Project Strategy of Teaching.
In today's class we were asked to sit in the circle and were asked question regarding the project strategy. We all got a chance to answer the question.The Strategy sir used in today's class was fun and useful because no one was felt out and each and everyone got a chance to participate.

Introduction:

• Pioneer of this project strategy is W.H.Kilpatric.
• Intellectual origin in John Dewey's philosophy of education.

Definition:
Project Strategy is any activity that is carried out individually or in the group through investigation and solution of problem, planned and carried out to conclusion with the help and guidance of the teacher.

Feature of a strategy/method:

1.      It extends beyond classroom teaching.

2.      The method is carried out in natural setting or real life situations.

3.      This method involves investigation and solution to practical problems.

4.      It demands and ensures active participation from the students.

5.      Involves effective interaction between the student and the social environment.

6.      Creates an opportunity to acquire or practice social skills.

7.      Enables the students to study functional aspects of the subjects learnt.

8.      The teacher acts as a facilitator or a guide and thus promotes independent learning.

Principles of project strategy :

1.  Principle of utility:
2.  Principle of readiness:
3.  Principle of Learning by doing: 
4.  Principle of Freedom at Work: 
5.  Principle of Socialization:

Types of project:

A.    Projects involving construction or production of a useful article/object to “embody some or plan in external form”—Produce Type.

B.     Projects providing opportunities for appreciation of some aesthetic experience—Consumer Type.

C.     Projects involving study and investigation of practical situations/problems-Investigation Type.

D.    Projects providing opportunities for mastery of certain skills—Drill Type.

• Produce type and Investigation type is mostly used in the educational institution.

The Investigation Type of Project Work – Stages (Diana & L. Booth):

Stage I: Classroom Planning

Step 1: Providing a set of tasks/problems for study

Step 2: Selecting a task/problem for study

Step 3: Formulation of hypothesis (for problems undertaken)

Step4: Planning/designing methods to investigate

Stage II: Execution

Step 1: Collection of data

Step 2: Organizing and interpreting data

Step 3: Review

Step III: Conclusion

Step 1: reporting and incorporating additions/deletions

Step 2: Evaluation

Implemented properly, this method will ensure that learning becomes an enjoyable and an enriching experience.

How to plan a project work?

A careful planning is essential for a project work. This helps to smooth the process and successful accomplishment of the task. The planning of the project work involves the following steps:

A.   How to select topics?

       While selecting the topics for project work the following points should be considered:

i.                    The topic should be related to the syllabus content.

ii.                  The topic should be appropriate to the class level.

iii.                The information on the topic should be available in the school and the community.

iv.                Students should be given a range of specific topics to choose from.

v.                  The topic should enhance the application of the concept learnt in the classroom.

B.   What is the format for the project work write up?

The format for project work write up should include the following parts.

i.                    Title

ii.                  Table of contents

iii.                Introduction (what is the topic about? Why is it chosen?)

iv.                Method      -How is the information collected?

                              -How is the information sorted out?

                              -How is the information analyzed?

Present information collected on the topic in a logical order. There could be sub-topics. If illustrations are to be used, they should be put wherever they are appropriate. The way in which the information is organized and presented may differ from subject to subject.

      

v.                  Conclusion. The conclusion should reflect the following:

a.       Summary of the findings

b.      Students’ experiences and opinion regarding the project work such as how he/she found the project work (difficult, challenging), how it has been beneficial to his/her learning.

vi.                 Acknowledgement

a.       Recognition of the help received

vii.               References

a.       List of the sources of information

C. How to collect information?

To collect information for the project work, the students should:

i.                    know what information to collect

ii.                  identify possible sources of information (persons, places, books, etc.)

iii.                develop some questions to collect the information

iv.                plan field visits if any

v.                  keep notes of observations, interviews, readings

vi.                collect samples

vii.              make sketches, tables, graphs and diagrams related to the topic.

D.   How to compile information for presentation?

The students might collect lot of information. All the information may not be required and he/she should be able to sift and screen the information that is appropriate and relevant to the project topic. They should:

i.                    sort out and select the important information

ii.                  put the information order

iii.                use the information for writing the project work

The students should prepare the first draft and show it to the teacher. The students should incorporate the changes and comments recommended by the teacher. Then students should rewrite and present the final project work.

[N.B: The teacher should encourage students to refine the project report before handing in the final copy.]                                                   

E.   Some Dos and DON’Ts

The students should follow the following instructions.

DOs

i.                    The project work should be written on a fullscap paper in the students’ own handwriting.

ii.                  The project work should be written in students’ own words and not copied directly from the books except for quotes.

iii.                Necessary illustrations should be drawn or sketched with pencil.

iv.                The students can use simple colours.

DON’Ts

i.                    Use of pictures cut from books and magazines available in schools and photocopying should not be allowed.

ii.                  Students should not do unnecessary decorations of their project work using sketch and marker pens.

iii.                Students should not decorate the cover page using glossy and colour paper.

iv.                Students should not use folders and folders to enclose the project work.

F.   Lengths of the project work

      

       Class VI              -           150      to         300 words

       Class VII             -           250      to         400 words

       Class VIII            -           350      to         600 words

       Class IX               -          700      to         1000 words

       Class X               -           1000    to         1500 words

How do you assess a project work?

Once the students have done a project work it is important that the work is assessed carefully and properly to benefit the teacher as well as the taught. Some ideas on this direction are given below.

Criteria for assessing: There are three major areas for the assessment of a project work. They are the content, presentation, and process. The marking scheme and the criteria under each of the assessment areas are given below.

A. Content (70 marks)

While assessing the content of the project work look at the following criteria.

·         Is the information presented in the PW relevant to the topic?

·         Is the information presented in the PW accurate?

·         Are the ideas presented in a logical order?

·         Are the illustrations appropriate?

·         Is the language used appropriate to the class level?

·         Is the project written in student’s own handwriting?

·         Are there grammatical errors?

·         Has the required information been included?

·         Has the summing up or conclusion been done correctly?

B.   Presentation (10 marks)

• Is the PW presented neatly?
• Is the layout according to the given format?
• Is the writing legible?
• Is the PW written within the prescribed word limit?

C.        Process (20 marks)

• Is there a proper planning done for the PW?
• Is the PW carried out as per the plan?
• Are the sources of information authentic?
• Is the PW handed on time?

N.B.It may be a good idea to encourage some selected students to present or share the information collected in the PW in the class for a brief period of 5 to 10 minutes. For this all the students should be asked to prepare for the presentation. But only three to five students selected through a lottery should present the project work in the class to save time.

When do you assess the project work?

The assessment of the project work should begin from the time the students start planning the project work and will end with the assessment of the final project work.

Eight Reflection Paper

Questioning Strategy 

Questioning is one of the most important dimensions of teaching and learning. It gives tutors the chance to find out what students know and understand, and it allows students to seek clarification and help. 

Concept:

It is any sentence which has an interrogative form or function. In classroom settings teacher questions are defined as instructional cues or stimuli that convey to students the contents to be learned and directions for what they are to do and how they are to do it.

Purpose:

1. enhance understanding
2. interactive/more participation
3. to be conscious
4. effective and efficient learning
5. stimulate
6. evaluation
7. to gain students attention
8. to maintain  flow of class
9. to create a life long, independent learners who uses questioning as a tool to learn

Characteristics:

1. up to students' level
2. logically sequenced
3. know the background

Classification:

1. The literal level
2. The inferential level
3. The applied level
4. Thinking time/wait time
5. No hands questioning
6. Basketball questioning 
7. Conscripts and volunteers
8. Phone a friend
9. Hot seating
10. Preview
11. Pair rehearsal
12. eavesdropping
13. Big questions
14. Fat questions
15. Skinny question
16. Seek a partial answer

 Types:

1. Socratic Questioning

• Conceptual Clarification Questions
• Probing assumptions
• Probing rationale, reasons and evidence 
• Questioning view pionts and perspective
• Probe implications and concequences
• Questions about the questions 

2. Blooms Taxonomy

• Remembering
• Understanding
• Applying
• Analysing 
• Evaluating
• Creating

3.  Kipling's Questions

• What
• Why
• When
• Where
• Who
• How

Role of teacher:

1. to ask different level thinking questions
2. is a model of critical thinking who respects students' view points, probes their understanding and shows genuine interest in their thinking
3. teacher poses questions that are more meaningful than those a novice of a given topic might develop on his/her own
4. teacher creates and sustain friendly  environment
5. teacher is approachable

Role of students:

1. participate when called upon
2. answer questions carefully and clearly as possible
3. address the whole class
4. be precise as possible in the interest of maximizing classroom tome and effectiveness

Lesson Plan

Name: Tandin Om              Course: 4II EIT               Subject: English

Class:  5     ‘C’                      Time: 15 Minutes            Period: 2^nd

Topic: Verb

Instruction Mode: Tutorial

Lesson Activity

Use the correct verb from the given box and complete the sentence.

Jumping         crying            eating          beautiful          envy            reading              Lovely            singing          writing        helping            tall               happy       Dancing         they               Karma         Thimphu         sun               cry          Kicked            sad                playing         hot                   bird             where

If you are not sure about your answer, click on hint. It will give you the picture of the correct answer. After completing your activity, click on submit button to send your answers for evaluation. And then you can check your answers as well as score.

1.     Karma was ___________ the old lady to cross the road.     

 

2.     Sonam is good at _____________. She has a lovely voice.

3.     Thinley did not finish his homework. He is still ____________.

 

4.     The Baby was ___________ so the mother fed him.

5.     Students are not allowed to eat in the class but Tshering

was caught ___________ in the class.

 

6.     Tandin was __________ a novel.

 

7.     He was so happy that he went home ____________.

 

8.     Kinley broke his leg while _________ football.

 

9.     He ____________ ball and fell down.

 

10.  He loves __________. He idolizes Michael Jackson.

References

Retrieved on 18^th March,2012 from

http://www.speak-read-write.com/worksheet-verb-one.html

http://www.eslpartyland.com/quiz/kkrest.htm

http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/grammar-verbs/

Seventh Reflection Paper

Deductive strategy:

The process of deductive teaching begins with the broadest explanation of an idea, such as explaining cognitive dissonance as, “the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.” The teacher continues by providing examples of the idea, such as describing the man who goes to a job he hates every day, thinking how much he hates his job, while never changing his actions of going to work. Deductive teachers then describe other situations, asking students to determine if the new situations are cognitive dissonance, while explaining the reasons behind their decisions.
Deductive strategy is the strategy in which principle or generalization are present initially followed by application or testing of the principle. It is basically leading the student  from unknown to known, abstract to concrete or complex to simple.

Prupose

1. Help students with learning disability.
2. Creates dependency in students which limits the students thinking.
3. Teacher centered.

Phases

1. The teacher illustrate it with an examples.
2. students give the examples of the concept and apply them in new situation.
3. Students restate the concept or definition that they have learned.

Advantages

1. Less time consuming.
2. Different from rote learning as it is a strategy where logical inter-linking of the element is encourage.
3. Most of the school materials/curriculum can be easily taught through deductive strategy.
4. This method involves all levels of questions.

Dis-advantages

1. Students are not actively involved in the beginning of the lesson.
2. Since it is a teacher centered approach , it may not be challenging for the brighter students.

Roles of the  teacher

1. Present principle and generalization.
2. Need to plan and prepared detailed information including materials.
3. Provides guidance and scaffolding.
4. Since it is teacher centered approach most of the work is done by the teacher.