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!