To reiterate, I think the best time to take this class is during the school year, and not the summer. It is very difficult to evaluate my GAME Plan progress when I have not been able to implement it as of yet. So I will do my best in answering the provided questions about my progress toward meeting my goals that I established for learning about technology and technology resources.
My first plan of attack is to still create my own website to be used by students, their parents and the community, but until I get to school, I can not achieve this goal.
What have I learned so far that I can apply to my instructional practice? This weeks learning resources have clearly defined what Project-Based Learning is, what it requires and especially why we want to teach using PBL. I would love to incorporate the idea of PBL into my other classes besides my 8th grade Hi-Tech Career class. I think my students will come out of those classes with more ownership of what they have learned because they are becoming self-directed learners (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).
What do I still have to learn? What new questions have arisen? I think if I look really close at what I still have to learn, it would have to deal with creating problems that are interdisciplinary and cross curricular. I have had a lot of teachers in my building ask to do collaborative work but I have always been a little worried about how my content would fit in. I do know that the Family and Consumer Science teacher along with the Art teacher got together and did a Unit on Christmas cookies, in Art class they made clay cookie stamps that were fired in the kiln, and in the Family & Consumer Science class they researched cookie recipes and also had to figure out which recipe would be the best. As a wood shop teacher I am concerned that I would just be stuck building something. So is it possible to collaborate with a Core class and what would we do?
How will I adjust my plan to fit my current needs? The only way I can answer this question is to just wait and see. Every lesson that I teach gets better and better because I am always finding ways to improve it. So the only thing I can do is to wait until I start teaching, and then adjust accordingly.
I realize that my answers to the questions are short and sweet, but again to be honest I really cannot do anything until school starts. I should at that point be able to evaluate myself a little better.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program Eight. Problem-Based Learning, Part 1 [Motion Picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
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Erika,
ReplyDeleteI can understand and can empathize with your dilemma, but one of your comments struck me as being interesting. You stated that you'd like to get involved with cross curricular project but you don't want to just get stuck building something. At first I kind of laughed, thinking that that's what your class is about. But then I got to thinking that there is so much more involved that just nailing some wood together. How much design goes into your projects, especially on the part of the students? Do you give them specifications and they just build? Or do they get the opportunity to do this? Here's why I'm asking. In my art class in high school, we spent a unit learning about architecture, especially that of Frank Lloyd Wright. We learned about how his designs fit into the environment surrounding his buildings, but in art, we never had the opportunity to do any work related to this. Here's my idea for you: If the art teacher can teach about Frank Lloyd Wright, your students can work to design a house that would fit in some sort of environment. The students can be responsible for choosing materials that not only last, but fit in with the landscape. Then, depending on the landscape you choose in which they must build, they would have to come up with a structurally sound design that would meet the requirements of both you and the art teacher. It's just an idea, but I think it would address your frustration with just having to build something.
Erin
Erika-
ReplyDeleteThe idea that came to my mind would be a collaboration with an English and history teacher. Your students can pick a time in history and find out the unique wood working of that period. They can write a paper for English and you could have them replicate a piece full size or miniature from that period as well. I do not know how realistic this is, but it sounds like a great idea.
Erin,
ReplyDeleteMy 8th grade students do not have a background in Architectural Design, but that would be a great idea. We do have a program called Punch Professional Home Design, but it is not a class set, just for a group of two. What usually happens is that I have Science teachers and even the Gifted teacher who will send their students down to me to show them something they can use in my classroom to incorporate into the project that they are working with in their core class.
Erika
Margaret,
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea, I would have to look at the pieces before my students build them. My 8th grade Wood shop class is the introductory class for the high school, so this is where we learn all of the basic skills to use later on.
Erika