Our Final Garden Concept Map

Reading Reflection #11

1. As a result of using the Project-based learning approach, students and teachers alike should feel as though they have gone on a journey together while collecting memories and learning. Completing a project should open new doors for future projects and students should be able to see connections with their learning thus far.
2. To “bring your project home,” you can start thinking of ways to make your project better in the future. You can see which technology helped benefit this project, what type of classroom organization flows best, what kind of community leaders you'd like to reach out to next, etc. Make sure to continue to collaborate with the same colleagues you did during the project. It's a good idea to debrief on the project and find its positives and negatives. Also, share your insights with other teachers. If your project worked well, find ways to encourage other teachers to use this project, or give helpful tips on how to have a successful project. Try to enter a contest. This provides even more critical feedback on your project, as well as exposure for all that you and your students have accomplished. Finally, make sure you reflect on the project and remember to enjoy the journey.
3. Concepts in this chapter relate to our project because we are currently in the phase of wrapping it up. We are putting together all that we've done by creating a website and sharing it with our colleagues. We're taking the time to reflect on all the steps we took to create our project, and we are appreciating all that we've accomplished!

Reading Reflection #11

1. As a result of using the Project-based learning approach students will become more independent and teachers will be more prepared. Teamwork will be used among students who are working on projects and also among the teachers who are getting ready for their projects. By having students participate in a project-based learning approach we are setting them up for more success in the future by preparing them for the real world and having them develop their 21st century skills.
2. Some ways you can "bring your project home" is to praise your students. Teacher need to acknowledge all the new skills their students have acquired so that the students know their teachers are proud of them and so that they can be proud of themselves. Teachers and students together need to share what they've done and what they've learned and reflect on things that can be changed or improved for next time.
3. Both of these ideas relate to my project and future classroom because they are things that are necessary for me to do. There are a number of different benefits to participating in project-based learning and this chapter and this book has proven that it is an essential part of the classroom.

Reading Reflection #10

1. It is important to set aside time for reflection because if a classroom is moving at a fast pace, reflection helps students to realize their accomplishments. It also helps them to to look back on what they've learned and to create their own meaning from it. Reflection also helps students to see the big picture set up within their classrooms.
2. Students need to reflect and elaborate because it helps to anchor their learning. By reflecting and elaborating students are able to think for themselves and become more independent. By elaborating students should be thinking about why something worked or didn't work within their project. As teachers it is our job to help them expand on these thoughts they have while reflecting and elaborating if they are struggling to come up with any ideas.
3. Schools can build tradition and identity by connecting their students to their school. By calling your students by their school mascot or reference what the school stands for students will be able to build an identity and keep up with the tradition. By doing this students will feel encouraged and thus their learning will be able to excel and they will be able to accomplish more.
4. It is important to celebrate a project after it is done because the students worked hard on their assignment and they should be proud of what they've done. By referencing the agenda or calendar and putting projects on display students will be able to celebrate their work. Actually having a celebration or a party works well after a large project too.
5. All of these ideas relate to my project and my future classroom because because they are all great ideas and tools that I will be able to implement into my own teaching. 
6. 
   

Reading Reflection #10

1. Setting aside time for reflection is important because it can help students feel good about what they've accomplished as well as allow time for the information to stick. They need the time to reflect on what they've done and how far they've grown personally.
2. The reason students need to reflect and elaborate on their experience during projects is because it allows them to think about what they learned, what they liked or disliked about it, how far they've grown as learners, and what they want to learn in future projects. It's best to let students reflect on the accumulation of their project because that may cause students to learn the fundamental content better. It's also a great way for students to think about their creative growth and how they overcome obstacles.
3. Schools build tradition and identity by establishing traditions like having successful sports or academic teams. They can also build tradition by having exemplary project work that connects them to the community. In the community, identity is created by allowing them to volunteer in the learning and experience of the school which creates a mutual respect of each other.
4. Celebrating a project is incredibly important because it gives an ultimate motivation for students to do their best. If they know their results will be shown with community members or parents they have a bigger drive and goal to create a good identity for their school. Student's can put together a slide show, diorama, or fill their whole classroom with photographs. Something that encompasses the whole project and makes them feel good about what they're doing.
5. Concepts in this chapter relate to my project because we are in the final stages of our project. We are creating a website that represents the culmination of all we've done. We will present our information which will celebrate the work we've created in the class. It's also blogs like these that allow us to reflect on all the work we've done. 

Reading Reflection #9

1. A method of understanding prior-knowledge of students is to assess what they already know by asking them specifically what they know about a certain subject or to have them write out what they know through a graphic organizer such as a KWL.
2. It is important to establish anchors for a project because you are able to get a sense of where the students are starting and how well they are meeting their goals. As a teacher this is important for project-based learning because the students are doing so much independent work that we need to be checking in with them.
3. Several ways to assess what students learned during the project is to use the standards set up from the  different area disciplines. You could ask what they have learned, ask them for feedback, and not consider what you want to measure but how you will assess improvement.
4. All of these things relates to my project because they are ideas I can use in my own classroom.

Reading Reflection #9

1. A method of understanding prior-knowledge of students is to find deliberate strategies that show not only what they created, but the teamwork, effort, and creativity that went into the project as well. To do this, one may follow The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standard, and Student Testing which encourages teachers to use multiple types of evaluation. 
2. It's import to establish anchors for a project because it's hard to understand how far a student's learning has come, if their beginning point has not been observed. Knowing that all students will start at a different place and end at a different place encourages the teacher to differentiate instruction to allow all different types of learners to be successful.
3. There are several ways to assess what a student has learned throughout the project. For starters, the way that the grades are represented in the grade book matters. There should be various categories; such as, understanding of content, written communication, critical thinking, and work ethic. Simply asking a student what they learned can show a teacher the student's connection to the material. It's also possible to ask students to create something new about what they learned as to prove that the students are able to transfer their knowledge to other disciplines.
4. This chapter relates to my topic/project because we are at the point of the project where our students need to be evaluated on what they've learned. In our technology class, we as students, are experiencing the same thing. We are creating our website as a representation to show everything that we've learned throughout this semester. It's a great evaluation tool, as well as a way for us to be able to show off everything that we have developed and learned.
   

Reading Reflection #8

1. Some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom is to share your experiences and work with colleagues or by posting on a blog. You can have your students do this as well in order for them to connect with the community or the outside world. This way the students are being connected with real people and having real life exchanges with a live audience. 
2. The EAST Initiative Model emphasizes student-driven learning authentic project based learning, technology as tools, and collaboration. It is a program that extends from lower elementary all the way to high school. This program was started 18 years ago and has been a great success. It allows students to be independent and ready for the real world. It also is a great way for teachers to be prepared and ready for what to teacher their students.
3. Reasons to let students "lead" their projects is because the best way to make sure someone understands a concept is to have them teach it to somebody else. The students are incredibly comfortable with their projects and as the project progresses they will become more confident and want to take over the role of explanation on what is going on to the rest of the class. 
4. All of this is relevant to my project because they are all things that I can use in my own classroom. The EAST Initiative Model is a great tool to use for my classroom in order to see the best outcome and allowing students to connect and lead their own project discussions helps them to become independent thinkers and doers in the community.

Reading Reflection #8

1. Some ways to build connections and branch out beyond the classroom can be by integrating technology into the curriculum. When students know that others can view and comment on their work, they become more motivated to do their best job. When students are able to work with actual experts in the field, this inspires and encourages them to continue. They can build connections with people in their communities as well as people throughout the world with the use of technology. Teachers can connect with other teachers across the globe to establish a curriculum of sharing ideas and cultures.
2. The EAST Initiative Model stands for Environmental and Spatial Technologies. Students in this model use sophisticated technology to solve community problems that interest them. It contains four essential ideas: student driven learning, authentic project based learning, technology as tools, and collaboration. Along with that, it is crucial for teachers to gain training and support. Their roles in the classroom shift to facilitator, which dramatically changes the way they're used to teaching. At the end of each school year there is an annual conference where students can showcase their projects.
3. Letting students “lead” their projects is an excellent way for students to participate in more critical thinking as well as a motivation for deeper learning. If students can choose a topic that they're passionate about, then they can lead themselves to their own understanding while still using the necessary 21st century tools. Leading themselves is something that is necessary in the real world, so when teachers are comfortable with their students abilities, its beneficial for them to give their students the reign.
4. Concepts in this chapter relate to our project because we are trying to continually find ways for our students to branch out. We have pen pals in Chile that allow us to more deeply understand the differences in cultures as well as specifically the environments in which we live. We have local experts that come in and help our students achieve their goals and help educate them on the current problems in our community. These concepts are very necessary to any project based learning project.
   

Reading Reflection 11

With a PBL approach you obtain knowledge and skill sets and learn about team work and collaboration.  You collect information and produce artifacts and gather new ideas.  Then you should think about the PBL approach as an open door to more new learning and ideas.

This involves sharing and critquing your work and your student's work so you can improve your PBL next time.  Asking questions like, "Did we use technolgy effectively, enough, not enough?"  Did you gain insight into the world or into the worlds of your students?  Use various websites to share your discoveries, archive your PBL on the web.  Another idea is to become a resource for other teachers.  And having your students be teachers to the approach is also an effective idea.  Entering a contest can be powerful, as well as considering publication in a professional journal. 

The most important thing to remember is that you built on your relationship and level of trust of your student's and that can ultimately help them succeed.

I think after our project is complete, we could share it with other schools in the district or better yet post a video of  it on Utube. 

Reading Reflection 10

It is often said it's not the destination that is important but the journey.  With students in a classroom you need to celebrate their successes in some way.  And also we need to thoughtfully reflect on the project and the steps we took and what worked and what didn't and what could we have done differently.  And finally what else is there to discover? 

As a teacher, setting time aside for the sake of reflection is very important.  It can be relaxed and a time to think and breathe and really pause.  Because students are often rushed and teachers as well, it is crucial to give an opportunity to think about the learning experience. 

It gives students a chance to ask questions, and try and figure out why it is ( if it is) important for them to be involved in this PBL.  Did it change them in someway?  How is the world better/worse for their efforts?  Maybe it's their community that was affected.  They can reflect on new skills, different perspectives, new realizations and new questions. 

With learning and growth comes new feelings, with the end of projects more feelings.  They need a chance to process those feelings.  Help point out positives.  If the school does not have a tradition of PBL now they do, they were the group that.........raised $1,000 for a homeless shelter, etc. 

Once they do that, they can have pride and take pride in their efforts, class and school.  At the end of the project or during you should celebrate as a class, the hard work and effort involved.   This is an inclusive time.  Small and large successes and efforts should be noted and recognized.  Progress should be as well. 

I love parties, celebrations.  Students can be excited and help plan the type of celebration, who to invite how to include say the 3rd grade pen pals in the party via Skype, etc.  This is a great time of sharing and establishing new norms and recognizing outstanding accomplishments.

This will be a part of our garden project because 3rd graders love a good celebration!

Reading REflection 9

Assessment is a constant.  It comes in many forms and that is no different in PBL.  The authors emphasize active learning and with this also comes active assessment.  We use both formative and summmative assessments throughout the process.  To understand prior knowledge of students in the assessment process you have to know your students and ask the poignant questions that get to the heart of what they know and what they want to know.  Formal "testing" is not the only way.

Achors are important  because everyone is starting from a different place.  And this helps hold us accountable for just how far in the end that they've traveled in their journeys of discovery.  You want to have quality in the learning experiences and not testing for the sake of testing but to determine which direction to lead them in. 

You can assess students by having them grade/assess themselves, by having them manipulate something in the projects, or create something with their information.  You can have portfolio assessment and anecdotal assessment.  Another way to assess, is to simply ask them what they've learned.  This could be done orally in a paper, or in a creative way.  A play, a presentation, a poem, podcast etc. 

Summarizing an synthesizing what they've learned is also important and figuring out what questions they still have would guide future inquiry and learning. 

When doing our school garden project, you have to have ways to assess the students involved.  Was it through the excel graphs that they created on plant growth?  Was it through the collaborative process with penpals in Chile? 

Reading Reflection 8

Building connections and branching out of the classroom can be done by integrating technology, using tools that share information, virtual pen pals, a classroom blog, podcast, digital story, etc.  Students also need the experience of reaching out to professionals for expertise and for networking and collaboration.    This can be facilitated through the teacher or the students or a parent, etc.  You also can connect to recent newsworthy stories and research being done in the field.

When students meet with field experts, they need to be aware of concise questioning and preparation.   New conversations can be started through these new relationships. 

The EAST model which stands for Environmental and Spatial Technologies Inititative network of schools shows how schools can solve problems and make improvement in their communities through the use of technology.  This reminded me of a lecture when they were using GPS systems to track the horned toad out in the desert.  The kids really got into it, all due to a collaboration between a local university and the school and the ongoing research the kids got to be a part of.  Which included field work.  It seems to be a model that works,  It is student driven learning, authentic and project based, uses technology and uses collaboration.  It got me thinking about writing grants to fund a GPS in our classroom etc. 

I like the idea of letting students lead.  It takes some pressure off the teacher, allows for creativity with the kids and also helps develop leadership skills.   There are numerous benefits to an approach like this with the goal being creating independent learners who are good at asking questions and finding answers as well as solving problems. 

I think with our garden project, giving the locus of control to the students can empower them and make them take pride in their work and school and allow them to brainstorm ideas as well as adding a level of responsibility to their decision making.

Reading Reflection 7

How to keep a project moving along?

Basically good communication is needed between students between students and teachers  and from teacher to teacher and through the use of technology.  Teachers need to support their students and check in with them.  We can do this by asking higher order questions.  Ones that make them think more and become independent learners.  For example, asking open ended questions versus yes/no questions.

21st Century skills involve good communication and teachers need to be mindful of thoughtful questions that lead students through the inquiry process.  Checking in with students can be done through teamwork, understanding, self assessment, and procedurally.  Projects should progress in an orderly fashion and ideally everyone should get along and work together.  By being a thoughtful teacher you can monitor for this and be a good facilitator as well.  During projects and the use of technology you have to have goals in mind and keep questioning what is the usefulness in utilizing this particular type of technology.  And you have to be knowledgeable about the technology. 

Troubleshooting is also important as well as managing conflict and using formative assessment and student self assessment throughout the process of the project. 

Reading Reflection #7

1. The different levels of discussions within the classroom include teacher to teacher, student to teacher and student to student. Teacher to teacher includes collaboration among colleagues. It is incredibly important and helpful if teachers and staff work together as a team so that the students benefit. Student  to teacher includes open paths of communication between these two parties. Students need to be able to tell their teachers how they are doing on their projects, what they are struggle with, what their strengths are, etc. Lastly student to student includes students working together and interacting with each other in order to problem solve.
2. While students are continuously working on their projects it is important that the teacher consistently check in with the students. This can be done in a number of ways which includes procedural questions such as how they are stay focused and on task. If they are on time with the schedule or not. Another way is to ask questions about teamwork. If everyone within the group is contributing  and how individuals are getting along. Understanding is a third area that teachers can check in with their students. Making sure that they are expanding upon their questions and that this is evident throughout their project. Lastly teachers need to make sure that they pose questions for the students to self assess themselves.
3. The benefits of students optimizing the use of technology includes reaching goals that they set for themselves, helping them to stay organized, expanding their horizon and gaining new insights. These are all great benefits for students to gain because it is helping them to grow and developing into high functioning people.
4. Some 21st-century skills that can make or break a project are troubleshooting and teamwork. Troubleshooting helps students to prepare for real-world challenges and teamwork helps students to work with fixing conflicts that might occur within the team.
5. All of these concepts relate to my project because as a teacher I will need to make sure that I am constantly checking in with my students. And that all levels of communication are being put into practice so that my students will be able to benefit in their projects. Lastly it is important that my students are exposed to technology and use them throughout their projects so they are ready for the real world.

Reading Reflection #7

1. The levels of classroom discussion are teacher to teacher, student to student, and teacher to student. Teacher to teacher must be a constant conversation with a motive to improve the project and work to collaborate how the project can be most effective. Student to student discussion should be a way for students to work on their communication skills as well as to keep their team on track. Students benefit from this type of discussion because it allows for students to gain a deeper understanding and meaning to the project. Student to teacher discussion is less frequent in project based learning because there will be less time and need for teacher based lectures. Instead, teachers should be circulating the room more and developing their listening skills and imputing information when needed.
   
2. There are several types questions for “checking in” on students during a project. The first being procedural; making sure the deadlines and checkpoints are being met on time. Teamwork questions make sure that students are getting along and progressing appropriately on their projects. This can be done through a private online survey. Understanding based questions encourage students to push themselves to a higher understanding. Self-assessment questions can be addressed as a response in a project journal or blog so teachers can see where the students think they lie in the process of the project.
   
3. The benefits to students when optimizing the use of technology are that students gain new insights into how to communicate with a culturally diverse audience, it can help them stay organized, can expand their horizons by connecting to the broader community and experts in the community. Most importantly, the technology should assist them with their final learning goals.
   
4. The 21st-century skills that can make or break a project are troubleshooting and teamwork. Troubleshooting allows children to understand that real-world projects contain real world challenges. They need to be able to learn from their setbacks in order to get the project back on track, otherwise, that can break the project. Teamwork is another skill that is important in project based learning. Students must be able to learn how to manage their own conflicts, this is a real-life skill that they need. Being able to manage the team's conflict will allow for a successful project.
   
5. Concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project because as a group, we are working in teams, and any conflict that arises we must learn to deal with. We also have to be able to help each other when we have issues with technology or any set backs with a project. If we did not have these skills, then our assignments would be greatly flawed. We use technology to optimize our experience, as well as the "students" that we plan lessons for." The types of higher-order questions necessary to inspire deeper thinking for the students are great things to keep in mind for our teaching futures.
   

Reading Reflection #6

1. Technology tools encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths by teaching them to be independent. By asking students to assess the credibility of sites we are asking them to thinking more and doing this will help them to develop these assessment skills and work on creating their own thoughts. Tools such as blogs allow students to share their thoughts and become more reflective. As students get more experience with different kinds of projects they will be able to know which type of project they do better with. Another technological tool that helps students to be more self-reflective is the ProfilerPRO website. It is a survey tool that shows individual characteristics within each student.
2. Some ways you can get a students' mind ready for a project is through an organizer such as the K-W-L. This helps them to think about what they already know about the subject they will be working on. What questions they might have about this subject and then they will be able to work independently to find websites that will help answer their questions and teach them new ideas about the said subject. 
3.  The elements of teaching fundamentals first are that it will point the students in the right direction. By using a tool such as the K-W-L students will be able to start thinking about what they will be learning about and what they need to focus on. Students will first need to be able to work independently before starting the project. The teacher can help facilitate this by encouraging the students questions and asking them to dive further into those questions and then to set them up with reliable websites where they can find this information on their own. Another thing they need to know before they start working is what they will be assessed on. Making sure the students have a copy of the rubric that will be used to grade their work is part of the fundamentals.
4. Some ways that teachers can prepare students for using technology in their projects is to make technology readily available for them. Giving students time to explore all their technological resources is important if they are being expected to use technology. Encourage the students who understand certain websites or how to use certain resources to explain it to other students who are struggling. 
5. Some ways to promote inquiry and deep learning is to model to your students how you come up with your own questions about a subject and give them sufficient time in coming up with questions themselves. Once they  have some questions on the subject it is our job as teachers to help them expand on these questions. Often times when a student has one question it can be split up into many different paths or directions so we need to make sure we are making this evident to our students.
6. All of the concepts in this chapter will help with my project because I will need to make sure that I help my students to become technology ready and that they are confident enough to work independently to develop their own substantial questions. All of the things that I have talked about are things that I need to make sure I am working on with my students so that they are skilled with 21st century tools and ready to work on their projects.

Reading Reflection #6

1. Technology tools can encourage students to be reflective and evaluate their own strengths by using a blog with the project where they can reflect over time. Using tools like ProfilerPRO allows you as a teacher to identify their strengths and weaknesses at the beginning of the project, and then reevaluate at the end to see their progress. Also, other survey tools like SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang allow them to evaluate their progress in relation to the group.
2. Several ways in which you can get students’ minds ready for a project are by having them complete a self evaluation that focuses on learning dispositions. It's important to allow your students to really think and discuss the project with others before they begin. They need to be able to see the possibilities and get excited about the journey. The teacher should introduce the project by building up the concept and using small activities and inquiry based discussions to peak their interest. Discrepant events, a thought-provoking event that challenges students in a topic that they have confidence in, and role-playing predictions, portraying something in their topic by using improvisational techniques, are two ways to excite the students minds.
3. The elements of teaching the fundamentals first are making sure that the students have the appropriate prerequisite knowledge required to independently work on the tasks given throughout the project.
4. The important steps in preparing students for using technology in the project are: to set the stage for independent inquiry. Make sure the students know their starting point and have some idea of where they are going to end up. Use the KWL process; generate everything they know, generate everything they wonder, and by using those, figure out what they want to learn! Then, share the assessment rubric, show them what you are expecting from them during this process. Prepare them to use the proper technology tools that they will need to succeed in this project. One of the ways to accomplish this is to set up a technology playground where the students can freely use the technology to discover it for themselves! Tapping student expertise allows the students to teach others, and in turn teach themselves a little more about it. Project management tools should be introduced to track each individuals progress throughout the project. It's also important to demonstrate, or find someone to demonstrate how to properly use the technology tools. 
5. Ways to promote inquiry and deep learning are giving them facts about the topic to try and decipher them themselves, give students a collection of seemingly unrelated topics that happen to be related, give them a list of transforming questions to expanding their knowledge on the topic, give them hypothetical questions to promote inquiry, and give them just a few websites with narrow information to begin research.
6. This chapter relates to our concept/project because we have used ProfilerPRO to mark our beginning knowledge on the topic. We've also used a blog throughout to reflect on our knowledge thus far. This chapter is also a great tool to knowing how to get our students excited and thinking about our project.

Reading Reflection #5

1. Before starting your project students and teachers will need to look at what materials must be used for the project. Will you use online resources, human resources with connections within the community? Will tools or supplies be needed for this project? It's important to look at all the different possibilities their are for your project so that you will know what is required in order to complete it. Another thing you will need to consider is how you will obtain all of these things. Say you are able to connect with someone from your community or a  neighboring community. How will you talk and connect with them? Will you meet up or exchange phone numbers? Should you both download Skype so that you can easily communicate?
2. It is essential that before or when the project is just getting started that you sit down with your students and write down on a class calendar when certain things should be done by. We are teaching our students how to manage their time and what exactly they should be working towards. By writing down milestones on a calendar of what should get done when we are teaching our students how to plan and organize your time. This gives the students something to work towards and something to be proud of once they have accomplished it.
3. Some of the technological applications that should be considered for each project are things that can be found online. Web-based resources are a great tool to use in the classroom because it is easily accessible and there a ton of websites out there that are kid friendly. Some useful websites for students to use during projects are blogs, Drupal, Textpattern, and Wiki. All of these websites hold the potential of finding great and helpful information. They are all similar to blogs which is a great way to reach our to people all around the world and connect with others to see what they are working on. By doing this the hope is that you will be able to share in similar stories and collaborate and work together to take each project to the next level.
4. All of this is useful for my own project because with each project that is done it is incredibly important to have a plan and a calendar set up so that everyone is on the same page of when things need to be finished by. It is also important to have a number of resources so before our project begins we need to think about this and make sure we have enough in order to accomplish what we are trying to do. Having websites that help foster this learning and using our resources is a great tool because it will be able to help students become more independent and find information on their own.

Reading Reflection # 5

1. Before starting a project with students, it is important to consider the materials needed. It's necessary to find what supplies, tools, are offered by the school, or if it's a possible option for parents or other supporters to donate. If the desired materials are not available at the school, send an e-mail to parents or community members. If there is unfamiliar technology involved, find what's important for the students to understand before starting the project. Find ways to introduce them to the new tools. Are there experts needed to complete the project? If so, who can you contact, and how can you contact them? Are they available in person or does a system like Skype need to be used? If you are working with other teachers on this project, figure out a good way to divide the work load. One of the most important things is to set up a deadline calendar to ensure that the student's stay on track throughout the project.
2. Teachers’ and students’ management needs are vast. Student's must be organized into groups with a mix of skills. There must be some opportunities for student's to work in groups, partners, and by themselves. To do so effectively, it is necessary for students to be evaluated not only on the content of the project, but how they are working with their groups. The assessments take various forms such as quizzes, to conversation, and written reflection. Teacher's must manage this by monitoring, observing, interacting, and analyzing the student's progress and communication. Teacher's must provide structures that support a productive learning environment as well as have methods to get resources to students. Student's must have tools that manage their time and flow of work, a way to manage their materials, collaboration tools, and ways to get feedback on their work.
3. A technology application that should be considered while doing the project is the use of a Wiki. It's a shareable tool that allows for collaboration while linking several various tools. Another good tool is to use blogs. 
4. The concepts in this chapter relate to my project because it provides ways of getting started with a project. Project Based Learning can seem so time consuming and daunting, but this was a good checklist of things to think about. Also, the use of management and how teachers and students can work effectively on projects. In our project, it's very important for our students to collaborate with experts in the field. It's important for teachers to be outlining and providing this for students. The technology applications also directly apply to our project because we are using a blog to develop and collaborate in our group!

Chapter 5 Reading Reflection

These are some things that should be considered before starting a project with students.  Plan wisely.  Front load before you engage students, and consider your resources that will be effective in implementing your project.  Keep in mind your budget, and keep track of milestones and deadlines.  You can do this by modeling.  This is a 21st century skill, time management.  You can use a project calendar, and break tasks down and make goals doable.  Organizing is also important and team planning.  You need to make sure all students are challenged and you are meeting all learners needs. 

As they work in teams, you assess their ability to work and gather information but how are they working together.  Is everyone contributing.  Team management is very important. 

As you plan for assessment informal and formal, you can also use technology to help you.  online surveys are useful and as you begin to project plan, you need to think about the design of rubrics etc.  to help you.  In our project we will probably use Rubric Wizard in Taskstream.

For our project there are opportunities to assess progress along the way.  The team approach will be very important as we divide up responsibilities and find and develop our strengths and interests.

Technology can also help teachers communicate with students and others, and students can use technology to help them mange time and work flow, they can collaborate with others, for example our sister school in Chile. 

Learning management systems such as Desire2Learn are useful tech. tool.  Wikis are easily edited web pages, and blogs can  be useful as well.  And personalized web pages can be helpful as well.

Chapter 4 Reading Reflection

There are several things to consider when planning your project.   This chapter is about choosing and designing a project.  Basically where and how to come up with ideas.  You can come up with your own project or use one someone else has used.  As you explore/brainstorm you should look at other projects online to see what other teachers are doing.   They can come from the news, contemporary issues, student questions, and interests, collaboration with other teachers, etc. 

The most important thing is to examine the quality of the student's experience.  Things to watch out for include:
1.  Fit, good outcomes and good amount of activities.
2.  technology should be used to connect people to people and people to information.
3.  boring repetitive seasonally themed units.
4.  be aware of inquiry versus scripted projects.  Let them think a bit on their own.
self discovery!


Great projects have some flexibility, and they let student's interests and curiosity steer the learning experience.  I think this goes along with really knowing and listening to your students.  I liked the idea of setting up situations in which students ask questions, want and need to know and believe it's important to them and the community to discover the answers.   We need to look at projects as investigations.

The best ones are loosely designed, realistic, cross multiple disciplines, reach beyond school to involve others, use primary sources, design includes students learning with and from each others, and include 21st centurey skills and liertacies including communication, project management and tecnology.  And students learn by doing. 

Designing the project should include making a list of learning objectives and deciding what 21st centruy skills you may include, identify what you want to foster in students (i.e. reflection or persistance) (Boss, Krauss), evidence of understanding, the project's theme, and planning for the experience.  You can also use a project sketch to get ideas flowing.  Asset maps are also good and help you with organization and "turn to" people.  It's good in any project to know your strengths and weaknesses. And who on your team is good at what.  Tracking assets online is also a good strategy.

Reading Reflection Chapter 4

1. The potential pitfalls in project design:

• The first pitfall of project design discussed is the potential to create a project that is "long on activity, but short on learning outcomes." It's important that most of the activity be focused on the results of the activity, not just the activity itself. 

• The second intentional pitfall is technology layered over traditional practice. Technology should be integrated when natural and useful, not put into an activity because it "should be."

• The third pitfall is trivial thematic units. This states that a theme is a good thing to have, but to be effective it needs to be taken to another level. It can't just be frivolous things that don't require higher thinking, their must be other real world concepts along with it.

• The fourth pitfall is have a project that is overly scripted with many. many steps. The results of the student's projects should not be the same cookie cutter outcomes. If that is the case, then students are probably not getting enough freedom, and they aren't being allowed to make many decisions.

2. The features of a good project:

• loosely designed with the possibility of different learing paths. 
• generative, causing students to construct meaning. 
• center on a driving question or are otherwise structured for inquiry. 
• capture student interest through complex and compelling real-life or simulated experiences.
• realistic, and therefore cross multiple disciplines. 
• reach beyond school to involve others.
• tap rich data or primary sources. 
• structured so students learn with and from each other. 
• have students working as inquiring experts might.
• get at 21st-centure skills and literacies, including communication, project management, and technology use.
• get at important learning dispositions, including persistence, risk-taking, confidence, resilience, self-reflection, and cooperation.

Where project ideas come from:
Project ideas come from everywhere. Teachers can implement tried and true planned projects, project plans developed by other teachers, news stories, contemporary issues, students questions or interests, a classroom irritant put to educational use, a mash up of a great idea and a new tool. After completing one project, it's much easier to do another based on the results of the first; what worked and what didn't work.

The steps to design a project:
At the beginning, it's very important to keep in mind the school calendar, curriculum sequence, student readiness, and student interests. Then you must revisit the framework: make a list of the learning objectives, decide on the specific 21st century skills that you want to address, identify the learning dispositions that you want to foster, establish evidence of understanding, plan the project "vehicle" (theme or challenge), and plan the entree into the project experience (what will get them excited). All of these combined creatte a rough outline for designing the project.

Concepts in this chapter relate to your topic/project:
In this chapter, it's important to understand all of the things that contribute to creating a great project. As a group, we must keep in mind the potential pitfalls of a project to make our project more effective. Along with that, the features of a good project are what we need to focus on so that our student's can get the best experience and gain the most knowledge with our design. The steps to designing the project will give us a great start on how to create a productive project!

Reading Reflection Chapter 4

1. The potential pitfalls in project design include the amount of time given for the project, the technology used, the theme of the unit, and having too many steps. Projects assigned for your classroom need to be given the proper amount of time for work to get done. If a student is rushed or given too much time they will potential become off task or not understand the topic they are researching. Another possible pitfall is the improper use of technology. The appropriate tools and applications of technology need to be found by the teacher and implemented in the right way instead of using a certain technological application just to simply have technology involved in the project. Making sure each unit has a theme is important because it will help students to make critical connections. Lastly having a project that is too wordy or involves too many steps can cause teachers to lose a lot of kids throughout the explanation and development of the project. Experienced teachers lose their students daily with this potential pitfall.
2. Features of a good project include having a number of potential paths the student can take with the project, helping the students to generate meaning from the project, pushing the students to think critically and develop their own questions, getting students engaged in real life situations, show the students that they can learn from each other, allow the whole school to be involved, make sure the project involves a number of different subjects and lastly to use 21st-century skills and literacies.
3. Project ides can be found anywhere. The following is a list of a number of places ideas can be taken from: a book, other teacher's lesson plans, news stories, world issues, things that interest students, and problems that arise within the classroom.
4. The best way to take steps towards designing a project would be to make sure it has a "flexible framework", to have a thematic unit where each project and lesson can be related by to this theme and to digress away from traditional thinking.
5. All of these concepts relate to my own project because I obviously am still in the beginning stages of designing my project. I need to create ideas of what I could do for my project. I also need to make sure I consider the potential pitfalls for my project so that I don't fall privy to them and lastly I have to make sure my project contains all the features of a good project.

Reading Reflection
Chapter 3

1. Things that should be considered in finding the "Big Idea" for a project are what do you want your students to walk away with from this project. Collaborating with other teachers will help you to do this. Another way to help students remember the main idea of each project is to create projects that pertain to the real world. This way students will become more engaged because their interest will be peaked. One way I have seen this in a number of my classrooms is through the objectives for the lesson. By posting objectives and sharing them with the students they will know what is coming and what to watch for, they are being held accountable for their own learning. Then at the end of the day reviewing these objectives to see if they were met and to help the student sum up what they have learned.
2. To help students develop skills that will benefit them in the 21st century as teachers we need to make sure we are challenging them. Jane Krauss suggests that teachers use the higher-order categories of Blooms Taxonomy. This includes phrases such as analyze, evaluate, and create. By having our students work on these concepts within a project we are pushing their thinking and forcing them to look outside the box. This will help them immensely in the real world.
3. Twenty-first century literacies are asking students to collaborate and create new things everyday. This teaches the student to be involved, independent, aware, and productive. By creating this type of environment within the classroom it will become second nature for students to behave this way in the real world. By explaining to students the importance of being literate in the 21st century you are showing them how essential technological tools are and they will see that importance and learn how to use this new tool.
4.  
1. Having students see the opportunity to learn from technology inside and outside of the classroom is incredibly important. Technology is everywhere now and if we teach our students to take the initiative in learning how to use it all we are setting them up for great success in the world they are growing up in.
2. Since anybody can post anything on the internet now it is important to teach our students how to evaluate the technology they are using. Students need to be comfortable with looking at websites and evaluating their credibility. As teachers it is our job to scaffold them and model for them the right way to approach new websites.
3. The world we live in now allows information to be constantly at the tip of our fingers so it is vital that we teach our students how to organize and represent their data in a visual way. By highlighting what is the main idea or what is most important while using technology we can from that point show our students how to take the best notes and represent them in a visual way so when they go back to look at them again they are able to quickly recall what they learned.
4. With all the social media that is surround our students we need to be able to show them how to positively and effectively communicate our discoveries. Showing students things such as blogs and postings that certain interest groups share is a good way to go about doing this.
5. Collaboration with colleagues is always important. Making sure that lines of communication are open between teachers is essential and allows for discussion on how to better each teachers classroom and develop more projects while involving as much technology as possible.
6. If teachers are going to implement technological projects into their classroom they need to make sure they show their students how to find credible resources online. Students need to learn how to do research on the web and use what is available to them.
7. Planning and organizing for a project is always a must and by providing our students with website and programs that can assist in this process we will be exposing our students to the many benefits to technology and all that it has to offer.
8. After the project is all over reflection is a must if our students are going to learn from what they have done. As teachers we need to make sure we give them the technological tools they need so they can reflect on their work and better it for next time. Blogs are a great tool for this and they are extremely accessible so there is no reason teachers should not be using blogs in their classroom.

5. Ideas that were brought up in this chapter will help benefit my project because I am creating a possible lesson for my classroom. So with all the concepts that were provided in this chapter I will be able to use them to help develop my project so that my future classroom can benefit. For example, I can now think back to all the learning function and reference them so that my project can best reflect what I have just learned.

Assignment IV Penpals

This is a part of the Penpals project for our Garden to Farmer's Market Project.

Websites for Evaluation

http://www.gardenweb.com/
 http://www.kidsgardening.org/
 http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/HealthierKids/TeachingGardens/Teaching-Gardens_UCM_436602_SubHomePage.jsp

Reading Reflection #3

1. For finding the "Big Idea" of a project, a few things must be considered. A teacher must review the curriculum standards for the subjects, but also be able to consider the real world benefits of it. The project should be able to benefit the community in some way, because by doing that, the students have more of a purpose and are highly motivated to get involved. Brainstorming between teachers and teachers, and teachers and experts is very important. Collaborating on the different subjects and discipline possibilities for the project makes it come together.
2. The 21st century skills seem incredibly relevant to a student's future success. This allows them to report on a topic in many different ways using many forms of thinking and creativity. I like the Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Those verbs are a great guide on the ways you would like your students to think and report on their findings.
3. The 21st century literacies are the necessary thinking and learning skills that students need to be successful in the 21st century. It allows students to learn how to be independent, aware, and productive citizens; which are three skills needed to be successful. It teaches students to recognize when information is needed, what information is good, and how they can interpret and use that information.
   
4. The firsts essential learning function is ubiquity which allows students to understand how to learn any time or anywhere using devices that they already obtain. It's definitely an important life skill to have. The second is deep learning. Instead of reading and re-reporting on information that they have found, students must be bale to use other tools to organize and analyze the information they're given, which allows them to more deeply understand it. The third function is making things visible and discussable. Many times, showing a picture or visually seeing a concept as an image can help students to understand the concept. Using these tools will further develop their learning abilities. The fourth function is expressing ourselves, sharing ideas, building community. This concept is exactly how it's titled. It's using the available social media on the web to connect with others and develop learning. The fifth concept is collaboration. This involves using technology to find other experts or learners to collaborate with on certain topics. The sixth function is research. This involves using tools to filter and limit the information given on certain topics. Not all the information on a topic is necessary, so this allows students to be able to decipher the necessary information. The seventh function is project management. Using systems like this help students organize their information all in one place that they can easily access and further be successful in their learning. The eighth and final function is reflection and iteration. Using a blog can allow students to share their ideas with others effectively as well as be able to reflection their past thinking. It helps students to see information from all different sides instead of a one-sided view.
5. The concepts in this chapter allow me to see ways to help my students use technology and information in an organized way. It gives me a place to start when creating my project by giving ways to come up with the Big Idea. Overall, it's a good resource for seeing what the students should be gaining from this type of learning.

Reading Reflection 3

When starting a project the big idea should consider the framework of core concepts and processes.  If you only use a standard curriculum with typical results, learners can stagnate, and so can teachers.  Thinking of the big idea can be creative and should help you reach where you want to go. 

The question that came to my mind, is if these curriculum's and textbooks are boring and rigid, why are we using them in the first place?  I think as teaching gets more test/result driven there is a tendency to stick to the curriculum in a rigid fashion.  It takes effort and energy to think of a project, but it is worth it in terms of real world knowledge etc.  

The 21st Century skills are higher order thinking skills such as analysis , evaluation, and creativity.  The 21st Century literacy skills are inventive thinking, self direction, curiosity, creativity and risk taking, communication and productivity.  There is the boring biography assignment, and then there is the more creative biography assignment.  Literacy as the authors define it is,"Learning to be independent, aware, and productive citizens" (p. 49).  And they also mention the importance of authentic projects involving digital resources.  

The essential learning functions, 1.  Learning constantly in and out of the classroom with technology available.  2.  deeper learning and the importance of primary sources and information that isn't filtered but raw.  3.  Emphasis on show me don't tell me and using technological tools to do this  4.  Expression, sharing and building community.  Although on this one I have mixed feelings.  So many people are "tuned in"  to their IPODS and phones and the web that face to face interactions sometimes feel scarce.  If students feel they can isolate and just do everything online I question if that is healthy and useful?  5.  collaboration, working together can be a good thing.  6.  research and teaching your students to use quality sources, tagging tools and citation engines can keep them from being overwhelmed by 49 million results to a one word search.  It may also help to know how to think like a librarian and how to narrow a search from the beginning.  7.  planning, organizing, and managing a project makes it easier to complete tasks.  8.  Reflection and Iteration, considering other points of view via a blog etc.  will be useful.  

For our gardening project, our big idea will be gardening for a farmer's market and comparing a school  in Michigan and one in Chile.  As we move through the development process we need to make use of technology and various resources and work together to plan and manage and then reflect.

 

Reading Reflection #2

1. The focus for learning communities for teachers to be able to work together as a team. We create learning communities in our classrooms for our students to feel comfortable sharing their ideas but it's also important to have a professional learning community with staff and other teachers across the world. This way we can bounce ideas off each other, talk about ways we teach, and how aspects of projects are going in our classroom.
2. The benefits of having a learning community is to significantly improve the quality of time in the classroom. If teachers set up a professional learning community we will be able to discuss ideas and how to plan and implement these ideas. We can talk about how well certain aspects of a plan went or what needs to be changed. It puts teachers at ease and gives more input for the classroom so that our students are getting the best of us.
3. Learning communities affect teachers because it helps their confidence in the classroom. By being able to talk to other teachers they can connect and converse with colleagues and see what they are doing and what is working for them. This helps the overall attitude of the classroom and challenges the students. By having a professional learning community the teachers are less isolated, they are able to share responsibility, they have commitment to the mission which in turn creates more powerful learning.
4. Learning communities affect students because the expectations for them are being raised so they will be able to achieve more and they can feel comfortable sharing ideas. Setting a precedent of respecting everyone and listening to what each student has to say will allow children to explore their thoughts and ideas.
5. The shared vision in learning communities are similar to research-based visions which includes a clear mission, how members of the community are going to achieve this mission, pick teachers who are like-minded with yourself, collaborate with each other and see yourself as a student and learner again.
6. Concepts in this chapter contain to my project because I am going to be working with two other people so teamwork is essential. We need to be able to communicate and bounce ideas off each other so we can earn the best grade possible on our project. We need to be able to share responsibility and continuously improve our project.

websites chosen by Chris McGuire to review

Hi Group, I think these websites will be great.  One is for grants, one on farmer's markets, and one on school gardens in Chile!! Cool.


http://kalfound.org
http://www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/government.php?page_id=203
http://www.unesco.org/mab/doc/ekocd/chile.html

Reading Reflection 2

Team building is important in many fields and needs to be in education as well.  Collaboration and brainstorming are beneficial to teachers and students and a larger global community.  Often teaching can feel isolating and stagnant.  Learning communities changes all that.  Students benefit in numerous ways, by seeing teamwork/collaboration modeled and by engaging numerous people in a process they see that the world does not operate in a small bubble of isolation.

I think this is sometimes an idealistic book.  The schools I've worked in always have a bit of a stressed feel to them (in Kalamazoo).  I also think the emphasis on shared goals, beliefs and values is important and finding the people you click with via blogs etc  is important.  I would also like to see more time allotted for teacher collaboration for PBL and not just during professional development or staff meetings, which happens A LOT in schools. 

I think as a teacher you have to be proactive in seeking out like minded colleagues that you could work on some grant funded or otherwise useful project. 

The authors discuss the formal/informal sides of beginning communities.  Some could be as simple as blogs or just meeting and talking.  Learning Communities should have a mission, teams, organization, a focus on student learning, oriented towards results, and be committed to self improvement and life long learning( Boss, Krauss). 

Learning Communities often begin PBL and can bridge geographical distance as well.  They emphasize how to learn together and to make time for it.  Teachers should be open minded and engaged in the process and become more intentional with their interactions with fellow teachers as well. 

Reading Reflection #2

     The focus of Learning Communities is to give teachers time outside of teaching to collaborate with one another. One of the objectives of this is to focus on giving one another critical feedback on their future plans or projects with their students so the teacher can see things he or she may have overlooked in the planning. Learning Communities focus on three main things; ensure that students are learning, create a culture of collaboration, and focus on the results.
     The benefits of Learning Communities are that learning becomes very relevant while still being challenging for both teachers and students. They are both gaining necessary skills that are used in the real world such as communication, motivation, and problem solving.
     For teachers, Learning Communities allow them to communicate with one another. They lose the sense of isolation and feel like they are part of a collaborative whole. There also becomes a shared responsibility for teachers to gain the results that they desire. So, their commitment to the students, each other, and learning as a whole improves making them more motivated and more powerful learners. I think it may be difficult if teachers cannot agree on how they should be collaborating, or if teachers differ in their ways of teaching. Closed mindedness would be a huge issue in this type of teaching.
     For students, Learning Communities provide for a more rigorous way of learning. They will be involved in more projects that can greatly benefit them in the future. Students must be more open to change and  more willing to participate in groups. Students may be more motivated to succeed in this type of learning due to the teacher's obvious passion and dedication to their education.
     The shared vision in Learning Communities is to shift the way of teaching by focusing on what the students learn, rather than looking at what you teach. Teachers are focusing on the results of their project, allowing them to see the bigger picture. Since they are focusing on the end result, they can better communicate with one another and work together to reach this common goal. When a group has a shared vision, they must have conditions they create to achieve their end mission.
     The concepts in the chapter relate to my topic, gardening, because of our overall end goal for our students. The main goal of our topic is allowing students to collaborate with one another on each aspect of the project. Students must also collaborate with professionals in the field. They will be constantly put in situations that will allow them to learn important skills needed in the real world. Handling money, preparing food, building with wood, counting, advertising by means of technology, a commitment to a greater goal, etc. All of these qualities can be seen in Learning Communities, and the rigorous approach that it has to learning and collaboration.

Virtual Penpals

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rEetT5R4NTI-WcT_hwOUiaMchFa9AMpYC91zpD7ryts/edit

Concept Map Part A

Google Map

View Larger Map This map represents local farmer's markets in the Kalamazoo region. We will be asking our Penpals in Chile where their local farmer's markets are located.

Assignment III Websites

Hey group! These are the websites I'm using!

http://www.garden.org/
http://www.michigangardener.com/
http://michigan-garden.com/

Reinventing Project-Based Learning p. 2-24 Chapter 1
Reflection

1. Starting the journey through Project-Based Learning (PBL) I need to keep in mind that it is a lot of extra work for the teacher but it pays off immensely in the long run. Although it will be more time on my it is what is most beneficial to the students and it will help them learn and remember more of what they are doing. I also need to remember that I am not the only teacher working with PBL. Although not everyone is on board there will be plenty of teachers who have the same goal in mind as myself.
2. The overall benefits to the PBL approach is that students will be able to be self sufficient. They will remember and comprehend more of what they are learning. They will fine tune their problem solving skills so that in the end when the final project is done they can be proud of their work because they did it all on their own and it taught them a plethora of concepts. PBL engages not only the students but the teacher as well. So I will be able to learn along with my students instead of constantly talking at them.
3. For the students who participate in PBL they will become more engaged in what they are learning and they will be able to retain the context of what they are learning. They will become more independent and will be confident in their new found talent of finding out information on their own.
4. Some issues that need to be considered in the PBL approach is the amount of time and preparation it will take on my part as the teacher in order to prepare for these immense projects. In order for the students to get the most out of this experience and for the projects to go smoothly and have purpose I will need to put in a large amount of time to prepare for the entire thing and make sure everything the students do is helping and teaching them in some way.
5. The New Technology High School is a perfect example of the New Technology Model because every teacher in that school teachers with the PBL approach while incorporating technology. They have a smaller student body which allows the teachers to have more one-on-one time with each students, the students are able to work on real world projects, technology is intertwined with everything they do and they are able to share their projects and ideas with each other.

Reflection 1

As you begin your journey through project based learning, you need to remember how all encompassing it is.   And that there is an investment of time and preparation in advance as a teacher and then the focus and locus of control shifts more to the students.

 It is hands on and collaborative and builds team work.  Technology is an integral part of PBL.  It's empowering for students and teachers and should be considered a journey.  We need to remember that today's students are technology ready.  And that projects are worth doing.  This is real world experience for students and they will learn a great deal. 

We need to view blogs and various websites and get very comfortable with technology.  We need to know the foundations that sponsor this type of learning, Edutopia, Bill and Melinda GAtes Foundation, etc.  And to focus your journey and itnerests there are sites for social bookmarking such as Furl, del.icio.us, and Flickr that will help you gather ideas.  PBL also means that you think of creative ways to classroom manage and how we assess students and ourselves. 

There are numerous benefits to PBL.  Students develop commuication, inquiry, and flexibility skills.  Student's learning becomes richer and larger.  The focus on inquiry and student engagement and empowerment is really important in today's classroom. 

Reading Reflection 1: Reinventing Project-Based Learning, p. 2 to 24

1. As I start the journey through Project-Based Learning, I know that I cannot become discouraged with all of these new techniques and changes of teaching. What I'm enjoying most out of this approach is that the students feel all of the work that they put in matters. It's not just busy work for something that they will retain for a short amount of time; they will become life long learners through this type of learning.
2. The overall benefits of PBL are that not only are the students learning, being more engaged, and retaining the information, but the teacher is also learning along with them. The teacher gains the satisfaction of knowing that their students have really learned something, whether it be information on the subject or being able to problem solve with their team or even knowing how to use different tools to access a variety of information.
3.  The overall benefits of the PBL approach to students who participate are that the student's can pursue their own questions that they encounter while learning. This makes them less dependent on others and more confident in their own understanding. PBL increases the motivation in students while also improving their higher thinking and problem solving skills. In this type of learning, students can take the knowledge for their tools and the techniques in which they learn and apply it in real world situations which will allow them to be far more successful in life. 
4.  The issues that need to be considered in the PBL approach are that there is a lot of change from traditional teaching that needs to occur. Teachers need to be able to adapt and willingly change their   ways of educating.  Sometimes it may take a lot of communicating with other teachers and the student's parents for them to understand the reasoning and benefits of the PBL approach. Also, the way a teacher engages with students, the way the students are being assessed, the way student's manage their progress, and the simple layout of the room are all things that must be changed.
   
5.  I think that New Technology High sounds like a great place to work. Not only are the students partaking in the New Technology Model by being offered vast tools to access their information and create and complete their projects, but the teachers are also given planning time and opportunities to communicate and share ideas for successful teaching. The teachers are able to have an understanding relationship with each student, because the numbers of students are kept down. I love that technology is everywhere but it is not the main focus; instead, the technology is viewed as a tool to help them with their learning. New Technology High is a great example of a collaboration between administration, teachers, students, and experts in the field that really seems to be working.