Demonstrate Mastery: A CD of projects for digital portfolios is available for teachers who want to showcase the power of collaboration and initiative with project-based learning

Guest Blog post:  Matt Blazek's list of projects (available from Matt at mjblazek@hotmail.com) has the following introduction:


There are many approaches to teaching and learning that are used within our classrooms. Some  methods are more effective than others overall and others are often disparaged. Project based learning happens to be a style that comes under intense scrutiny and ridicule at times, often being thought of as the lazy way out for teachers because the student is expected to complete the project to learn instead of the teaching preparing and delivering lessons.

This is where this guide comes. By using this guide, the aim is to eliminate the "easy way out"  stereotype that has come to represent project based learning. The intent of projects according to this
guide is for students to demonstrate mastery of a topic in a personal way- through an independently researched and personally created project. Hence the title: Project Based Learning: Making it Personal. 

Traditional models of lecture and test, which have come to dominate education in this age of standardized testing, do not adequately prepare students for life after school. The workplace does not rely on multiple-choice tests to gauge success. Instead, it measures performance through the ability of the person to complete and master assigned tasks, often with little guidance. In this sense, the person must become an expert on the topic of their work (whether it is the menu at McDonald's or the load calculations for a new bridge) and be prepared to demonstrate that expertise at any time for employers or clients.

Essentially, life is one huge project that begins at birth and ends at death. Only at rare occasions outside of educational system will a person ever need to master the five paragraph essay or the testtaking skills necessary for success on multiple-choice tests. Instead, a person will have to repeatedly demonstrate mastery of the skills needed in their field through the completion of projects or tasks in a timely and efficient manner.

So let's get away from the lecture and test mentality and move back into reality. It is time to truly prepare students for life and not merely prepare them to attend educational institutions. Real
world skills need to be emphasized and mastered so students are able to move into the next stage of their lives. Let's put the student first and change education for the better by following through on the purpose of this book: MAKING EDUCATION PERSONAL!

Grading Rubric
It is important for students to understand the goals of projects before they begin their project. Considering that it is impossible to be successful without having clear expectations established, each project discussed also includes a suggested grading rubric. There are several important features to each rubric.

The first is that an explanation of each category is provided as well as the performance expectation of the category. Additionally, when students receive their final score they will be able to receive consistent feedback because it is already provided. Finally, it decreases bias and allows for several different people to provide grades that are consistent because the standards are clearly stated.

See the Blazek Sample Project list

Guest Blogger
Mastt Blazek teaches at Boca Raton Prep bocaprep.net.  He can be reached through Transform Teaching at  +1 (954) 646 8246.

Guest Blog: Leslie Lott suggests an activity with LOGOS ("snap photos of different logos over a 24-hour period") to encourage students to talk

Years ago I had small groups of students think of new uses for everyday things (fork, pencil, etc.) They then had to name the product and create a logo. Then they made a print advertisement and created the script for a TV commercial...Tons of learning and very fun. For the logos--you could have them snap photos of different logos over a 24-hour period and send them all to one address--then review them as a class...talking about who found them and where and why the students thought they were good (or not good) logos. I started my class on this with the swoosh from Nike...they had no idea Nike was a goddess and the swoosh represented her wings. :))   -- Leslie Lott


http://www.eslpartyland.com/esl-lesson-plans-online

Here's another way to get students to start talking.. 

What articles have you brought into class recently? Here are some items to consider (regarding GMO)... If you are not worried about Genetically Modified Organisms, at least you can encourage some discussion in the classroom...

What articles would you suggest to teachers and students about GMO? Here are three links that I like to share.

I just visited a language school and met some people I hadn't seen in 8 years.  We were catching up and we realized that we had some articles to share with each other.

a)  Psychology Today (what is your favorite article?)  PsychologyToday.com and click on ARCHIVES
b)  GMO foods

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxOBI_rp54lia3VwRXdnUUpoY28/edit?usp=sharing

conversation questions

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxOBI_rp54liOU5sUGJnNU5mbHc/edit?usp=sharing grass fed beef

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxOBI_rp54liOXNReGh4TVV6QmM/edit?usp=sharing what are we eating.  

So, if you want to hit a few articles and spread around some information and have a little "net impact," go ahead and click on these articles and paste them in your "status" bar to spread awareness of these articles.   hit the links in the articles and click the Twitter and Facebook links, too.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/good-thinking/201306/is-why-we-re-fat-and-sick-stress-in-america

This is Why We’re Fat and Sick: Stress in America

You cut carbs, exercise hard, yet you're still overweight and sick. Here's why.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/good-thinking/201306/how-american-food-makes-us-fat-and-sick

How American Food Makes Us Fat and Sick

Our food has no taste, few nutrients, but lots of calories

Published on June 14, 2013 by Dr. Denise Cummins, Ph.D. in Good Thinking

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/office-diaries/201301/oh-my-god-what-the-bleep-are-we-eating

Oh My God! What the Bleep Are We Eating?

When is enough, enough?

Published on January 14, 2013 by Donna Flagg in Office Diaries

Go ahead, click now.  and then when you visit each of those pages, click LIKE and spread the link.

Thank you!

www.YourNetImpact.com can assist teenagers in using social media to "have an impact"

I posted a series of photos and someone clicked "LIKE"... so I should return the favor.  I bumped into a website of appreciation:

a blog called http://ilikephotoblog.wordpress.com/

So -- of course -- I clicked and left a comment on one of the photos that caught my eye.   Thank you, Mac (the author of the blog).

Then I wrote to the person the following note:

If you have a particular type of travel you like, let me know.   

I'm a high school teacher and I have a website called  WWW.YourNetImpact.com and I'm trying to get my students to realize that they have impact with their facebooking and tweeting,  social and political impact...   so why diminish themselves by limiting their social media time?   Some of my students say, "I have only 5 minutes to check on what my friends are doing and to upload my photos, then I have to get back to homework."  or  "Social media is a real time drain.  I don't have time to be in virtual worlds, there is so much to do in the real world."

but what about getting important videos and websites more visibility?   A click on Jennie Hinde's A-newdawn.org could highly her organization's efforts to improve the lives of orphans.    By not clicking, "LIKE", my students are denying their friends (who are on facebook) the privilege of learning about Jennie's group.  When the friends of my students hear about Jennie's work, won't they want to click LIKE , too?    and that's the cycle of "Your Net Impact."   The impact of students on the Internet can add klout to people like Jennie in addition to Justin Bieber and Ellen degeneres and Lady Gaga.    

anyway, i greatly appreciate seeing your LIKE and I hope I can return the click ...  tell me a LIKE that I should do in return.

Where can I put my next LIKE to have some net impact?

Thanks for your list of interesting photos   nice blog .. it's an example (for my students) of having "net impact" and sharing what you think is significant with others.   bravo

If you would like to see Mac's photo blog, click here

macatwp@gmail.com and write to mac.

An Excellent Example: Authentic reading exercise (and "The Teacher as Struggling Adult Learner")

Dr. Alison Gopnik's article in the New York Times in January 2004 asked us to think about the "teacher as a coach." A baseball coach doesn't lecture; the coach shows a skill, then watches the students imitate the skill.

She also pointed out that most adults present a finished essay (to show students how to write) without showing the false starts and the throwaways.

So, why not go through the surprise that you first experienced when you first got one of these email messages asking for verification or confirmation? This is an example of "authentic reading" that comes from real life. Jeff Hutt returned from a conference once with a passionate phrase: "We need to give our students authentic reading material -- not textbooks, but newspapers, brochures and advertisements."

Here's a start:

Kindly understand that we need your Email details below for confirmation on the new web mail data system. This is based on the Google End User License Agreement (EULA) that was accepted during the initial registration. Your Account will be permanently removed and shut down if not verified on time.

User Email Address:

Your Password:

Confirm Password:

First and Last Name:

Present State/Country:

Again we apologize for any inconveniences. If you would like to continue using Google services, please click on the reply button and email us the aforementioned details immediately for confirmation and validation.

Thanks for Using our Service.

Here's the sender:

From: Google_email/info/detail/fvf-0157e193

Subject: Email Account Verification

Date: July 12, 2011 4:07:48 AM EDT

To: datainfo22@gmail.com

Here's a link for Alison Gopnik: gopnik at berkeley dot edu

Why not send a fan letter?

We've known for a long time that human children are the best learning machines in the universe. But it has always been like the mystery of the humming birds. We know that they fly, but we don't know how they can possibly do it. We could say that babies learn, but we didn't know how. -- A. Gopnik

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/gopnik09/gopnik09_index.html

What clues in the email message above did you use to figure out what department of Google had sent it?

Tips about Where and What with Projects in schools

Tips and examples of projects

Before we look at specific projects, let's describe two parts of projects: Where and What.

Where can we see the project?

What is in the project?

WHERE

The teacher has power to decide where the students' projects will go:

Posters on a wall

notice board (bulletin board)

in a box

on a CD or DVD

on a door

above the urinals

next to the toilet roll

near the water fountain

wherever people stand in line

in a discussion

on a shelf

on the whiteboard

on a TV screen

on a computer monitor

in a binder

in a Facebook group

on a blog

on a website

on Youtube

the “I want to remember this” (IWTRT) journal, diary or log

the “This is important” issues book

WHAT

The content is important, too. What will appear in the spaces (the “Where”)? The teacher transforms the classroom into a newspaper office. Students are the reporters and editors, finding words, videos and photos and cutting them, piecing them together in new ways.

The teacher can encourage students to post many types of content:

stories

interviews

essays

drawings

quotations

videos

songs

poems

lyrics

job assignments in the class?

The students can learn to edit videos, create websites, YouTube channels, Facebook groups and page, and blogs, and gain new skills while using projects to explore the curriculum.

Special note about the “I want to remember this” (IWTRT) journal and the “This is important” issues book: Perhaps they are the same binder. When the teacher/facilitator finds an article that is important to her, she puts it in the binder marked “IWTRT” – the “Tunafish are overfished” articles are in my IWTRT binder. Why not encourage students to find issues that matter to them and THEN build the curriculum (math, science, literature, writing, languages, history) around those issues?

Note: To keep the interest of the students, quotations and other posted materials can be moved around the room once a week (or placed in storage for two weeks and then returned to be displayed in another location). The teacher can assign or request students to do the moving of the materials – and this task of moving turns into a learning moments, since the students can look at each item and decide, “Marsha's poster would look good over there – most people couldn't see it when it was on the back of the door.”

The purpose of this book now becomes clear: Most teachers focus on WHAT happens in the classroom (the content of the class). This book (especially the quotes, the excerpts from Neil Postman's book and the quotes from Littky) asks you to focus on procedures and theWHERE of the class. Where can students perform their understanding? Where can they express themselves? What locations will you release to the control of students? Please: let students take over walls, websites and more.

Draft chapter about Projects in GUIDE ON THE SIDE

To send comments and suggestions, write to VisualandActive@gmail.com or call +1 954 646 8246or SKYPE SteveEnglishTeacher.

A potential project for students: The SKYPE (Phone) Booth

What if every school could be connected to a Skype booth "out there" (perhaps in a local museum)? What if outsiders could call into your school and look through the Skype connection to what's happening in the classroom?

In a school with LOTS of computers

Technology in the school: HIGH

The focus could be to create procedures where students assume the role of "ambassador to the world" for their classroom. Each student who wants to participate would have a start and end time during the day when calls to the assigned Skype account would be answered.

The focus is more on PROCEDURE than technology. The school's rules should include procedures to allow students to be listed as "school ambassador" and to give students permission to answer when someone from the outside rings in. It might be that there are several "school ambassador accounts," so that at least one of the accounts is active and open, ready for outsiders to call in. With every student's laptop or internet device "ON" for Skype, then each student can bring in a partner for a class discussion. UNCERTAIN: What impact would ten Skype calls have on a school's internet system?

A second project might be called "SET UP A SKYPE BOOTH IN A MUSUM." The students could approach a local museum and find out what equipment or expertise is needed to connect the museum to Skype booths in other museums or to connect local schools to the lobby of the museum.

Schools that have a lot of technology could look for a neighboring school that lacks technology. The High Tech school could offer to procure, install and train the low-tech school's students to maintain a Skype Booth -- and then students in both schools could call in and participate in class discussions.

In a school with FEW computers:

Technology in the school: LOW

The project could be to request or set up a Skype station IN the school. A location could be selected to make it easy for students to interact with the machine between classes or the booth could be mobile and placed in different classrooms to allow outsiders to participate in class discussions.

The focus is on both PROCEDURE and TECHNOLOGY. The school's rules should include procedures to allow the Skype booth to be answered when someone from the outside rings in, for the Skype booth to be "on" at set times (ready for a call) and for who takes care of the equipment. Part of the project will be finding the equipment to set up the Skype booth.

Skype Phone Booth

Excerpts from the announcement:

Instead of phone booths, will we see Skype booths all over public areas like airports and hospitals? Well, we are not quite there yet, but the Estonian Tallinn Airport just placed a futuristic-looking Skype station in their building.

This Skype station has a 22-inch touchscreen and a headset and you have to log in with your Skype account to use it. If you have Skype credits, you can use them, if you don’t Skype-to-Skype usage is still free. What if you forget to log out when you are done? That shouldn’t be a problem, since the Skype booth will automatically log you out as soon as you step away from it.