What skills will be required to plan and implement the Learning Path?

• Basic Prerequisites for You

  In this Learning Path you will work with planning and implementing a project that is relevant for your classroom.

  When working in a student-centered environment, you need to think about student and teacher roles, project structure and the learning environment.

  Use the checklist to help you structure your project.

  Extension

  In order to be successful, projects need to be designed with the end in mind. Without closely focused learning goals, the purpose of the project can become unclear and expectations for student learning outcomes can be miscommunicated. When designing projects, it is important to ensure that the activities planned will help your students meet the intended learning objectives. By reviewing curriculum goals, objectives, and standards teachers make choices for establishing curricular priorities. At a very basic level, project planning involves the following steps:

  1. Determine specific learning objectives by using content standards and the desired higher-order thinking skills
  2. Make an assessment plan. Click here for more information on assessment
  3. Develop Curriculum-Framing Questions. Curriculum-framing questions guide a unit of study and include probing and challenging questions that call for higher order cognitive thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation as well as content-specific questions. For more information on questioning click here
  4. Design activities

  Technical Requirements

  You will need access to computers that have the required software

  • Word processing
  • Spreadsheets

  You will also need internet connectivity and access to an online survey site (note: there are many free sites that you can have the students use that are fairly simple. If these are not options, have them create a spreadsheet to collect the data on)

• Skill You will Learn

  As you go through this Learning Path, your CPD will focus on you getting a deep understanding of how to implement a project in your classroom.

  Your Objectives will be:

  • Understand the project approach
  • Understand how to assess this methodology
  • Explore how technology can support this
  • Create a lesson plan for implementing a project in the classroom
• Additional Teacher Skills: Collaborating with your peers

  Formation of Work Teams
  
  “Teamwork! Why? I’d rather work alone!”
  Before you decide that, please consider the following: teamwork, regardless of how loaded with conflict it may sometimes be, has its attractions, similar to those in a partnership. The team offers security and protection. It offers communication and exchange and, due to the strength of the community, helps if individuals have problems. It inspires or it provides food for thought.
  You can also work with teachers from other schools.

  You are also modeling what you can have your students do in the classroom. All the benefits you find to group work also transfers to the classroom.

  Considerations about Teambuilding

  Who should you work with in the team? Who can you imagine yourself with easily? Have some colleagues have sprung to mind?

  Assignment: Build a Work Team

  - Build a work team with at least three participants because teamwork also means work sharing. There are several possibilities for your planned project:
  1^st possibility: You work jointly on a teaching topic.
  2^nd possibility: You develop the supporting materials jointly for different teaching topics.

  - Appoint a coordinator for your group, who will prepare a form that lists the group assignments and due dates for all team members and will set up your group forum.

  - Discuss your results of your lesson once you implemented it and give ideas for revision.

  Time Planning
  
  For trouble-free progression of all details, it is important from the beginning to be clear about when each individual piece of preliminary work must be initiated.
  Carry out time planning jointly. Make a note of significant milestones for your work planning.