A context for the use of technology which is larger than the technology itself…switch form machine focus

American association of school libraries standards for 21c learners

PYP planner- what is our purpose- what do we want to learn? How might we know what we have learned- how might we best learn? What resources need top be gathered? To what extent do we include the elements of the PYP-

What student initiated inquiries arose from the learning?

Micro/macro sacaffolding

From common sense everyday understandings of the world to more complex technical formal language

GRASPS
set a real world goal
meaningful role for students
identify an authentic or simulated real world audience
develop with students standards for assessing success

“only if we expand and reformulate our view of what counts as human intellect will we be able to devise a more appropriate ways of assessing it and more effective ways of educating it”

3 generall accepted sources of evicence: observation-products-conversations (we triangulate)

Here are some suggestions to help you raise children's level of play without making it a teacher-directed activity:

• Help children see different uses for familiar props and create new props.
• Expand the repertoire of play themes and roles by exposing children to new and varied experiences.
• Help children use appropriate strategies in planning their play with their playmates, and, later, in carrying out their play.

Using Props Imaginatively

Children's play is often referred to as "imagination without limits." However, if you look closely at play in most classrooms, you will see that children are not using a great deal of imagination. In fact, their play props appear to be miniature copies of real objects. When there is no prop for a certain role (no stethoscope for a doctor), a child often prefers to give up the role, rather than use something else as a stethoscope.

Typically, by the middle of the year, you can begin to change the ratio of toys from being largely realistic to a combination of realistic, symbolic, and unstructured props.

Learning Symbolic Representation

By using objects that represent other objects (such as colored play dough representing food), children learn symbolic representation. This ability to separate the function of an object from the object itself (using a pencil to stir, pretending you stir with a spoon) is the foundation for more advanced symbolic representations, such as the written word as a representation of a spoken word.

Also, when children use symbolic props in their play, they are encouraged to use language more extensively. Labeling props, and the actions that accompany them, spurs children on to communicate their ideas about play to their friends and to make sure that their roles work together. For example, you do not need to explain that you are playing captain if you use toy binoculars. But you do need to explain further if all you have is a paper tube and you want other children to be on the same pretend ship. Symbolic props incite children to give more detail about their pretend scenarios.