Final Concept Map

Reading Reflection: Chapter #11

1. As a result of Project-based learning, students are able to partake in a variety of activities to get one large project.  They gain real-life experience, and rather than having homework and doing papers and exams, they work together.  They can make a difference in a surrounding community or school with a project, and learn to lead, grow, and increase their personal knowledge. 

2.  "Bringing the project home" has a great deal to do with reflection.  Being able to reflect on what you just completed.  Reflecting on what was great, what you could have improved, and what you would do differently next time. 

3.  Coming to an end of our "project time" it is important for us to take time to reflect on what we have done this semester.  To look back at what we did, could have done differently, and what got us to the point we are at now!

Reading Reflection: Chapter 10

1. Reflection time is an important thing in many things, projects being one of them. It allows you to take a look at what you have accomplished so far, what more you have to do, and see if there is any adjustments you need to make.

2. Allowing the students to reflect and elaborate not only lets them see what they have accomplished, but it allows the students to think about where they want to go, and all the possibilities they can take. 

3. Schools build their identity and traditions with certain goals and philosophies in mind.  They mold the schools character and that builds on the staff and students. 

4. Students want to show off their work and share their accomplishments and hard work. It also helps them to reflect and revisit what they did learn, creating them to keep using and remembering their learned knowledge. 

5. Reflecting is a great tool to use to see how far you've come and how far you need to go.  We as a group have had to reflect and it has helped throughout our progress this semester.  

Reflection 11

1. A result of using project based learning is that students are able to do projects that require them to do a lot of hands on work. Meaning that instead of just typing a paper, project based learning requires them to be innovative with how they present information to others. Through the use of technology PowerPoint, Excel, and others. Students gain experience with teamwork on projects, as well as furthering their knowledge with technology.
2. You can "bring your project home" by putting something personal with your project. By making an emotional connection to your project you give a real life sense of how important it is. This "brings it home" because it makes the audience sees that your project actually effect or has effected you in some way.
3. This is important to our project as we need to find a way to "bring our project home" to our audience, by making an emotional connection to it. As a former athletic trainer I brought personal experiences that I have seen/heard and made a connection to our parts about fitness and anatomy. We also see the benefits of PBL in that we have grown in our knowledge/understanding of technology.

Reflection #10

1. Setting aside time for reflection is key in any subject or project. The reason being that by setting time aside to reflect on your daily progress allows you to see what you have done well, not so well, and what else you need to do. This helps relieve stress and helps you look at future stuff that needs to get done.
2. Students need to reflect and elaborate because it allows them the chance to look at how they and their peers are doing on projects or subjects. Students need to elaborate because it gives them the chance to confer with their peers or teachers about information and what needs to happen.
3. Schools build tradition and identity by adapting certain methods or philosophy of teaching within their schools. Some schools may take a more hands on project based learning approach and build their identity that way. Or some schools may go a different route. It is up to the schools faculty to adapt their own identity, as it can't be assigned or given.
4. It is important to celebrate a project because it gives the students a sense of satisfaction that they completed a big task. By celebrating this, you raise their self-esteem and make them more confident going into further projects.
5. This chapter is important to our project because we have weekly reflections about our project. We quite literally set aside time to look back at how we are doing on our project, as well as look at what we did well, not well, and what else we need to do.

Reading Reflection: Chapter 9

1.  Have the students take out a piece of paper.  Ask them questions about the topic they will be learning about, some specific and some vague questions so you can see what they already know. 

2.  As a teacher, establishing anchors helps you to gain a sense of where your students are starting at and how far they are as they're working towards their learning goals.

3. A great way to assess them is to give them homework after you have taught them something and to see what they gained from it.  A few others ways to assess would be quizzes, a jeopardy game, and a personal conference to check in on their knowledge. 

4. This chapter relates greatly to our project.  We had prior knowledge about fitness and things within that topic.  Assessing the students is also something we have involved in our project lessons to asses the students knowledge and what they've learned. 

Reading Reflection #9

1. A method for understanding students prior knowledge on a subject, or particular project is very simple. You can give them a sheet of paper with the topic or subject, and have them write down as much information about it as they can. This allows you to see where each student is at with their prior knowledge of the topic. If they have a lot or little information is irrelevant as a project or unit plan would benefit them all.
2. Establishing anchors for a project is very important because it allows you as the teacher to have information that will be instilled in your students mind for a long time. Much like a real anchor, it makes sure a boat stays put. Information in a project or unit plan does the same, as it stays put in your brain, which is very important as a teacher to have in students. It is crucial for their success.
3. You can assess your students on what they learned during their project, by doing weekly assessments on what they have so far. You can also do weekly progress reports, in which they give you details about what they have so far in their project. You can even simply talk to them and have them explain certain key points about their project.
4. These concepts can be focused on our project, as we chose our topic based upon prior knowledge of not only the information but our prior knowledge of how to use PowerPoint, blogs, websites. We are also creating assessments in our lesson plans to make sure our students retain information.