As a future teacher and educator, it would be naive of myself to say that I did not take anything away from this group project. I learned a lot about giving my students the opportunity to work on a project in class, and how important that is. It is a great chance for students to be able to ask each other questions, see what their classmates are doing, and also to be able to ask the teacher questions. This is important as I think with all of the options available to them in class, it can help the project take the next step and become that much better.
The one thing that I did not like, was I felt like we were rushed fairly quickly at the end. This was especially evident during the proof reading stage, I would have liked more time on this section and so I think I would give my students more time. I liked the idea of doing this though because it also gave the students a chance to learn more about english proof reading.
I did enjoy the idea of the project too because it forced us to learn about something by ourselves, just as Peter said, this is how someone who has no idea about Alaska history, teaches Alaska history. Overall what we accomplished was pretty amazing, and I am overly glad that we not only accomplished it, but glad that I learned so much while doing it. All I can say is, thank you Peter.
I agree, I did feel pretty rushed near the end. But I like the way you pointed out that this could teach students how to proofread–it absolutely could! And I think it would also be a good way to introduce respectful critiquing, with the teacher moderating to make sure. Good catch!
I think it’s funny how several of us have the same title, and I didn’t even look at anyone else title – I did that independently.
Also, yes I agree with your assessment too!
I agree heartily on being rushed. Once we got into the final editing process on friday, I felt I learned the most and had the best experience. It felt like we really came together as teams to promote a better final product. Of course, a whole extra week of editing would have been heap keen.
I really like the project based learning – its where I shine. I don’t do well in the “sit, read, regurgitate” model.