Blog Assignment #6

What did you learn from these conversations with Anthony Capps?

1. Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher

2. Project Based Learning Part 2: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher

• In these two videos I learned a few things. One of the most important things I learned was to not just assign projects to show what my students learned something but to use the projects for them to learn. I like the fact that he gave the students the opportunity to put in their own opinions and decide which 8 letters to send in his project. I think it is important to give students a voice and to let their opinions and critiques matter in the classroom. One of the things that I really liked that Anthony said was "never limit students." I think all adults, even teachers, underestimate children and their abilities. They know and can figure things out easier than we give them credit for. My 3 year old nephew can play a video and use a phone better than I can. Another great idea that I heard is to ask the students their likes and dislikes on each project so you can get ideas for the future projects. When it comes to PBL in the classroom he said that the students are more proud of their work and are willing to be more expressive and excited about their learning.

3. iCurio

• I actually had never heard of this resource until I watched this video. It is an online filtering tool so students can safely search online. It organizes and stores their research so they can pick up where they left off in case they had to stop their project/research for a while. It not only stores articles but it is also a search engine for videos, pictures, etc. which it also stores. One of the features that Anthony mentioned is that it also has read aloud accessibility. So students who have certain disabilities, such as being blind, can also access and use this site successfully. 

4. Discovery Education

• I  learned that this is a research tool that uses visual information. If the students were to look up a certain subject to research this site would bring up learning videos. In Anthony's words, "it brings experts to the classroom."

5. The Anthony - Strange list of Tips for Teachers Part 1

• One of the first tips you both agreed on was that teachers need to want to learn in order to be successful. I can definitely agree with this. Our job is to teach and since no knows everything about everything we will constantly be learning for ourselves and our students. Another tip was to work really hard but also make it fun at the same time. I honestly don't think you could be successful as an educator if you have one without the other; they go hand in hand. I learned that being flexible and able to adapt is also key to being an educator. There may be a day when you plan to go outside and look for bugs as a science project but it is pouring down rain, or you planned a computer project for that day but the internet system is down. You can't just quit for the day, you have to be flexible and come up with a new plan. Engaging students is another tip that I learned from the Anthony - Strange lists of tips. The students need to be engaged in order to learn and absorb information successfully. One of the best tips that I learned from this video is you have to be able to reflect on yourself as a teacher. No one is perfect, everyone needs to self critique themselves every now and then to become better. There is nothing wrong with looking back and saying "I should have done that differently." As long as you can reflect and learn something from it you can consider it a success.

6. Don't Teach Tech - Use it

• I found this video to be very insightful and interesting. I never really thought about this concept. The concept is basically not to teach technology but incorporate technology into their learning. So, technology wouldn't be a part of the curriculum, it would just be a resource that students use for their learning. You could assign a project on mammals and have them include a video presentation on iMovie of all the different kinds of mammals. Therefore, they would be learning about mammals but they would have to show their new knowledge by using technology.

7. Additional Thought About Lessons

• Anthony last thought was short and sweet. In order to be successful at your long term goal you have to set short term goals to get there. We all know as educators that our goal at the beginning of the year is for our students to know certain things by the end of the year. In order to get to that end result it is important to make unit goals, weekly goals, and even daily goals to reach our yearly goal.

Callie Barton