Blog Post #11

Back to the Future
By asking simple questions, Mr. Crosby realized that his students needed to be more engaged.  The majority, of the students are English as a Second Language or live in poverty.  At the beginning of their school year, his students had a small curriculum, which limits their imagination.  Mr. Crosby did experiments with his students and then they were assigned to blog and post videos.  Mr. Crosby used these videos in collaboration with a history lesson and other Internet avenues.  The students learned a lot from their experiment.  They students learned to write a story, identifying themselves as the balloon.  Their experience was being deployed into the sky.  I think that Mrs. Crosby shows us that there are always ways to improve upon education, even when you have limited resources.  I think he teaches us to never give up or be defeated.  There is always another way if you push forward and look for new opportunities.  Students are in constant need of encouragement and positive reinforcement.  

Blended Learning Cycle
The "five E's": 
By beginning with an engaging question that challenges the students to investigate, students are able to explore.  Then you give explanation to the students and continue to expand upon your findings and evaluate them.  This process along with online, mobile and classroom learning is what the teacher refers to as a blended learning cycle.  The teacher in the video really puts great emphasis on the importance of having a hook and making sure that you pull the students aside individually to ensure they understand what they have learned.

Making Thinking Visible
Mark Church wants his students to now think about the challenge or puzzle of their entire topic in general.  This is very broad and I feel it allows the students to really engage and use their creativity more.  He is allowing his students to continually learn and expand upon their initial findings or initial questions.

Sam Pane 4th Grade
Mr. Pane is educating students on the safe way to utilize the Internet.  Students as early as Kindergarten are now learning how and using the Internet on a daily basis.  We must educate them, not only to protect themselves, but also educate them on the dangers and predators that lurk in cyber space.  The Internet can be full of dangers and not knowing how to properly use it is the most dangerous to us all, especially young impressionable children.  I think that Mr. Pane has a wonderful approach to educating students on the safety of the Internet.  I think that we should all, as educators, take the time to over-teach the importance of Internet safety to our students.  We should continually and consistently teach them on a weekly/monthly basis, and apprise them of any new dangers that could potentially cause them harm.

Project Based Learning
Three teachers collaborate to create a unique environment for their students to learn.  Having a non-segregated course, meaning not just one subject, these teachers are expanding project based learning as a team.  They met challenges and explored their opportunities together.  Working together as a team, I feel like these teachers are better implementing project based learning as a whole.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program
Roosevelt Elementary begins using project based learning early on.  By doing this, it allows students more freedom with their imagination, but motivated real world life skills.  Public speaking is one of the lessons that these students are being taught.  I have always been terrified of public speaking.  I can remember learning how to speak publicly around 6th grade or so.  I really like the idea here of teaching these things at such an early age.  I think this gives them more confidence.  It also engages them to really get involved with the process.  Using project based learning incorporates life skills that help teach real world issues, teach students how to work independently as well as collaboratively and take control of their own learning.