Throughout this course, I have learned many tips and ideas that I can apply in my classroom. The biggest thing that I took away was how to design a PBL unit. I have never used a PBL unit in my classroom before and to be honest I was unsure of how it would work in the primary grades. However, as I read more articles and did more research, I realized how engaging and beneficial it actually was. I became excited to find a way to try it out in my own classroom and enjoyed filling out the outline and coming up with multiple ideas that would work for my second graders. I am excited to try these units throughout the course of the school year.
Another takeaway was the idea of creating a class agreement for technology devices. I always work with my students to create a class promise at the beginning of the school year and I always take the time to go over expected behaviors when using technology devices but I have never made a specific technology agreement. I plan on making one with my students in the upcoming weeks and keeping displayed in our classroom next to our original classroom promise. I could then easily refer back to it if I ever see an unwanted behavior while students are using tech devices.
My last takeaway is that I want to spend more time looking into grants that I could use to better my classroom. While researching grants, I realized how many different types that they were and how frequently new grants were available. I always feel as if I am noticing something that my students need to grow as learners and applying for more grants may help me solve that problem.
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI also found the assignment of making the technology agreement extremely helpful. I think it is important to give students responsibility to take care of their devices.
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you that the biggest takeaway from this course is the project based learning unit. I really enjoyed creating this project. Before this course I did not know what PBL was or how it would work in the classroom. I really like that it gives students more ownership of their learning and makes you play more of a facilitator role. It will be interesting to see how it will work in a classroom with younger students.
Furthermore, I also enjoyed creating the technology agreement as well. This is something very critical that needs to be incorporated especially in schools that are one to one. If you stress the importance and explain that it is a privilege to use these devices at least the students know the expectations of using these devices. This will eliminate and prevent future problems that can occur if these expectations are not established right in the beginning of the year.
Also, I really liked how this course introduced us to grant writing as well. I think that this is great to help serve the students and get resources that can be expensive for free if of course you win the grant. Great blog!
Mike Grice
I would also like to echo the points you, and others, have made surrounding PBL. Though it can be a huge undertaking to start - it really does improve student motivation and agency. I have found that my students have gone further than I had expected when solving a PBL, a very welcome impact.
ReplyDeleteKatie,
ReplyDeleteI think you echoed the thoughts of many of us in the class. The PBL was so useful to create. It was helpful to have time put aside to create it as opposed to just thinking about doing it but not getting it done.
I also appreciated the grant proposal work. I think I needed a swift kick to get me thinking about writing grants; there are so many people that want to give away money!
Thanks for sharing and good luck in the rest of your teaching career!
Jill Casey