Blog Post #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

In the video, Back To The Future, Brian Crosby talks about active learning and the use of technology. Mr. Crosby keeps his students engaged by creating fun, little projects for them to learn more about the lesson he is teaching. His assignments are geared, so that each student can succeed in learning throughout the project. Mr. Crosby's students use many different apps and sites each day to create these projects and communicate with others. Some of the apps and sites include Wiki, Flickr and Skype. The students also blog. Mr. Crosby has his students to set goals for themselves in their blogs. Goals such as what they hope for themselves, their community and the world. Through these many projects and activities, Mr. Crosby's students were steadily creating a learning network. He said he students loved the shine they got. They loved to see the views and the comments they got from many, different people around the world. I really liked the balloon idea Mr. Crosby had the children do as well as how they included a sick, little girl into their classroom since she could not attend school. I learned from Mr. Crosby that active learning empowers students to become learners. It also helps the become aware of and use the many 21st century tools they have available to them. Not only are they to collaborate, but they are also learning how to connect to the world.

In the video, Blended Learning Cycle, Paul Anderson talks about blended learning cycles. He believes in the power of the question and the power of the learning in the classroom. So what is blended learning? Blended learning is when you take components of the classroom, mobile, and online learning and combine them together. Mr. Anderson says there are 5 E's for learning. They are Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand and finally Evaluate. He says this is a great way to present material. Mr. Anderson has his own blended learning cycle, and he came up with the acronym QUIVERS to remember it.
1. QUestion
2. Investigation/Inquiry
3. Video
4. Elaboration
5. Review
6. Summary quiz
I learned something new from Mr. Anderson as far as the blended learning cycle because I wasn't familiar with this.

In the video, Making Thinking Visible, Mark Church divides his classroom into small groups. Then, he gives them a topic and tells them to discuss it among each other. The students start discussing the given topic, and they seem very much engaged and work well collaboratively. While his students are finishing up the activity, Mr. Church talks about why he does this. His goal is to take what the students create, put them up on the bulletin board, and then weeks later he sees where the student stands on the same topic. He wants to see how has the story changed and how their thinking has changed? I learned from Mr. Church that motivating students and pushing them pass what they think they can do is good. In the activity he gave them, he wanted them to get their minds working and to get them to learn more about the topic.

In the video, Building Comics, Same Pane talks about how to become a super digital citizen. Being a digital citizen is all about safety and responsibility. He has a discussion with his class about safety and responsibilty, and why they need to be safe, responsible and respectful online. The students talk about things such as no hacking, no gossiping, no giving personal information and many more things. Then Mr. Pane tells them about the project they are going to do. He wants them to build a comic showing digital safety. He wants the narrative to be a superhero stepping in to save the day online. He explains the directions to them, and then gives them complete control to build their characters and plot. He gives them the ownership so that it is about them. The activity is much more meaningful to them. By doing this activity, students are able to analyze the situation and the tech structures of a comic book and really build a complete narrative. The students were really engaged in this activity, and they enjoyed reading their classmate's comic books. I learned about the importance of safety and responsibility online not only for students but for everyone.

In Dean Shareski's video, Project Based Learning, three different classes are combined into one class. The teachers say this gives students more time to learn. It restructures the teacher's day and gives them more time to blend ideas and more time to provide quality feedback to students. The teachers say this way of PBL makes the students more engaged learners and they have a deeper understanding of the curriculum. The students love doing the projects and they even love editing their projects. This encourages them to make things better, and students become motivated to make it better. They take more ownership of their projects, like it more and appreciate it more. You can tell the teachers and students really enjoy the class. I learned that there are many different ways to present project based learning. Combining three different subjects is definitely a challenge, but it can also work.

In the video, Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program, we learn about project based learning. What is project based learning? Project based learning is in depth learning of a specific topic. It is integrated instruction and based on real world problems and is research based. Project based learning teaches students problem solving skills and how to think for themselves. It teaches them to come together to collaborate on projects. Project based learning is student choice. Students get to make decisions on their own, and this gives them a sense of power. PBL also gives students many choices because they have different ways of learning. One of the more important things, is the PBL teaches students to work independently and collaborate in groups. They learn to communicate with others and build social skills. I learned that PBL can help build student's self esteem because they learn how to speak and communicate well with others and to present their projects.