Having the Chromebooks in my classroom has really afforded me some interesting opportunities the past six months. I've had the students taking online quizzes, visiting websites for information on traveling and collaborating on chapter summaries. I am only now beginning to understand the power of technology to facilitate true collaboration and creation in my classroom.
I have long been interested in the project-based learning models. Certainly when the possibility of Chromebooks was presented to the faculty, project-based learning was mentioned as a use of the technology. Though I have not studied extensively about it, I had considered it but never found the time to think about what it would look like in the classroom. The presence of the Chromebooks and my desire to have my students create something complimented each other perfectly.
My Spanish 4 classes, a combination of sophomores and juniors, were approaching the second part of the environment unit in which the vocabulary lends itself to social activism. I gave the students a double-sided sheet, that I dubbed their "Trash Journal," on which they were to record anything they discarded. They were to keep track of their trash items until both sides were filled. They wrote the item, where they were when they discarded it and where it went (ex: trash, recycle bin, compost, or reuse). When I created the trash journal, I hadn't even decided what the project was. I knew I wanted them to analyze their trash in some way but I hadn't thought that far ahead. I avoided writing the project description until the last minute because I had no idea what it would be. When I finally sat down to write it, the night before I wanted to give it out, I still had no idea but needed to get something down for the following day. The description that I wrote can be found here.
In addition to the project-based learning model in which students would have to use content from the chapter in the project and learning it as they went, I also employed a flipped classroom model. Students had four assignments included that they had to complete on their own outside of class. These would have been the homework and class work assignments that would have accompanied the unit had I been teaching it traditionally.
Before this year, the past two weeks would have been spent teaching the vocabulary and the conditional tense. I would have shown environment videos accompanied by questions and come up with sentence writing activities and conjugation games. There would have been some vocabulary exercises and perhaps card games based on the vocabulary. It is what I have done in the past and, while I still feel there is validity to this, I also see the power that this project gave my students.
The past five classes involved allowing my students time to work. I provided them the opportunity to work alone or in groups of their choosing. I debated about this but wanted to see what would happen and also understood that when students have to work outside class, it is easier when they choose their own groups. I also knew that students who didn't choose to do work usually pair up together and then are not punishing others with their lack of effort. However the students did need to sign a contract when they chose a group. The contract basically stated that they understood in choosing their groups that they would share the same grade and that the teacher would not entertain any complaints on groupings or the level of participation from each member. Students signed their names to the contract as they chose partners and groups and then they began working immediately.
There are five main parts to this project: analysis of trash journals, discussion of what idea they had, explanation of the idea and it's implications, creation of an ad to announce their idea and a presentation to the class about their idea. Each section has its own minimum Spanish requirements so that the students can use as much English as they want as long as they meet the minimum. In addition to this, they also had grammatical and vocabulary requirements. I had no idea what would become of this when I explained it to my students. I anticipated groans of frustration but received none. They were simply ready to get to work! It truly has worked splendidly.
The format of class was the same for the five classes they had to work. First, I checked in any of the four homework assignments they had to show me. Second, I explained their goal for the day and provide hints for that work. Third, I moved from group to group to answer questions and help them correct their writing.
The truly unique and wonderful thing that this format allowed is interaction between myself and my collaborators. Through Google Aps for Education, each group created a folder and shared it with me so that I had access for each of their files. When I sat down with a group, my question was "what do you want me to look at? What do you need?" They told me what to open and we would all have the file open. I could highlight things and help the students correct their work or comment on content as they all followed along. I truly believe that unless they see the rules explained to them in their own writing that they have done for a purpose, they do not pay attention to most of the rules. Instead, I sat with each group and counseled them on their writing and we all corrected the writing together. Then I would talk about the content and give them feedback on what their project still needed.
The truly unique thing that has come out of this project is that even the students who struggle have contributed and are working as hard as they can. I have really strong writers and grammarians who have taken their writing to another level. I also have students who struggle and even have writing disabilities that are working as hard as they can to come up with sentences.
Now that we are at the end of the project, I have student groups who discussed where we place recycling containers at sporting events and how recycling can be increased in our building. One pair, who I really didn't think would take this seriously, researched how solar panels on sporting arenas would help save costs and the environment. Students have been making posters and recording advertisements to showcase their ideas. One group of students has even started collecting signatures on a petition to ban Styrofoam trays from the lunch rooms. I told the group that I would be happy to go to a school board meeting with them if they wanted to ask the board to implement this change.
Now I find myself with a huge decision: how do I grade these? How do I put a number on their work? When I consider the work of my higher level students and my lower level students, I realize there is a difference in the complexity of thought, sentence-structure and organization in their writing. However I believe every group that I sat with was truly working hard and trying their best to do a good job. Every time I sat in a group, I was shown new things they'd written and was asked many questions. The quality of the interaction that I had with my students was amazing!
I have not created a traditional rubric for this assignment yet, mainly because I have not had time, but also I wasn't sure what I wanted to assess. Without having done the project yet, I was unsure of what I would be assessing or what categories would go on a rubric. I had general ideas about grading organization, vocabulary, depth of thought or use of grammatically concepts. I realize that many of my colleagues would want to mark on a rubric and take off points from the weak writers for their lack of organization or transition words. They would want to take off points for the lack of deep content and quality sentences. In certain contexts, I agree with them and do take off points, but I want student grades to be reflective of the amount of effort, collaboration and thought they poured into their projects. I believe my students have far surpassed my expectations of what this could have been.
I will add a reflection piece to the end of this project, perhaps in the form of an online collection survey. I want to solicit information about various aspects of this process. I want information about what it has been like while they worked in groups and what they think they should receive for this project and why. I am curious about several things from this experience. I am curious about how they felt during our group editing sessions or if they felt it helped them understand the language better. I wonder about what was happening in the group setting when I was not present. I am curious if they truly feel that this project furthered their learning or strengthened their understanding of the grammar and vocabulary of the chapter.
I am continually amazed by my students and their ability to do what our society fails to allow. At its heart, I believe the Common Core aims to create problem-solvers who are consumers and creators of knowledge. However the high steaks testing and the culture of "test until they know how to pass" fails to provide teachers and students the opportunities for these authentic learning experiences. I choose not to march in the parade of conformity. I will do what is best for my students to make them better learners and stronger thinkers. In doing this, they will become better linguists and global citizens. That is the point. That is my passion.
1/31/2014: I have just created the reflection survey. It can be found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment