Reading Reflection #7

1. It is important for there to be communication and discussion in a classroom. The ways that there is classroom discussion is teacher to teacher, for them to check the game plan, compare ideas, or about formative assessment. Another is student to student, students should constantly be discussing with their peers what they are doing, learning, etc. and learn together and from each other. Finally, teacher to student, this is not as time dominating as a traditional classroom lectures but will still sometimes be needed. It can be done with the teacher instructed a large group as a whole at the beginning with what to do or during the learning while working in small groups to check for understanding.

2. There needs to be check points and a way for students to know they are on the right track and for teachers to know that their students are where they are supposed to be. This should be done to help with procedural check ins, just asking if they are on schedule, have the right materials, etc. It can be done through teamwork, asking how are team members getting along? Listening to students to see if they are understanding, ask questions. And through self-assessment, encourage students to conduct their own reflection and self evaluation of themselves to learn.

3. Some benefits when optimizing the use of technology is that they can pick what matched their learning style and needs. For example, with a podcast it can be played at different speeds for different students to listen to. It is also good as it allows students with prior experience to explore and choose their own technology resources and gives options for students who may not be 100% comfortable with technology.

4. One 21^st century skill that can make or break a project are troubleshooting; help them to learn from their setbacks and fine-tune their strategies for getting a project back on track. Another is teamwork; if groups are not working out and the team dynamics are not good talk to students, help students to learn to manage their own team conflict, as they would have to in real-world situations.

5. These concepts are very important in my project as I need to have some check points to see that I am where I need to be, I need to have discussions with my other team members, and I need to be aware of some 21^st century skills.