How did it happen for me? I have only been teaching for about eight years now but have been a learner for over thirty. Growing up in a traditional string of schools worked for me because I was a compliant student; I did what I was told (i.e., took notes during lectures, completed handouts for homework, and studied for hours before a test). Now, let’s be honest, how much of the content I learned back then do you think I really remember? Not much! So, when I started teaching, I chose to teach in an alternative school. I wanted to learn other ways of teaching and more engaging ways for students to learn. I can tell you that I had no clue what I was getting myself into. When I arrived at my new school, the teaching consisted of students learning online and teachers just helping when needed and grading the work. This was not at all what I expected. A year later, we threw out the online learning and turned to blended learning. This was a vast improvement, but somehow it still wasn’t enough for our diverse group of students. Fast-forward five years. Our principal addressed our staff at the beginning of a new school year and told us that he wanted us to start adding engaging projects to our curriculum. At first, we added them sporadically and just tried out some ideas. By the next year, we were asked to work in interdisciplinary teams to practice project-based learning (PBL) teaching methods. He gave us a couple of books to read and had someone from our district come in to provide us some background, a summary of the process, and ideas for how to implement PBL in our classrooms. Then, off we were, still not truly knowing what to do or how to properly do it. Basically, we were flying by the seat of our pants, but trying so hard to transform our teaching methods successfully and with gusto. We did a really good job, for the most part, and I saw a lot more smiles, laughs, and active learning from the students on our team, as well from us, their interdisciplinary team of teachers. So now here I am, after having a formal week long PBL training over the summer and jumping into my second year of PBL, with a better understanding of the process, dozens of ideas for projects, and more confidence in my use of this method. Here’s how I can help you. This curation consists of resources I feel are important and helpful for those in the field of education interested in learning more about PBL as a teaching method and those who are ready to get started but don’t know exactly where to start with planning projects. These resources explain what PBL is and why it is important for student learning, the essentials of PBL and the process, how to cover the common core standards through projects, and ideas for creating, managing, and assessing projects. Let’s get started! How do you know if you are doing a traditional project or actively creating engaging project-based learning experiences for your students? Projects and Project-Based Learning: What's The Difference? Some educators think they are doing project-based learning in their classrooms but really aren’t. This Edutopia video quickly describes the difference between traditional projects that occur at the end of a unit and PBL projects made up of everything in a unit that occur throughout an extended period of time. Included in a PBL are student choice, in depth inquiry, reflection, and an authentic audience. New ideas for teaching are brought to our attention all the time, so why is this one crossing oceans? The What, Why, and How of PBL? Buck Institute for Education’s (BIE) PBLWorks website provides a more in depth explanation of what PBL is and short videos showing the project process in classrooms. The site explains how PBL is different from traditional projects and why a PBL approach is beneficial to learners. This resource also shows over 60 different exemplary project ideas and provides a plethora of other resources that are useful to those new to this approach. “Now more than ever, we need young people who are ready, willing, and able to tackle the challenges of their lives and the world they will inherit…” What are the ingredients needed for PBL to work and provide an increased depth of learning? Seven Essentials for Project-Based Learning No matter what organization or PBL educator you speak with regarding this approach, the core elements are nearly the same. Educational Leadership published this article discussing what they view as being the most essential elements within a project, from a meaningful purpose to student choice to a presentation. The article also provides examples of each essential element. I have heard many educators voice their concerns about state or national assessments and meeting content standards. Now we are talking about adding intense projects into the mix while teaching the standards and still ensuring students post these tests? You may be wondering how this is possible and looking for ideas. How Do You Teach to the Standards When Doing Project-Based Learning? In his blog, John Spencer discusses how teachers can create projects that allow students to master a variety of standards throughout the process. He summarizes projects he created and identifies several standards he was able to cover within these projects. In addition, he shows connections between multiple PBL approaches and the types of standards needed for each approach. The Role of PBL in Making the Shift to Common Core Sarah Hallerman presents five “big ideas” regarding requirements of Common Core State Standards and correlates these requirements with project-based learning goals and desires for facilitators and students. She helps educators to understand more clearly through examples how the two relate so well and provides us the information to reflect on how common core can be thoroughly implemented within the project process. “The bottom line for teachers who are wondering how to make the shift to Common Core? Think PBL!” What does the PBL process look like as part of the curriculum? Resources and Tools for PBL Start to Finish Edutopia published this story elevating a specific co-taught project taking place in a World Studies class in a school that is part of the New Tech Network (a nonprofit with similar goals of BIE and HQPBL). This story includes both the actual and sample documents used in the project, beginning to end, from project forms and rubrics, to student examples. This story also provides links to samples of projects, rubrics, and student examples in other content areas. 50 Smart Ideas for Project-based Learning TeachThought staff members created this post to provide 50 ideas educators can use for PBL. This is regularly updated to include better and newer projects ideas than previously listed. Also included in this post are links to additional posts related to PBL that may be helpful. “With PBL, there is no “either/or” proposition: anything from open-ended, play-based learning to data-driven, research-based instructional environments can all use PBL effectively.” Classroom management can be a challenge in any classroom, and adding project work, individualized or otherwise doesn’t get any easier. In fact, if projects aren’t managed strategically, the classroom environment can go awry rather quickly. 20 Tips for Managing Project-Based Learning Andrew Miller presents a variety of strategies in this Edutopia article that will help teachers manage these in depth projects more efficiently. A few of the strategies described are online tool options that will help with managing or assessing collaboration, various grouping techniques, suggestions for being a facilitator, and ways to help students feel empowered. However, there are several others, all of which can be very valuable. “There is no real silver bullet to get every single kid under the sun engaged in your classroom, but good teachers use all the strategies they can muster.” We know how to create summative assessments like tests and essays, but there are various ways to assess student learning throughout the project process as well. Assessing Student Project Work Melinda Kolk explores evaluation through “authentic assessments” that cover content knowledge as well as 21st century work readiness skills. She explains that various assessments can take place throughout the entire project process through tangible documents, verbal behavior, and non-verbal tasks. She also quickly discusses important aspects of rubric creation, why involving students is powerful, the need for reflection, and student self-assessment opportunities. “Designing learning environments that help students question, analyze, evaluate, and extrapolate their plans, conclusions, and ideas, leading them to higher–order thinking, requires feedback and evaluation that goes beyond a letter or number grade.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author
Angelina Valvona-Herndon: a high school teacher, blessed to work with at-risk students striving to succeed in academia and the real world. Archives
October 2019
Categories
All
|