Reading Reflection #4

1. Discuss the potential pitfalls in project design:

• Long on activity, short on learning outcomes- this pitfall basically talks about keeping a project "right sized" for what it accomplishes. We don't want to take a long time on an activity or project and have the learning outcome fall short of what the students put work towards. 
• Technology layered over traditional practice- After going over your plan, make sure that technology was used to bring people together, to connect students to rich data or primary sources, or to provide some other way to allow students to create unique and high quality learning products. 
• Trivial thematic units- think about ways themes can change or the way power could be addressed repeatedly over the year through a variety of projects.
• Overly scripted with many, many steps- don't let your projects get overly wordy with too many steps. The best projects are the ones where students are making critical decisions about their learning path.

2. Discuss the features of a good project:

Some of the best ways to get the best quality in your projects include: make your project loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths, let yours students construct meaning, include rich data or primary sources, have students learn by doing, include inquiry in your project, reach beyond school to involve others, and get at 21st century skills and literacies. These things will all combine to make for a quality rich project. 

3. Discuss where project ideas come from:

Many project ideas come from other successful project ideas. Project ideas can also come from books, websites, contemporary issues, stories, or just a mixture of many ideas put to one project. 

4. Discuss the steps to design a project:

• Revisit the framework: You should always look over your learning objectives and disciplines. Also, decide on the 21st century skills you want to address and consider how you will address them. 
• Establish evidence of understanding- Know that your students have fully understood what they are learning and imagine what they would know once they have learned it. 
• Plan the "vehicle"- think about what the students would inquire about, make sure there is flexibility to serve the needs of the project, and imagine the true-to-life connections
• Plan entree into the project experience- what are the first things you might say to the students to get them excited about the project? What will get your students attention?

5. Discuss how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project:

The biggest thing that caught my attention when relating this chapter to our project is the steps to designing the project. As teachers we must plan ahead and look at what will get our students excited about the project and what will keep them engaged throughout. We also need to think about what we want the outcome of the project to be.