Group items tagged

after I had designed the major portion of the curriculum for a new unit, but before starting it with my class, I would hold a "Curriculum Lunch." I invited students to bring their lunch to my classroom, where I would present a preview of my plans for the next project. I shared the standards and learning objectives as well as the projects I was preparing for the students to work on, then asked for their input and feedback.

mostly gave feedback on how to make them more interesting; engaging; and, in some cases, challenging.

Students who attended the curriculum lunches would often hype up the project to their classmates, which in turn helped create positive morale going into a unit. Students were excited about the next thing they were going to learn!

“Although I think it’s important to teach children how to make the most of these amazing machines, I’ve been concerned for a while that the focus on “coding” is driving everyone in front of screens and tablets, on their own. This potentially misses out some other important skills such as interpersonal communication, manual dexterity, creative imagination and maths. Children have amazing creative and imaginative skills, they’re like super powers at that age, and I wanted a way they could use them in learning about technology. So I made the Craft Computer to create a more physical and creative experience. One that not only demystified the world of computers but also reminded them how valuable art and creativity is to technology.”

Have in mind what materials and resources will be accessible to the students. Next, students will need assistance in managing their time -- a definite life skill. Finally, have multiple means for assessing your students' completion of the project: Did the students master the content? Were they able to apply their new knowledge and skills? Many educators involve their students in developing these rubrics

Here are steps for implementing PBL, which are detailed below: Start with the Essential Question Design a Plan for the Project Create a Schedule Monitor the Students and the Progress of the Project Assess the Outcome Evaluate the Experience

Involve the students in planning; they will feel ownership of the project when they are actively involved in decision making.

Did I refer to the class as our class or my class?

8. If our class were a company, would it be out-of-business now?

9. Did students create and experience a great class or simply take a class and get credit?

A backchannel (3) -- a digital conversation that runs concurrently with a face-to-face activity -- provides students with an outlet to engage in conversation.

TodaysMeet (4) would have let teachers create private chat rooms so that students could ask questions or leave comments during class. A Padlet (5) wall might have fueled students to share their ideas as text, images, videos, and links posted to a digital bulletin board. The open response questions available in a student response system like Socrative (6) or InfuseLearning (7) could have become discussion prompts to give each student an opportunity to share his or her ideas before engaging in class discussion.

They create a blended environment where teachers and students engage in both physical and online conversations so that learning is no longer confined to a single means of communication or even an arbitrary class period. Backchannels don't replace class discussions -- they extend them.