In the first article that I read, Seven Essentials For Project-Based Learning, I found that the points provided resonated well with me. I can definitely relate to having done projects in the past as either busywork, or doing a project to showcase what I've learned and use particular skills. I agree that all projects should be meaningful. In the article it states that "A project is meaningful if it fulfills two criteria. First, students must perceive the work as personally meaningful, as a task that matters and that they want to do well. Second, a meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose." We as young educators need to learn these ideas fast and be able to implement them into our classrooms. Our projects must not only prove to teach the students something, but it should also be something that the students will care about and what to excel in. The project should be as important to our students as it is to us. The point I found of the seven to be vital was point number 3, student voice and choice. If we really want to grasp out students and bring out their creativity we must give them the ability to chose when doing a project and allow for their voice to come out through the project. This will allow the student to showcase their skills and be able to show their classmates and us how creative they really are. I thought however that all the points provided in the article were a must for projects and if implicated properly would allow us to get the most out of project based learning.
In the second video I watched, Project-Based Learning For Teachers, the first thing I took from this video was something mentioned in the previous article. The idea of the "driving question". "The question is deep and requires students to complete an end product to share their learning with others." This has to be the entire basis of why we will be doing a project like this. It should be honing our students skills to not just write down what we as educators say to them, but to question the world around them and generate their own thoughts. By coupling this with the a project that involves an entire classroom we are able to have all our students interact with one another to share thoughts and ideas to create a positive learning environment. This develops skills within each student and is just another great reason to use project based learning in the classroom, if you are able to implement it correctly.
In the third video, PBL : What motivates students today, it was really eye opening to me. The first student who said that what motivated him was being complemented by his educator when he has done well. Just by letting your students know that they've done well is enough to motivate them to want to succeed. I think that this aspect gets overlooked sometimes by teachers. You have to be personable to your students and give them a pat on the back. Encouragement can go a long way for people and continue to motivate them. Another thing I noted was that many students, while seeming young, are already planning about their futures. Many students in the video said that they knew that in order to be successful in their future careers they had to do well in school. I think educators think children are too young to think about their futures. We need to know that they aren't incompetent and they should be treated with respect and guided so they are able to pursue their dreams.
In the fourth video, PBL : High School Math, from what I gathered from the teachers in the video was that the usage of PBLs had gone a long way to involve more and more students. They faced challenges in certain courses because it was not as easy to generate ideas. However once they figured out what to do they were able to more actively engage students. Because I am going to become a future English teacher, I paid more attention when they spoke about not losing the study of literature in the process. They had the students engage with the text in a different way, engage them as a writer themselves. I took note on this and though that this would be helpful for me in the future. I think that using PBLs in classes are great because of how the provide a voice to the student and can more actively engage them.
In the final article I read, Two students solve the case of the watery ketchup by designing a new cap, I found how yet again project based learning is a great tool. The first thing I noted was the teachers comments. " I get to turn the kids loose, let them be creative and find innovative solutions to problems." By doing this the students were able to find something that they could apply to the prompt. Although skeptical of their idea, the teacher saw how much effort and research had been put into this idea and let the students run with it. This interaction and faith in students was just wonderful. This project had allowed two students to use their creative and use their ideas to create something truly wonderful. This is why project based learning is so great. It actively engages students because it gives them a voice and the ability to show off how truly creative they are, while learning at the same time.
Hey Boston,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post it was very organized and detailed and nice placement of the pictures in between the sections. We actually picked a few of the same resources for our blog post so it was nice to see your outlook on them versus mine. I couldn't agree with you more that "What motivates students" was very eye opening. It was amazing to hear what some of those students were using as their motivation even at such a young age. I don't every recall thinking like that when I was their age very impressive. But overall great blog post! Have a good week.