Chapter 11

With Project Based Learning the students learn through all sorts of learning functions. They get to work collaboratively and by themselves. They get to take ideas from the classroom and link them to ideas presented in the real world. project based Learning helps students develop a deeper understanding of concepts because it allows for students to take concepts learned in the project and relate them to real life. This helps the brain make connections and remember material. It is important that students make these connections because through them they develop much more understanding. Project Based Learning also develops life skills for the students. Instead of just sitting at a desk all day, they get to collaboratively work on a real life project. That in itself is something they will do in the workforce, also they learn to help each other, communicate effectively, and work as a team to get a job larger than just one person done.

In our project we used a lot of these skills to create the different things we created. We had to work together to get the job done

Chapter 11

There are a lot of learning functions that occurs as a result of using the project-based learning approach. The essential learning functions are:

·         Ubiquity

·         Deep learning

·         Making things visible and discussable

·         Expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community

·         Collaboration-teaching and learning with others

·         Research

·         Project Management

·         Reflection and iteration

There are several ways to “bring your project home:”

·         Capitalize on your investment:

·         Critique you work

·         Share your insights

·         Become a resource for your colleagues

·         Enter a contest

·         Enjoy the journey

Concepts in this chapter relate to my teams project because we have learned a lot while developing our project in this class. There are several leaning functions that I developed as I worked on this project with my team member. I was able to share ideas with my partner on how to create our project. We also were able to collaborate on what was best to do for our project. Lastly, we were able to research important information to include into our project. 

Ch 10

Not only in class, but also in life it is important to reflect. When a stage in life is accomplished, or a period of time, or an important or unimportant accomplishment occurs we need to take a step back and figure out what went right and what went wrong and how we can improve. It is also very important to intentionally reflect in class. In the classroom we as teachers not only teach students information, we also form them as human beings and teach them important skills that they will need in life. Reflection is a huge skill in the work world and in our personal lives. People that learn the most in life are the ones that learn and improve from their successes and mistakes. Project based learning does an excellent job of teaching these real world skills. In the classroom the students perform a real world task, and work on a real world problem. When the project is done it is crucial that students look back and see what went well in their project and what could be improved. Nothing ever goes perfect in life, and often times things don't go as planned. The student that can recognize what didn't work as planned and what they could have done instead, and what went wrong and why. This helps teach the students to think on their feet when things go wrong.

This is a skill that kayleigh and I have done a lot in our project. We always look back at past assignments and try to do things better. I think it helps us improve on future projects, and become better.

Final Collaborative Concept Map

https://bubbl.us/?h=26d088/52f918/25dq/VReWWsvY&r=287969594

Chapter 10

It is extremely important to set aside time for reflection. Reflection helps students feel good about what they have accomplished. Also, reflection can make what students have learned actually “stick.” Reflection helps students think about what they have learned, how they have grown as learners, and what they want to learn in the future.

Students need to reflect because it helps them think about growth in learning dispositions. Students may experience challenges, frustrations, and joy when doing a project. Reflecting on obstacles that they have overcome will help them realize what they were able to overcome and accomplish. As teachers you can ask students: what does this get you wondering about next? What do you want to learn now, and how do you want to go about it? Students need to elaborate because they might take what they have learned and develop a more ambitious project. For example, a team used a wiki to organize their grant proposal. They designed a proposal that explained how math and science videos would help students understand the material better. Therefore, students can take what they have learned and develop something even bigger.

Schools build tradition and identity by building awareness in others. Students that are coming p in the grades know what’s up. Therefore you have a foundation for tradition. The older siblings pass down to the younger siblings what they did in certain class with certain teachers.

It is important to celebrate a project that way you can build your schools identity as a place where kids get to learn through projects. You can show the student work, plan an event, create a blog, or even hold a party. You should have students take control of the celebration. You should include the following:

·         An opportunity to look back at the work

·         Acknowledge the hard work

·         Appreciation for all who helped

·         A display of learning

·         Process and growth

·         Showcase projects to colleagues, administrators, etc.

Concepts in this chapter relate to my teams project because we get feedback on our assignments which helps us reflect on what we have done well on and what we need to improve on. For example, our first lesson plan that we created using taskstream. We received feedback from our teacher and were able to reflect on what we accomplished, but also what we need to do better on for our next lesson plan that we create.

Ch 9

In chapter 9 we talk about how to make assessment meaningful for the students. I believe that this is one of the most important and the most controversial topics in education today. Traditionally testing has been that students complete a bunch of math problems, or write a huge paper, or do some monstrously large multiple choice test in a limited amount of time to show they understand something. While the benefits to this kind of testing is that it does give the teacher a clue to where the student is struggling, and it can also show where the student has some strengths. But it also has a large amount of failure. Testing only shows what a student understands during that particular moment in which the student is taking the test. It does not give a complete picture of what the student knows, and also it does not account for the full potential of what the student can do. Also there are many factors that can change how a student performs on a test, such as what the student ate for breakfast, how nervous is the student, how much sleep did the student get that night, and an infinite amount more factors.

This is where project based learning has an advantage over the traditional test. The students can show their knowledge in real world settings, through completing tasks that are comparable to the tasks that they will have to complete in the work world. Instead of assessing a single snapshot of what the student knows, you are watching a full length film in how the child grows and develops and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the child through that development. Also in project based learning the child learns how to work in a team, and learn from the strengths of others making the entire class stronger as a whole, and teaches the student an important skill that will be used for the rest of their lives.

In our ed-tech projects we are being assessed in a similar way. Our assessment is made through what we show we can do, and we have a wide variety of ways to prove our knowledge. This gives us the benefit of providing our best work, while it gives the teacher the benefit of seeing a bigger picture in our capabilities.

Storyboard for Website

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IaOfCnXRzRiSKFWhxI_5lOmfACghBOH_B4Od7VCakBA/edit

Chapter 9

There are several methods of understanding prior-knowledge of students. One method is the        K-W-L activity. K stands for what you/we know about the topic, W stands for what you/we want to know about the topic, and L stand for what have you/we learned about the topic. This is a great activity to understand the prior knowledge of students because you can see where they are at and what they already know. Next, you can begin to start your lesson based off of what they already know.

It is important to establish anchors for a project. By establishing anchors you can gain a sense of where students are starting and far they will go as they start to meet their learning goals. When you are using project based learning the opportunities are expanded to differentiate instruction. This helps all students be successful.

 There are several ways to assess what students learned during the project. You can:

·         Use an assessment tool that gives students feedback on their assignments

·         Testing

·         Film based on a novel

·         Interview your students (this helps students be reflective about what they have learned

Concepts in this chapter relate to my teams project because I think that every students know what their strengths and weaknesses are. Therefore, an anchor has been established in our technology classroom. The teacher knows who struggles more with using technology then other students. Therefore, some students (such as myself) travel a greater distance as a learner in this particular class.

Chapter 8

There are teachers that teach their lessons, assign their homework, and the students swallow endless amounts of information, hold it in there mouth and then on test day they spit it out on paper, turn it in, and wash their mouths out and forget about everything they just "learned". I know this because I am one of those students. So how does a teacher teach students things that they will remember and use? They have to branch out the learning outside the classroom. It is crucial for teachers to branch out student learning and connect things in the classroom with problems in the real world. This keeps the students interested in the learning in the classroom, and gives it a personal aspect that the student can relate to and remember. It is important for the human brain to connect learning for it to remember it also it provides interest for the students so they remain engaged.


Branching teaching out and connecting lessons to the real world is one of the major benefits of Project Based Learning. It allows students to see how the work they do in school will be used in real life and allows them to explore subjects that they are interested in. They get to experience real professionals, in actual fields that the students could join when they graduate. It encourages learning beyond public schools and helps students go to college. It also encourages a desire to learn about subjects that students will be attracted to. In our project we get to branch out all sorts of different things into fitness. We can show students different events such as charity runs, and community fitness events. Also we can show the students different medical doctors who can come into the classroom and talk about the medical field.

And if students see my YouTube video, they will want to exercise to get big muscles and be awesome all the time like me

Chapter 8

There are several ways to build connections and branch our beyond the classroom. Integrating technology helps students to teach an audience. Knowing that other students will be commenting an s listening can be a good motivation for students.  Students can also contact experts in the course of researching a particular topic. A teacher might decide to design a project where students can communicate with fellow learners (learners who can be from halfway around the globe).

EAST Initiative Model:

·         Students in the Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) Initiative network of schools have demonstrating the benefits of using technology. Although, the real purpose is to solve problems and improvement in communities. These students master tolls and applications while solving problems. For examples, GPS, GIS, AND CAD.

Reasons to let students “lead” their projects:

·         A teacher was reminded of student’s potential to chart their own learning path by a student who has dyslexia. She realized that blogging can be helpful. Therefore, an international conversation about strategies for dealing with dyslexia happened. Therefore, there was open collaboration. Although, the learning for the student did not end here. She decided to create a wiki page about the topic of dyslexia.

Concepts in this chapter relate to my teams project because branching out beyond the classroom is being done. For examples, our blogs. Every week we post a reflection to our group’s blog and comments are made on it by other students in the classroom. Therefore, this is a great way of collaborating between other students in the classroom. 

Chapter 7 Teamwork in the classroom

Teamwork is an important concept not only in the classroom, but also in the work world. When students start looking for jobs, even at the very beginning of their careers as a high school kid looking for some extra cash, bosses are going to be looking for them to be able to work as a team. One of the benefits of extra curricular activities are that they build the skills that it takes to effectively communicate and work as a team.But not everybody is athletic and not everyone has the opportunity to participate in extra curricular activities. So how does a teacher encourage teamwork in the classwork?

First teamwork does come with some challenges:

1. First we want the students ideas to still be individual ideas and when working with others those ideas can get mashed with others, or one student will control all the ideas and some students can be thrown under the bus

2. Also some students might have to do all the work on the project. The teacher must regulate who does the work and how much work each individual has to do

3, There must be enough work for a team to do, the work can be harder but it has to be something the team can accomplish

In project based learning teamwork plays a huge role. In the project students have to work in a whole class team, small group teams, and also have to do their own work in order to bring to the team and enhance the learning. It is important that as a teacher you have to manage the teams so that each team remains productive and the work and learning is enhanced by the teamwork and not inhibited by it. One way to do this is for the teacher to ask questions to check in on the groups. The teacher should do verbal check ins often while monitoring group work. Also they should provide deadlines for teams to turn in work to show the progress that they are making.

Chapter 6 Adam Fitzmaurice is Awesome

Technology can be a great and terrible thing in the classroom. While it allows students to be creative, use an infinite expanse of information, and present information and learning through a variety of means, it also brings many challenges. The internet can easily be abused, web sites can be created by anybody and therefore the information found can be unreliable. While programs such as power point, movie maker, and other tools are convenient and productive they also require the student to have access to such programs and the knowledge to properly use them. Some things a teacher needs to keep in mind when using technology in the classroom is:

1. What resources are needed for the teacher/student to use the technologies
2. Does the student know how to use the technology
3. Have you provided clear and concise instructions on how you use the technology
4. Does the student know what the end product should look like when using a tool
5. If using web pages for sources have you provided good sources for the students to access, or does the students know how to access reliable information
6. Can the students provide proper credit to who they took information from

And there are many more things to consider when using technology in the classroom. Fortunately in the new day and age,s students are becoming very adapt at using technologies, and many things that us teachers struggle on, the students will already be proficient. This in itself can provide its own challenges because we will need to be able to control what the students can do so that the information they present will be beneficial to their education

Chapter 7

There are several levels of classroom discussions:

·         Teacher to teacher: Face to face collaboration with colleagues

·         Student to student: Good communication skills with team members.

·         Teacher to student: This method practices your listening skills and asking questions that push students toward higher-order thinking.

There are also several questions for “checking in” on students during a project:

·         Procedural: Are we staying on schedule?

·         Teamwork: How are team members getting along?

·         Understanding: Have you considered this research?

·         Self-assessment: Questions that encourage self-assessment and reflection

Benefits to students when optimizing the use of technology:

·         Learning how to use MP3 players, digital cameras, and a project blog

·         Responses are positive to the learning experience

·         Gaining new insights into how to communicate with a culturally diverse audience

·         Learning how to critique other members work

Teamwork is a 21^st century skill that can make or break a project. There might be problems that arise in a group setting. Therefore, if a teacher realizes that there is trouble he/she should help the team to resolve their conflicts. Teamwork is an important 21^st century skill that students need to be able to learn because they will need to be able to use it in the workforce.

Concepts in this chapter relate to my teams project because the levels of classroom discussion (students to student and teacher to student) are being used. Student to student is being used when my team member and I collaborate on our project. Teacher to student is being used when we have questions that we need to ask our instructor and our instructor gives us feedback.

Chapter 6

Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths. For example, blogs offer students space so they can reflect what they have done over time. Online survey tools can also be used to identify learning characteristics, interests, strength, weaknesses, etc. There are specific tools such as SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang which allows you to setup these online surveys. Therefore, students can see their self-assessment.

There are several ways in which you can get students minds ready for a project:

·         Assessing students prior knowledge

·         Give students time for imagination and letting the ideas settle

·         Encourage students to explore

·         A guest speaker

·         Bring up the topic each day over the course of time

Teaching the fundamentals first is important. You want your students to understand the basic before moving onto something that is more complex. According to Graham, “by teaching the fundamentals, I was sure my students would be pointed in the right direction when they started the project.” She explained that she didn’t want time wasted on learning and researching the basic s on their own when she could do in a few lessons. It is also important for students to build their skills gradually before moving on to something that is more complicated.

Preparing students to use technology for a project is important. It is important to:

·         Set up a technology playground-where students can explore

·         Tap student expertise-set up stations, have students that are confident help other students

·         Introduce project-management tools-log or journal to track progress

·         Demonstrate-discuss tools and show students how to use the specified technology

Ways to promote inquiry and deep learning:

·         Guide students as they begin to put their plan into action

·         Help guide students to ask questions that someone else would ask (for example: nurse, historian, researcher, etc.)

·         Guide students into skilled questioning

·         Good questions (Which one, how, what if, should, and why)

Concepts in this chapter relates to my teams project because when creating our project we want to make sure that the fundamentals are taught first. We also want to make sure that deep learning occurs as one of the outcomes.

Collaborative Concept Map

https://bubbl.us/?h=26d088/50d405/25/ws5Qt9TjeI&r=1537193539

Ch 5 Reflections

When you start your project with your students you need to first consider what materials are going to have to be used in order for your students to be successful in the project. I would first consider what you have in the classroom. Are their enough materials for your students to use in the classroom? Does the students have access to a computer or books or a source of information to research and learn more? Also you need to consider well ahead of time any funds that might be needed in order to complete the project. Some projects might include field trips or projects where the students build or create something. All of those things require you to have the funding in order to pay for necessary transportation, tickets, materials, and untold amounts of things that could come up. Some projects might require you to write a grant to ask for funding from the school district. These grants have to submitted months ahead of time and takes a long time to hopefully get approved (that alone is difficult) let alone receive the actual funding. Often times you might have to cooperate with parents and the community for funds to support the students.

Once the project is started there are some classroom management issues that can occur. I think it is very important for teachers to be flexible and know when to stop the project for the day and to continue tomorrow, or to encourage a topic and pursue it further and move other plans for the day. The Common Core State Standards are very rigid in design, so flexibility can be a huge issue. It can be difficult to encourage independent learning while also attending to what the student has to learn that year in the classroom. That is why intertwining the class management between the project and other coursework.

This connects to our project because we have to consider the materials that are needed to perform our project in class. Can we afford what is needed (cough task stream and books are expensive cough)? Do we have access to a computer in the classroom and out of the classroom? Are we able to keep in contact with our partner and support their material needs? These are all questions we answered when we started this course, we do it before we hash out multiple paychecks to buy what we need to hopefully succeed, and these are all questions that we will face in the classroom.

Chapter 5

There are several items that should be considered before starting a project with students. You need to consider the materials that you will need such as supplies and tools. You also need to consider whether your project will involve the use of technologies that are new to your students. Therefore, you might need to expand the access to technology and your students might need access to experts to answer questions. There are also videoconferencing and virtual field trips that you can access as well. Media specialists and other types of specialists can help with projects too.

Teachers’ management needs include:

·         Tools for communicating with students and others about the project

·         Tools for making milestones and events visible and for notifying students when changes occur

·         Methods for getting resources to students

·         Systems for managing work products

·         Structures that support a productive learning environment in which teams and individuals are engaged in a variety of learning tasks at the same time’

·         Assessment tools and strategies

Students’ management needs include:

·         Systems and tools that help them manage their time and flow or work

·         Systems that help students manage materials and control work drafts

·         Collaboration tools

·         Methods for seeking assistance

·         Ways to get and use feedback on their work, through self-reflection, team input, and teacher advice

·         Ways to work iteratively and to see how parts add up to the whole

There are several technology applications that should be considered for use in a project. For example, there are web-based applications. You can link a set of tools together in a wiki, associate with a blog, or alternatively, use Web-based “desktop” application. One of the simplest ways to begin using the web to support projects is to build a project wiki.

Concepts in this chapter relates to my teams project because my partner and I are constantly working on management needs. We are working on managing our time and figuring out how to get our assignments done that are a part of our group project. We are also working on seeing the parts that we work on add up to make the whole. All of the assignments that we are working on now will eventually produce an overall bigger project in the end.

Chapter 4 review

In Chapter 4, we really take a look at the project and describe what a good project needs in order to succeed.

First there are some potential pitfalls in a project design:

The project could be too short

The project could not encompass the specific standards of what is to be taught this year

The project could take up too much day to day time, and not leave enough room for other subjects and specific instruction

The project could be something that cannot be completed in a year

The project could be hard to assess at the end of the year, and hard to assess from a weekly or day to day standpoint

The students could not be interested in the project

In order for project based learning to be successful you need to have a good project. All good projects share some similar characteristics, and these characteristics are:

The project is something the students are interested in

The project is something the students have to be creative in and create solutions to different problems in the project. The project teaches flexibility

The project can be assessed in multiple ways, and there is day to day assessment and yearly assessment

The project can be worked on everyday while it does not interfere with the other instruction in the classroom

I think that some of the best ideas for a good project will come from the students. As a teacher it is important to get to know each student in the classroom and learn about what those students interests are, and from those interests a good project will come.

This relates to our topic because I can now see how I could use a particular student or a group of students interest in health and exercise or sports, could lead to a project in fitness.

Adams Taskstream lesson plan

https://w.taskstream.com/Lesson/View/311860B769D45C5E59AEFCA0D5FCBE9C

Chapter 4

There are several pitfalls in project design. They include:

·         Long on activity, short, on learning outcomes- If a project is long and carried out and the learning outcomes are short than it is not worth investing the time.

·         Technology layered over traditional practice- Good projects focus on reaching significant learning outcomes, not merely making use of technology applications.

·         Trivial thematic units- A thematic approach can be trivial, but it doesn’t have to be. A theme could unify an entire year’s worth of projects to help students make connections.

·         Overly scripted with many, many steps- Try not to use projects that have many discrete steps.

There are several features of a good project. They:

·         Are loosely designed with the possibility of different learning paths

·         Are generative, causing students to construct meaning

·         Center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry

·         Capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences

·         Are realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines

·         Reach beyond school to involve others

·         Tap rich data or primary sources

·         Are structured so students learn with and from each other

·         Have students working as inquiring experts might

·         Get at 21^st-century skills and literacies, including communication, project management, and technology use

·         Get an important learning dispositions, including persistence, risk-taking, confidence, resilience, self-reflection, and cooperation

·         Have students learn by doing

You can find good projects everywhere. Some project ideas come from:

·         A tried-and-true project with potential for more meaningful, expressive learning

·         Project plans developed by and for other teachers

·         News Stories

·         Contemporary Issues

·         Student questions or interests

·         A classroom irritant put to educational use

·         A “mashup” of a great idea and a new tool

There are several steps when designing a project.

·         Step 1: Revisit the Framework

·         Step 2: Establish evidence of understanding

·         Step 3: Plan the “vehicle”

·         Step 4: Plan entrée into the project experience

·         Write a project sketch

·         Create an Asset Map

·         Track Assets Online

The concepts in this chapter relates to my team’s project because the project that my partner and I are working on incorporates the features that make up a good project. Features like learning from each other, learning by doing, learning 21^st century skills like communication, project management, technology use, etc.

Chapter 3

 Choosing the "Big Idea" for project based learning is essential because everything that happens in the project will relate back to this "Big Idea". With this much importance there are a lot of questions that need to be thought about when choosing the big idea. The big idea needs to be large enough to be thoroughly investigated by the students, and have enough specific content so each students can do individual research while also, at the same time, small group research and full class research is being conducted. The Big Idea also needs to be dense enough so that work can be conducted through the whole year but yet not too dense because you want the students to come up with solid real world solutions and findings through real life experts and experience.

Project Based Learning is reflected in 21st Century skills and literacy. With 21st skills, students learn about technology use and teamwork between students in group settings and teamwork through students in different places and cultures around the world. Project Based Learning provides an excellent medium through which 21st skills can be used. Students can relate their project to students in different cultures and use their contrasting ideas in order to improve their projects and learn more global solutions to real world problems. In 21st century literacy, students need to be able to understand technology and be able to communicate to students across the globe. Project Based Learning provides an excellent way for students to practice their communication skills and learn skills from others in different cultures

I think that Project Based Learning is a good way to meet 21st Century requirements while also keeping the students interested, and also continuing work on the "Big Idea". Project based learning and 21st Century skills and literacy go hand in hand and its easy to kill 2 birds with one stone which is important when their is limited time in the classroom.

Kayleigh and Adam's Epal Map

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zT-p9yXs-d7k.kU9H3-ZAn_wM

Our project consists of our 8th grade students writing to students in the Dominican Republic. This map shows the placement of the Dominican Republic as well as the distance from Kalamazoo Michigan to the Dominican Republic. The markers in the Dominican Republic show the Santiago Christian School, and different science institutes, parks and universities that the students might use when they write back to our students.

Magic School Bus digestive system episode

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zT-p9yXs-d7k.kU9H3-ZAn_wM

Lesson Plan Topics

Kayleigh Thompson-Cardiovascular System

Adam Fitzmaurice-Digestive System

Chapter 3

There is a lot that should be considered when finding “The Big Idea” for a project. When identifying the big ideas the core concepts and processes are important. For example, ask yourself this question: What should students know after studying with you? What should they take away from what you have taught? Since teachers have to teach from a curriculum there are already opinions on what is considered important. Therefore, students learn no more than what the textbook is offered. Although, projects are contextual because you can make the decisions. Therefore, with this approach the textbook is simply a resource. Therefore, when you realize the concepts you want your students to understand reflection is important that way application can be done.

It is important to realize that projects will help students develop 21^st-century skills. Thinking goes beyond subject mastery. It helps students to expand away from the traditional learning. Projects can include thinking skills like analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

As far as the 21^st century literacies, projects can prepare students for the real world. The 21^st century skills were determined by a team that examined research and conducted literature reviews, interviewed educators, etc. A model that highlights Digital-Age Literacy, Inventive Thinking, Effective Communication, and High Productivity was the result. According to UNESCO literacy if defined as: the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute, using printed and written material associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals. To develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society. There are a wider range of skills that need to be learned in order to live in a digital world that is increasing. For example, creativity and innovation. Therefore, literacy requires students to be independent, aware, and productive citizens of society. I think that this is important to be aware of because these are the skills that the 21^st century requires.

There are several learning functions. They include:

·         Ubiquity-quality of tools that support project learning.

·         Deep learning-help students make sense of “raw” information on the Web.

·         Making things visible and discussable-showing rather than telling.

·         Expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community-students can use the Web to express their ideas and build a society around interests that are shared.

·         Collaboration-tools like wikis, office applications, etc. that help people learn together.

·         Research-search engines, tagging tools help students make sense and organize what they need to over the Web.

·         Project management-helps students manage time, work, sources, feedback, drafts, and products when doing projects.

·          Reflection and iteration-deep learning occurs when you examine ideas and the ideas of others.

I think concepts in this chapter relate to my teams project because all of these learning functions are included in my team building our project. It also helps my team develop the 21^st century skills of using technology. Using the project-based learning approach takes us away from the traditional approach of learning. I am definitely happy to be experiencing this different approach of learning.

Part A Epals assignment Kayleigh Thompson & Adam Fitzmaurice

https://docs.google.com/document/d/139hkTFYBoXT487Wl8jQ0NXwydmdr7HdU2n7PRPK67xI/edit?usp=sharing

Concept Map: Fitness Adam Fitzmaurice

https://bubbl.us/?h=26d089/4e6315/25mrOFDitlFNY&r=900595654

Professional Learning Communities

The teacher in the workplace has to deal with a lot of factors. What do you teach and when? How do you teach these different topics? What methods are most effective for teaching different subjects? A teacher that feels unsupported can have a hard time teaching and lead to the students not receiving the education that they deserve. In a Professional Learning Community (PLC) teachers support each other and share knowledge and techniques in order to improve their teaching standards and help the students achieve better grades and understanding of content. In a PLC time is designated for teachers to get together and share ideas, support each other, and work on improving their teaching for the students.


The benefit of a PLC is that all of the teachers are on the same page. A new teacher in the school can jump right in and be an effective teacher right away. Also a community full of different shared ideas and solution provides a larger wealth of techniques and experience than just one teacher teaching behind closed doors. In a PLC the individual teacher is still responsible for teaching his/her own class but the experience can be drawn from other teachers improving the skill and overall education throughout the school.

A PLC benefits the students also. If their is a particular problem with a student or if a student is struggling with a particular question and the teacher does not know the answer, solutions can be pooled in the PLC and a group of teachers can come to a solution that benefits each student best. The PLC opens up a wealth of knowledge and experience and its influence reaches down to the student so that even a new teacher can use an experienced technique to help the student.\

In a PLC the teachers have a shared vision that is discussed and improved on during designated meeting times. Staff are not just involved in creating the shared vision but each staff member helps make goals based on the vision and the staff help each other reach those goals.

The PLC relates to Project Based Learning because in PBL the students need a wealth of resources and in the PLC a teacher can either provide the resource using another teacher or the PLC can come up with ways of bringing resources to the school in order to help the students. This creates a better learning environment for the student who is working on their project, and the student recieves valuable information from better resources from the PLC.