Chapter 11 "Bring Your Project Home"

As a result of Project Base Learning, many things occur. The first thing that happens is that new doors are opened, for both students and teachers. They experience events that they wouldn't normally have had to them without the use of PBL. Another benefit is that they create connections and continue towards building the future project designs. The students also gain a better understanding towards project management. They develop more "big picture thinking" abilities. Meeting deadline realizations become more evident. Global audience becomes more real to the students and teachers. Lastly, students develop the importance towards being professional.

Some ways that the book recommended bringing the project home is through the use of identifying what they could have done better and what next steps could have been taken to benefit all involved. Both the students and teachers create a list of pros and cons of the project. They also critique their work, share insights, become resources to colleagues, and can even enter a contest.

This chapter related to my project through the use of critiquing work with other teachers. We do collaborative work that will only benfit us through the use of bouncing ideas and thoughts off of each other to get a better idea on how the project could work. We also publish our thoughts on our website that can be accessed through any computer connected to the Internet.

Chpt 11

Stephanie Hill
Chpt. 11
Bringing it home

        By using the project-based learning approach, much can be learned by both students and teacher.  The project-based learning approach allows a class to gain positive memories of working together with their peers and learning a great deal in the process.  When projects have succeed in teaching students, they do not just do the project and stop their learning; they continue to grow in the subject matter and use it in their futures.  Also, when students use project-based learning, they learn form their mistakes and understand what they need to improve on or change in their next project in order to master their learning.  It is also significant that when using project-based learning that students reflect upon their experience during the project.  This way, teachers can learn what they need to improve upon or what they can do to help their students down the road
   It is also significant to "bring your project home".  "Bringing your project home" can be done in a variety of ways.  One way to do this is to critique your work, which can be done by debriefing at the end of a project by asking your students "what has the project taught you about how your students think and learn?" Another way to "bring it home" is to share your insights.  You can share our insights by sharing your project with other teachers.  By sharing your project with other teachers, it gives you as the teacher time to verbally reflect how the project went and opportunity to share what worked and didn't work with other teachers.  Another idea is to create a project library so that others can see the plans and results of your project, allowing many to benefit from your work.  I really like the idea of entering your project in a contest because it allows your classroom to possibly gain exposure and future your projects success. 
  "Bringing it home" relates to my project because it I never really thought about the fact that when you do a project, you are never fully done because a successful project does not just end, it continues to build as children learn more throughout the year.

Ch. 11

Amber Hobson

Chapter 11

Bringing it Home

It is important that although a project ends that your own learning continues. You should always take time to reflect on what you have gained from a project. You should also share your insights with others. Always make the most of the project experience by building these insights into the next project. By the time a successful project comes to an end, you and your students will feel as if you have "been somewhere." Doing a project with a class is something that they will remember, it sticks with the students just like going on a trip. End of projects provide the class with ideas for the next learning adventure. When a project ends it opens the doors for creating a new project. You can learn so much from doing one project, for the next project just as what works and what doesn't work, how to structure a project, and how the class learns as a whole. 

As a teacher you should always reflect back on a project and recall what some of the engaging learning activities were, what really seemed to grab the students attention. You can see if things that worked in one project will cross over and work in another project. You should always critique your work, you want to make sure that there is evidence of your students understanding the material. What has the project taught you about how your students think and learn, this is important for a teacher to know about their students. 

Projects take a lot of thought and work, time and effort. You should try to find ways to share your project with others. You can do the same with other teachers, get ideas and use them for your classroom. There are many resources out there that you can go on and post your own, or view other lessons and projects.You can publish your project, or post in on the web. You could even submit your project to contests.  

Final Concept Map!

final concept map add-ons

Hey Amber!
So here is what we would like to add to the concept map:
Since you did the concept map under your account, do you mind adding to it so we don't have to create a whole new one?


under insects: under types:
ADD
- harmful to the garden
-non harmful to the garden


under locations: Where our class garden should be
 ADD
-inside locations
-outdoor locations

Under compost:
ADD
-positive aspects of compost
-negative aspects of compost

ADD new category:
Similarity of fruits, vegetables and plants 

Chapter 10

Amber Hobson

Chapter 10

Celebrating and Reflecting

Wrapping up a project is a very important step in the project. You should take the time to plan in advance what it is you plan to do when the project comes to an end. Students will want to know, so they have something to look forward too. Culminating activities celebrate the journey, reminding learners of where they have been and what they gained along the way. Having the end of a project be a meaningful experience for your students, is a great things for the students to plan for and look forward to celebrating their achievements.

Reflect on the journey, taking the time to reflect helps students feel good about their accomplishments, but more importantly reflection can be the thing that makes learning really stick. Reflection is very important to students, it is the acknowledged as being an essential element in learning. It is always good to set aside time foe conscious reflection throughout the project, things like what have they learned and what they enjoyed learning, and also what they want to learn in projects to come.

Building tradition and identity is something great to have for a school. You can be able to say "We are the school where kids get to..." Having a school that is known for doing something special will make students feel special.  A lot of schools do many different things for their names to be known and what these schools share is a sense of tradition and an expectation of excellence.

There are so many ways that you can celebrate the end of a project with a class. You can display students work, put on some sort of event, create a blog, or even hold a party. Anyway you choose to celebrate learning, and build your schools identity as a place where students can get to learn through projects. When you are planning a celebration you will want to include an opportunity to look back one more time. Acknowledgment of how hard work and commitment contributed to the success of the project and a culture of excellence at your school. Appreciation for those who helped. A display of the learning, including both student creations and presentations. A look inside the learners with opportunities for them to talk about their processes and growth. Also an opportunity to showcase projects to colleagues,administrators, parents, and others in your larger learning community.

Chapter 10 p. 147-155

By setting aside time for reflection, students are able to feel good about their accomplishments that came from the hard work they put in to the project. The students are able to create meaning from what they learned in the past few weeks, through thinking critically about what they learned, what they enjoyed about learning, how they’ve grown as learners, and what (and how) they want to learn in the projects to come. When students are able to reflect on ideas such as how the project was important to them, how specific learning behaviors helped them, their skill development, how their collaborations improved, and their growth in learning dispositions (challenges, frustrations, joys, etc). 

Schools build tradition and identity by continuing to accomplish great things year after year. These great things could be anything from sport powerhouses to a school symphony. They bring pride to the school and create an expectation of excellence. When people in the community see the accomplishments being made at the school, they are more willing to help out to create even more opportunities to grow. When everyone is involved in these accomplishments at the school level, the entire community can feel pride and feel honored to have helped in the creation of the tradition. 

Celebrating a project allow students to: look back one more time on the project they just completed, acknowledgement of how hard work and commitment contributed to the success of the project and culture of excellence at your school, appreciate for those who helped, display of learning (both student creations and presentations), look inside the learners with opportunities for them talk about their processes and growth, and lastly an opportunity to showcase the projects to colleagues, administrators, parents, and others in the larger learning community. These celebrations help the students become more aware of what they actually learned. 

This chapter relates to my topic/project in the section where it discussed Starting a “Visual Conversation”. The blog that my group will be creating at the end of this semester is our way of presenting all of the different technologies we used to complete our assignments and the blog is the glue we are using to display it for everyone to see. 

Chapt 10 Reading Reflection

Chpt 10 Reading Reflection
Celebrating and Reflecting
Stephanie Hill

   After a difficult project or assignment, many teachers are so busy moving on to the next lesson, that they forget that it is important for your students to reflect on the journey.  Your students need to feel accomplished about their work, thus reflecting on one's work is one major way that this can occur.  Many times students just rush through projects but if they are asked to reflect on their work, they may actually benefit because they will realize that they did learn something.  If your students know that you care about their work then they are more likely to put effort into their reflection and gain understanding from their work.
   Students need to reflect and elaborate because it allows them to focus on the few things of a project that matter most.  When your students think about themselves as learners, they do not need to constantly ask you to tell them what they learned, they will understand and will think for themselves.  This chapter also notes that  asking your students too many questions could overwhelm them and cause them to hate the project instead of loving it.  I agree with this point because I know that many times students might feel like they are putting more work into a reflection than the project, which can be frustrating to children.
   When students elaborate, it will allow their knowledge to grow.  If students finish a project and never think about the topic/issue again, then the project was a waste of time.  Students need to elaborate because it springs the next cycle of learning, such as the example in the book about writing a grand proposal.  Elaboration also causes children to gain new interests and thus give you a new idea for a project or lesson.
   Schools can build tradition and identity in numerous ways.  When your principal, parents and guest walk into your school or classroom, you want them to feel like they are apart of something.  Without tradition an identity, your students will have a harder time understanding who you are as a teacher, your values and how you function.  If you have a project that children love-stick with it!  Many times, as mentioned in the books, younger siblings or grade levels will hear about a project/activity/routine that you did and expect and want to do it!  When you can get children in your classroom who are already excited about something they heard their older brother did (for example), then you have succeeded! By getting your parents and community involved, you also can build tradition and a bond with others.
  Celebrating your students work is another way to build tradition and identity.  By posting pictures of your students families, it shows that you care about your students.  When parents know that you truly care about their child and family-you are more likely to have more communication and feedback from them.  Also, when you post your students work, other students from different classrooms can see what type of teacher you are.
  This chapter relates to my project because it has shown me how important it is to build your classroom off of who you are as a person.  For example, for the classroom gardening project, I would want to take pictures of the garden to send home to families.  This way the parents feel apart of your classroom and see what their child is learning and doing while in your classroom.
 



     

Ch. 9 Making Assessment Meaningful p. 139-145

I have always been a firm believer in journal responses for students to reflect on either their prior knowledge or their current understandings. I have used writing responses in a majority of my classes and I think they give more opportunities for students to reflect on what they want to reflect on. Like it said in the chapter, “almost certainly, not all students were starting at the same place” (p. 140). By not creating any boundaries for students to write about, they are able to reflect and expand on certain aspects that they feel is important. This also allows the reader of the reflections to see what some students are focusing on compared to others, as well as how broad their understanding is or how slim their knowledge base is. It is giving them a basic topic and letting them reflect on whatever they want to reflect on. 

Along with the quote about how not all students start at the same place, the distance they travel during a project is not going to be the same for each student. By establishing anchors, teachers are able to gain a sense of where the students are starting and how far they are going as they work to meet the learning goals. I believe in differentiated instruction because the overall goal of any lesson is to help all the students be successful... not just if they can pass the universal test written for the middle level students. 

I absolutely loved the assessment of the students’ work for Carmel Crane’s class(es). I thought it was an amazing idea to use her graphic and video gaming field friends a call to assess her students work! I completely agree that this experience would be inspiring for the students. I feel that these students would be able to see that these professionals would give them corrective criticism that would only better them and their work for the future. It is one thing to get feedback from teacher(s) and how they grade and critique work but it is a completely different thing to get feedback from actual professionals in that particular field of study, that the students may even be interested in. Such a great way to assess students’ work in real world ways!

I was able to make a connection with the iHistory Podcast Projects by David Fagg and how we were taught to make our own podcast(s) on our topic of choice and the combination of our reading reflections. I felt that this allowed the students to go back and replay podcasts whenever they felt they needed to, which goes along with our podcasts and digital stories, and then the reflective aspect with our reading responses on our blogs. Both of these assignments in our class help us build on to our ability to think constructively and take our learning experiences into our own hands. 

chpt 9 reading reflection

                                                                                                                                              Stephanie Hill
CHPT 9
Reading Reflection 9
Making Assessment Meaningful

      In the beginning of this chapter, it focuses on the significance of students knowing what their teacher expects and know what "success" looks like.  Likewise, it is important for students to have prior knowledge before they begin any assignment or project.  Students need to understand what they are being graded on, how they are being graded and what the gain objective they will be learning.  When students understand all of these aspects to a project, they are better able to focus in on what is important and how to complete the assignments correctly.  It is also important that students have an idea of what the meanings of certain topics are before they begin a project or assignment because they will further their learning, rather then only learning the basics.
     Anchors are also important for having students succeed at any project or assignment.  Anchors help teachers see where students are when they start the project and at the end, see how much they have learned.  I think that having anchors is very important because if a student is more advanced in a certain area and you find this out before starting the project, it will allow you to alter the project for them so it is more challenging.
    There are many ways that you can assess what students learning during the project.  One example is to create an online grade book.  Online grade books allow students more opportunities to succeed by having categories instead of harsh markdowns.  It is also very convenient for parents because they can see their child's grade and get a better sense of why their child did well or not so well on a project.  Also, online grade books show what students need to improve upon by giving them feedback and comments on their work. Another way to assess your students is to show them a film that relates to the top, for example a book that was made into a film.  I like this idea because when you read a book, you visualize what characters look like.   So, by showing the film, it is fun to see the children react to how the film depicts the characters and how they are different from what the students pictured in their heads.
     This chapter relates to my project because it pinpoints the fact that I need to make sure that my students have prior knowledge before they just dive into the project.  Also, having different ways to assess the students besides the standard and boring test, I could show a film and ask for their feedback.
 

Chapter 9

Amber Hobson

Chapter 9 

Making Assessment Meaningful

Projects open the door for rigorous learning experiences, as students not only master new content but have opportunities to apply what they have learned. Projects usually take much longer than a normal lesson would so as teachers you want to make sure that you are assessing the students adequately.  As a teacher you need to make sure that your students are not falling behind and you not even realize it. Through out the project there should be many different ways of assessment. Assessing your students project work requires deliberate strategies to take stock not only of what they have created, but also the teamwork, effort, and creativity that went into the project. 

One important part of assessment is knowing where to start assessing them, and when to stop, and all the spots in between. One way of doing this is establishing anchors. By doing this you can really know where the student is starting with the project, and if they are on track of the goal by the endpoint. In a project-based classroom all students may not be starting with the same thing so it is important to know where each of the students is starting. There will be times when you work with groups, and individually.

There is much more to assessment than just a multiple choice test at the end, projects are not the same as a regular lesson so you need to make sure that you are grading what really matters. There are many ways to do this, you can create rubrics at the beginning, and have the students involved with this so they know exactly what the goal is for the project. There are also many opportunities for using technology.  Also you should always have discussion throughout the project, always ask students to report to each other, and ask students what did you learn? Students can share their work in many different ways to the class and receive feedback on their projects. 

A great way to incorporate all of the information the students learned in a project, is to have them create a new lesson on what they have just learned. They can use what they learned during the project and apply it to a new context. Also having students get feedback from professionals is something that is a good assessment for students because students will really listen closely to their opinions. Then you can also have your students take it a step further by encouraging students to submit their best work to a competition or enter for publication. These are very motivating opportunities for students who are ready for the challenge of real world assessment.

CHPT 8-Building Connections and Branching Out

                                                                                                                                           Stephanie Hill
Chapter 8 Reading Reflection

          There are several ways to build connections and branch out beyond your classroom. Chapter 8 begins by discussing the use of digital tools in the classroom because they make it easier for students to share their work and exchange ideas with diverse audiences.  I agree that having an audience can be a motivator for students because when we did our digital story videos. I felt motivated because I knew that my peers would be watching it.  It is also very beneficial for students to practice using their voice and are used to being filmed and watched by others.  This is a skill that can be used in real life situations such as job interviews, meeting new friends and many other situations. In addition, your students can communicate with students all around the world-allowing their diversity to be heightened   I wish that when I was in elementary, middle school or high school that I was given the opportunity to interact with people form different states or even different countries!  Also, having students blog about their personal responses to projects or experiences on a podcast expands their knowledge and experience.
     The EAST Initiative Model, which stands for the Environmental and Spatial Technologies, is all about using technology for real use, making it suitable for real life situations and allowing the community to improve.    Sophistication of geospatial technologies, gives EAST students the advantage to real life situations in both their communities and in their futures.  One project that the EAST students have completed is creating maps of the Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.  The EAST students created this using GIS, GPS, CAD and other applications.   EAST includes more than 260 in seven states and has even made its way to elementary schools.  This is very impressive to me because these students are really using their time and effort to branch out from assignments given in school and trying to using their knowledge of technology in real-life situations.
   Student involvement in their own learning is a very crucial skill for students to acquire.  When students are able to be in charge/ "lead" their own learning/teaching, they can figure out with they are passionate about.  When given choices, students are more motivated to make the best out of a project because they actually care what they are doing!  Also, this chapter gave the example of a student in the class who had dyslexia on how people with dyslexia "hates to write but loves to blog", Sarah was able to make a connection with Jeff Utecht and this allows students to learn about their peers, which allows them to grow as learners.
This chapter gave me confidence that my lesson plan II would in fact allow my students to branch out and make connections.  Having other students watch their cooking videos allows them to make connections to each other, practice being in front of a camera and learn how to make a script.  All of these benefits gives students the opportunity to teach/"lead" their students, instead of me teach them.  
 

Chapter 8

Amber Hobson

Chapter 8.

Building Connections and Branching Out

           Extending the learning experience beyond the classroom becomes a goal of many 21st century projects.  Digital tools make it easy for students to share their work and exchange ideas with diverse audiences, including family members and peers, local community members, and even the much wider world. This is very important to give your students these opportunities in the classroom of skills they will use for the rest of their lives. Projects give students so many experiences to learn important information that they will remember for a long time, and also it provides them with many tools that they will use through out their school careers, and their work careers, things like looking up information, learning to use programs on the computer, how to research, working with others, making choices. Making these connections are so important for students. 

        Having students integrate technology into projects helps students reach an authentic audience. Knowing others could be reading, watching, listening, and commenting can be a powerful motivator for the students. They know they will have a audience will increase their drive for the project. 

Students become more competent and confident as readers and writers. 

       Also in addition to connecting students with a real audience, digital-age projects offer almost unlimited opportunities for branching out from the classroom. As a teacher you can design projects so that your students can communicate with fellow learners, maybe from a different classroom maybe from down the pass, or around the world. A lot of times projects need research that helps communities address an issue or solve a problem and your students become the experts. Or they have the opportunities for a different class to be the experts. You can also have grade level projects where more than one class is working on a project and you can have video meetings for your students to check in with how the project is going for each class and they have the chance to make sure they know what their goals are and the other classes goals.

Chapter 8: Building Connections and Branching Out

Through the use of digital tools, it is easier for students to share their wok and exchange ideas with diverse audiences, such as family members, peers, local community members, and the rest of the world. Students are able to reach an authentic audience through technology. It motivates them because they know others will be reading, watching, listening, and commenting on their work. Technology allows students to communicate with fellow learners-from the classroom down the hallway or around the globe. They will also be able to connect with the experts in their field of study to gain important information and specific responses from valuable people in their desired subject.

The EAST Initiative Model includes four different aspects: 1. Student-driven learning: students need to be responsible for their own learning; 2. Authentic project-based learning: Students should be engaged in solving real problems in their communities; 3. Technology as tools: Students need access to the relevant technologies that professionals use to solve real problems; lastly, collaboration: when students collaborate in teams to pursue authentic projects, they accomplish more than any one person can do in isolation. 

By letting students “lead” their projects, they are able to express what topics and subject(s) they are interested in. They also become deeply engaged in working on solutions, as they see how their projects will help create a better future. Students will take more pride in their work, as well and teaches them how to find their own information without being spoon-fed the information. The things they learn from their experts will aid in more engaging conversation inside the classroom, improving their overall understanding of the subject(s) main points. 

This chapter highlighted a few main points that related to my group’s topic: 1. communicating with students and classrooms around the world, increase conversation inside the classroom, and blogging to create confident and competent writers. In our Virtual Penpal project, our students communicated with other classrooms in the US to discuss the similarities and differences between the environment on their school grounds and the school grounds in other school/state areas. We also blog, clearly, and that does help me feel more confident in my ability to write more persuasively and show my comprehension of the given section. 

Chapter 7: A Guiding Hand- Keeping a Project Moving p. 113-125

        There are three levels of classroom discussions: Teacher to teacher, student to student, and teacher to student. In teacher to teacher, the teachers focus on how to implement procedural to formative assessments. This would be asking questions as to how to improve lessons for students to better understand the given concepts to their perspective on students’ current understanding. In student to student, the students explain their thinking and gives them the opportunities to learn from and challenge each other through discussion. Lastly, in teacher to student, this would include introducing a new concept or demonstrating a skill that all students need to understand. These three different types of classroom discussions aid in the ability for students and teachers to understand each other effectively. 

        There are four levels of questions for “checking in” on students during a project: procedural, teamwork, understandings, and self-assessment. During procedural questions, the types of questions would be anywhere from “are we staying on schedule?” to “when’s the best time to schedule a field trip?” This is used to track progress and remind students of project logs and checklists. In teamwork questions, these are used to assess team dynamics, such as through questions like “are students able to manage conflict themselves, or do they need help?” to “how are team members getting along?” In understanding questions, teachers spend time observing teams at work, listening to students conversations and asking probing questions. These types of questions include: “Have you thought about...” and “have you considered this research?” Lastly, during self assessment questions, teachers find out what students are thinking about the project and encourage self-assessment and reflection. They are encouraged to describe any current challenges or frustrations through the use of project journals or blogs. 

        The overall goal of incorporating technology is to help students reach new learning goals. Students are able to build on technology experiences from the beginning when they first learn and take along with them on their educational journey. When asking the students which types of technology they like, they are able to follow their interests instead of being limited to using a particular technology- as long as they meet their intended learning goals. 

        A skill that can make or break a project is the dynamics of the teams. This is a real life skill that will serve them for the years to come. The idea of a “ team contract” could be implemented to make the team members work together more. This leads to self assessments that will only benefit the students after the project on how to evaluate their choice of teammates and describe the skills they have to offer a team for future experiences. They also can allow students to learn from setbacks and fine-tune their strategies for getting a project, or team, back on track and learning from the experience by making correct adjustments for the future. 

Chapter 7

Amber Hobson
Chapter 7
A guiding hand- Keeping a Project Moving


Keeping a project moving requires teachers to support students on their learning journey. Teaching a lesson, may never turn out the way you expect. Even if you have done it many of times before. Things will always be different with a different group of students.  But, this is what teaching is all about. As a teacher you need to be able to adapt to what ever happens, even if you were not expecting things to go that way. You need to be quick and make things work. You always want to keep your students moving to the goal, even if you end up going a different route.

Discussion is something that is very important in a classroom. Wether it is between teacher to teacher, student to student, or teacher to student. When working on any type of project it is always good to take opportunities to work together, and have set goals, and have a game plan, so working together between teacher to teacher discussion is always good to make sure you are on the same page, or to solve problems. Two brains are always better than one! I think that student to student discussion is something that is very important, especially while doing any sort of project. Students should be communicating with each other, they can really help to resolve a problem, or to help each other out. If someone is not understanding it is very important that they can talk to one of their fellow classmates so they can really understand. This helps them also to get things done by communicating with one another when they do something with in the project. It helps them build communication skills. They can give feedback to one another, you could model how yo give effective feedback so they can give students opportunities to practice these important communication skills with their classmates. Then one of the most important discussions is between teacher to student. This is where you can communicate with the class as a whole  to ask questions, both from the teacher to the student and from the student to the teacher. This is where the teacher can teach new lessons and demonstrate things to the class.

There are many questions that there will be for checking in to see how everything is going. Some of these questions could be Procedural- to track progress toward milestones and deadlines. Teamwork- How well the team is working, if everyone is pulling their weight. Understanding- Are they really understanding what they are doing, encourage students to push themselves. And Self-assessment- You can find out what your students really thing about the project, have them reflect on the project  ask them to demonstrate what they have learned.

chpt 7 reading reflection

Chapter 7 discusses "keeping a project moving" in a variety of aspects.  To begin, there are three levels of a classroom discussion.  The first level-teacher to teacher, talks about how teachers need to make it a priority to meeting with each other, ask each other questions, concerns, ideas, strengths and weakness of project thus far and changes they would like to make.  I agree with this highly because it is important to keep each other up to date and solve issues as soon as they occur.  The second level is student to student, which allows students to learn to work in groups, stare their thoughts with their peers and learn how to listen to one another's ideas.  Students working with each other is a crucial skill that they need to have in their future.  The third level is teacher to student, this is idea for practicing your own listening skills and working in small groups to get a better feeling and understanding of your students work. 

"checking in" refers to four main topics- procedural, teamwork, understanding and self-assessment.  Each of these are equally important and cause children to succeed if done correctly.  Procedural deals with making sure that everything is going smoothly and on-time, and if the overall "check-list" of the project is being completed.  Next is the teamwork, this "check-in" makes sure that everyone in the group is working well with each other, listening to each other and making sure to ask for help when need be.  The third is understanding, which involves "spying" as I like to say on your students.  This means that you are making sure that your students are on-task, listening to their conversations and ideas.  The final "check-in" is self-assessment, encourage your students to reflect on their effort(s) throughout the project, what they could have done differently and what they would do next time.

          The benefits that students have when the optimize technology is that your students can gain new insight into how to communicate with culturally diverse audiences  this is done using podcast.  Also, students can learn new skills, able to be flexible with new ideas and are able to listen to their peers ideas more effectively.

          There are several 21^st skills that can make or break a project.  Questions for inquiry allow students to challenge themselves by giving them the responsibility of the expert. Students need to be confident in what they are explaining to their peers and able to ask specific questions to the given subject.  If students do not fully understand something or are unable to prove their ideas, they will be unable to convince their peers or use the technology correctly. Also, troubleshooting is another 21^st skill.  This shows students that problems/conflicts happen when working on a project and it is your job to fix it and be successful.  If a student does not know to be an effective project manager, they will have many issues while using technology or when conflicts arise.  Lastly, managing conflict is very important.  When students learn to work together, they are able to be successful and learn from one another.  However, if their are bad group dynamics, an entire project could fall apart simply because members of the group could not get along.

          This chapter relates to my project in various ways.  I liked the example of the “check in” because it reminded me that I cannot forget the small details, such as being the “spy” when children are working in their groups and encouraging students to talk with one another and think by themselves what they would do differently next project.  

Lesson Plan 2 Topics

Hey group!

I was just wondering what you girls had decided to do your second lesson plan on that is due on Friday. I will be starting mine tomorrow and wanted to know what topic NOT to do so we don't get in trouble for using the same ideas as each other. Hopefully you girls check this soon!

Hope to hear from both of you soon!

Chapter 6: page # 95-113

        There were two examples included that were said to encourage students to be reflective and allow them to evaluate their own strengths: blogs and online survey tool. Through the use of a blog, students are offered a space where they can reflect over time about what they are learning, as well as a place where they can go back and review what they were thinking and how they were thinking at a particular point in time. For the online survey tools, students are able to identify interests, strengths, and weaknesses that are beneficial to teachers to know that will assist in guiding learning. They can also be used to track trends and help students to see how their self-assessment compares to the larger group of students. 

        In this chapter, they discussed a multiple ways of getting minds ready for a project. The first concept they used was by tapping students’ prior knowledge through K-W-L charts. K-W-L stands for Know-Wonder-Learn. This is used to get students’ attention and allowing the idea to settle in their imagination. It is important for students to explore and think about the topic before the start of the project, and that the project holds so many possibilities! I enjoyed reading about how a teacher was going to start a section on biology and physics called Colonizing the Planets, and she simply brought up a poster and encouraged her students to pay attention the way of life on other planets that had been imagined over time, and also hinted that they will be having a special guest that next week. This provokes the children to search for their project concept in daily life and got them interested in who/what the “special guest” could be! I feel that this strategy allows their ideas to “run wild”. 

        When teaching the fundamentals, there are two concepts that must be discussed and implemented before the project is: set the stage for independent inquiry and the assessment rubric. By focusing on these two ideas, the students will be built up to the point that they are ready to begin. When setting the stage for independent inquiry, the students are able to establish a point of departure, as well as a sense of purpose. This is when the students are put in touch with their prior knowledge and helps imagine where their learning can go. The assessment rubric is their “roadmap” towards the great achievement they can gain from the project. By discussing the main learning tasks and underlying skills, the students are given the guidelines to what the intended performance looks like through a description of each possible rating. 

        There are four steps used in preparing students for using technology in a project: set up a technology playground, tap students expertise, introduce project-management tools, and  demonstrate. When setting up a technology playground, students are encouraged to teach each other and provide an opportunity for students to explore the different technologies and applications that can be incorporated in their classroom project. In taping students expertise, students that are technically able are able to teach others, such as in small groups that rotate around the room from station to station that allow student trains to demonstrate how to use the tools. This provides students in the classroom that need more work to explore and practice with the tools, and having another student there to ask questions and show more detailed explanations to their questions.When introducing project management tools, teachers implement the use of blogs and logs that fill in as a check list where students track tasks they have completed and offer a place for reflection. This reference sheet can be used to track the progress to students’ goals and offer more insight to the teacher into where-and why- their students might be struggling or falling behind. Lastly, in demonstrating, teachers are able to use their resources around them. Whether this is through their own personal knowledge being presented to the class or by tapping into a technology specialist, another teacher, or a savvy student to demonstrate, it provides the connection between the teacher and the student to be able to learn together. 

        One of the primary ways to promote inquiry and deep learning to students is to look back at the wording the question(s). If the question leads the student to a one answer question and shows no other way of extending the thought processes from there, the question(s) must be reevaluated. Some types of questions that promote higher thinking are: “which one” that asks students to collect information and make informed decisions; “how” that asks students to understand problems, to weigh options, perhaps from various points of view, and to propose solutions; “what if”, or hypothetical, asks students to use the knowledge they have to pose a hypothesis and consider options; “should” that asks students to make moral or practical decisions based on evidence; and “why” that asks students to understand the cause and effect. 

        The biggest connection, to our class as a whole, is through the use of setting up a technology playground. When our lab section of our class is set in a computer lab, we are able to learn about technology and applications that we will be asked to work with for projects that are assigned to us. Since we have the computer(s) at our finger tips, we are able to play around and familiarize ourselves with the applications, as well as ask questions when needed to our professor during our class period. 

Audacity

Hey amber,

I am sorry for not posting my section last night. My computer charger was MIA yesterday but I finally found it but I'm at work until 3:45. So since I didn't get it to you by last night I can compile it later!! Lemme know! Sorry again!

Ch. 6 Reading Reflection

Amber Hobson

Chapter 6
Project Launch -Implementation Strategies

The beginning of a project is the time to fill students with optimism and curiosity about their journey into the learning ahead. I think that it is very important that when starting a project that the beginning is a very important part of the project. As a teacher you want to use that time to inspire your students, and to learn from them, what they already know about the subject, and get them excited about the whole project, so you are kicking off the project in a fun, and exciting way so that it is something they can look forward too.

Also I think that evaluating is very important for students. It really helps when you are giving feedback, as well as receive feedback. It helps students to think about their own capabilities and how they direct their own learning. As a teacher it is always good to ask your students to think about their thinking and processes. There are many ways using technology for students to evaluate their selfs and project. I like that the students have all of these opportunities for using technology, and being aware of what is out there for them.

Get minds ready- I is really helpful for not only the students but for a teacher as well to do a Know-Wonder-Learn (K-W-L) activity where students can be aware of what they know and do not know. This activity is an exploration that puts students in touch with their prior knowledge and helps them imagine where their learning can go.
The Know - this is where you can see what your students already know, and how much they already know. It is important to go over what everyone knows before starting a project.
The Wonder- this is where you can find out what it is that they really want to learn from this project, so then as a teacher you can make what the wonder the goals of this project for the students, I also think that this helps students learn better because they really put their input into it, and really feel apart of the project.
The Learn- This is where you can actually begin learning, and make sure they are meeting their project goals, and you can test them on what they are learning.

Stephanie Hill

Reading Reflection #6

                Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths for a variety of reasons.  One way is that by writing in a blog, students can share their thoughts to their peers and also give themselves a chance to think about what they are learning. Also, surveys such as SurveyMonkey allows students to see how they compare to a larger group. I think that having your students blog about their strengths is a very beneficially idea to help your students grow.  However, I think that it is safe to say that not all students will take blogging their strengths seriously, so it is important to remember to have more than one topic for students to blog about to keep them on track.  

                There are several ways that you can get your students minds ready for mini projects.  Know-Wonder-Learn (KWL) is one of the first ways that this chapter discusses and this concept is not new to me.  I have done KWL’s many times as a student in high school and I honestly do not find them that helpful.  If a topic interest me then the KWL works perfectly but if it is a topic that I do not have interest in, such as math, I do not put effort into a KWL.  I like how this chapter does not than just  KWL but has students put details and activities to keep the topics exciting

                Continuing in this chapter is a discussion on teaching the fundamentals first.  This section teaches us as teachers that we cannot expect our students to just know everything and be ready for a project, we must each them prior knowledge and skills so that they can full benefit from a class project.  I like how principal Kay Graham teaches her students about microbes as a life form before she dives right into her parking lot oil bioremediation project.  As teachers we should not be in denial that our students do not have the passion and knowledge that we do about projects so it is our job to create the vision for our students.

                There are several important steps for preparing your students for using technology in a project.  Teachers must ask themselves: “what tools are best for the job?  What do students already know how to do?  What will they need to know?”  All of these questions are valid questions that teachers should not overlook when starting a technology project.

                The first way to promote inquire and deep learning is that all students should understand that there is a relationship between need and opportunity, and between scarcity and abundance.  Another way to promote this is that money, bartering, and other means of exchange have existed throughout history and across civilizations, and they continue to change.  These are just a few of the ways that teachers can promote inquire and deep learning  ways to promote inquiry and deep thinking.

                This chapter relates to my project because it reminds me that I should not overlook or be too prepared when it comes to starting a project with my students.  It is always beneficial to assume that your students need help and if they do not, then you were more prepared than need me and that is never a bad thing!

Chapter 5 Reflection: p. 75-91

       When starting out a project, there are many things that should be considered for students, such as considering what materials that will be needed and the ability levels of the students in the classroom. Some of the materials highlighted in the chapter are taking inventory of supplies and materials at the school, or in surrounding communities (parent community or other supporters). Another aspect is considering the technology level the students are at and what ways their horizons can be expanded through the use of the project. They also could benefit from using professionals and experts, whether in the area or out, and allowing them to come into the classroom to talk to the students, in person or through videoconferencing or virtual field trips. The last item to consider before starting a project is the students’ individual strengths and interest. These two ideas are beneficial to consider because it allows for the student to make connections between other students and make the project engaging for all involved the best way how.

      Through every experience students encounter through their educational career, they should be picking up on ways to become effective managers of their own time. They should be able to use these tips and hints through their education and beyond. Teachers have a variety of ways to implement time management, such as project calendar (online or timeline tool). These can be beneficial because the calendar doesn’t have to be just for students to use but their parents can have access to it too, either on the classroom website or a weekly email.

       In the chapter, they suggested using quite a few different technology applications, such as Wikispaces, Drupal, and Textpattern. These applications are used mainly as blogs that connect the bridge for students to access information and communicate to other students from any computer with Internet access. The students can also create their own web pages and use this as a way to post any and all of their thinking in the classroom, like “artifacts”. “Start simply, then elaborate” is a term used to refer back to the ability to start with a simple idea or concept, like a blog, and from there the possibilities are endless.

       There were quite a few concepts through the chapter that relate directly to our topic/project. They discussed the use of rubrics to communicate desired results to the students, the use of blogs as a way to track project and communicate with other group members easily, and team planning such as having students, “who will complement each others’ attributes” and “a good team needs a mix of skills”.

Ch. 5

Amber Hobson

Reading Refection Ch. 5

Project Management Strategies for Teachers and Learners

It is very important when doing any project,  to have a project manager to keep things on task and organized. Having a project manager benefits the project in a lot of ways. In the classroom a teacher could be a head project manager and also you could have your students have many different roles in the project, and one of those roles could be a project manager. Someone who overlooks everything, makes sure everyone is staying on task, is there for an extra helping hand, organizing the project, recording what is going on, and being time efficient.

It is also very important to have the materials that you will need ready, and have them recored for what you will need for a project. You never want to be unprepared. It is always good to know what resources will be available  through the school, and the community and with technology. Also many of the people in the school and in the community could be a lot of help with a project. It is really great to have your students be able to reach out to some professionals to ask questions, so I think it really important to be able to try to make those connectons for your students.

"Teaching students to become effective managers of their own time should be an overarching goal of any project; this is a skill that will support them throughout their education and beyond. Projects of all sizes offer opportunities to teach and reinforce good time management skills." (78) Learning time management is important for anything you do in life, whether you are in elementary school, or college.  When working any job it is important to be able to manage your time to make sure that you are productive and still on the track of the goal.

Technology plays a huge role in projects. I think that it is best to start off with simpler things, and move on to bigger things in technology. There are so many tools out there for a teacher and their class to use and managing projects can become a lot simpler with the help of technical support.  Digital tools can support teachers in the high-level orchestration of projects and students as they get into the  business of learning through projects.

Stephanie Hill

Reading Reflection #5

            Chapter five begins by discussing which items should be considered before starting a project with students.  First, teachers should take another look at their assets inventory and think about how specific resources could support this project.  Teachers shouldnt look past their community or parents to help out with the materials needed for this project as well.  I really like the idea of sending out an email to parents about donating materials because allows the parents to be involved in the project and keeps the costs down.  Also, teachers should plan on explaining unfamiliar tools to your students.  With new projects, it is highly likely that the students will be unfamiliar how to use some or more tools so it is important to plan ahead.

            Being an efficient t manger or your time as a teacher will demonstrate to children that they are cable of doing the same as a student.  Planning milestones is one of the ways that this chapter suggests will help students understand when they are expected to have specific parts of a project done.  I think that giving children milestones throughout a project is effective because it will give them more opportunities to see what they have accomplished rather than waiting until th end of a project.  The students will also gain confidence with milestones and can also learn from their mistakes if they made any in the beginning. 

            Specifically, teachers have several management needs; tools for communicating with students and others about the project, tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur, methods for getting resources to students and systems for managing work products.  Students also have project management needs; systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow of work, systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts, collaboration tools, methods for seeking assistance, ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice and ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole.

Some of the applications that should be considered in this project are a wiki a blog or a Drupal and Textpattern.   I personally think that the wiki is very useful because students can edit each others work and collaborate on ideas, which allows students to work in teams.  Also, wiki gives the possibility of working with many different ideas, giving every student the opportunity to express themselves.

            This chapter gave me a variety of ideas on how to approach my project for Gardening in the Classroom.  I realized that it is important for not only teachers to prepare for a new project but students need to prepare as well. I would use wiki for my project by having students collaborate e together to decided what type of garden they would like.  This way, each students opipion is expressed and valued. 

group concept map

chapter 4 reading reflection

In this chapter I learnd that students should be participate in their learning by be involved in their learning, such as asking questions and gaining real-life skills.  Continuing, students learn best through observartion and working through activities each day. This chapter also discussed the importance of forming hobbies and interests outside of school.  When students have interest outside of school, I beleive this will help their social interaction as well as personal development.
Teachers should always try to work hard and not forget that they can always improve their lessons and interactions with their students.  It is also important to know that each student has adifferent learning path and way of understanding. Students should also use the 21^st century technology as an advantage to their learning because there are so many oppurtunties for them.

            In addition, when teachers have projects that are based on questions that extend their students knowledge, it allows the students to question themselves and gain more knowledge.

            I think this chapter was overall very helpful and as a future teacher I value understanding how to teach and learn from my students in different ways.

Chapter 4

Strategies for Discovery

Specifically they wanted to encourage primary students to make observations and raise questions about  what they were seeing in the world around them. Learning through observation occurs in real life so teachers began imagining how to bring inquiry into students' daily activities-travelling to and from school, pursuing hobbies, or just spending time at home. I think that it is very important to teach relatable subjects to your students, even giving them the freedom to brainstorm ideas in the class for what they would like to do for there classroom project.

For reviewing projects it is really good to look over other projects by other teachers and other teaching teams, there may or not be things that you like but since it is your class you can change things up or stick to somethings that you liked.

I think that it is important to be aware of ways that you can improve.  There are many potential pitfalls to look out for like Long on activity, short on learning outcomes. Technology layered over traditional practice. Trivial thematic units. And overly scripted with many, many steps. These are all potential pitfalls that could appear in your project design, which are all important to look out for.

There are many projects that share important features. Some of the features that I would want to make sure that I included in my projects as a teacher would be loosely designed projects with the possibility of different learning paths. Also projects that center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry. Projects that are realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines. Are structured so that students learn with and from each other. Have students working as inquiring experts might. Get a 21st- century skills and literacies, including communication, project management, and technology use.

Lesson Plan Topic

Hey, girls Just so we don't have any overlap on our lesson plans due tonight, I chose to do my lesson plan on composting.

Chapter 4 Reflection: p. 59-74

There are four types of potential pitfalls in project design. These are: long on activity and short on learning outcomes, technology layered over traditional practice, trivial thematic units, and overly scripted with many, many steps. The first potential pitfall, long on activity and short on learning outcomes, is where the project is too busy and extends more than it should but doesn’t reach most of the learning aims that it should. The second potential pitfall, technology layered over traditional practice, is where students only research a topic on the Internet and are forced to present it in an electronic slideshow that doesn’t express any other thinking than presenting a research report. The third potential pitfall, trivial thematic units, is where teacher’s use a cookie cutter routine from year to year, instead of creating new worthwhile experiences for students to unify all the year’s projects to make connections. And in the last potential pitfall, overly scripted with many, many steps, is where students results of their projects look the same and their outcomes do not justify the steps that the students are required to do. The best projects share a plethora of qualities: are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths; are generative, causing students to construct meaning; center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry; capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences; are realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines; reach beyond school to involve others; tap rich data or primary sources; are structured so students learn with and from each other; have students working as inquiring experts might; get a 21st century skills and literacies, including communication, project management, and technology use; get at important learning dispositions, including persistence, risk-taking, confidence, resilience, self-reflection, and cooperation; lastly, have students learn by doing. Good ideas for projects are everywhere. Many successful projects will often lead to another, and the continuation of productive projects will carry on. The first step in designing a good project is to revisit the framework. This means that a list is finalized of learning objectives, decide on specific 21st-century skills that want to be addressed, and identify learning dispositions that want to be enabled. Next is to establish evidence of understanding. This is taking into consideration what students would know or be able to do once they have learned. Third step is to plan the project theme or challenge. The goal of this is to strive for “optimal ambiguity”, which is both structure and flexibility to serve the needs of the project. Lastly, the final step is to plan the entree into the project experience. We ask ourselves the question, “what will captivate your students?” This concept relates to my group’s topic through the use of researching topics, whether they are someone else’s ideas or new ones. We used a previous used topic and added on to it to meet the needs of our project. The “Square of Life” was a concept that was a website where classrooms around the country were able to communicate and express their findings in a collaborative community. We added in that they would communicate with their sister school, and any other classrooms they wanted to, every month their findings where they express their findings and compare other classroom’s findings with theirs. I thought their idea was a great idea and was worthwhile to use as a starter for our project.

Virtual Penpals

Link to the Virtual Penpals

Chapter 3: p. 43-57

When searching for the “big idea” in a project, it is important to envision what you want the ending product to look like. We want to stray away from predictable and generic projects, and strive for understanding the importance that allow for students to directly connect with frames of reference, interests, and experiences. We need to be able to prove the project’s relevance in real life. The mentality we all need to have is “hands-on, minds-on”, that take into account diverse interests with real-world contexts. By taking thinking into unfamiliar territory, everyone will create a learning community that will help students grow together. 21st Century skills stretch student’s intellectual muscles in ways that traditional learning activities may not. There are three in particular concepts: analyze, evaluate, and create. When analyzing, students must: examine, explain, investigate, characterize, classify, compare, deduce, differentiate, discriminate, illustrate, and prioritize. When evaluating, students must: judge, select, decide, justify, verify, improve, defend, debate, convince, recommend, and assess. Lastly, when students create, they must: adapt, anticipate, combine, compose, invent, design, imagine, propose, theorize, and formulate. 21st Century Literacies allow projects to prepare learners for the world beyond school. We live in a time where we are all digital-age learners and it is a necessity that we use a wide range of skills to be able to successfully survive in the ever increasing digital world. Literacy really boils down to learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens. There are eight selected learning functions: ubiquity, deep learning, making things visible and discussable, expressing ourselves/sharing ideas/building community, collaboration, research, project management, and reflection and iteration. In ubiquity, students learn to be more mobile and learn wherever they are, whenever they want and more frequently, with whomever they want. In deep learning, students are required to navigate and sort, organize, analyze, and make graphical representations in order to learn and express learning. In making things visible and discussable, students show rather than tell. They use different types of multimedia to express an idea or thought. In expressing ourselves and sharing ideas, students use personal interaction, such as blogs, to express thoughts. In collaboration, students learn to learn together. In research, students use the Web as a resource in searching for information. In project management, students learn to manage time, work, sources, feedback from others, drafts, and projects during projects. And lastly, reflection and iteration, students learn to examine their ideas from all sides and from other points of view. They learn to “put their thoughts on the table” and being able to look back at past thoughts and opinions. I see many connections from this chapter that are incorporated into my group’s topic/project, such as expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community because in our virtual penpals we will be using personal interaction to interact with other classrooms around the United States. They will also be using deep learning through their collection of data and deciphering the similarities and differences between their “square” and another classroom’s square somewhere else in the world.

Websites for Assignment (10/5)

My websites for the webevaluation are: -http://www.growandlearn.org/ -http://www.kidsgardening.org/ -http://www.lifelab.org/ I know we aren't supposed to have duplicate websites used so that is why I'm posting mine on here so we don't end up using the same website(s).

Square of Life

This map is show all of the involved schools participating in the Square of Life project that allows classrooms of all grade levels to learn about their own communities environment, as well as other classrooms and their findings that are located around the United States (and other parts of the world).
View Square of Life in a larger map

Hey girls, I don't know if everyone got my email today on GOWMU but we need to get to work on our project that is due tomorrow... I don't know your two emails to add you to the Drive.doc I've created so as soon as you see this please post on here the emails and I'll add you to it and we can work on it together! I hope you guys check this soon!!!!!!!!!!

Stephanie Hill

Reading Reflection 3

The “Big Idea”  is a concept that has a several components that are discussed in chapter three.  When working with other teachers one should consider asking themselves “what do these add up to” in relation to curriculum standards.  Each grade level has a different level of standards and it is important to think about why each concept is important and why we actually need this standard when teaching our students.  An example that I thought was of importance was on page 46 about taking physical science education to the next level.  It is important to challenge students and allow them to work with real-life situations, such as burning wood for fuel.  Also, I agree that when students feel like their experiments or projects actually do something for the community; they are more likely to put effort and care about what they are doing.

                Students will also gain 21^st century skills such as being able to apply, analyze, evaluate and create; all of which will allow students to think beyond subject mastery.

                Continuing,  students will also gain 21^st literacies.  Some of these skills that students will gain are inventive thinking,  effective communication, and high productivity.  Each of these higher level skills will benefit students in their future careers and allow them to not just learn the material but take these skills into their futures.  When students practice literacy in this way, they learn to work rely on themselves, become intentional and sincerely try to work for their futures.

                                Another concept that was discussed in chapter three was the essential learning functions.  There are eight essential learning functions cause students to further their knowledge.  To begin, the first essential learning function is ubiquity, which means that students are given the opportunity to learn at all times of their day.  Thus, children can learn when they do not even realize they are learning such as through an Ipad or MP3 player.  The next essential learning function is deep learning.  Deep learning refers to students not just finding typical websites but digging deeper and having to work through a website with difficult layers and understanding. The third essential learning function is making things visible and discussable, which allows students not just to look at a map but understand what the map is telling them and be able to think about what they are looking at.   The fourth essential learning function is expressing ourselves, sharing ideas and building community.  This function refers to students using their similar interests to work together as one, such as MySpace.  The fifth essential learning function is collaboration-teaching and learning with others.   I think that this function is very useful because it allows us to come together to listen to each others ideas and opinions  which allows us to be open minded.  The sixth essential learning function is research, which in my own terms means helping students make sense of what they are trying to find, such as being able to narrow down their topic and be more specific when they look up information on the web.  The seventh essential learning functino is project management: Planning and organization.  Although the seventh essential learning function is obvious to many of us as teachers, it is one of the most significant parts of the our job.  We need to find an organizational system that works for us and master it.  The final essential learning function is reflection and iteration, which encourages students to reflection on their previous thoughts or new thoughts they may have on a topic.  Reflecting on ones ideas helps us grow as learners.

                Reflection and iteration highly relates to my project because as a group we must reflect upon what we could fix about our time management (for example) each time we meet, reflection on how we worked together that week and reflection our strengths and weaknesses.

amberkarliesteph: amberkarliesteph: Chapter 2 Reading Reflection

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amberkarliesteph: Chapter 2 Reading Reflection

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Chapter 2 Reading Reflection

Stephanie Hill
EDT 4:00-5:20
Reading Reflection #2
Chapter 2 discussed Creating a Professional Learning Community. The focus of Learning Communities is that teaches are given the opportunity to work with one another on creating projects and how to teach different lesson plans to their students. There are many benefits to Learning Communities. To begin, Learning Communities decreases teacher isolation. This means that when teachers work together on projects or new ideas, they are not isolated to their own individual thoughts and are able to see new perspectives from one another. Next, Learning Communities increases commitment to the mission. When teachers work collaboratively, it allows them to see each other’s strengths and weaknesses, thus giving each teacher the chance to work on something they are skillful at. Also, Learning Communities gives teaches the chance to share responsibility. This benefit is very significant because teachers should share ideas with one another and feel like they trust their colleagues. Continuing, Learning Communities provides more powerful learning. Lastly, Learning Communities causes a higher likelihood of fundamental, systemic change. Learning Communities is affects teachers in a variety of ways. When teachers are able to talk to one another and shoot ideas back and forth, they feel less constrained and are able to get feedback. Feedback from other teachers allows one to see where they need improvement and where their lesson is strong. Learning Communities affects students because they are able to see first-hand how successful teamwork functions. When students see their teachers working together and giving one another beneficial feedback, they can use this in their own life.  When schools use Learning Communities; there are several components that are a shared vision.  One of the components is that members of the community have a clear sense of a mission.  I think that this is a very important component for bringing success to Learning Communities because if everyone is not on the same page, then things will result negativity.  Another component of Learning Communities is that members focus on student learning.  Although working with other teachers is a way for teachers to share ideas and find out what works and doesn’t work, teaches must understand that the main reason for Learning Communities is to benefit the students.  If a teacher is slacking off and putting their main energy into talking to teachers about their own personal life, they are not doing their job. This chapter relates to my project because while working with two other students, I need to keep in mind many of the components that this chapter speaks about.   For example, I need to be willing to stay open minded of my partners ideas and make sure that I give honest feedback to my partners.