Post #11

These are some good examples of teachers who use project based learning. Here is what I have learned from them.

In Brian Crosby's lecture form his blog,Learning is Messy, he mentions that the majority of his students are second language learners and live in poverty. Most do not even know basic knowledge about where they are from. However, he has high hopes for them and he does not give up on them or just tell them what they need to know to pass and push them through, he does things with them to get them excited about learning. He does experiments and gets them involved with projects. His students write about what they have learned on their blog posts, he mentions that they use wikis a lot, and they use flickr. When they do a science experiment, they take what they have learned and write stories about it, which goes into language arts.
Brian Crosby is an excellent example of someone who uses PBL in an effective way. He knows what will get the attention of his students and he runs with it. I need to remember this for my class, projects work a lot better when you carry them over to different subjects and get the students passionate about learning more.

The way in which Paul Anderson teaches according to the video, Blended Learning Cycle, is by using blended learning. You have to start out with a good question, then you want them to investigate and ask their own questions. Show them a video instead of just telling them about something. The next step is elaboration. Have them read about it, and research. At the end, you review, to make sure that they understand the concepts of the lesson. Then he gives them a summary quiz. He gives them a test after he is sure that they know the material.
Anderson reminded me that every student is important. I love that he waits until every student is ready to take the test, and then he moves on. The process in which he uses to teach makes it a lot easier for the students to remember what they need to know, because they are involved in their own learning.

Ron Richhart says, in this video that it is important to create a culture of thinking. It is not only about teaching lessons, it's about the culture in which the lessons are taught. This is eye opening, because most people think that more time and work should be put into the lesson, but in reality, it is more important to create an environment in which students want to learn and think for themselves that helps teachers convey the lesson.
For my classroom, one day, I want to create a culture of thinking. That was a good way to put it for me. Just telling the kids what the need to understand isn't going to help them understand it. You must teach them in the way that they comprehend and learn.

In the video, Super Digital Citizen, Sam Pine starts off the activity by giving a quote from Spiderman, a familiar quote to get them engaged right away. He asks them a question and then tells them to discuss it wit their table, so he is giving  them time to think about the question and hear their classmates responses as well. Then he introduces the activity and shows them an example. This activity is creating your own super hero and customize it however you want and then make a comic book with the character that they created. This is exciting for the students because they are interested in the subject. After the students finish, the students walk around and see what their classmates have done. I like this idea because the students get to show their work.
I love the creativity used in this classroom. I would love to incorporate something like this in my classroom. Making lessons relevant to students make a huge different. Using quotes that they have heard before is a lot more effective than using one from your time.

The video, Project Based Learning, three teachers completely change the way that students are used to being taught. Instead of going to a different teacher for each subject, the teachers work together to combine their efforts to teach multiple subjects. In the video they talk about the importance of PBL. It says that PBL keeps students engaged and provides a deeper understanding. These teachers all put in a bit of feed back as their students work on a project, and they can all help in different ways.
This has shown me how effective it is to collaborate with other teachers. The students are excited about their work and end up being proud of the outcome when project based learning is done right.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Plan defines PBL as: in depth learning, integrated thematic instruction, based on a "real-world" problem, research-based, projects and presentations. These teachers are teaching the students to think for themselves. They are trying to get past teaching students so that they can pass a test, they are trying to instill in them that it is important to know the material and understand it, and you can really see if a child understands the subject using PBL. They are also getting ready students used to public speaking, which will make it easier for them in the future. They give the students the opportunity to make their own decisions on a lot of things. This also gives them a sense of ownership so they will want to do the best they can do. This school encourages community participation. There are so many people in the community that can contribute to the students education to help them get a better understanding of a subject. This way of teaching sparks a curiosity in the students to want to know more about the world around them. I want to keep my students'  parents involved, and make them just as excited about PBL as their kids are.