// Langwitches Blog

Image used with permission. Copyright K. Tuck at www.sxc.hu

I loved this image, as soon as I saw it. Does it not scream “REFLECTION” at you? In addition, it reminds me that in order to come full circle in a project, we can’t just let it fizzle out when the last word is written or the last sentence recorded. We need to give our students, the teachers and ourselves a moment to reflect on what was just created.

To come full circle is defined as an idiom in Wiktionary:

To make a complete change or reform.

I can’t forget to take the time to do that for my own learning too.

image by renedepaula

What have I learned from working with teachers and students on their Science podcast project?

• There needs to be an authentic reason for students to do the project.
• Make it age-appropriate real to students
  • In this project, telling students that they will be the voice coming from someone’s iPod into their ears, made the difference for them to understand that it was real. They were able to imagine that vision in their head.
• I was able to confirm that the technology tools takes the “least” amount of time and effort for students to learn.The academic skills and the content are the ones that they struggle with. The tools are helping them reinforce, practice and refine these skills.
• It shows in student work when the teacher has no invested interest in the project
• Some teacher are still viewing a “technology” project as something unrelated to their curriculum.
• The connection between the work done in the lab and preparation in the classroom is more important than ever. It is very apparent which students have been prepared ahead of time. There is a significant difference in the quality of work produced. A tremendous amount of time is spent in the precious few minutes a week in the lab by going over content instructions which could easily be accomplished in the classroom.
• Some students are natural “radio personalities”, by reigning them in and reminding them to concentrate on content, they are capable of producing INCREDIBLE work
• There have to be clear expectations for each student to complete a certain task each meeting…but…it is  important to not rush through recording and simply “getting it done”.
• It is even more important to give students a chance to listen to, reflect upon and see the completed project. Their recording is but a smaller piece of the whole podcast. They need to have the opportunity to see/hear it as such.
• There needs to be a continues connection made for students, not simply “let’s start a new project today”. Continue to connect to this experience and learning in future projects.