Anne Davis shared on one of the blog projects she had carried out with her 4th and 5th grade (Pri 4 & 5) students using current events “as a springboard to teach critical thinking skills and media awareness, and to make connections with the school’s curriculum objectives.”
You can read more about Project NewsQuest, but here’s some of the things you may find exciting too:
– “… we progressed to peers checking their work to times when there was no checking, except for their own proofreading.”
– “They discussed the news, wrote about their heroes, wrote poetry, expressed their opinions, … They had choices within these perimeters.”
– “Then one day I received an email from Will Richardson, … (and) that led to an exciting collaboration between his class in New Jersey and mine in Georgia. … The high school students mentored the elementary students.”
Some learning points from the posting:
– The atmosphere of give-and-take which the teacher creates in the class
– Students are encourated to write what they’re really thinking.
– Comments for postings gave students great motivation and encouragement.
– Scaffolding is required to put students on-task, especially at the beginning. And it’s evident in all other postings throughout the blog which provided constant guidance and encouragement as the project progressed.
Check out students’ (4th grader, 5th grader) own reflection on the blogging experience too. I especially like Question 13: “Looking back, what would you do differently if you could go back.” and you can truly see how the students reflected on their own learning experience.
This example should set many of our minds thinking how we can explore similar possibilities (and the possiblities after it’s started) with our students. Thanks Anne for the great sharing 🙂
To change or not to change?
Change is painful some will say, not to mention when we are going to change a platform for the school’s LMS/CMS, yes, the word ‘compatibility’ is seen flashing in our mind, and that translates into many hours of sweat and blood of teachers.
The EQ article “Changing Course Management Systems: Lessons Learned” describes one such experience by the North Dakota University. Findings from the chart confirmed that compatibility is indeed an issue, with items ‘not intact’ or converted _partially_.
Interestingly, at the end of the day, though faced with the problems and the fear, a majority of the faculuties are willing to make the transition. Perhaps it’s the educator in us that led us to move on when we believe that changes will improve our quality of teaching to students. Not quite sure if it’s the case here though. Nvm.
