Blog Post #5

In the first video, Project Based Learning Part One, conversations hosted by Anthony Capps, go over project based learning. How do you approach being a teacher who uses project based learning? First off, project based learning is constantly evolving but as of right now, the goal of PBL is to show that your student's have learn something. Project based learning is a means to get them to learn material. Project based learning is beneficial because you can get your student's excited about the knowledge! In project based learning, the teachers reward the student's for work that they accomplish. When using project based learning it is good to use something that will spark their interests and deals with the community to show how it would work in the real world. "Students are driven by content"(Capps). The most important thing about PBL is sparking a student's interest because what better way to learn than with something you are truly interested in. Anthony Capps student's, who are in the third grade, peer review their classmates papers, and are given the chance to reflect on their own work. Reflection of your own work is very beneficiary to see what you have accomplished and what you can improve on. PBL offers many situations in which you can revise and reflect. Even reviewing tests can show reflection by seeing the learning happening!

In the sequel, Project Based Learning Part Two, Capps is at it again! This video is a continuation of PBL, and starts off with the fact that everything does not go as planned! That's ok, and it's definitely okay to accommodate yourself with alternate assignments if given the obstacle. Project based learning really gives student's a sense of pride and ownership over their work, which really makes them excited about learning! It gives student's an opportunity to not be trapped with busy work in the classroom, giving them every reason to be engaged in learning.

My first thought when I saw the title of the video, iCurio, is that I have no earthly idea what this is and I'm about to learn something new! iCurio is a online search engine where you can look up media, audio, and video, kid friendly, information. It is also filtered for educational purposes to where younger grade levels can have access to the web. All grades can use iCurio, because it is full of information! One of the great aspects of iCurio is the storage capacity. It allows student's to organize the material they have discovered, giving them the opportunity to come back to it later. Since it is a login based tool, student's can access iCurio whenever they want to! Even if it is after class time, because sometimes you get wrapped up in what you're learning and then the bell rings!

In the next video, Discovery Education, is a short but sweet video on a special tool for project based learning. This tool brings experts into the classroom video. Students listen and watch more than they read and write these days. So informational videos are a good educational, project based learning tool. It really is a good tool for bringing text alive and giving the student's an enhance research experience.

The video, The Anthony-Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1, is a collaboration of Dr.Strange and Anthony Capps top five tips new teachers should think about. Tip number one is be just as interested in learning. You have to be the learner as well. Tip number two on their list is that is hard work, but fun. Teaching is a constant, rewarding process that never ends. Tip number three is to be flexible enough to adapt to surprises that may come along in the classroom. Everything doesn't always go as planned, and there always needs to be a back up plan! Tip number four is to get the kids engaged in learning!It's a good idea to use the "no child left behind" method to ensure all of your student's are engaged in the classroom. And last but not least, the fifth tip is reflection. Reflection is key in the classroom to give the student's the opportunity to self evaluate and improve their work! This is all such great advice that all teachers should follow along with myself. I'd love to use this as a guide when I first become a teacher!

In the next video, Don't Teach Tech-Use It, it's is saying to not teach technology, introduce it! You want your students to be introduced to different tools online so one day they can combine all of them into a project. It gives them the opportunity to be creative and express themselves. While you can't expect perfection the first time around, the video states that you can guarantee some student's efforts will surprise you!

In the final video of this assignment, Additional Thought About Lessons, it explains the four component of lessons. A lesson is four layers thick and in those layers is what your lesson needs to cover in the time period of a year. So the four components are yearly, and then you have units within that year. In those units your lessons should be broken down into weeks, and then from weeks you have your daily lessons. All of these things are there to ensure you cover all of the material needed. The video explains the importances of your daily lessons. They need to include a hook to spark the student's interests. From then you can continue to keep them engage in the material. Another key item to a daily lesson is measuring them at the end of the day so you know where to pick up the next time. It's all under the big picture of your yearly lesson plan to cover all of the necessary units.