Eckstein, M. (2009). Enrichment 2.0 fifted and talented education for the 21st century. Gifted Child Today, 32(1), 59-63. Retrieved from ERIC database.
In her article for Gifted Child Today, Eckstein () discusses the use of enrichment clusters. Such clusters are “organized around major disciplines, interdisciplinary themes, or cross-disciplinary topics.” They arrange students according to interests, and they are focused on the production of real-world products or services. Because Web 2.0 has changed the internet from a read-only medium to a medium in which anyone can publish and share information, education must work with this new technology to more effectively reach students. Out of this came Enrichment 2.0 which is based on the cluster model. Enrichment 2.0 “is an inquiry-based learning model where students select a topic, and prepare an authentic product or service.” Tools of Enrichment 2.0 include wikis, social bookmarking, RSS feeds, blogs, and podcasts.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
PBL Relfections
It was amazing to see the learning that was taking place in my classroom. Students were able to make the connection between the concept and the real world. They were able to answer the infamous question, "When will I ever use this?" If only Home Depot can build something on our campus every year to help the students see the importance of the concept. Although my school is located in East Cobb County and the majority, if not all, students will go to college, we have some choice kids from West Cobb County who will not go to college. The discussions that went on between the students and the men who were building the structure reinforced that you do not have to go to college in order to use math; math is all around us. Students enjoyed taking the knowledge gained and creating their own model. I am looking forward to implementing this project based lesson plan each year; of course, modifying it based on the needs of my students.
The project based learning (PBL) activity was a real eye opener. The development through online collaboration made me feel like this was way too much work to put into any activity, but in reality though face to face collaboration would be most likely way to create a plan for a PBL activity. In the end though I found that the budget project we created would go a long way to show practical uses of basic math to our students. Most of the time when we as math teachers are asked “When am I ever going to use this?” we find an answer with a career orientation. That answer is usually countered with “Well I am never going to be that.” The budgeting project answers that question in a way that no student can counter. All of them are going to be on their own and spending their own money. Even though the project started with students choosing a career path and looking for the amount of continued education needed for that career, one of our drawbacks was that not all students want to go to college. We discussed that these students can complete extra research into their chosen career and creating a budget on a high school dropout’s or high school graduate’s expected income. The project will help students see the reality and consequences of their choices. My group worked well together to help each other understand each step of the project in order for the group plan to come together as one complete project.
The project I developed was similar to one that had been brewing in my mind for some time now, so this was good to have a chance to think through some of the details. However, the project I am planning to implement in my class is somewhat different. Since I teach 5th grade instead of middle school, I would like to connect my class with another class near a historical landmark in the United States such as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. My plan would be to have my class and the other class conduct book discussions online about a book related to the Civil War. An additional change would be in the technology used for the project. Rather than using a blog as the communication portal, I would set up a Moodle for the groups to use. One of the elements in developing this project that I found most interesting was reading articles about public library systems that are holding book discussions on Moodle for their student readers. It was useful to read about their successes and failures to better understand how I can make this work in my classroom.
One of the biggest discoveries that I made in planning this unit was the incredible amount of time I would need to allot to planning and preparation before the unit was to actually begin. Since this project involves another classroom with another teacher in another location, a lot would have to be set up in advance to make the project a success. Since time is such a limited resource these days, it would be very difficult to get teachers involved in a project like this unless they saw real value in it. For this reason, I think it might be necessary to try it on my own or with just one other teacher from my school for the first time. This would give me an opportunity to work out the kinks and demonstrate student success and engagement so that other teachers will be more likely to get involved in the future.
The project based learning (PBL) activity was a real eye opener. The development through online collaboration made me feel like this was way too much work to put into any activity, but in reality though face to face collaboration would be most likely way to create a plan for a PBL activity. In the end though I found that the budget project we created would go a long way to show practical uses of basic math to our students. Most of the time when we as math teachers are asked “When am I ever going to use this?” we find an answer with a career orientation. That answer is usually countered with “Well I am never going to be that.” The budgeting project answers that question in a way that no student can counter. All of them are going to be on their own and spending their own money. Even though the project started with students choosing a career path and looking for the amount of continued education needed for that career, one of our drawbacks was that not all students want to go to college. We discussed that these students can complete extra research into their chosen career and creating a budget on a high school dropout’s or high school graduate’s expected income. The project will help students see the reality and consequences of their choices. My group worked well together to help each other understand each step of the project in order for the group plan to come together as one complete project.
The project I developed was similar to one that had been brewing in my mind for some time now, so this was good to have a chance to think through some of the details. However, the project I am planning to implement in my class is somewhat different. Since I teach 5th grade instead of middle school, I would like to connect my class with another class near a historical landmark in the United States such as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. My plan would be to have my class and the other class conduct book discussions online about a book related to the Civil War. An additional change would be in the technology used for the project. Rather than using a blog as the communication portal, I would set up a Moodle for the groups to use. One of the elements in developing this project that I found most interesting was reading articles about public library systems that are holding book discussions on Moodle for their student readers. It was useful to read about their successes and failures to better understand how I can make this work in my classroom.
One of the biggest discoveries that I made in planning this unit was the incredible amount of time I would need to allot to planning and preparation before the unit was to actually begin. Since this project involves another classroom with another teacher in another location, a lot would have to be set up in advance to make the project a success. Since time is such a limited resource these days, it would be very difficult to get teachers involved in a project like this unless they saw real value in it. For this reason, I think it might be necessary to try it on my own or with just one other teacher from my school for the first time. This would give me an opportunity to work out the kinks and demonstrate student success and engagement so that other teachers will be more likely to get involved in the future.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Project-Based Learning
My group's project-based learning examples focus on vocabulary acquisition across the curriculum at the middle school level. My project focuses on 8th grade language arts and learning vocabulary while reading a short story. The short story of focus is "The Most Dangerous Game." Before reading the story, the vocabulary words from the story are divided up amongst the students, and they complete a Comic Life project based on their vocabulary word. They are required to provide the definition of the word, other forms, synonyms, antonyms, a sentence from the text, their own sentence, and a mnemonic device to help the class remember. When completed, each student's comic life will be projected on the Smart Board, and each student will present on his/her words. Below are links to each part of the project:
http://stu.westga.edu/~rrogers1/7464_PBL_rrl.pptx
This PowerPoint explains to the students how to completed the project
http://stu.westga.edu/~rrogers1/7464_Oral%20Presentation%20Rubric_rrl.docx
This rubric is used to grade the student's oral presentation
http://stu.westga.edu/~rrogers1/7464_vocabcomiclife_rrl.bmp
This is an image file of a comic life vocabulary example
http://stu.westga.edu/~rrogers1/7464_PBL_rrl.pptx
This PowerPoint explains to the students how to completed the project
http://stu.westga.edu/~rrogers1/7464_Oral%20Presentation%20Rubric_rrl.docx
This rubric is used to grade the student's oral presentation
http://stu.westga.edu/~rrogers1/7464_vocabcomiclife_rrl.bmp
This is an image file of a comic life vocabulary example
Monday, November 2, 2009
Emerging Technology that Supports eLearning
One of the disadvantages of elearning, in my opinion, is student organization. I see firsthand that my students are very unorganized, for the most part, and they have a hard time keeping up with dates and assignments. With an online class, this is solely the responsibility of the student, and while the teacher can use online tools like calendars and reminders, it is still the responsibility of the student to check those things. I worry about my high school students now, and whether they will be able to function in an online classroom environment. Much of the success in an online class stems from the students' motivation; how badly do they want to succeed? For many of my students, motivation for school is nonexistent. Do I like online learning? Absolutely. I believe benefits like the way online learning builds responsibility and engages students, saves money, and exemplifies convenience far outweigh the negative aspects.
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