getting students interested and to “buy in” to a project.  I learned more about using technology and that it is necessary to make decisions about what and how much students need to learn.  After reading this chapter, I would like to figure out a way to incorporate more reflection and self-assessment in my project.  I think my students and I would both benefit.