Blog Post #11 - What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

Back to the Future
I liked how he had his students make a blog post of what they learned through the projects. It is very much like a fresh take on the old style of just writing a summary. Also, I liked his idea making the students write from the prospective of the balloon after they did the balloon project. It engages both their creativity and their knowledge of the project.
When the students did the "High Hopes" project, I think it was interesting how they even included ....well, the world into their project. They asked for people to send in their "high hopes" and they received them.
He says through what he does, he is "overpowering kids to want to learn on their own." He is also giving them the resources to collaborate with people, become globally involved, and much more.
It is also incredible how he incorporated the student into his classroom even though she could not actually attend. I am sure that made a huge impact on the student herself and all the other students in his class. I think that is a wonderful example to set for the other students who could attend.

Blended Learning Cycle
It takes online, mobile, and classroom leaning and blends them together into the classroom and combines it with the learning cycle (engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate).

6 Parts to his Blended Learning Cycle
1) Begin with a good question
2) Get the students to investigate and experiment
3) Show a video to the students
4) Elaborate -maybe a reading is what he suggested
5) Review -meet with the students to make sure they understand
6) Summary -the way he does this is with a quiz

Link to photo source: Rebecca Lathem's Blog

Super Digital Citizen
I liked how he asked the students a question and then had them talk among themselves before he spoke with them about the question he asked.
Incorporating the comic books is a great idea. It makes them think creatively, work on skills such as their writing and the content, and it is something that grabs their attention. This project was also important because it reinforces what they should know about being digital citizens and being safe online.

Project Based Learning
This video tells about teachers trying to blend 3 classes to cross curriculum and create a better learning experience for the students. According to the video this method helps students. It engages them and helps them gain a deeper understanding.

Roosevelt Elementary's PBL program
In this video, the speakers describe PBL as in depth learning, integrated thematic instruction, real-world problem based, research based, involves projects and presentations. This take cooperation and collaboration between both students and teachers.
The speakers describe that they give the students choice in this method. It is trusting them and giving them ownership. It gives them skills they can use in the 21st century. Makes them responsible to teach other and depend on their peers. They encourage community participation. This is a different approach to teaching than what is traditionally used. Through this method they become more engaged. Students are given the opportunity to have a spark to question and learn about their world. They are also given the opportunity to work with other across the school and community.