Project based learning seems to be a great idea, if
executed correctly. The first thing that stuck out to me in this chapter is the
ideal that the traditional textbook way of teaching can be somewhat efficient,
but not open-ended. The results of traditional teaching are “predictable and
often generic” compared to project based learning which offer more contextual,
real world learning. When talking about the “big idea” for a project, you need
to consider all avenues and directions that said project could possibly go in
order to effectively choose the best one. Kathy Cassidy (pg. 44) utilizes the
outside world to determine the big picture in her project pertaining to what
the number 1,000 means to her elementary school students. By doing this, Kathy
allows her students to interact with their classroom, their school, community,
and the world with just the click of a button. Project based learning and the
big picture are all about incorporating the real world into the classroom and
paying attention to the children’s interests and experiences rather than just
teaching the facts that your curriculum says. Other things that should be
considered when deciding the big picture of a project are:
*real world context
*integration with other subjects
*resources/technology
*community
*new skills/stepping outside of
the box
21st century skills are something that
are directly correlated to PBL. As educators, we are teaching children for jobs
that are not even created yet that will be working with technology that hasn’t
even been invented yet. In order to keep up with the times, we need to teach
out students the skills they will need to constantly keep adapting to the
change in the world throughout time. 21st century skills “stretch
intellectual muscles in ways traditional learning activities may not”. 21st
century skills and literacies prepare learners for the “world beyond school” by
stepping outside of the educational box our society has locked us up in. 21st
century literacies address “the different range of skills required to learn and
live in an increasingly digital world” as well as teaching students to become
independent, aware, and productive citizens. It’s unrealistic to think that
every single student you ever have is going to be part of the 1% and extremely
successful, but it’s not absolutely impossible for that to happen. As
educators, we need to prepare our students in everyway that we possibly can in
order to help them be successful when that school bell rings at the end of the
day. A way that we can proficiently integrate these techniques into our
teaching is through many different learning functions working together, or the
building blocks of whole self learning. The main idea of learning functions is
to treat the child as a person rather than just a student. Making things visual
and discussable was the learning function that stuck out to me most for the
simple fact that when entering the real world, there are not going to be any
more tests, papers, or essays where you can voice your opinion, you will need
to be able to “show not tell” what you want to get across. It is important we stress
to our students that effective communication and socialization are extremely important
skills to master, it’s easy to live in a little classroom bubble where everyone
is friends with each other, but the real world isn’t necessarily like that. This chapter relates to our project because
like any other project you create, you want it to be successful. While
organizing a kickball tournament, you want your point of health and community
to come across, rather than just a bunch of kids running around kicking a ball,
and in order to do that you need to look at the big picture. This ideal helps
when creating any project because if you don’t address the “point” of the
project, why even do it? Busy work is a thing of the past, education needs to
revolve around transferable, relatable, and quality skills rather than the memorization
of everything.
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