Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Blog Post #8: What have I learned from from listening to the Anthony Capps update?

Question Mark
 
In Blog Post #4 I discussed and shared a series of videos by Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange.  In this newest addition to their series of discussions Anthony Capps updates us on his experiences with project based learning in his third grade classroom and responds to some of the EDM 510 Blog Post #4 questions.

Link to Audio Update: Anthony Capps and Dr. Strange

10 things I learned about project based learning from listening to the Anthony Capps update?
  1. Get the students involved in developing each stage of the project.
  2. Give students choices so they can pick what is most interesting to them.
  3. Give students assignments in chunks so they do not become overwhelmed. 
  4. Pace yourself and the students, add one new piece of PBL or technology each week. 
  5. Model the technology and then let the students work together as a community to help each other. 
  6. Use the technology, don't just teach it. 
  7. Kids love audiences (even a stuffed animal).  Other ideas for audiences: neighboring classes (same grade, older or younger), groups, partners, parents, blogs, visitors to the school. 
  8. Parents feel uncomfortable when their child is not making an A on a project, so it is very important to inform parents how PBL is assessed. 
  9. Engage students by making projects and the essential questions relevant. 
  10. Schools do not transform to PBL overnight, it takes administration support, teacher pioneers, and training for all teachers.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Anatasia, you have made another great blog post. I enjoyed reading your clear and concise list of the things that you learned from Dr. Strange and Anthony's recorded conversation. I found it helpful to hear that Anthony has had struggles along the way with PBL and that through his mistakes he has learned and was able to pass to us some words of wisdom. I still have many questions and I think it is going to be hard to get all teachers on board especially those who I have been teaching for decades and have little experience with technology. I hope that all schools will support PBL and be able to provide the neccessary access to technology for the students. I also hope that they will conduct mandatory trainings so that all teachers will be on the same page.

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  2. Anastasia, I like how you were able to draw out the best points out of Anthony's interview with Dr. Strange without recapping the entire interview. His honesty about parental concerns with assessments was very informative, and I appreciated him being candid about his experiences with not only parents, but with administrators, students, and other teachers. Do you teach in a school where PBL is being incorporated? If not, has there been any talk of moving toward it? If so, is it school wide, or do teachers get to select whether or not they want to do it? Great post!

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    1. No Angel I am not teaching at all. I am a graduate assistant at USA. Yes, I have heard schools at least talking about incorporating more PBL in their curriculum, but not a complete school wide transformation.

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  3. I love your summaries! Complete. Easy to read. Well done.

    Nominated for post of the week!

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