Blog Post #11

Back to the future

In this video, Brian Crosby shows us different ways that he has his students actively doing something instead of just listening to him talk all day. For example, he had his class come up with “high hopes” for their life and write them down. They then shared them on their personal blogs and people all over the world responded to their posts. Some people even wrote back giving them their hopes for the world. This little project showed the students that you can connect to countries all over the world. I learned through this video that the more you blog, the more connected with the world you can be. Also, PBL is a way that teaches children that there is a world outside of their little town and even outside of this country. Blogging also teaches that we can have things in common with other people from other countries. My favorite part of this video was watching how a little girl could not attend class because of her health, but they still included her in their classroom everyday via Skype.

Blended Learning Cycle

In this video, I learned what blending your classroom is. The teacher first asks students a good in depth question or a hock. This gets students thinking on the track that you want them to be on. The students will then learn more by exploring and experimenting. After that, the students watch a video or another educational tool to expand their knowledge of the topic and go more in depth. My favorite part of this idea is before the students can continue on and take the quiz, they must first come to you, as the teacher, and you ask them questions about the subject making them explain to you what they know. This will ensure that the student fully understands the material before being quizzed on it. I love what Mr. Andersen says about this, “I don’t think you have learned something until you can explain it to someone else”. I couldn’t agree with him more! Students have a way of just memorizing things for a test, but not truly understanding the material. If you can sit down and have someone ask you truly hard questions about what you have just learned and all you can do is either spit out pre programmed definitions that you have memorized or you don’t know anything at all, then you have not learned anything. If however, you can explain in your own words the material correctly, then you have learned something. This “review” process, as Mr. Andersen calls it, is the best way for teachers to know if students really understand what they have learned. I believe blended classes are a great, new way to teach children using hands on technology and projects, yet still be there as a teacher to help them along the way and also to make sure they are learning the core standards that are required.


Mr. Andersen’s Blended Learning Cycle:

1. Question
2. Investigation
3. Video
4. Elaboration
5. Review
6. Summary quiz

Make thinking visible

In this video, we saw Mr. Church give his students instructions to write a headline or question, and then post them on a wall in the classroom. After they finished the unit, they did the same thing. This was a way for the students to see how their ideas had changed, if they had changed, and to see how much they had learned throughout the unit.



Super digital citizen

I love how, in this video, Mr. Pane starts the conversation off with a quote from Spider Man. This gets the kids listening to him because most probably, like with the example of Spider Man, they want to know what Spider Man has to do with what they are about to learn. He then talks with them about how to be safe online and uses characteristics to make up a safe, online superhero. Once the class has their list, they each get to make their own superhero that has these characteristics using a website. I learned from this that if I make things relevant to my students, they will find it more fun and interesting to learn. It was cool watching as the students’ faces lit up when they found out they could make a superhero. Once the students made the superhero, they then had to write a story using the superhero and themselves. I learned that when the students can make something of their own, they take more pride in their work and it becomes meaningful to them. Lastly, I learned about this cool web site. They can create a comic book and superhero all within this one website. This is a neat and different way to have students write stories, instead of the old fashion way of just writing with pen and paper.


Project Based Learning

In this video, we see where a Canadian school has incorporated 3 different subjects into one Project Based Learning class. The students spend all morning in this one class with all 3 teachers, working on projects. I learned that by teaching this way they have more time to go deeper, making their projects better, and as a result they understand the curriculum better. Now, American schools are not going to change to this type of learning anytime soon. However, as a teacher, I can incorporate different subjects into one project in my classroom that meets the core standards they need to know. Just by my incorporating subjects and projects together will give my students the opportunity to go deeper and spend more time on subjects. Hopefully, this will also give them a better understanding of the curriculum.


PBL in Roosevelt Elementary

Project Based Learning teaches children to solve real world problems, and how to complete a project from start to finish. It teaches children to know how to think for themselves and be independent learners. Project Based Learning gives students the power to choose how to do things. It gives them the power and then, in return, this makes the students want to do well and give them a sense of pride in their work. It gives students the practice of 21st century life skills they will need when they get a job and are out in the real world. They learn to be comfortable speaking in front of people at an early age. Project Based Learning gives students the practice they need for working together as a team to get a project done. This is real big because most people do not like working in a group, especially as they get older. But, in a job one day you might need to work with your co-workers on a project and will need to know how best to work with people. Lastly, Project Based Learning helps those students who learn in different ways than most people because it is more hands on and uses all different types of learning strategies in one project.