Task_3-2 Reflection

What roles did members of your team have this week?
This weeks assignment was to discuss SLO's and how we will manage student learning at the same time.  So this week Vanessa and I covered the first question in which we were to discuss how students will be able to learn from this lesson that they will not be able to take from any other.  The other members of the group had taken it upon themselves to discuss the right prerequisites in order for students to succeed.

Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute?
I contributed by discussing the the positive aspects of what our subject (6th grade Science) had to offer. We discussed the solar system and how that can be beneficial to student education and student learning.  I also provided a NASA site which also promotes student learning and how science and subject like the solar system is beneficial to how students learn about the world around them.

What worked well this week?
This week what worked well is the fact that i was able to wrangle everyone up on the first day of the new week and tell everyone what this weeks assignment was this week.  It gave everyone a chance to reflect on what needs to be done this week in which the groups could be divided early and the research could be started the day of and in turn, the work will be dished out early in the week so we as a group are able to move forward into the next available assignment.

What will you do differently next time?
Next time i think i would work even more closely with my assignment partner.  I feel that we have worked well together but if we worked together more closely than i would be able to finish the assignment earlier with plenty of time to do any editing that needs to be done, if any.

Task 3-1 Reflection

What roles did the members of your team have this week?
I believe that it was Ms. Natalie Daley this week that pulled our group together in order for us to complete this group assignment.  Everyone thereafter were broken down into separate groups of what the benefits of PBL were and another was to cover the concerns that many have with PBL.

Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute to the group?
My job this week was to identify and expose the common concerns when utilizing PBL in the classroom environment.  Through several online articles I have found several concerns as to what the common issues were when using PBL in the classroom such as PBL may deviate and confuse young children who are used to the Lecture type of teaching and learning ability.

What worked well this week?
What worked the most this week was the fact that we were able to communicate effectively and efficiently through our emails.  From there the use of a shared Google document made the rest of work seem simple.

What will you do differently next time?
Next time, i think i will utilize using everyone's personal email rather than using their school email address.  Since everyone checks their primary email daily i believe that communicating through personal emails about professional course work everyone will be able to reply and act with a much quicker pace.

Week #9 Current_Event

This week, Group 2 has decided to focus on the use of Educational Games in the classroom environment.  To further the discussion on educational games I fully agree with Natalie Daley's argument on it.  It seems that younger children today have become even more tech savvy than when we were back in the 90's when the internet was a relatively new thing.  Nowadays, I'm able to spot a young elementary aged child with a Tablet or an iPad.  It should be our role as effective educators to incorporate a child's understanding of the technological world around us and expose it to their learning ability such as games of phonics, spelling, and basic arithmetic.  Natalie explained it best: "Educators are always trying to find ways to make material and concepts relevant to students." So why not begin at a point where students are highly adept to these two subjects that younger students excel at: games and technology.

Task 2- ScreenR Reflection

Having completed this review of a web 2.0 tool would you use this tool in your classroom?

 Using Storybird.com to improve student learning is a a great tool for improving creative thinking in the classroom.  Storybird was designed to help students to not just be the writers of their own personal stories but to also be the illustrator and the designer of their pieces as they see fit in their image.  Websites that improve students morale and creative thinking is something that i will always incorporate in the classroom.

Prior to this activity, how did you typically select website or tools to use?

 Like any other resourceful college student in order to find a web tool to the exact specifications of our current event i Google'd for my answer.  From the answers given to me i looked for sites that highlighted or listed the top web 2.0 tools in the classroom.  I've often come across sites that incorporate Top 20 web tools in the classroom and found tool that are perfectly fit for the common High School English Classroom.

Do you have any ideas, comments or feedback on improving the web 2.0 tool selection process?

 Having to go through sites that capture student work and prove to be an effective learning tool in the classroom have been exceptional topics to go through for our current events.  There are no changes that really come to mind that could help improve the selection process any more effectively.