Task_3-Reflection

1.   Share the web address url of your groups ScreenR presentation.

http://www.screenr.com/uHh7

2.   Reflect on your contributions and how you contributed to making your group a success?

Our group the Pandas work so well together that each of us equally contributes ideas and information that helps to make our group a success.  Again, as my team members did, I was able to contribute information and ideas that helped to design our scenario throughout the course.  In this final task, we were able to put all our ideas together to create a criteria in order assess the task we gave in our scenario based on previous task that we worked on with our scenario on cyber bullying.  I felt that communication was the key to making our group a success.  Like the rest of my team members I was able to communicate any ideas and research information I had and bring them together with the rest of the groups ideas and information in order to complete our assignments.  We were all also able to encourage one another by making sure that everyone understood what was required to complete the task, who was the facilitator for the week, and what roles each member would be responsible for.  Working well with each other helped to keep things organized and completed in a timely manner.

Together we shall succeed

PANDANATION

Task_3-6 Reflection

TOGETHER WE WILL SUCCEED

Why is it important to use teams in PBL?

 It is important for the use of teams in PBL because it gives the opportunity for students to be able to communicate and interact with others.  This is helpful in preparing students for the real world where it is required for most careers to interact and communicate with others.  It will strengthen their team work skills and help them to work well with others.

What are some of the problems you see in student teams?

For the pandas, the only problems we've had is the availability of each group member.  There are times when not all members are able to meet but other than that, we have an awesome team.  In other teams I have seen lack of communication as one of the keys to why teams don't work well together.

 

What strategies can you use to manage conflict in student teams?

 I feel that prevention from the beginning is important.  Teachers should make the assignment and roles of each team member clear to all students.  If students understand that their roles are vital to the group and how the task gets completed, it will help the group to work well together and bring a end product that is of great quality.  

 

Another strategy is assigning specific roles for each team member, if the team members know what they are suppose to do and contribute, the task will be well organized and this way everyone contributes.

 

Communication I feel is the key to a successful team.  I've experienced this with the pandas and I think it really works well for everyone when each team member is able to communicate with everyone.  If one has a problem or questions, communicate it with the team members.  A good team will be open and understanding and willingly available to address any concerns and help out each other.

Did the group have any questions or problems this week?

 No problems or questions this week.

Title you new post "Task_3-5 Reflection"

What ideas have you contributed to your team this week?

I was able to input some ideas that helped to create our rubric that would fit our SLO.

What role did you play on your team this week?

I helped to look over our scenario for the past weeks and put in contributions based on that. 

How did you encourage and support your team members this week?

I'm not sure if I encouraged our team member enough this week however my support came through communicating about the assignment, meeting up when needed, and contributing what I could.

Did the group have any questions or problems this week?

PandaNation is always full of AWESOMENESS, however this week we weren't able to all meet as usual but that didn't stop the pandas from getting the task done.  We had an AWESOME leader this week, thanks Kortnee!

                            

Task_3-4 Reflection

   What ideas have you contributed to your team this week?

Although I posted late this week, I was able to contribute a few examples of Authentic Assessments.  Basically how we are able to use authentic assessment in the classroom. 

    What role did you play on your team this week?

Each group member was assigned to research what authentic assessment was and bring in examples of them.  I was able to answer one of the questions about what our group learned of authentic assessment to work for our scenario.

   How did you encourage and support your team members this week?

I think that we encourage each other equally by communicating well with one another.  Just keeping in touch and informing one another about what's going on and to do what we can to accomplish the task at hand.  One of the things our group has discussed is to keep in mind that we are so close to the end of this semester, not to give up and as long as we are able to keep our communication going strong and keep focused, we can get through the task each week.

   Did the group have any questions or problems this week?

I think with this week, it wasn't easy to meet up at the same time however we were able to work things out to where we were all able to bring in our ideas and information to where our leader Rose could compile things together easily. 

Week # 13 Current_Event

From the beginning of the formation of the Panda team, our group members were able to build a strong online community where we are able to share and discuss weekly tasks and current events.  Although our group's schedule do not allow us to meet face-to-face or through text, we have been able to work together to find a way of communicating effectively with one another.  Here are a list of the three methods we the pandas have relied on to communicate with one another.

1. Laulima - we started off with using the forum discussion for our group to share our thoughts, ideas, and resources with one another.  Being that most of us were still working on becoming better technology literate, this was the most reliable way that we could keep in touch and up to date with our weekly current events.  We also used the laulima forums to check what additional information each group member has added combining our thoughts and ideas to summarize our current events.  In addition to the laulima forums, we were able to discuss any issues that we may have with any assignments whether it would be a group assignment or individual ones.  Laulima really helped us to be constantly informed with pretty much everything to do with the course. 
2. Typewithme.com - thanks to one of our team members, Kortnee, we were able to move a step forward to using another method of communicating with one another.  Type with me is a pad that works quite like google doc.  You are able to view multiple works on the pad and all at the same time you are also able to add your own input or make additional improvements to the pad all at once.  The pad has a setting that will show who each person is by name and color, that way you are not confused on who is doing what.  What ever your input is, that information will be highlighted in a certain color, all group members will have different colors.  There is also a chat box where you can communicate together showing the names of each member and what ever they type in.  So this was a really neat tool that allowed us to meet online at a particular time.  This is the tool that we used to meet up weekly and it was and continues to work well for our group.
3. Email - we would not be able to communicate without being informed of what's going on in our group if not for the use of emailing, particularly our UH email.  When any post are made on the laulima forum, each group member will be informed about it as soon as the post is up.  It not only shows who posted but what they posted as well.  This works out great for our pandaNation because most of our group members are so busy through out the day that it makes it difficult for some to log on to laulima and go through all the process of getting on to our groups forum.  Through the email, group members will know almost instantly that someone within our group has posted in laulima and we are also able to view right away what and when they posted.  When time allows, we are able to then go into laulima and reply or post additional information.  The email also works well for letting our group know the scheduled time for our meeting weekly.   

Task_3-3 Reflection

   What ideas have you contributed to your team this week?

I was able to bring in ideas that formed our guidelines to help students succeed in our PBL class.  Each team member was able to say what was important for students to be able to learn, this formed our helpful guidelines called P.E.R.F.E.C.T.  Positive. Expectations. Responsible. Focus. Excellence. Teamwork.

   What role did you play on your team this week?

I volunteered to be the leader this week.

Task_3-3 Reflection

   How did you encourage and support your team members this week?

Although we all started late on this particular task, we were able to meet up and support each other as a team.  We encouraged each other to bring in input and ideas.  Our team has a strong communication and work very well together so really, we just continue to encourage each other by doing our part.

   Did the group have any questions or problems this week?

There were times when we questioned what the task was about but being able to meet up and discuss the task, we were able to understand the assignment and get it completed.  Problem I would say for this week is just being able to find the appropriate time to meet up.  We all were guilty of starting late this week but came together and got the task at had done. 

PandaNation

  

Task_3-2 Reflection

  
 
What roles did the members of your team have this week?

       I took the role of the leader this week and along with my entire team we researched information   relating to the assignment and as a team created a scenario where we were able to come up with an SLO that would fit our subject area. 

   Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute to group?

       I contributed by doing my part of gathering information for the assignment, adding in ideas for our SLO, and as a leader communicating constantly with my team to get our assignment completed. 

  What worked well this week?

       Communication, I think I have a great team, we are able to communicate very well and that's very important in team work.  Also the type with me tool seem to work really well for us, it is a neat and reliable tool that allows our team to input multiple information at the same time and it also lets us check each others work and make corrections at the same time as well.  So we get to collaborate and assess each others work all at once while in different places. 

   What will you do differently next time? 

       The thing I always hope to do differently the next time around, is to just do a better job.

Task_3-1 Reflection

What roles did the members of your team have this week?

Kortnee was our group leader for this week's Task and she did an AWESOME job in communicating with the entire group and keeping us informed on what the task is about and what type of information we needed to gather. The rest of the pandas (Rose, Sarah, Randy, and Landa) along with Kortnee, contributed by researching for information on Problem based learning and shared these information with our group leader to construct a paragraph on what the task required. 

Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute to group?

I believe that I contributed equal amount of research information as our group on what Problem Based Learning is and the benefits of it.  Communicating ideas and information with our group leader in helping her to build a paragraph for our assignment this week. 

What worked well this week?

I thought our group leader Kortnee really did a wonderful job in setting up a typewith.me where our group could meet and work together in creating this weeks task.  This worked really well for me because not only could we see the entire group's contributed work but we could chat at the same time.  It was really neat.

What will you do differently next time?

I don't think that I would do anything differently, everything worked out well. 

Task #2 Deliverable - Web 2.0 Tool

The web 2.0 tool that I thought was great to use is the Arcademic Skill Builders because it provides fun interactive and educational activities for students to be more engaged and interested in their learning.  I think the only downside of it is that it is designed mostly for elementary aged students but then again, I feel that it could also be used for older aged students who are struggling in the classroom.  Teachers can check student work to see their progression and what area they may need help in and students are able to see what they may need to work on more.  This tool also allows for parents to be able to see what their child is learning in the classroom and they are also able to participate in helping their child in the area the child may be struggling in.

http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

     

• After completing this review of a web 2.0 tool, I will most definitely continue to use this tool in the classroom.  It's a very helpful tool to engage student learning.

• Prior to this activity, I really didn't know much about the different tools that were available and easy to use, I would usually just google everything.

• I think that technology has come a long way, it has continued to become more easier, reliable, and very helpful for the use in the classrooms.  The selection process for these tools have become less complicated with so many options to use.  So far, I think that the selection process for using these tools are great but I'm sure that people are going to continue to find ways to improve the use of these tools as time goes by.

Current Event Week 8

Huh?  What is Web 2.0?

This was my facial expression before this assignment…lol.

“Web 2.0 typically means the development of internet applications that emphasize sharing in inner activity” (mikewelden).

Group Panda has found many informational and great resources for using Web 2.0 to capture student works in the classroom.  However, it came down to finding what website offered different and free options online that would apply to the classroom learning.   

http://onceateacher.wordpress.com/

This website offers 10 free web 2.0 tools for teachers to try in the classroom.  These tools are helpful in creating online classrooms and allows for the learning interactions between student, teacher, and parents as well.

  The tool that we found most interesting is the knowitall.org tool because it was specifically designed for the classroom and it applies to grades k-12 students in learning.  All students can benefit from this tool because it allows students to use the different options offered to create, interact, collaborate, and the tool provides evidence of student work.  The site includes different ways of learning, different topics, allows for virtual field trips, interactive and educational games, and so much more.

 There are a number of featured sites and resources that can be found here that will allow for educational interaction and collaboration.  The different type of tools applies to many areas of study (Math, English, Social Studies, Health) and towards different ways of teaching and learning.  This is a great tool for teachers to use in the classroom because it provides evidence of student work and allows teachers to see the progression of students, it engages students to learn, and it also provides evidence to parents of what their child is learning in the classroom and that is a huge step for getting parents more involved in their child’s learning.

When you see the evidence of student work, you know that they have come far and mastered the skill of Learning.

       

TEAM PANDA

Task 1 Deliverable

Hello!  Here's my assignment for this week.  I'm getting the feel of things now, I find it a bit easier and I enjoy doing these assignments more and more.

Prior to doing this assignment I never used ScreenR before.  I was able to use my twitter account to keep updated with the latest "teacher news".  I found it very helpful and there is a lot of information that is very useful not just for teachers but students as well.

I do plan on continuing to manage the news resources that I have gathered in my personal learning network.  It motivates me to keep learning and knowing what is going on in the 21st century of teaching and technology will help me to understand how I am able to help my future students as well as my own children.  It is always good to know what's going on in the educational world.

I think that a refined personal learning network can be very beneficial for a new teacher and for students.  Teachers are able to keep up with many of new approaches towards teaching, teachers are able to get professional advises, find various resources, lesson plan ideas, helpful solutions, and many other things.  This will help teachers become more effective in teaching and students more effective in learning.

So here's the assignment I had to do, I'm still learning but this was kind of fun and it really helped me to understand how important and helpful it is to use these type of tools.


http://www.screenr.com/user/landa