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.