Wishing

Overall, this project went very well. I did not have very problems. I had more problems with my Internet connection than I did with the whole project. I did have to narrow down my information more than once. I just was trying to say too much about China. Once I narrowed down my topic more, my project seemed to create itself. I was less overwhelmed with all possibilities and was able to focus better.

The most challenging part of this project was this blog. I am not used to writing out my thought process as I go through learning. I often had to stop and ask myself how I came to those conclusions. I automatically went through some of the steps of learning the information that I felt I had to back track and remember I how I felt and how I learned that information.

One weakness that I wonder about is if I included enough information. I feel like I could have added information, websites, and videos to really show the places off. One strength is that I think that I picked my subtopics well. The four locations and one food are the most famous places to go in Beijing. These places are also ones that I want to go see the most in Beijing.

If I had a chance to do this project again, I believe that I would conduct more interviews with people that were experts or had visited China. I had asked one person, but he had not been to Beijing. I did not pursue this any further. I feel like I learned a lot, but talking to a person about their experience may have led to ask deeper questions and have a clearer picture of what Beijing is like.
Am I like a child?
When I think about my experience when I compare myself with children, I think my experience is similar. I struggled like any student would to find the right topic for me. I believe that they need encouragement that they all their research with create a good product. I was worried in the middle of my project that I had narrowed down my topic too much. I received some encouragement from a peer that my topic was not too narrow. Lastly, I think that I was also like a student being proud of my finished product.

There is one big reason that I do not think that I was like a child. This was not my first independent project. I knew where to find the information I needed. I did not need someone to guide them through how to find websites, books, or how to use YouTube. I knew those already. Some students may need some initial instruction to help them be successful. Those first projects are going to most challenging for student to understand how each step works.

How does connect with curriculum?
There are two ways of extending this lesson that I thought could connect this with the AASL Learning Standards. The first standard (2.1.5) asks student to collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understanding, make decisions, and solve problems. Middle school student that are studying about Beijing could be involved in pen pals system to ask their Chinese friend what their favorite places and food.

The second standard (2.3.2) asks students to consider diverse and global perspectives in drawing conclusions. As high school students are learning about many of the historical places in Beijing, they are often learning about structures that are older than our country. In the US we do not have these types of history in our backyard. After reading literature about each structure, student can compare American attitudes with Chinese attitudes on conserving historical places.