Amber,
This week (well, two weeks) we have to make a podcast. Here are the criteria:
You will create an informative Podcast, using Audacity. This podcast will identify and describe several aspects of your project to share with parents and others. Each team member will be required to discuss a different area of your progress. You will also be required to pull out at least two concepts from the textbook.
Obviously I copied this from e-learning. We need to start discussing what we want to do for each of our podcasts.
Ok, I am not really familiar with podcast.
ReplyDeleteWhat aspects do we want to cover in our podcast?
It has to be an informative for parents and others.
Ideas:
*how their child or children about planting can benefit the family or community?
*how to incorporate learning about planting and gardens into family time at home?
*the facts about planting and gardening what the child is learning
*why the child should be learning about planting-the importance?
I'm not exactly sure what informative aspect we should pick. We should get some ideas going so we can figure what both of what to say.
We need different aspects to talk about, but it needs to flow. So we need to transition from one aspect to the next, but I think they should tie into each other somehow, so it goes from one aspect to the next, but have some transitioning so the parents can learn two different aspects but know how both coordinate with each other, if that makes sense.
Any ideas?
I think we are supposed to basically explain what we have already done. Not something we are going to do. So basically, we need to inform parents of what their children are learning and what our unit entails.
ReplyDeleteI have literally been thinking about this all week, and I was waiting on your ideas. I'm thinking we need to keep up with this blog at least every day. Later this week we need to have some sort of script, and then I will do my podcast before you do yours, and then you can make yours flow with mine, and cover aspects I haven't covered.
Lets first think about what we have done so far...
* Plant parts
* The importance of plants
*varieties that can grow in our area
*research regarding favorite plants and plant seeds
* ePals with a group of students from Mexico.
* learning about Chinampas
*Several plants and maintence for each
And I think it is important to remember that our end goal is going to be a garden..... It will the students' job to determine what plants should be in our garden and how to maintain it.
So what aspects should each of us cover???
I was thinking that since I would like to make my podcast first, that perhaps I could discuss the the foundational aspects, such as why plants are important, plant parts, and an the investigation (hot list) of different plants and maintenance or each.
I think is is important to inform parents that our goal is to allow our students to do as much exploration as possible (PBL), therefore we are setting the foundations for them, and then allow them to explore on their own.
I'm still brainstorming about what each of us should cover, but it does seem fitting to start with the simple stuff like why the plants are important, and the parts of the plants, and go into details about how we have made technology (internet) available for the student to do the research on both aspects.
Then, maybe you could talk about how we have actually connected with another group of students in Mexico to discuss their gardening techniques and we are going to keep active communication in order to compare and contrast our gardens as we explore this unit.
I'm concerned though, because our projects haven't exactly been made in that order. For example, we did ePals early in the unit, and then went back to the basics and had them explore plant parts and the importance of plants. Do you think that matters?
We are supposed to each discuss "aspects" of the project.....but what does that entail? I'm trying my best to think about each of the sections of our concept map and see how best we can divide that between each of our podcasts. The problem is that many of our lessons and projects so far have been a combination of many of the concepts on our map, so if each of us were to take one branch of our map, it still would be difficult.
I'm going to shoot the instructor an email and get a little more info. Let me know what you think.
Ok...this is going to be a lot of work and a lot of thinking/planning.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe we shouldn't do the order that we did the assignments in, like you stayed we did assignments in the beginning that should be more towards the end.
Since you want to do your podcast first, you could maybe do a whole aspect about planting around the world and focus on ePals with a group of students from Mexico, learning about Chinampas, and varieties that can grow in our area?
I can cover the rest if you'd like. Maybe you can give a very brief introduction about plants and why it is important to broaden the topic of plants in different locations and then jump into students researching/connecting with other students about plants and planting gardens, then I can tell the rest, of parts, importance of plants, the maintenance. That way your part can introduce planting very briefly and go right into the locations so it gives some background information and then I can come in with the 'science' of plants when you have more geography.
????
It's hard to think of a way to fit everything together and make it flow.
Tell me what you think.
:)
Amber,
ReplyDeleteI sent Ms. Woodard an email about our concerns and this was her reply:
Hello,
You are creating this as if you are speaking to parents about your project. I suggest:
-Welcome
-Intro to PBL (Brief, see C'1)
-Introduce your topic
-Choose two concepts from the text (ex. Designing: Brainstorming/concept map, even mention how you used it to plan for your topic/PBL or talk about ways you would have students use it)
-Update on what you have students doing/plan to do
-Culminating project they are working up to (if you have decided)
-Invitation to come view the point above
-End
I've got a little of a start on what I will say for the first half, still working out the details though. In the meantime, you work on a few of the end bullets and what you will say, and then we can come up with something in between that we can use to blend the two podcasts together.
ReplyDeleteRemember that you need to include two concepts from the book. I figured I would use concept map, and PBL. I was thinking that you could use "research" see p. 55, and maybe virtual field trips (p. 77) and talk about how we are having them explore concepts like plants on their own with hotlists and the internet.
plan on getting on tomorrow night to discuss what we have :)
ReplyDeleteTrista,
ReplyDeleteI have not thought about the two concepts from the text yet, but I will look at those tonight. I will look at the ones you suggested above.
I don't have a script yet, but I am jotting down some ideas so you can tell me what you think, then I will come up with a script. I plan on having the script done by tomorrow (Thursday).
I'm not exactly sure what the top half is (where you are stopping) but I will start thinking with update on what you have students doing/plan to do...
*Update on what you have students doing/plan to do...
update parents about referencing gardening and plants to everyday life; what the students will see in different areas/locations and why, knowing why plants are important and how they influence and pertain to everyday life. We plan on continuing with the understanding of plants, why we have them on earth, if we did not have plants how would that effect us and everything around us?
*Culminating project they are working up to...
I am not sure if we have decided this, but a project idea can be maybe as I previously stated, what if there were no plants, how would that effect us on Earth? Since they have learned about locations of plant growth, the importance, and how to take care of a garden, it would tie into one and help them come up with a scientific reasoning. Ideas??
*Invitation to come view the point above:
I am not exactly sure what this means... but we could always have the students interview different individuals, such as parents and get their view.
*End:
Wrap everything up...
Plants are an everyday contribution to life that we may take for granted. The students have learned not only about plant growth in their own community, but outside of Michigan and the United States. Learning such information helps students learn the importance of plants to certain locations and why they may grow in specific areas. With plant production and plant identification, students were taught plants are a complex system that contributes to the Earth in multiple ways. The students know how to plant and maintain a garden, so "hands on" skills have been learned and distributed among the knowledge of each student. Students will take away the importance of maintaining a living aspect and the comprehension of importance of plants and gardening.
Let me know of ideas. Add or delete what you think needs to be done. I plan on writing my part of the script tomorrow or maybe even tonight, so we can get this rolling.
:)
Amber,
ReplyDeleteI think your ideas are GREAT! The one thing that you might want to change is the end product. Didn't we decide that our end product was going to be a garden of our own that we will plant in the spring once we have thoroughly learned about plants? The students are learning why they are important, what we use them for, and how to maintain them, so that they can be be knowledgeable when it comes time to make our garden. They will know which plants will grow well, which ones are useful to us, which ones are appropriate to the season, as well as maintenance of the garden.
I think that this is a good place for you to start. Just make sure that you think about how to incorporate the two concepts from the book into the podcast without it sounding forced.
I have half of my script done, but i am still working out the kinks. I am going to time myself doing it tomorrow and adjust some things and then post it on tomorrow evening. You can wait until I have mine posted before you do yours if you think it will help.
Basically, I am going to talk about PBL and how we have incorporated it into our unit. I am then going to briefly discuss that as a class the students seemed thoroughly interested in gardening, so you and I brainstormed (concept map) on how we could make this a good learning experience through PBL. I won't go into any specific details about any of our assignments, but I mention how we are using technology in a variety of different ways.
I think it would be best if you sort or summarized some of the projects we are having them do.
-learning about why plants are important, what we can use them for.
-Learning about plant parts
-different plants and environments they need to grow.
-and exploring a different kind of gardening by communicating with a group of students from Mexico.
You might also mention briefly that we have incorporated many different subjects into the unit: counting seed, data collection (math), etc.
I dont think it is necessary to go into details about every single thing we have done, but an overview of each will be nice.
Then our end result will be a garden, and we will invite the parents to see the garden and maybe even help us harvest it when the time comes (if those are plants we choose).
Let me know if this helps you at all. I can't believe how difficult this actually is. Thank you for being so good at responding and contributing ideas. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for larger groups.
Have a good night!
Amber,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I haven't posted my final script. I have had a terrible day and my comcast cable and internet has been messed up all day. I JUST got it back on. :(
I promise tomorrow will be more productive.
Ok. Just let me know when you have it posted so I can log on and go from there! :)
ReplyDeleteHere's what I have for a script. I tried to make it easy to transition from me to you. Once I get my microphone working (I have to use my husbands computer because last time I tried mine it was a disaster) I will post the podcast.
ReplyDeleteTrista
1) Welcome parents. My name is Mrs. Kelly. I am one of the two teachers in your child’s classroom. Ms. Malburg and I wanted to put something together to share with you what weve been doing with our students.
2) I’d first like to start by explaining the learning strategy we are using for our most recent unit on gardening. The strategy is called “Project-based learning.” What that involves is students using technology to explore the topic through questioning, designing, investigating, and problem solving. This strategy allows the students to learn by engaging in real-world projects.
3) For our unit on gardening, Ms. Malburg and I brainstormed how we would approach the unit. To help us visualize the concepts we wanted to include, we designed a concept map. If you aren’t familiar with that, a concept map is a way to organize and connect different concepts of a topic.
4) For our gardening unit, ms. Malburg and I thought it would be appropriate to start by having the students explore basics of plants and their uses, and we could build off of that into larger concepts like plant maintence. Ms. Malburg will be sharing more of the specifics on some of the projects we have done with the students, as well as some of the upcoming projects.
5) If you would like to see a more detailed layout of the concepts that we have and will be covering with the students, please feel free to contact ms. Malburg or I. We have been recording details of the project through a blog, and if any parents would like to view some of the information, get in touch with one of us for the web address.
I finished mine. I don't know how to post it on here....but I have my script, and that's exactly what I said. Also, if you would like to correlate music, I used Vivaldi's Four seasons- Autumn.
ReplyDeleteGood luck. Let me know if you need anything.
Heres mine:
ReplyDeleteLearning about gardening and plants is an important unit for students to learn, because it involves the environment around them and makes the students aware of other environments that the students may not have access to.
The students in our classroom learned about the importance of plants and the usage. Students were able to explore the components of plants that are used for life, for the plant and humans. We found out what plants do for us on earth and their contribution to the environment. The students also learned about plant parts and the functions of each part.
Plants very from different locations. Students were able to communicate with a class from Mexico with a project Mrs. Kelly and I had created, so the students were able to learn about different plants and what grows in other location.They were able to explore plants and environments in Mexico over the internet. Some plants that were discussed where garden flowers to tomatoes.
One way that Mrs. Kelly and I had our students learn about plants and gardens was virtual field trips. Virtual field trips is a way of technology students with a technical advanced system that will take the students to a location with the use of the internet. The other concept we used was research. Research concepts we used were search engines on the internet.
As our gardening and plant unit continues, Mrs. Kelly and I are creating a spring garden project that our class will be able to take all their knowledge and apply it to creating a class garden. We happily invite you to come visit our class garden that has been planted.
Plants are an everyday contribition to life that we may take for granted. The students have learned not only about plant growth in their community, but outside of Michigan and the United States. Learning such information helps students learn the importance of plants to certain locations and why they may grow in specific areas. With plant production and plant identification, students were taught plants are a complex system that contributes to the Earth in multiple ways. The students know how to plant and maintain a garden, so "hands on" skills have been learned and distributed among the knowledge of each student. Students will take away the importance of maintaining a living aspect and the comprehension of importance of plants and gardening. If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Kelly or myself.