Jonathan Terry - Blog Post 5 "What I Used To Think/But Now I Know"

I decided to create my PBL on density because it has always been a tough concept for my students to grasp.  Each year I look for new assignments, activities, and labs to aid in teaching density and every year I finish the unit still feeling like most of my students don't truth grasp its meaning.  When it came time to start implementing my PBL, I was extremely nervous about what would happen.  Would my students "buy-in" to the project?  Would the ships they create even work?  Would my classroom sink into utter chaos with different groups working on different types of projects?

After my PBL was over I administered a large unit test.  This test had questions from my entire Chemistry unit, not just density and buoyancy.  To put more focus on the PBL, an essay question was put on this unit test that asked students to explain in their own words how density and buoyancy help a ship float.  Data showed that 58 out of 88 students (66%) received full credit on the density question.  This was a little concerning to me.  I assumed this number would be much higher because of the project.  What I found was that most students could relate density to the ship project, and many even understood that the ship had a lower density than the water, but they could not relate density to mass and volume.  This shows me that students did make connections between the content and the real-world applications, but some still struggled with the exact science of the vocabulary.

Based on my reflections and the data from my density PBL, there are a lot of changes I will make to my next PBL.  First, I want to make sure that the concept the PBL is based around is the main focus of the project.  To make sure that students are truly grasping ALL of the material, I will put more individual benchmarks along the way.  These benchmarks could come in the form of reflections, quick-check grades, or even quizzes or tests.  I'm even flirting with the idea of creating a checklist of information students will need to show mastery of before moving on to the more "attractive" aspects of the PBL.  Second, I want to give students opportunities to work with different groups of peers throughout the entire PBL.  After teaching middle school for several years, I've noticed that students tend to get a little antsy within their groups after about 5 days working on a project.  For my next PBL I've already planned various activities where students can work with a partner or in a lab group before finally being assigned to their project group.  This will keep everything fresh and exciting so students don't lose steam heading into the second week of a longer unit.  Third, I want to do a better job having students collect the needed data throughout the entire PBL.  With my density project, students had a blast building and testing their ships, but when it came time to write their proposal, most groups lost interest and did not put forth good work.  If I have groups gather and write the necessary parts along the entire journey, then the final task of simply putting everything together won't seem like an uninteresting chore.

I've always said that I learn more by "doing" and that has been the case with these PBLs.  Actually implementing a PBL in my classroom has taught me a great deal about what I'm good at, but has also given me several areas where I know I can improve.  I'm excited to create and introduce my next PBL to my students in the spring.

Blog #5-What I used to think, but now I know...

                I chose my Force and Motion content as the PBL for this class because it was one of the units that my grade level has struggled with.  We have found the content not to be the easiest for students to grasp.  Some of the concepts and vocabulary is a review for students, but the other is an extension to their knowledge.  At the beginning of this unit, I gave a 20 question pre-assessment.  I told the students to try their best and to answer to the best of their ability.  Some students left some questions blank because they were unsure of the answers.  After going over the pre-assessment, only 17% (4) of my students scored 70 or above. After going through the PBL and taking the post-assessment, 75% (18) of my students scored 70 or above.  I think that my students did very well with the science content overall considering that several students miss some of the content due to RTI reading intervention and Speech services.

                I think this PBL experience was a memorable one for my students.  At RES, our students are familiar with the PBL process because began to implement this into our curriculum.  This PBL was had more of an excitement for the students because the loved the amusement park idea.  Even my students who have never experienced a roller coaster were just as excited.  One thing, I think my students learned was collaboration.  My students were able to work together throughout the unit during science labs.  They also participated in meaningful conversations during the planning stages of the amusement park rides. Some of my students showed growth in their area of research.  This unit allowed them to research something they were interested in and they wanted to become experts for their groups.   The mini-lessons then became meaningful for them because they wanted to apply it to their project.  The final area of growth that they grew in was Force and Motion content.  The students were able to learn 5^th grade content and apply it to a final product.

 This class helped to improve my previous knowledge of PBL.  I was able to implement strategies that I had never heard of into my unit and other subject areas that I teach.  Next year when implementing this PBL, I will be sure to change a few things and most importantly add to the unit.  I would definitely change the pacing of the unit.  Due to the many unforeseen things in the year, my PBL unit lasted much longer than I anticipated.  I am going to look for ways to condense some parts without losing the core values of the PBL process.  I would like to make my PBL more cross-curricular.  After talking with teammates, we have discussed ways in which we can make this unit more integrated.  Another way this PBL unit could be enhanced is by public stakeholders.  I made the joke this summer for the students to visit places like Disney World or even Carowinds, which is more local.  After sitting with my team and doing a little more research we discovered that both placed offered an educational programs geared to force and motion content.  We also discovered that Carowinds offered Engineering Days as well as Education Days.  So, maybe this unit could be moved to the spring next year in order to accommodate those experiences.  I would like to also reach out to a mechanical engineer to speak to the students to provide a different learning experience.  After planning this PBL, I think I will think of projects much differently for my classroom. 

Blog #5-What I used to Think But Now I know

After reviewing my formative assessment (pre and posttest on force and motion), students showed a tremendous amount of growth.  Students went from showing little to no understanding of material to 19 out of 21 students scoring 80% or higher on the post test.  Students were able to use scientific terms to explain answers, label pictures to show push or pull, and show where friction would be.  My students also showed success on our summative assessment.  18 out of 21 students scored an 80% or higher.  The summative assessment had students apply their knowledge of magnets and force and motion.  I saw the most growth with my students STEM journal and science notebook.  I used students STEM journals from an introductory STEM lesson and compared to their journal for this PBL unit.  Students showed a greater understanding of the design process and terminology.  I also noticed students’ reflection on their project were more thought out and involved deeper thinking.  I believe this is a direct correlation to the inquiry based lessons, in-depth research, and multiple opportunities for collaboration, that allowed students to make connections and think through what worked, what didn’t, and what they could improve.

While I already had a good idea as to what a PBL should look like and how it should be executed (thanks to the STEAM focus our school implemented several years ago) I still learned a lot through the execution of this unit.  This unit allowed me the opportunity to stretch myself in the area of planning.  I have always LOVED to plan and try to “out do” my plans each year.  Each daily plan was well thought out; which I believe helped make the execution so successful.  I feel my plans provided students with numerous activities/lessons where I was the facilitator and they took control of their own learning.  Students collaborated daily; and sustained inquiry was something I really focused on.  This class gave me some valuable ideas, tools, and tricks to implement within my own classroom and allowed me to get out of my comfort zone.  Critical friends and building consensus protocol are two prime examples.  Both of these strategies allowed me to try something new and provide my students with meaning learning experiences.  These strategies allowed me to raise my already high expectations…and my students soared!

Some areas I would like to improve are presentation, co-created rubric, and community involvement. After discussion and reflection on last year’s PBL units, my team and I thought it would be best if the students first presentation be to another second grade class.  This would allow students to have experience speaking in front a group of peers and know teachers’ expectations for future projects.  During our Native American unit students presented to a kindergarten class and discussed the contributions of Native Americans and how it influences America today. Since students have now had two experiences presenting to different audiences, I am hoping to expand this to school personal and/or community members.  Another area I would like to improve on is co-created rubrics. This will be a completely different way of thinking for me, but I think it will make it more meaningful for the students.  

Blog Post #5---Jeneane Allgood

     When I chose my Cell Communication Unit to be my Project-Based Lesson unit, I knew that it was a unit that needed improvement, and that it definitely needed more student involvement.  To start out the unit, I gave students a 30-question multiple choice pre-test, and I compared it to the 30 multiple choice questions on the culminating unit test for that unit.  Students scored an average of 20% on the pre-test compared to 85.7% on the post-test.  So, they showed that they had learned the key content, at least over the course of the unit. What I am hoping for is that the retain most of this information for a longer period of time because of the connections they made when they did their Cell Communication Disease Project presentations. Students worked so hard on those projects to apply what they learned in class to the disease that they were researching.  They didn't just have to understand it for themselves, they had to be able to explain it to others, which the majority of them did very well with.

       As I reflect on what worked and what didn't work about my PBL unit plan for cell communication, a couple things stand out to me.  First, I need to change some of the disorders that I let them pick from---some were too complicated or there just wasn't enough research out there to really have them dig into the topic thoroughly and independently. Second, I would change the culminating project.  I didn't want them to be able to "copy" an existing cell communication image from the internet, and put that on their canvas, but that is what happened in a lot of cases.  I underestimated the number of good images out there that would be easy to copy. Third, I need to reach out more to community members to get them involved in the research process and to view the culminating project. Simply put, I was too nervous that these projects might not go as planned, that I was really uncomfortable with inviting people from the community until we were almost finished with them, and I knew they would be good enough to show. Fourth, I will need to work on individual responsibilities in the group work. I'm not sure if I will go the route of a contract on my next PBL, or split up each person's responsibilities a little more clearly from the beginning.

         In my next PBL unit, I want the learning to be a little more "truly" authentic---not as much regurgitation of information, but true learning in a hands-on format.  My next PBL will also have more individual responsibilities and check-points (as referenced above). Finally, I would like to have 2-3 different people (with different specialties) come in to talk to and help students (using their specific area of expertise) to help them plan the best way to help their seed to germinate. I would also like to have a more public presentation of their culminating project, open to a much wider audience. I will detail more specifics about this in my unit plan PBL for spring semester.
   

Jeneane Allgood---Blog Post #4 SAMR/Genius Hour

For my genius hour project, I chose to do 2 SAMR model revisions of my usual lesson plans for Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Normally, when I teach about GMOs, I do a survey (pre-quiz) to see what they already know about genetically modified organisms (uses for them and the kinds of food that contain them). So, I thought I could modify (the "M" level of SAMR) the survey/pre-quiz to make it more interactive. So, I made one on Kahoot and my students LOVED it!  It really helped them to see the kinds of things they would be learning about in the lesson, and what they should be looking out for or paying attention to. The kids liked it so much that I made them another Kahoot today for our Stem Cell lesson. My goal was to give it to them as a pre/post quiz to see what they had learned, but we ran out of time at the end of class, so I didn't get a chance to have them do it after the lesson.  I loved it, my students loved it (and learned from it), and I will definitely be using it in the future.

The other thing I did to modify (M level of SAMR) my GMO lesson was to have students use padlet to answer a question at the end of class on how they felt about GMOs.  My 3rd block's prompt was about whether they thought that GMOs should have to be labeled on nutritional products, and then they had to back up their stance with facts and evidence. My 4th block class had a different prompt--they were asked "For what kinds of situations or cases should we do genetic modification? When should it be allowed and why?". Again, they had to back up their opinion with facts.

From these 2 modified lessons, I learned many things. First, I learned that technology isn't as scary as I thought it was, and if you use if for the first time in a class of kids that will be supportive, they will actually help you troubleshoot any problems that you might run into.  Second, I learned that I have to figure out how to use Padlet a little bit better. I found Kahoot to be very user friendly, but I had a little trouble figuring out some of the settings on Padlet (for example, I had to "approve" everyone's posts,and that was very tedious---I wouldn't do that in the future).  Third, I learned that there are little things that you can do to "jazz" up your lessons that aren't that time consuming but that really make a difference in student learning. By starting these 2 lessons out with a Kahoot, I automatically grabbed their attention, and gave them a way to anticipate what they would be learning about.  They were more engaged than they would typically be in a lesson and definitely got more involved in our lecture than they usually would, so I really think it helped them to pay attention more closely, which is something we've been struggling with for a while.

I know some teachers have already been using Kahoot for a while, but this was a really big step for me, and because I had planned on using it as a "pre/post" quiz to see what they had learned, I felt like this was definitely at the "modification" level of the SAMR model.

Post #5

My students learned a great deal about macromolecules to include their structure, function, and how to identify them in due to their chemical properties.   These are just simple facts that both, in most cases, easily memorized and recalled for times on the final assessment. Students also showed growth and learned other items to include: how to act properly for presentation, how to dress professionally, and how to ask questions for a guest speaker.  Yes, understanding the facts about macromolecules is necessary for testing purposes, but public speaking skills is of greater necessity for future endeavors like job interviews.  For most students, they showed enough growth to where what they didn’t know (or did not demonstrate) was not detrimental to their grade they earned for the culminating project.   Out of the 24 students all showed growth but 3 students did not grow enough and it impacted their grade in the final assessment.

There were several items that did not run as smoothly as anticipated.  First, was some major assumptions.  I assumptions that the students should already know about presentations to include: seriousness, body posture, and using proper lingo.  However, after a very short practice session I found out otherwise.   Second, was the students would self-check as they were practicing.  Yes, they are kids and yes, I should have never assumed but I had it set in my mind that they knew this was their grade and they would stay on task better.  Also, was the time-line. I am a stickler for time and I set schedules for a reason.  In pained me to add a couple more days to the unit due to factors of laptops not working properly, students spending too much time on certain topics, and in other cases, students just working slowly.  

What I will do differently for the next one is more practice and critique.  This would provide a better gauge for me to evaluate where the students are and where they need to go to be more successful. Also, I will involve several English teachers (it’s in their standards) to help evaluate them during their practice.  Finally, the students can record their practices on the computers and go back and evaluate themselves to see how well they did.  

Blog 5 - What I Know Now

I added a column to my original Baseline Data document in my Google Drive to discuss what I have learned after the implementation of my PBL unit. Some of what I learned was not only based on this one unit, but my attempt at conducting my entire semester class in a PBL fashion. The link to my Google doc is below and is also in my folder in our class folder.



https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rCS88YuKqbW0uSSnUBvSh9wvvGmvsFFEuwnYcwq0qIM/edit

What I Used to Think, But Now I Know - Jessica Barwick

Because I made the decision to change my PBL unit to westward expansion after I had already started it, I do not have as much baseline data as I would like to be able to compare and see growth.  I did have STAR reading scores from the beginning of the school year, and because this unit incorporated reading literary and informational text, I expect to see growth in my students when we re-take STAR later this week.  However, I know that this unit alone is not responsible for all growth in reading skills.  I did give a narrative cold writing prompt at the beginning of the year, and most students were weak in several areas.  Ones that especially needed work were story development, character and setting, and figurative language.  During the unit, I focused mini-lessons on these areas, and even though my students haven't all finished publishing their final writing projects, from my observations and conferences, I have seen tremendous growth in these areas.  I also did not give a pre-test on westward expansion before this unit because the social studies standards are all new in fifth grade, so students rarely have prior knowledge on any of the topics.  However, I realize that to truly see growth in westward expansion understanding, I should give one in the future.  The majority of my students passed the unit test, though, with many making As and Bs, so I feel confident they learned the material well.  Along with growth in their reading, writing, and social studies skills, my students learned a great deal about seeing stories from multiples perspectives, collaborating with others, solving problems by asking new questions and researching, performing in front of others, and time management.  These real world skills are invaluable and will transfer to future projects inside and outside of school.

Not only have my students learned from our first PBL unit, but I have as well.  I saw the benefits of infusing project-based learning elements in all curriculum, even if there is not always time for a full culminating project presentation with an audience.  Inquiry, agency, collaboration, student choice, and real-world connections can be incorporated into many units and will generate more interest in the topics and better prepare students for problem solving in life.  In my westward expansion unit, collaboration was high and helped students learn how to compromise and create within a group while still keeping their individual voices in their own writing.  I also felt that the focus on point of view worked well because being able to see things from multiple perspectives can instill a sense of empathy, so the social studies content can be applied to everyday life.  We connected our pioneers' journeys to bullying by reading stories about bullying from different points of view (the victim, the bystander, and the bully).  There were some struggles along the way, of course, the biggest one being time.  I underestimated how much time that collaborating, creating, writing, and practicing would take, and some of my well-intentioned plans had to be limited.  This has also led to me being behind with regard to my long range plans.  I also feel like I did not allow enough time for peer critique and feedback, which would have helped the projects turn out better, and our audience was limited to just another fifth grade class.  For my next unit, I will continue with the elements that worked well, but limit the scope or time frame of my project (quality over quantity), plan for more opportunities for peer feedback and revision, and expand our audience to include community members.

Overall, I am pleased with the way my first PBL unit turned out.  Honestly, I was skeptical about implementing some of these elements, even though I was excited about them in the summer.  I wasn't sure how my fifth graders would be able to handle working in groups, researching independently, and presenting to a real audience, especially without knowing who they were at that point.  Now, after getting to know my kids, I can keep my high expectations and plan for what they need and are interested in.  Yes, there will be those students who do not rise to the occasion, but most will surprise you with what they are capable of as long as you show that you believe in them.  I was not sure how interested my students would be in project-based learning, but after seeing the excitement on their faces when they presented, the in-depth knowledge they gained, and the questions of "Mrs. Barwick, can we do this again?," I know that, while difficult, PBL is worth it.

Melissa Terry Genius Hour

Ten years ago, I was the Instructional Coach at Clemson Elementary, and I worked with several teachers to begin two new classrooms – Primary Multiage and Intermediate Multiage.  The concept of a multiage class is not new, but we were looking for an alternative to the regular classroom for students who had difficulty (for several reasons) with that environment.  Basically, the Primary Multiage had 20 first grade and 20 second grade students with 2 teachers and the Intermediate had 20 third and 20 fourth with two teachers.  Both classes are heterogeneously grouped.  Most of the teaching done in these rooms has been small group geared toward student level rather than grade level, and many work stations throughout the day that are collaborative as well as a time to work independently on skills.  The teachers in these classrooms used projects and self-directed learning as a way to get students interested in their learning. 

I close the IMA (intermediate group) to do Genius Hour for two reason.  I knew that they were used to doing some independent self-study and this would be a good next step.  I also knew that science and social studies standards are always challenging for IMA.  It is very hard for those teachers to teach all of the third and fourth grade standards and keep the integrity of this class.  Basically, the more you divide them up into grade levels, the less you have the opportunity for them to learn in a multiage setting.  I thought that Genius Hour might be a way to help students dive deeper into those standards, or provide time for teachers to pull small groups while students are working on Genius Hour projects.  Either way, I wanted the IMA teachers to have to opportunity to learn about it and incorporate it the way it would work best for them.  These teachers are always willing to try new things and they were very excited about this.

I met with both teachers after school prior to my teaching to go over the basics of Genius Hour.  I shared parts from the webinar and also showed examples.  I went over twice and taught – one lesson on thick and thin questions and another on notetaking.  I met both times after the teaching with the teachers to discuss Genius Hour and next steps.  I also talked with them about the many directions they could go in with this.  We talked about ways this could be used in their classroom. 

For this first project, the teachers wanted students to work under the theme of “Earth”.  The teachers were okay with leaving it open-ended after that, but they wanted students to research something under that theme so it could tie into both sets of Science standards.  I was in agreement with this; although during my teaching, several students wanted to know why they couldn’t do what they wanted to do.  I told them they would get an opportunity another time, and they were okay with that. 

The teachers are still in the process of working through this project and I foresee completed projects before Christmas.  They promised to invite me back over to see them.  I also have had an opportunity to share Genius Hour (just the basics) with some district personnel and we are talking about times this could be presented to others.  I would like to practice some with it and plan to meet with some interested teachers at my school to share this and get them started in this area. 

I think what I love most about it is that students are learning and they don’t even know it.  They are so excited about new information!  It was so fun to see them wanting to learn more. 

Genius Hour = Genius Hour

So I felt like a genius when I started this, but I quickly realized I am an amateur. I decided to literally do Genius Hour for my genius hour assignment. I started researching, attended an hour long webinar (in which I was offered the opportunity to take an online Genius Hour course for the low low price of $120 - offer good for one hour only!), had my kids brainstorm, and promised them 20% of the time we have left (only 3 weeks) to work on their genius ideas. Needless to say, I feel like I'm drowning and am now only hoping that maybe I have sparked one kid's interest and maybe this will stick with him/her. I truly hope to give them 20% of our time to work on these projects (one wants to make stuffed penguins??? several want to make online games, one wants to make his own jeans, and one is learning calligraphy along with me, etc.) as many really seem interested. This will be a one and done project with this semester's group, but upon reflection over the Christmas holidays, I may try it again next semester or maybe more. It is definitely a lot of work and seriously needs to be it's own course at our campus! So, wish me luck, pray for me, but maybe don't ask me how it went because I afraid it may be an epic fail. To be continued...

Genius Hour

Due to several restraints in the PLTW curriculum I had few options to choose from.  So, I decided for genius hour.   We just finished the Automoblox car where the students had to recreate each piece of a toy car in the Autodesk inventor.  In teams of seven, they either chose the windshield, tire, axle, bed, passenger section, passenger base, or the connector piece.   A team leader was chosen and then pieces were chosen/assigned.   After each student recreated their piece on the 3D software they had to assemble the pieces in the Autodesk inventor.  The genius hour part was the students had to add something, of their choice, to improve the car.  The students have added the following: muffler /flame throwers, people, windshield wipers, license plate, doors, sirens, and a steering wheel.  There were numerous instructional videos on how to build the pieces of the Automoblox car and most of the kids did a studious job of following the directions.  They were able to recreate the pieces to almost exact dimensions and the cars assembly pretty well.  However, their true creativity and understanding of the Autodesk Inventor software shined through as they added items to their cars that they wanted to complete. My favorite was the sire.  He was able to figure out how to make the outer piece of the siren glass (see through) but the inner piece solid.  I saw grown adults cry in Columbia during the training on completing simple assignments.  Yet, a 9th grader took huge strides in the software when he was allowed to complete items that he chose. 

Genius Hour Post

Austin Baker

Link to the images

So, Genius Hour in my photo classes was really successful. I thought it would be pretty good, but it was REALLY good. As I’ve been trying everything on hard-mode this semester and working with the more difficult of my two classes first, I was actually kind of blown away by what they turned out.

 

I came up with the idea for how to implement the assignment almost immediately as we were talking about it in our last class meeting. The kids would have a short time to brainstorm and prep, then a short time to shoot, and finally a short time to edit before delivering, personally, their finished images.

In actuality, I had to pare down the deliverable a little. I originally wanted 3 shots, but after much complaining and gnashing of teeth, I narrowed it down to one. That was a good thing, for two reasons.

First, I think the kids focused more on getting everything right than if they had to shoot multiple images. Secondly was time. Having them create, deliver, and critique one image per student took about 2 hours for a class of 30 kids, even with me working to move things along as quickly as possible.

I was surprised by the quality of work that came out of my tough class; pretty much across the board they all did some of their best work fof the semester. It engaged them, and they actually tried. I’m not sure if that’s because they have to get up and stand beside their work, or because they were just generally engaged with the assignment The shy kids obviously hated it, but they got up and did it anyways. And, the one kid who really missed the ball on the assignment didn’t want to come up and talk about his picture in front of the class. I asked why and he proceeded to rattle off a list of all the things he’d done wrong in the image. I think that he was embarrassed because he didn’t take it seriously. Also, the list he rattled off including all of the things I was going to say about it, so, I didn’t make him get up.

I think overall, Genius Hour was super-successful because there were so many good thigs that came out of it, plus, it tied in so many concepts of PBL> It’s authentic, it’s problem-based (how do I get a shot done in this short amount of time?), it’s creative/artistic, it’s active, it has an element of collaboration, it has responsibility (in that I put the kids up beside their work), and it has critique (from both the teacher and from their peers).

The conclusion my kids came to is that Genius Hour is basically like every reality TV game show competition out there; you have judges come in, assign a competition, you have limited time to complete it, then they have to present and get judged, then a winner is called right away. It’s especially like Top Photographer, which is a show that just came out and is a spiritual successor to America’s Next Top Model, which we have been watching in class. In fact, I think I’m going to take inspiration from that show next time and give them a slightly more directed theme than this first one, which was “shoot whatever you want.” 

Blog Post 4- Genius Hour

I’ve always seen posts on Pinterest about Genius Hour and being a Pinterest junkie who loves to try new things, I knew I would have to give it a whirl.  But when… I always have these great ideas of the summer that I sometimes never get to due to time.  So, when this was an assignment for our class, I need this would be something I would want to try.  It all started when I put a Wonder Wall in my classroom.  I didn’t introduce to the student what it was.  I just simply hung it up.  Being the observant 10 & 11-year-old my students are, they asked immediately, “what did it mean?”  I, then, explained to the students that whenever they had a question about something, they could post it on the Wonder Wall and we would research the ideas when we had time.   I allow my students to post ANYTHING they wondered about at first, but then thought about moving Genius Hour to a narrower concept (i.e. Amusement Park Rides). This was an instant hit because my students are intrigued with making random PowerPoints.  After finishing their work, they will make PowerPoints about their favorite bands, themselves, and animals. 

                I absolutely loved giving my students this opportunity because I could openly see the excitement in their eyes as I gave the instructions.  I gave the students 3 rules: 1. You have to research something. 2. You have to create something. And 3. You have to present your research.  I think these three rules were sufficient for the students because we have been working on biographies in the classroom.  We have had mini-lessons on researching information, citing a source, taking notes and determining importance of information.  Another important mini-lesson we had was finding reliable sources.  I think because of these mini-lessons; my students were able to handle Genius Hour well.  Most of my students chose to make a PowerPoints and few told me they wanted to create something different, like a fact book. 

                I think this strategy has a major impact on my students learning for many reasons.  One reason is because it kept my students engaged in something they were interested in.  I told students that they could work on their projects whenever they finished their work.  They were able to use their time wisely instead of wasting valuable school time.  Another reason is the students were able to practice some 21^st Century skills for creating college and career ready students.  Students are able to be creative, communicate, and research while doing something that interests them.  Finally, Genius Hour impacted my students learning because it was fun.  Students were able to learn about something that they enjoy and take a break from standards driven instruction in their eyes.  While secretly, they are really using skills that are necessary for them to be successful students. 

Blogpost Homework: Collaboration

Blogpost Homework: Collaboration

In his article, Collaboration and High-Quality Student Work, Brengard describes how collaboration is essential to student success and an integral part of his school's mission. He states that Constructive Collaboration is the goal and requires students to take responsibilty for themselves and teammates. They listen to each other with understanding, kindness, and empathy. They commit to shared success. This type of collaboration is essential to learn early in life as it prepares children for life after graduation, when collaboration becomes part of their daily life at work and in all relationships. 

In his article, Easing the Pain of Student Collaboration, Paul Curtis describes the importance of student collaboration and how as students get older, particularly middle and high school, teachers spend less time teaching this crucial skill. He suggests team contracts as one approach to meet this challenge. He lays out specific components for creating these contracts. He also cautions teachers to actually teach collaboration, value diversity, balance group work with individual work and benchmark and tracking to hold groups accountable.

The rubrics for kindergarten will be very useful for me this year as I continue on my PBL journey. BIE's rubric contains the essential elements for collaboration in early childhood and is written in a way that is child friendly. I can discuss the rubric with students and they can see how they are performing based on the number of smiley faces they receive. I love that there are not any frowns or other negative faces. 

The group I have this year is overall a respectful and kind group of children. They listen to one another and always compliment one another. I would like to boost their confidence and teach them to encourage each other to share ideas. They tend to look to certain children for ideas and direction while working collaboratively, rather than each child contributing an equal amount in ideas and information. 

The most important components in working collaboratively in any grade level are communication, collective responsibility, and community. When a classroom has a sense of community, I believe empathy and respect naturally follow. Collaborative work is only successful when students feel comfortable and understand that they each share an equal amount of responsibility in their groups. Students must also be able to communicate their ideas effectively, as well as give and receive feedback.

Blog Post 3 - Collaboration

Collaboration is key. I really believe collaboration is the key to most successes. Even outside of school, sports teams, music/art/theater groups, all must work together to produce the desired result. My top three keys to collaboration from the rubrics include, Works as a Whole Team, Interpersonal Communication, and Makes and Follows Agreements. Compared to classes in the past, my class this year has had experience working in groups before. Something that this class needs to work on is using everyone in the group and Working as a Whole Team. For my PBL, they are in groups of three or four. Some groups are working great together, others are struggling to include everyone. It took a while for one group to really include another student in their project. Another group, which contains three leaders, have struggled to get anything done because they all have ideas and want it done in the way they imagine. When students realize that they are all equal in their group, they can begin to use each other’s strengths. For example, one girl finished writing her paragraph on hurricanes and asked me to review for edits and revisions. As I began to look at it she said, ‘Oh, I should just ask K. in my group to look over this since she’s looked over my other writings before.’ I told her that was a great idea and that she should do that. She was aware of the strengths of her group members and took advantage of them.

Interpersonal Communication also made the list because it is essential. I had to sit down with my group of three leaders and have them remake their group contract. The group was not working well together and they were constantly arguing. They were hardly able to share any of the great ideas they each had because they would not listen long enough to let their group members speak. When I sat down with them, we wrote down that they would communicate respectfully with each other. I asked them what this should look and sound like and wrote these down for them too. We also talked about how it is okay to have differing opinions, but that they needed to listen to what the other person has to say and then discuss the different options. This group is brilliant as individuals, but they do not yet have the skills to listen and communicate with one another to make their group brilliant. Once they can respectfully communicate with one another, their ideas will sky rocket.

Finally, Makes and Follows Agreements made the list because I think it is important to highlight on each team member’s strengths and to create group rules and will be followed. For the PBL, I had groups create a group contract. Without prompting, one group made rules and a tally system that would cause a member to get kicked-out if they did not follow the rules, similar to what was mentioned in the blog post. Everyone in the team agreed, so I let them keep it. The next day, one team member was playing around and not getting his work done, so his team members gave him tallies and he got kicked-out. The student was upset, yet admitted to not completing his work. Since he had agreed to the contract, he knew he had to follow it. What I found amazing was that his team wanted to give him a second chance, so they reviewed the rules with him and talked with him about how he needs to make sure he is doing his part so they can get the project completed. The student agreed and was invited back into the group. There have been no problems since. Only this group came up with rules which would get a member kicked-out, but I was most impressed with how they were able to talk openly about the contract they made. They all knew the final goal and needed to work towards it. When students are able to communicate with one another and work towards a common goal as a team, then they will be successful.

I offer my students many opportunities for collaboration, the easiest being in their table group arrangements. When my students sit in groups of fours, they are able to work with a partner, or their whole table on certain tasks. They practice communicating respectfully with one another, sharing the talk time, and working towards a similar goal. Other chances my students have are during projects, group tableaus, and book clubs. I have not started book clubs yet, but already have the feeling that my book clubs will be more successful this year because my students have had more opportunities to engage in collaboration.  

Blog Post 3: Collaboration

Collaboration is an education buzz word that we use often, but I think that sometimes we use it to sound good.  As teachers, we are expected to collaborate and we are expected to get our students to effectively collaboration.  And as an elementary school teacher, I like to keep my students in collaborative working groups.  Just like Aaron Brengard, I consider collaboration as an essential part of my classroom culture.  But, I know that sometimes the collaboration is not beneficial to my students.  Often times, one student ends up doing most of the work while other students goof off.  I like the Collaboration Contract presented in Paul Curtis’ article.  I think collaboration is very good for students if completed correctly. 

                After looking at the New Tech Collaboration Rubric and the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric, I felt like many of the elements were important for my current class.  I think the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric is written in child friendly terms.  This is extremely important because students are able to read the rubric and understand what is expected of them.  One important element of this rubric includes the “work together as a team” and “helps the team” sections.  This section was especially important for my class this year because I have a few students who are underachievers.  These students are extremely smart, but will sit back and allow others to complete all of their work.  Another important element of the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric is “makes and follows agreements.”  I especially like this part because it gives the students a sense of ownership for their groups, which can help with participation.  Students will help develop the rubric so they will be more apt to work hard to complete their collaborative group take.  The final important element is the “Respects Others” section on the 3-5 Collaboration Rubric.  In order to make collaborative groups work, students must be respectful towards each other at all times.  I am constantly saying to a few of my students, “be nice to your classmate.”  So I think that it would be helpful to have this element as part of the rubric.

                Students can participate in collaboration in many ways in the classroom.  One way to use collaboration in the classroom is to let students sit in collaborative groups.  The groups can be chosen by you so that you can monitor which students are sitting and working together.  Thankfully, at Roebuck, we are using the Engineering Design Process as many ways as possible.  This helps to provide another opportunity to use collaboration.  Students work collaboratively in science using the EDPs.  Most of our science includes a hands-on approach which students will work together.    Students can also work collaboratively in other subjects on PBL, research projects, and classwork.  When students have the opportunity to talk about their learning to their peers, they sometimes gain more knowledge and/or clear up any misunderstandings Collaborative work is an awesome strategy for students to use and PBL gives plenty of opportunity for students to collaborate. 

Video Self-Analysis-T.Harris

The lesson I chose to record was a follow up lesson to several Force and Motion labs and lessons.  The beginning of the lesson began with a short review of the forces we had studied during the week.   Students had the vocabulary words on cards and were asked to hold up the vocabulary word that fits the description I gave to them.  After the activating game, we then oved to the Plan stage of the Engineering Design Process.  Students were moved to their groups to decide which amusement park ride they would create.  Then, students used the consensus protocol to draw out their design.

                When first watching the videos, I was stuck on the unimportant things.   I immediately thought to myself, “why do you wear your hair like that” or “why is your sweater jacked up and no on offered to tell you?” I became fixated on my hands and how I used them to help me to explain things and held them weird while talking.    And then there were the frequently used words like “alright,” “aight,” and “and then.” I purposely watched the video several times to catch something different.  I began to think about things that affect my classroom and instruction.  One thing I noticed in this particular lesson is my proximity to the students.  I stood at the front of the classroom and did not pace much throughout the room.  My desks were arranged in rows, which may be a reason why I chose to stay confined in one area of the room.  There were typical classroom management issues that probably could be resolved with more pacing in the room.  I also realized that I didn’t give students enough practice when we were reviewing.  I only presented students with 6 descriptions (almost one per vocabulary word).  This was due to time constraints.  I knew what I had planned for the lesson, but I only had a certain amount of time to complete the entire lesson.  Another important thing I noticed that is relevant to my classroom and instruction is I called on the boys more than the girls.  I would address the male students that were off task even when there were girls off task as well.  The males in my class tend to be more unfocused and somewhat rambunctious so I think I focused more on them when doing the lesson even though the females were off task.  Finally, an important thing I noticed was the confusion some students experienced when asked to move to their science groups.  Some students were unclear of their set group for this PBL because we had to do some flexible grouping during “special” occasions. 

                This exercise was very beneficial because I was able to see things that I wouldn’t normally pay attention to.  I was able to think about my instruction all the time and make myself aware of things that I normally wouldn’t pay attention to.  One way I want to improve my classroom and instruction is to make sure I am pacing the room, but also include the instructions that I am giving on the board to reach both my auditory and visual learners.  While pacing the room, I will try to pay close attention to all students not just students who are typically are off task.  I could use a system to randomly choose the names of the students.  The student that is chosen could then answer and explain their thinking.  Another improvement I could make is making sure to give clear and concise information.  Students names can be posted to eliminate their confusion throughout the unit.  This reference would be good for the students who accidentally forget.  I think I could also give students more examples to practice with for the review game.  Due to time, I shorted the student’s review which is relevant to their learning.  So, maybe starting my review the few minutes we have to wait before our recess time, then finishing after recess could possible give me enough time to thoroughly review.  The video self-analysis was an excellent activity for teachers who have been in the classroom a number of years.  It gives the teacher a perspective that they would have never realized without this exercise.  I would be interested to video tape myself during other lessons just to give myself critique. 

Blog Post 4-Genius Hour

At the end of each school year I try to find one new idea that I would like to research over the summer and implement the next year.  Last year I had heard about Genius Hour and knew I HAD to try it!  So, when I heard about this assignment I was so excited!!  Since we were in the middle of an integrated PBL unit, I knew time was going to be a factor.  Our current unit was on the contributions of Native Americans and their impact on America.  We had already started the unit with discussion, reading, and research of the first Thanksgiving and three different Native American tribes located in different parts of the United States.  My students were so excited about this unit and would constantly ask me questions about Pilgrims, their trip on the Mayflower, Squanto, etc. that I decided to have those questions be the driving force for Genius Hour.

            To begin, I reviewed thick questions with students and allowed them to use their anchor chart in their reading notebook to help devise questions about Pilgrims or Native Americans.  This was a great opportunity to revisit such an important skill.  After students wrote their thick question on a sticky note, they posted on our wonder wall to share with the rest of the class.  My students were so excited to see not only their question, but also their peers’ questions hanging up.  My wonder wall is located beside our classroom door and as we line to leave I often hear, “Wow, Eden asked a really good question.  I can’t wait to hear her research.”  or “Elliott did some great thinking on his question.” These words make my teacher heart sing! J Once students had their thick question it was time to research.  My students have a lot of experience researching so this wasn’t something I need to stop and “teach”.  While researching, students started forming other “I wonder” questions which we used a different colored sticky note to add to our wonder wall.  Due to time, my students are only able to work on this for the last fifteen minutes of class.  We are currently in the process of finishing up our research and preparing our presentations. In the future, I plan on replacing my current morning work research station with a Genius Hour project.  This will give my students more time each week to work and they will get to drive their own learning.   I have loved seeing and hearing the excitement my students have and I do believe they have found a passion project! 

Blog Post 3: Collaboration - Brittany

Collaboration in the classroom has always been important to me. As Aaron Brengard mentions, collaboration is equally important for adults. The more opportunities we give our students to work collaboratively in the classroom, the more equipped they will be to work collaboratively as they grow. Obviously, I think all elements of both rubrics are important. However, if I have to pick the three most important elements for my current group of students, I would have to choose: organizes work, respects others, and takes responsibility.

Organizes Work

I have some mighty unorganized students this year… and I can’t really blame them as I am not the most organized person myself. However, I have really tried to encourage them to see the importance of keeping their work organized. Just as they need to have a plan for their project design, they need to have a plan for how they will carry out their individual tasks.

Respects Others

Respect is incredibly important when working collaboratively. It is important for students to know that they need to be polite and kind to their teammates, even when they may disagree.

Takes Responsibility

We have been working on this skill lately, especially during reading. My students have been participating in book clubs, and they have recently seen how one member of the group can disrupt the group’s plan when he/she is not responsible for his/her work. Paul Curtis suggests that students should create group contracts when working on a project. I like the idea of having students create a set of criteria that is important to them.  Then, all members of the group would be held responsible for following the standards they agreed upon at the outset of the project. 

I think project based learning is a great instructional strategy for fostering collaboration. So far, my students have had to make choices together, research together, design together, and execute a plan together. They have had to respect the ideas of others, and they have learned that every member of the group must play a part for the team as a whole to succeed.

Genius Hour - Jessica Barwick

After researching all the possibilities for genius hour, I chose to create an immersion table with a noticings chart, combined with a wonder wall.  Since we are finishing up our westward expansion unit, I decided to create an immersion table leading into our next unit on inventions and immigration to America.  I thought that a great way to introduce our next PBL on the contributions of immigrants would be to include items that are inventions created only by immigrants!  The first thing I noticed was that I learned a great deal from creating the table!  I had to do my own research, and I learned that so many inventions or ideas for inventions came from immigrants.  My table includes blue jeans, Christmas lights (to represent the idea of electricity), light bulb, radio, gyroscope, video game equipment, microphone, flash drive, picture of telephone, and picture of youtube logo.  I also included large pictures that represent different cultures as well as items from our travels, such as a fan from China and Matryoshka dolls from Russia.

When the students came in, they were immediately interested in the table and wanted to check out the items.  I allowed a few students at a time to go to the table and look at the items more closely.  They wrote their observations on a sticky note and added it to the noticings chart behind the table.  When I read the notes on the chart, I saw that some students made observations like "the wiimote was heavier than the light bulb" or just made a list of the items.  But many students made astute observations (even things I hadn't thought of!) like the fact that many used electricity, are used for entertainment, and were items from other cultures.  I assumed they wouldn't know they were all ideas or inventions from immigrants to America, but I was glad to see they figured out that many items were from or represented other countries.  I'm anxious to tell them the connection between all the items, and I believe they will be more excited about this unit because of the immersion table!

I put the noticings chart on a class Wonder Wall because I believe they are connected.  The immersion table piqued the curiosity of many students, and they started asking questions.  Great questions come from great inspiration, so I was hoping the table would encourage new "wonderings" for our wonder wall.  Unfortunately, the class "wonderings" were not really related to the table, but that's okay!  Students were told to write any question or wonder statement and pin it to the wall, based on anything they wanted to learn more about or were interested in.  Some students didn't have anything they wanted to add to the Wonder Wall until they saw or read some others' ideas.  I assumed I would have a lot of "thin" questions, but surprisingly, most of the questions on the Wonder Wall would require significant research.  Many are about specific people, because one person started asking about Beyonce and others followed suit with other famous people.  Some are too broad, like "I wonder about constellations" or "I wonder about Christmas lights," but some were very insightful, like "I wonder what it's like to be born a Native American." Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of wonderings.  I'm going to leave the Wonder Wall questions up for a while and give students time to add to it.  Eventually, I want students to choose one of their own wonderings or be inspired by someone else's, then form it into a driving question for genius hour.  I want to pilot genius hour with my students that are not in band or strings after Thanksgiving (we will have 45 minutes twice per week), then with both classes in the Spring.  My vision is for students to continue to add to the Wonder Wall as questions organically arise from their natural curiosity, and I hope it will inspire lots of independent research beyond the classroom!

Overall, it was a fun, learning experience for me and the students to implement the immersion table, noticings chart, and Wonder Wall in the classroom.  I even extended a noticings chart into my after school writing club, where we did a poetry text set immersion and wrote our observations.  Kids love hands on learning, and they are constantly asking questions, so the combination of these can certainly lead to more engagement in the classroom!

Blog Post 4: Genius Hour

I loved implementing Genius Hour in my classroom. I had heard so much about it last year, yet never got around to working on it. It just so happened that this assignment fell at a perfect time for me to implement it. After our Veteran program rehearsals and program and ACT Aspire testing this week, my students have been able to work on their projects. It provides the students a break from testing and they are all excited to work on their project. To introduce Genius Hour, I showed my students the Genius Hour video. They were amazed that it started from Google and were already excited about what they were about to do. We started by discussing possible topics for Genius Hour, as I left it wide open for my students to choose. After we had topics, we talked about a driving question. I had already discussed driving questions with my students in regards to our PBL unit, so my students had somewhat of an idea already. We discussed thin vs. thick questions and what a good question would be for our project. Some students were able to come up with theirs easier than others, depending on their topic. Some topics were very broad and needed to be narrowed in a little bit.

While we are not finished with our Genius Hour projects yet, something that worked well for my class was getting to choose any topic. Students have topics ranging from Nerf guns, hybrid animals, cotton candy, to playing the violin.  While we have lost a lot of instruction time from program rehearsals and testing, the students have really enjoyed researching what they want to. I also noticed that my lessons tended to be more focused and held the students attention. Whether it is due to the time of year or the lessons I’ve been teaching, I tend to lose my students’ attention. The paraphrasing lesson was a bit of a longer one, but my students were engaged the entire time. I knew that I needed to teach about how to paraphrase notes because I had noticed my students just copying, and I also had two students tell me that they didn’t know how to take notes in their own words.

While the project is still in the works, something that is not going too well so far is the work time. Many of my students use the time to play around or talk with their friends. I have had a few students want to change topics to what their friend is doing in the hopes of working together. For these students I told them that they needed to find something they were passionate about so that it would sustain their interest. I am not sure what to do with these students. If they are no longer interested in their topic, then I would like them to change, but I don’t want them to change if they really just want to do something close to their friend. For these students that have wanted to change, I told them that they must first go back and write a new driving question. Since the DQ needs to be the kick start to the project, I told them they must have that. We are on day 4 of Genius Hour (as of the time I am writing this) so I hope that my students can solidify their topics so they can spend our time in class working on researching and creating their product so they can share what they’ve learned. I have also already had students ask me when this will be due. I am wondering, do I give them a due date so soon? I do not know how often I am going to do Genius Hour after testing is over (my thoughts right now are once a week). Going from everyday to once a week, it is going to take my students longer to complete their projects, and of course, some might take much longer than others. So, as of right now, I am leaving it open and will see where my students go with their creative juices.

My students are loving Genius Hour; granted, who wouldn’t?! We did not get to Genius Hour one day after testing and at the end of the day one child said in an annoyed voiced, “Hey! We didn’t do Genius Hour today. Are we going to do it tomorrow?” After only implementing it for a couple of days, he was so disappointed that we had to skip one day. As I mentioned before, I have found my students staying more focused during the lessons, and then actually using the skills we practiced in their note taking. I also noticed my students taking a greater interest in each other during our share time. One day, we had a whole class share where we gathered at the carpet and shared our topic, DQ, and/or a fact we had learned. While it took a long time, the students were eager to share, and eager to hear, what their classmates had chosen. I am excited to see where Genius Hour leads my students, and me, and can’t wait until we get to share our passions with the world.

Jeneane Allgood--Collaboration

After reading both blogs and both rubrics, I really liked the BIE rubric much better than the New Tech rubric.  I found the BIE rubric to be clear and concise, leaving very little to the imagination as far as what was expected of each group member and the team as a whole.  The three elements that I found most important for my current class of students would be:  taking responsibility for ones self, organization of work, and making and following agreements and schedule.

I liked how clear the BIE rubric was about taking responsibility--- encouraging students to complete tasks without having to be reminded and to complete tasks on time. From what I have heard, this is a skill that tends to be lacking in the millenial generation and one that could greatly be improved upon, so I put that as my number one.

Being a left-brained, OCD person myself, I liked the idea of students creating a detailed task list with responsibilities detailed for each student.  When I assign a project, I like to leave very little gray area as far as what is expected of students, so I like the idea that with collaborative group work, that a detailed task list would let everyone know what they should be working on and when it should be completed (again---a GREAT transition to what is expected in the outside world).

Finally, I chose "makes and follows agreements and schedule".  An agreement is only good if it is made by and agreed upon by the group. If people aren't willing to agree to follow it, then it is just a piece of paper.  I also liked that it pointed out that students should, "Be honest about how well agreements are being followed"---in other words, are they looking at everything through rose-colored glasses and saying that everyone is on task and on schedule when they really are not.

I could really see myself using the BIE rubric.  I think it would be very useful for the students that I teach.

Blog Post 4: Genius Hour Journey - Brittany

I did Genius Hour for the first time last year, and my students loved it! I decided to do it on my Horizons day, as my students in Horizons were doing their own version of Genius Hour. It was such a meaningful activity to do on a day of the week when I couldn’t teach any new content. I have been planning to start it again this year, but I hadn’t started it before we were given this assignment.

For this particular assignment, I decided to do a modified Genius Hour and do it with my entire class.  I had originally been planning to spend a few days (the Monday and Tuesday leading to our Barrier Island trip) doing a Barrier Island Boot Camp to get my kids primed for their experiences at Barrier Island. I decided instead to let my students spend a portion of those two days working on an ecosystems genius project.

I began by leading a class discussion about ecosystems. Then, I showed students pictures from previous Barrier Island trips (focusing on wildlife, nature, etc.) and asked them to write down questions that came to mind. We discussed questions that students wrote and differentiated between simple research questions and questions that would work better for a genius project.

Students then got the opportunity to spend time researching. We talked about various resources that students could use for their research, but since this was a shorter project, students focused mainly on online resources (websites, Big Universe).

After discussing possibilities for how students could share their new learning, students chose presentation formats. I have students working on brochures, prezis, powtoons, powerpoints, and dioramas. We did not get to finish before our Barrier Island trip, but students are getting the opportunity to finish them this week.  This has really given them the opportunity to dive deeper into a topic that interest them. I love seeing how students have gone in so many different directions under one main umbrella topic. They are more motivated to learn, and they cheer whenever I give them time to work on their projects… and that makes me a happy teacher! 

Collaboration - Darstein

Col-labor-ation!!!  Col - together, Labor - to work, Ation - an action or process...Col-labor-ation - the process of working together.  I'm not the English person but that seems pretty simple.  Right??  NO!

Every class I've every had on the social development of 13-year-olds supports that fact that this is an up-hill battle.   Bengard's article on collaboration and high quality work was well argued but it is rare that the stakes in my classroom are as intense as a bath in cold, murky water.   I love my garden project and am witnessing some great collaboration but it has to come from an intrinsic place because there is no cold, mud bath waiting for failure.

Curtis' article was much more applicable to life in my classroom.  When I say the motivation to collaborate has to come from an intrinsic place, that doesn't mean that I don't believe that we can guide students to that place.   We certainly can and many of Curtis' tips are ways to do that. I have all of the methods that he outlined except for the contract.    It just doesn't seem to match my style and efforts to help each student find their internal motivation.

My top two (third place was a tie)  elements from the Collaboration Rubrics are Respects Others and Helps the Team.  I don't have a third.  In my mind if a teammate can be respectful and help the team, we can work on the rest.   Every team member has their own talents and their own way of sharing them and these two elements allow work within a comfortable parameter.

Helping students learn to collaborate is really teaching them how to share...we started that lesson a long time ago.  For a middle-schooler, at the most precarious stage of social development, we are now asking to take sharing to a new level, from objects to thoughts and efforts.  Any progress they can make will set them on the road to future success.  

Blog Post 4: Genius Hour Journey

Blog Post 4: Genius Hour Journey                    Shanna Pittman

After our last class and learning about Genius Hour, I thought about myself in school and how I would have loved being able to spend class time learning more about my passions and my many questions! This is an awesome opportunity for our students and I think it is an excellent opportunity to engage students in something that interests them. Having said that, it presented me with a few challenges.

As a kindergarten teacher, I am presented with unique challenges. My students are not independent readers yet. Therefore, they are not able to go to their laptops or grab a book and read about about what most interests them. It took several plans as well as trial and error to create a Genius Hour as close to the model as possible and still developmentally appropriate. 

I began by modeling a few questions that began with "I wonder..." Since this was our first attempt, students stayed in a whole group as they shared what they wonder. When they had a sense of how to develop a good question, I began writing their questions on the board. Inevitable some students told me questions that I had already been written, and I excepted those questions since this was our first experience. We had seven questions written on our flipchart at the conclusion.

After I had the topics to research, I pulled books from my classroom library and the school library. I also created seven Blendspaces, one per topic and put the link to each on my class Tizmos page (which is the home screen on each child's laptop). The Blendspaces had some videos, images, and read aloud books on them. .Some students worked independently and some chose to do their research in groups of 2 or 3. 

As they finished their research, we called them over to let them tell us individually about what they would like to create to share their newly learned information. Students created posters, wrote books, and created 3D models to share with the class and some special guests.

I enjoyed Genius Hour with my class and they surprised me with all they learned and the new questions that were sparked by their research. My ultimate goal was to take the concept of Genius Hour and make it something that is manageable for young children. I think I accomplished that goal and my students were excited and engaged. By allowing students to work collaboratively, even my students who are afraid to try new things because of fear of failure, were able to work outside of their comfort zone and get excited about the process.

Blog 1-Video Reflection

The lesson I videoed was my students participating in their first critical friends.  I chose this lesson because I had never used this technique before and I wanted to use this as a time to reflect for future lessons. I adapted the critical friends protocol from this summer to best suit my student’s needs. 

Each group had the opportunity to share their STEM journal sketch, which included labels and materials needed for their piece of playground equipment. After groups shared their sketch, materials list, and how their equipment uses force and motion, the rest of the class wrote down one I like statement and/or I wonder statement on a sticky note.  Students then had the opportunity to address the presenting group and share what they liked and/or wondered.  The group that presented had to listen to what their peers had to say and then gather the sticky notes.  The sticky notes would be used by students to make changes to their projects if they desired. 

After watching the video I realized how animated I am…hands are going everywhere and I can make some goofy facial expressions. J After I stopped laughing at myself, I was able to focus on what worked and what needed improvement.  To my surprise, most of my students stayed on task and had a good understanding of what they were expected to do.  I noticed most of my students were engaged as other groups were talking and providing good feedback with their I wonder/I like responses.  I was impressed with some of the conversations I heard as students discussed their peers’ ideas and sketches.  One area of improvement I saw was in the introduction to the lesson.  I talked for over five minutes about what they needed to do and my expectations.  This is something that I am going to try to be more mindful in the future.  However, even though I feel like my introduction was way too long, my students did know exactly what to do.  So I’m thinking the next time I should explain it the same way, but don’t take as much time to do it.  I also noticed that some of my students became inattentive while groups were sharing.  I had one little boy in the back that played with his pencil a lot and at one point was in the floor instead of listening or providing feedback.

My students totally exceeded my expectations on this lesson.  They were engaged, collaborating, and open to hear new ideas!  I am excited to try this lesson with other projects.      

Genius Hour- Darstein

I thought I would be clever and schedule my Genius Hour on one of our ACT Aspire testing days.  It made sense at the time...I would only see one class on that day so I would be able to keep my classes on the same timeline.  BAD IDEA!   After two days of testing and altered schedules AND the biggest full moon of the century my middle school students were not mentally able to embrace their genius.

Don't get me wrong...they have the passion for some really great products.  They were just tired.

I started the lesson by presenting the concept of Genius Hour to them.  We watched the "What is Genius Hour" video as well as "How to Change the World by the Kid President".   Both were very motivational and got the group thinking.   

In lieu of a Wonder Journal, I put together a Wonder "Mix" using some old CD sleeves I had left over from the 90's. The 'mix' included some tables that would help guide the students through the Genius Hour process.  I was happy to find these tables in Teachers Pay Teachers.   The first table just helped students get in touch with who they really are and what it important to them.  This is a very difficult process for anyone let alone a 13-year-old.    I was proud of their progress through that table and watched excitedly as they moved on to forge their driving question.   

As you suspect some of the driving questions didn't even make it out of the driveway...How fast can an arrow fly?  This did give us time to talk about where these questions would lead them and the product they would be sharing.  In the end most students came up with good questions.  Some of them were even GREAT questions...How do I help people who might want to hurt themselves?  What can I do to help abused horses?  I am really proud of the genuine compassion showed by many of my students.  As a "Wonder Wall" we but the questions on clear vinyl and posted them on the wall in the classroom.

Unfortunately, the eighty minutes went by all too quickly.  Most students were still working on  their research and one created a preliminary product.   I invited and encouraged them all to continue their work and guaranteed them I would give them access to all my resources whenever they wanted to work on their research and product.

In the end my students came away with a little bit better understanding about who they are an where their passions lie.  They also were reminded that they can make a difference and I am here to help them if needed.

The Good, the Bad, and the Collaboration

Oh, collaboration - what a love hate relationship I have with you. BUT, collaboration is such an integral part of who we are as members of the human race. Think of some of the problems we have as a society right now - reaction to election results, protesting/rioting, divorce rates, war, famine, genocide, and the list could go on. We don't all truly understand what it means to collaborate and neither do our students (now don't get all worried - I'm not going to get political on you). I think Mother Teresa said it best when she stated, "We have no peace because we have forgotten we belong to each other." Word, Mother. Word. This is especially true in my class that I am trying PBL with this year. They have no peace because they have forgotten they are all in this together. And, they have forgotten because I have allowed them to forget. I totally agree with Austin - PBL is messy. Collaboration is messy (see previously listed world troubles). However, that doesn't mean it is not attainable. And there is nothing I love more than making a goal and achieving it. So, that being said... It is on, Collaboration! It is on!

After reading the assigned blog posts, some of my classmates' blog posts, and reviewing the 6-12 Collaboration Rubric, I chose Respect for Oneself, Helps Team, and Respects Others as the 3 most important keys for my present class to successfully collaborate. Not sure if you picked on the fact that RESPECT is a need int his class. I like the idea of contracts and naively tried to do a class contract at the beginning of the semester, but that didn't work as well as I had dreamed it would (imagine that). I think group contracts for each group project would be a better bet in the future - we live an learn, right? I also like the suggestions for having students write the contracts. Finally, I would like to try the "self-grading" procedure posted in the comments of one of the assigned blogs as well as noted in Austin's blog. This may take some tweaking and all the rules would need to be established at the beginning of the semester, but it has promise.

Finally, I love collaboration because of all its positive results in society - healthy marriages & families, charities, missions, awesome companies like Google & Compassion & Samaritan's Purse, District 6's teacher forum, etc. I try not to be overly optimistic, but really, my classroom and my PBL attempts can be successful only when there is healthy collaboration within the groups and class. I have been disenchanted as of late, but am ready to give it another try. Peace, Love, & Collaboration.