Sara's Reading reflection #7

There are different levels of classroom discussion that makes everything more productive.  The first level is from teacher to teacher.  Teachers collaborate with each other to plan about activities and assessments for the students.  Planning is key for teachers to give explicit instruction and help students understand their assignment.  If teachers can't talk face to face, they should use other forms communication to communicate with each other like blogs and wiki.  The second level is student to student.  Students communicate with each other to talk about their project and what they learn thus far.  It is really important for students to talk to their teammate or group members to keep up with what is going on and who is doing what.  Communicating is a really important skill for students to learn because that is how everyone talks to each other.  The last level is a teacher to student.  Teacher to one student is not normal these days unless no one uses project based learning.  Teachers usually give a big announcement in the beginning of class or the project to inform everyone of what they need to know.  There isn't a lot of one on one time because students work together on their project and will occasionally ask the teacher for assistance. When teachers check in on their students, there are some questions to ask themselves.  For procedural purposes, are you on schedule with the right materials? See how the team work is going and see if students are splitting up jobs evenly among group members.  For understanding, listen to what the students have to say and asking questions based off that.  The last check is self assessment, you have to find out what students think about the project and how it is coming along so far.  Journals and blogs are encouraged so they pour out what they think.When students use technology, there are many benefits.  Students learn to communicate and create goals for themselves.  They stay organized collaborate with other members of their team.  Using technology helps them reach out and broader there thinking.  There is troubleshooting when it comes to 21st century skills.  This teaches students that there are real life situation they have to face.  Dilemmas will come up when something will never or always or sometimes go your way.  Students have to learn to interact and communicate with each other and really have to work out the kinks to make it work.  All of these concepts are exactly what me and my teammate are going through.  We have explanations from our professor and after that, it is our job as a team to figure out what we are doing and help each other out.  We keep blogs to communicate with each other.  Not everything goes our way and we have to push a little harder to get the outcomes we want.