Blog Post #11

We were assigned six different videos to watch, and then asked a good question. We were asked us, "What can we learn about teaching from these teachers?" All these teachers used Project Based Learning.

The first video was Back To The Future, done by Brian Crosby at Agnes Risley Elementary school in Sparks, Nevada. This schools class was able for every student to have a laptop. Mr. Crosby used these very well in his classroom. he really engages the students in their learning process. He did an great project where students had a huge balloon and they attached a video camera to it and sent it up into the air. They watched this balloon go up inthe air on a computer. then they blogged about it in their blogs.

The second video was Blended Learning Cycle by Paul Anderson. I learned that there are five E's. They are engage, explore, expand, explain, and evaluate. He uses these five E's to get his class interestied about what they are learning. I also learned about the acronym QUIVERS. "QU" stands for question, "I" stands for investigate/inquiry, "V" stands for video, "E" stands for elaboration, "R" stands for review, and "S" stands for summary quiz. He uses this in his class on a daily bases. This gets his class thinking about what he is going to teach about. He always has a video of himself talking about the subject, this gives him time to get some time with his students. He then goes over the subject, and reviews with his students. Then he gives his students a summary quiz on the subject.

The third video was Making Thinking Visible by Mark Church.This video the teacher was getting his students to work in groups. He asked them as a group to come up with a headline about a puzzle that they were working on. I saw that students need to discuss and interact with others with what they know. They will look back at this at the end of the year and see how their thoughts have changed.

The fourth video was Building Comics by Same Pane. Mr. Pane was teaching his students how to be safe, responsible, and respectful online. He allowed his students to build a comic using a special program on their laptops. I saw that the students made their narrative about them, and it made it more meaningful to them. When they were done the students were able to look at the other students comics as well.

The fifth video was Project Based Learning by Dean Shareski. I learned so much from him. He showed me that PBL makes students understanding about the subject being taught. I also saw that when students use technology, if helps they learn more by seeing what they are learning.

The sixth video was Roosevelt Elementary's PBL Program. This video taught me that PBL teaches students to think on their on. It really helps students with public speaking. PBL gives students the chance to make their own decisions. PBL shows students how to work together annd come up with ideas.