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.