Speaking of specifics....

Again, I seem to be having difficulty answering the prompt for this week's required blog posting.

Explain the critical organization and management steps and tools I would employ when implementing a PBL.

I am sure I have answered this question more than once this week, what with two discussion postings,four replies to four fellow student's postings, a 700 word reflection paper and the normal, day to day doings of a front line teacher...

Basically:

Plan, envision, query PLN, plan some more, implement, reflect, assess, adapt, modify, reflect, reassess, and finally evaluate the entire process, making notes of ways to improve the project for 'next' time.

Specifically:

This is impossible, as each assignment is individualized for the content area, the grade and the make up of the students within the classroom. The PBL demands classroom management, but so to do all teaching lessons. Introduce the concept, ensure that the students understand the intended outcomes through various assessment practices, including verbal conferences and written rubrics. Set up the type of summative assessment strategies to be used, modify as required by the ongoing assessment. Reflect at the end of each day as to progress of the groups and adapt the teaching lesson for the next day. Use a variety of instructional techniques, so as to encompass as many different learning styles as possible, and keep the project open-ended to allow the incorporation of multiple-intelligences into the culminating project. This is as specific as I can be without planning a specific PBL with a specific curriculum outcome in mind for a specific grade level and knowing the specifics of the makeup of the classroom.

Specific enough? Probably not...but it is all I have at this specific point in time...

One week, two blogs...Part duh?

Okay, perhaps twelve hours straight at the computer may have fried my mind a bit, but I am really struggling to answer part two of this week's blogging requirements. I just seems that the notion of explaining how web 2.0 tools and the six student standards go together is like trying to explain why peanutbutter and chocolate go together...some things are just made for each other...

Well, to make my point for me, the NETS were made specifically for the emerging Internet, as the ISTE states that the NETS surfaced in 1998, just as the education world was becoming very aware of the impact that technology would have on the modern, new millennium classroom. So, if the NETS were designed, modified and updated because of Web 2.0 applications, explaining how Web 2.0 tools can help students meet standards created in response to the use of the Internet and the applications utilized by said Internet, seems , well, somehow circular...

Yes, creativity is limited only by the imagination of the teacher and student, yes, communication between classrooms across the world has never been easier, yes, research skills must be taught, yes, thinking skills are absolutely required, yes, responsibility for one's footprint is paramount and yes, all users should have some understanding of how the technology works...what more needs to be said? Is it necessary to list applications and the potential use of each tool? Seems redundant and poor use of the limited resources I have left...

One week, two blogs...Part One

So, choose one application from each of the three groups and explain how I would use it in the classroom...only one problem, I make use of these applications already in my classroom. Okay, not a major problem, and perhaps I do not use all of the sites from the list, but I do incorporate the vast majority of these web 2.0 apps into my daily teaching. However, I do believe that any of the required sites I do not use is simply because I have found different applications to facilitate the same intended outcomes.
I have used Delicious for several years now, and am very familiar with how this bookmarking application works. I do have a Diigo account, and have used it, but sometimes the familiar is just easier, more comfortable and requires less mind to operate. Diigo does have some fine features, but when introducing the concept of bookmarking in the clouds with my students I find that I revert to what I know best. I use Delicious as a way to introduce the concept of 'vetting' web sites. I have the students begin a project, this term it was Hamlet, and then let them start hunting for resources about the play. After a few minutes I ask how it is going, knowing full well that the class is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of response that have poured forth from the google search they all have been doing. We then begin to explore tags in Delicious, and the fact that each tag has been added by someone that had taken the time to read and tag a site. Naturally we also discuss that this does not mean that all tags have been done correctly, but it is certainly better than a open-ended google search. The concept that all bookmarks can be accessed anywhere anytime is also enlightening for the students, as is the fact that they, as a class, can now share their tags, making the research task a collaborative exercise as well.

One of the best ways I have found to help assist students with new applications like Delicious is to do a instructional video. I use Jing, and then upload it to Screencast, and embed it into the class wiki. Easy, quick and effective for demonstrating the basics to the majority of students. Otherwise, I tend not to answer too many questions of the 'how do I do' variety, as sources like Youtube seem to have a video for every occasion.

Social networks are really a natural way to invite collaboration between students. I have written before of the potential challenges that may occur with a ning in the classroom. However, in the short time our ning has been open to the students involved in the Ideas without Borders project, I feel a positive 'vibe', as the students are sharing pictures and comments with each other, even outside of class time! Our school is closed this week for spring break, but right now as I write this there are three students, two Canadians and one American, using the chat feature to talk about the novel they have to read, 1984! Takes so little to make me happy these days...

I have used Voicethread to great success, if I may say so my self...no, not really. Last year I used this application when teaching peer-editing to my grade 12's. Please see Wish for an example of just how powerful student voices can be if we as educators allow for creativity in the classroom. It is important to note at this juncture that I inform all my parents as to what is happening in my classroom via my wiki. This is in addition to the F.O.I.P. And Internet usage forms that are signed by parents in the first week of school. No form, no Internet, really simple...

Wowa, long winded today it seems, and I still have one more blog to pen...well, off to see what Part Two brings...what, you thought I planned these blogs? Please...really...

Words have wings...

My masters class question this week centres around the challenges of using a global Project Based Learning approach in the classroom. I am thinking this question will be so much easier to answer in about four weeks as I will be well into my own co-teaching across borders attempt by then!!!

One of the issues I was concerned about as my teaching partner and I began to set up this project was access to computers and web 2.0 tools to facilitate the collaboration and communication between the American and Canadian students. This has proved to be a non-factor. I am truly blessed to work in such an open and progressive thinking jurisdiction! I have had assistance from my tech department and approval from my administration team, as well as encouragement and support from my fellow staff members, known as my PLN Entourage .

What I have encountered so far in the beginning stages of our project is more in the area of management. Between the two classrooms, we are teaching 124 students. This is fantastic, but also somewhat overwhelming. Every member of our ning must have their profile checked out, to ensure that the basic rules of F.O.I.P. have been adhered to. Additionally, the members had to be put into groups and then these groups needed to, collaboratively, come up with a appropriate name for their group. These names must also be approved. Time consuming, but necessary. What I believe to be the most important aspect of this facet of the project is that we as a team have discovered that by open dialogue we can solve any and all problems that come our way. Lots and lots of open communication!

I must admit that I am looking forward to the next few weeks and the problems that may arise. I take great pride in the fact that I believe my partner and I are more than up for the challenges that might occur and believe we can handle anything thrown at us. Now, I just hope I haven't just jinxed us...