Blog Post # 11

What Can We Learn About Teaching and Learning From These Teachers?

Brian Crosby is an elementary school teacher in Sparks, Nevada. In this video he talks about a hot air balloon project conducted by his class. For this project his students created their own balloons and attached cameras to them. They took the balloons outside and released them into the air. Then they were able to go back to their computers and track their balloons online. Once this was complete the students then had to go back and write a story as if they were the balloon and tell about the flight experience from beginning to end. Mr. Crosby stated he would have his students embed their science videos into their blogs and then write about them. I though this was a great idea and would be helpful for teachers in evaluating what each student understood of the project they completed. This also met several Language/Writing standards. It also gave the students an audience. They had people from all over comment on their air balloon project. They even got to Skype with another classroom that was interested in learning how to make the balloons themselves. This gave the students in Mr. Crosby's room an opportunity to become a teacher themselves. 

Paul Andersen is a Biology teacher in Bozeman, Montana. In his video The Blended Learning Cycle, Mr. Anderson explains how he uses blended learning in his science class. Below is an image from his presentation that shows the two parts he brings together to create the blended cycle.

He begins with a good question that will really get the students interest. Then they begin to investigate that question. He may also use videos at times that the students can watch at home. This helps to free up time for other things during class. Next he says they will begin to elaborate on the subject which will lead to more in depth understanding. After elaboration the class will begin their review, Mr. Anderson will meet with small groups and asks questions to check understanding before giving a summary quiz. 

Sam Payne is a 4th grade teacher. His video about  building comics was my favorite from this blog. He is teaching his class what it means to be a good digital citizen. He asks them to discuss in groups what kind of information the internet gives and what it takes to be a good digital citizen. The students respond that a good digital citizen is someone who chooses to act safely and responsibly while they are on the internet. After this discussion the students begin to build a superhero on their computers. They each had their own unique look and name. Then the students began to create a story that presents and unsafe situation while using the internet. The story is in the form of a comic and the superhero they created comes to save the day. Once the students are done creating their comic they move around the room and read their fellow classmates stories. I thought this was such a fun and creative way to teach safety while using the internet. I know there will be parents that are hesitant about their students being on the internet. This would be a great project for the children to do to show their parents that they are learning how to make good decisions and use the internet safely. 

The last video I would like to mention for this blog is a video on the PBL program at a school called Rosevelt Elementary. If you are just beginning to learn about project based learning this would be a good video to watch. It breaks down the PBL definition and process in a simple form that is easy to understand and shows how students are actively engaging in it. The teachers also mention that PBL enables students to have a sense of choice and ownership through their work. The thing that stood out to me the most in this video was when the teachers mentioned that by the students presenting their work to their peers, they are learning public speaking skills at an early age. This will help eliminate any fears they may have about it down the road. I will say that I am not a fan of speaking in public and I wish that I was given more opportunities at a younger age to help conquer that fear.