What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?
From the video, Back to the Future, I learned so much from Mr. Crosby and how he teaches his students in his 4th grade class. He uses so many hands-on resources with technology, such as blogging, wiki, and one-on-one laptops in class. He teaches in a way where the students are hands-on and collaborating with one another. I really love how Mr. Crosby does so many engaging projects like the "can crushing" and the "fire helium balloon." Experiments like that really engage the students and make them want to learn things they think are "cool." When the students put all of their projects on their blog, they love seeing feedback from a larger audience. I truly think students show more effort and become more engaged when they are able to share their work with people all over the world. Thailand, Canada, and New Zealand are just a few of the places they are interacting with on their blogs and leaving other comments to students. The balloon burst project video was amazing! It is awesome that the kids where able to work on that project and have fun with such an interesting science experiment. In Mr. Cosby's class these second language students amazed me at how much they do and learn as a class. Mr. Crosby is so positive in his teaching strategies and we could really learn a lot from him!
From the video, Blended Learning Cycle, Paul Andersen talks about how he has added "Explore Flip Apply" to his classroom and how he has made some changes to his classroom. Andersen explains that "Blending" in the classroom consists of the components: online, mobile, and classroom coming together as one. The "Learning Cycle" is made up of the components: engage, explore, expand, explain, and evaluate. Andersen explains that "QUIVERS" is an acronym that he uses in the learning cycle for different projects in the classroom. "Qu" is question, "I" is investigation/inquiry, "V" is video, "E" is elaboration, "R" is review, and "S" is the summary quiz. Andersen uses this learning cycle for Science, but I do think it could be applied to more subjects. Using this learning cycle is a great way for students to show what they are learning and to get them thinking deeper. I really like the methods that Andersen is sharing. I think that these methods would really benefit the students and I would most definitely apply this in my future classroom.
From the video, Making Thinking Visible, I learned about students collaborating to make their own "headline" for an assignment. After the students watched the video "Early Human Beginnings" they were able to put their imagination to the test and come up with a headline. It was great that their headlines where then displayed on the bulletin board for everyone to see and to provide more discussion for later. This activity is a way for students to learn from their assumptions and change them if they think it's necessary.
From the video with Sam Pane, I learned about a project where students are making a "Super Digital Citizen" on a computer program. The students are "Building Comics" to narrate their super citizen into a story of their own. This activity looks so fun that I would want to do it! When the students are creating their own character, it gives them ownership of the project because the students can use their imagination to go above and beyond. This project is very beneficial from several different angles. It gives the students hands-on creativity with using the technology online to build their character. Then, it gives the students the opportunity to create a scenario where the character makes the right online decisions. From the looks of this video, I think this project would be very fun and engaging for students!
From the videos, PBL andRoosevelt Elementary's PBL Program, I learned more about how students become engaged learners and use deeper understanding when teachers incorporate Project Based Learning. Hearing from teachers in Canada, in the first PBL video was really cool! These videos are both about how it is possible to incorporate PBL into all subjects of the classroom. When students use PBL it really brings the curriculum to life and provides more engaging for deeper learning. Using PBL gives students more power and ownership over the project and allows them to solve real world problems at the same time. The application of using PBL really allows the students to understand what they are learning and why what they're doing is important. Both of these videos make me realize how important our "21st Century" resources are helping our classrooms. In my opinion, technology isn't the key. Although technology is very beneficial, the key is student collaboration and learning together for greater learning.
Great job! Very thorough.
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