In this blog i describes my Lesson plan for Life in someone's shoes . This lesson plan is just a draft and it is also not finish yet. I am just getting started on it.
Please give feedback on how i can make this project better for students.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Advantages and disadvantages of structuring the students use of time carefully
When it comes to a teacher having to structure the student’s use of time can have these advantages:
- Students stay on task to meet deadlines
- They get the job done
- Helps them understand how projects need to be done in the future
- Keeps all the students in the class on the same pace, so you the teacher don’t have to worry about the students who work faster than others.
Some disadvantages that could come from structuring students
- Some students move slower and it not enough time for them to grasp on the concepts
- Students will only try to do what is due because of deadlines, and that stop them from thinking outside the box.
The advantages accruing to students who have appropriate IT-at home and good homework habits, are that the students can think outside the box in their projects to make it more interesting, when other students who don’t have appropriate IT at home and good homework habits just do what is asked of them. These students also do not have to have a helping hand all the time when working. The more projects you do the more creative students are while learning.
- Students stay on task to meet deadlines
- They get the job done
- Helps them understand how projects need to be done in the future
- Keeps all the students in the class on the same pace, so you the teacher don’t have to worry about the students who work faster than others.
Some disadvantages that could come from structuring students
- Some students move slower and it not enough time for them to grasp on the concepts
- Students will only try to do what is due because of deadlines, and that stop them from thinking outside the box.
The advantages accruing to students who have appropriate IT-at home and good homework habits, are that the students can think outside the box in their projects to make it more interesting, when other students who don’t have appropriate IT at home and good homework habits just do what is asked of them. These students also do not have to have a helping hand all the time when working. The more projects you do the more creative students are while learning.
Monday, September 14, 2009
"Web 2.0 Tool Video- Xtranormal "
All teachers have strategies that they use in the classroom. But you never really see teachers using tools that are on the internet. What I have found is a strategy that a teacher uses in his/ her classroom and applied a video tool with the strategy.
A teaching strategy that I thought would fit with tool video, was called R.A.F.T (Role, Audience, Format& Topic) . The meaning of R.A.F.T is
- R: Role of Writer – Who are you?
- A: Audience – to whom s this written to?
- F: Format – what form will take place?
- T: Topic- What important topic have I chosen?
The video tool that I see fits this strategy is called Xtranormal. Within this tool students will be able create a movie with cartoons or short movies. They have to write a script (which is also good for students in English class), make the actors move, change the angles of the camera, put music in the background and so forth.
I would use this tool with maybe an English class. We all know reading a book and testing over it can be boring, but what if you let your students make their own version movie of what they read. This is where the RAFT strategy comes into play to make the movie and stay on topic of the book. Creating a short movie can take time as well, but to really get your student working give them about a week to put together their creations. They will reference back to the book and translate what they know to their peers. This will give everyone a chance to teach other something and it also shows that they had to read the book and understand what was happing in the novel.
How will we use RAFT exactly?
Raft can be use by having the students starting of with an information page about what they want to do their movie over. This information page will have the Role of the writer, who the audience is, the format, make the student explain what kind of language they are going to use. For example if the book is in a poem format the movie should be in a poem format as well. And for topic have the students chose what part of the book/ novel they want to cover so they don’t jump all over the place and their movie has no purpose.
A teaching strategy that I thought would fit with tool video, was called R.A.F.T (Role, Audience, Format& Topic) . The meaning of R.A.F.T is
- R: Role of Writer – Who are you?
- A: Audience – to whom s this written to?
- F: Format – what form will take place?
- T: Topic- What important topic have I chosen?
The video tool that I see fits this strategy is called Xtranormal. Within this tool students will be able create a movie with cartoons or short movies. They have to write a script (which is also good for students in English class), make the actors move, change the angles of the camera, put music in the background and so forth.
I would use this tool with maybe an English class. We all know reading a book and testing over it can be boring, but what if you let your students make their own version movie of what they read. This is where the RAFT strategy comes into play to make the movie and stay on topic of the book. Creating a short movie can take time as well, but to really get your student working give them about a week to put together their creations. They will reference back to the book and translate what they know to their peers. This will give everyone a chance to teach other something and it also shows that they had to read the book and understand what was happing in the novel.
How will we use RAFT exactly?
Raft can be use by having the students starting of with an information page about what they want to do their movie over. This information page will have the Role of the writer, who the audience is, the format, make the student explain what kind of language they are going to use. For example if the book is in a poem format the movie should be in a poem format as well. And for topic have the students chose what part of the book/ novel they want to cover so they don’t jump all over the place and their movie has no purpose.
Howard Gardner 8 Areas of Intelligence
In Project based learning project World Connections Howard Gardner point of view can be use to improve students intelligences by getting a group of student to work on one project and find out different thing about the culture. Within this group of about 5 student their can be student who know more about Bodily kinesthetic, Interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, logical- mathematical, musical, naturalistic or spatial intelligence. Each student can ask question form what intelligence that they more about and the other people in the group learn from what is being asked from the other members in their group. With Gardner point of view student can will be able to learn something about the culture they didn’t know and plus learning something outside their intelligence. Just to make sure that students did learn from the project they when presenting they have to teach the class something outside of their intelligence. This will give the student the chance to teach and or coach their team members in something different and the make the member want to teach what they learned from their groups.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Inquiry: What the mind wants to know
What is inquiry based learning?Inquiry based learning is where students learn or build on their knowledge by asking question. The more questions that the students ask the more they seem to learn about the subject. But the teacher does not answer these questions for the students, the student finds the answers, the teacher is the helping hand to student.
How does it differ from the traditional approach? Inquiry- based learning is about giving the student the chance to learn something and gain knowledge. If you want a student to learn what is inside of a frog, they could learn more by cutting the frog themselves rather than you the teacher telling and show them what it looks like from a book. The traditional way is showing them the book and teaches them what you know and other people know.
Learning information on your own is better and students remember more for fact that they saw it with their own eyes. Students change from time to time and do not learn the same. The traditional approach seems to be the way that most schools are teaching students but I believe that needs to change.
What does it have to do with my classroom?
If teachers were to use this in their classroom, student would be able to turn all and any information into knowledge. And when that happens your classroom is turned into a learning center for student. This also gives you the teacher the chance to be a helper in your classroom rather than the person just instructing. Student can come in your classroom with a different mindset.
What are the benefits of inquiry – based learning?
The benefits of inquiry based learning
- Students are able to take on problems and or projects
- Student are able to collect, observer information
- Students are able to develop useful problem – solving skills
These skills are very helpful to students when they get to college and when they enter the real world.
How has inquiry- based learning developed since it first became popular?
IBL has developed because there are more tools, strategies and research is now out that can be used on students to meet the needs of modern society.
What are some critical perspectives?
Everyone has their own opinion on inquiry –based learning, some people think it’s a waste of time and those students don’t learn enough information for the kind of test that students have to take at the end of high school. On the other hand some people think that it’s great and that student can learn more than they think and be better off at the end of high school.
As for me I think it’s great and it covers all learning levels of students. They can ask the question that they want to know and still learn the same thing that is required of them to learn.
How can I use inquiry- based learning in conjunction with other education techniques?
I like the constructivism theory; because it lets students construct their own understanding and knowledge. I can see inquiry based learning fitting in or working with constructivism because inquiry based learning is seeking information by questioning. The student is learning on their own, with guidance from the teacher. The students are developing information processing and problem solving skills.
How does it differ from the traditional approach? Inquiry- based learning is about giving the student the chance to learn something and gain knowledge. If you want a student to learn what is inside of a frog, they could learn more by cutting the frog themselves rather than you the teacher telling and show them what it looks like from a book. The traditional way is showing them the book and teaches them what you know and other people know.
Learning information on your own is better and students remember more for fact that they saw it with their own eyes. Students change from time to time and do not learn the same. The traditional approach seems to be the way that most schools are teaching students but I believe that needs to change.
What does it have to do with my classroom?
If teachers were to use this in their classroom, student would be able to turn all and any information into knowledge. And when that happens your classroom is turned into a learning center for student. This also gives you the teacher the chance to be a helper in your classroom rather than the person just instructing. Student can come in your classroom with a different mindset.
What are the benefits of inquiry – based learning?
The benefits of inquiry based learning
- Students are able to take on problems and or projects
- Student are able to collect, observer information
- Students are able to develop useful problem – solving skills
These skills are very helpful to students when they get to college and when they enter the real world.
How has inquiry- based learning developed since it first became popular?
IBL has developed because there are more tools, strategies and research is now out that can be used on students to meet the needs of modern society.
What are some critical perspectives?
Everyone has their own opinion on inquiry –based learning, some people think it’s a waste of time and those students don’t learn enough information for the kind of test that students have to take at the end of high school. On the other hand some people think that it’s great and that student can learn more than they think and be better off at the end of high school.
As for me I think it’s great and it covers all learning levels of students. They can ask the question that they want to know and still learn the same thing that is required of them to learn.
How can I use inquiry- based learning in conjunction with other education techniques?
I like the constructivism theory; because it lets students construct their own understanding and knowledge. I can see inquiry based learning fitting in or working with constructivism because inquiry based learning is seeking information by questioning. The student is learning on their own, with guidance from the teacher. The students are developing information processing and problem solving skills.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Project Based Learning
In this blog I will explore the weakness, strength, similarities and differences of project based learning.
The first project based learning activity that I explored is called World Connection. This project is based on student’s communication with other student from a different country for one month. They are to learn how another teen lives and how their culture is different from what they are use to. At the end of the project they are to put together a project about the new perspective they learn.
The second project is Changing Season project. Elementary student make a photo album or art work of the seasons around the world. Students are to explain the changes from place to place and describe an activity that they do during that season.
I am very interested on how this project works.This project is called World Connections. I think this a great way to experience what other teens are going though across the world. I feel you learn more from your peers than you do from a text book. Within this project the teacher makes sure that each student has the rules and what they are suppose to do and learn from this project. A Strength that I found in the project is that each week the student will have a journal, blog reflection papers and at the end a movie. This project has some on the IT goals which are improving higher-order of thinking skills, participating in a project, and developing a portfolio. Students are able to be a part of the community that can be a across the world and develop expertise in what they learning about a culture. This project is a perfect example of project based learning because they are answering questions and working with people outside the classroom. Students are able to voice their own opinion and show their work in a video or their choice of media.Changing season project is a good Project based learning project for elementary students. It gives them the opportunity to express themselves and observe the thing around them. I came across some photos from a summer camp that wanted to share their season, but they are not elementary students. These students took pictures of the landscape and shared it in a picture slide show. This project gives student the chance to be part of a project and community. The down falls to this project is that student are not devolving any kind of expertise. I can see where they are learning about the season but I see this more as activity than a project-based learning. An activity is like busy work to me, while PBL is learning a tool. I feel as if this project would be better if students went outside during certain season and found a object or a flower and sent a picture where they found the object/ flower/ plant, and explain why it was there, why it was growing in this season and what it means to the student. With doing this student are able to see and observe, read and understand what happens in that part of the world during that season. With just a little more information or work to the project students will be able to answer a question that can reflect on learning.
Overall i think project based learning is good for all ages. It helps students think outside the box and teaches them how to work with others. I wish i had more classes in secondary school were teachers use PBL. When i do become a teacher i would use both on these projects, they have great ideas for high school and elementary students.
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