Reflection #5

1.  Discussion on the items that should be considered before starting a project with students.

Before the project is started, all the resources should be in place.  These resources can vary from physical materials, to technology.  Sometimes they can be obtained through the school, such as technology, but sometimes it may be necessary to go into the surrounding community, to find the other materials.

Also, the items needed also include skills and expertise present.  If the project is a collaboration among school staff, responsibilities should be divided according to skills.  Also, depending on the project, it may be helpful to find someone who is an expert in the area covered, to provide more input for the students.

2.   Discussion on teachers’ and students’ management needs.

Project calendars are helpful for the student.  They can be color coded and help the student keep on track as far as deadlines.  It will also help if a large project is broken up into many smaller requirements that would help them process the information in a more organized manor, and not become overwhelmed.

As far a organization for the teachers, regular assessments of the class seems to be the key point.  This can be done in many ways.  The most common is formally with a grading scale, but observing and interacting with the students is great, to keep up with how they understand the project and any weaknesses they may need help with.

3.   Discuss some of the technology applications that should be considered for use in a project.

There were many forms of technology that were discussed, that will be helpful with a project.

At the very beginning, a digital survey would be helpful in assessing the students capabilities with technology, to find out what still needs to be taught, before launching the project.

At the very least there is the basic district server, but it was discussed that there is the weakness of not being able to access it from outside the school.  This is where Learning Management Systems (LMS) are introduced.  These are tools such as Moodle or Desire2Learn.  These can be accessed from any computer with internet access.  Students can interact with the teacher, and submit work for review at any time from any location.

Other resources such as Google Docs are helpful because the teacher can monitor individual interaction and what is being done, by whom and when.  The teacher can also give helpful input during the progress of items such as reports, before they are even completed and handed in.

A web page for the class is also helpful to keep up to date with announcements and deadlines.

4.   Discussion on how concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project.

Discussing the need for different programs such as Blogs and Google Docs was helpful for me, to understand why they are being used, and how helpful they really are.

Also, the concept of dividing students into groups according to skill and how they complement each other, was a new idea.  The traditional weak with the strong has always been my experience, but they brought up a good point that pairings like this put too much work on the strong and do not improve the skills of the weak student.  This would be great to keep in mind when dividing students into groups of three for the Garden Projects.