Live Blogging…PBL workshop
I am attending a PBL workshop for five new model schools who will be instituting a school-wide PBL program next year…workshop leaders are Thom Markham and Tristan de Frondeville from Buck Institute…
Thom…
The core skill of the 21st century is the ability to be flexible…
We are beginning to evolve methods of designing learning that engage kids…conversation has change din last five years….we understand how it fits in shifting schools…
Kids that graduate from successful PBL schools are different…they have a more mature, impressive type of interaction with the world, can present themselves in front of adults… more than being prepared academically, they need to know how to operate in the world.
Next 20 years…entrepreneurial, free agent market…no longer 30 year career in same position…
We need to focus on offering a personalized curriculum. We don’t do this every well, especially at the HS level. PBL offers us a chance to not only teach content, but to teach skills and habits of mind as we prepare 21st century learners.
Projects have a negative image…fluffy…posters. We need to look at projects as a sound academic part of the learning. There is lots of flexibility. Connections with communities and world.
Why PBL? Engagement, relationship/communication and personal incentive…now possible to put energy into academic study. Merging rigor, relevance and relationship into projects…channel of trust …shoulder to shoulder with students. Different relationship but at same time gets academic tasks done.
Is there a lot of data w.r.t. PBL and test scores? No, but there’s not a lot of data in education in general that is useful.
Shift in Rigour – from curriculum to skills, habits of mind and personal thoughts…
Shift in relevance – From teacher-centered to student-centered
Shift in Relationship – from hierarchy to community.
Change in vocab –→ group work becomes “high performance team”; collective learning environment becomes “collaboration
Projects – GO DEEP! Work on 1-2 competencies, 2-3 content standards and one habit of mind…stay focused, don’t go too broad…e.g. one project competency may be to look at public speaking, scaffolding required to develop skills, longer term activities…limit content to core standards…go below the surface…
PBL is not everything…use ANYTHING that works! A mix of approaches is best approach…
The “Hoover Effect”…as you work on projects, you will cover a lot of content that you may not have to cover in another form later…
Projects vs PBL – what is different? Lot’s of teachers do projects…how to make shift to learning?
Integral is driving question….PBL must be inquiry-based…question must be open, no “right” answer…process of learning…”answers” are complex…no yes/no…like questions in “real” world…
Role of teacher? Must have a “feel” for inquiry…know subject well…youth friendly… life-long learner… teachers MUST model learning for students… learning community…
…planning/design skills…more than presenting information…
Tristan…
Textbook is nice as a baseline…
Habits of mind…best learned though journaling and projects…can’t have a test on many aspects of 21C learning…hardest to include in planning / assessment is habits of mind…”is it gonna be on the test??”…
Goal – at end of first project…lot of work, but can’t wait til next project…and when students want more of it…but has to have enough content mastery to be legitimate
Doing it alone w/o another teacher is easiest to start with…or include computer/art teacher who is looking for meaningful task…but gradually create synergy within school as teachers collaborate…move to common theme but not necessarily dependent…then move to full integration…
Design Cycle –
Begin with End in Mind > Craft the Driving Questions > Plan Assessment > Map Project > Manage the Process…
Crafting Driving Question is hardest and most critical component…has to be related to kids interests in your school…driving question should motivate…Inspiring (Provocative, Open-ended, Authentic – meet kids in lives right now!!!) and Focused (concrete, requires core knowledge to answer, consistent with standards)…PBL is about lighting fire under kids
Examples of driving questions…”How could our world be different w/o oceans?”…”Can we use the barometric pressure today to predict if there will be school tomorrow?”…”How close is too close when you are driving a car?”… Mythbusters TV show has mastered this!!
Kids want sense of mastery and power over environment…give them opportunities to participate…
Make it personal…”Can Science be used to solve crimes?”…becomes…”Would you trust your guilt or innocence to science?”
How to cover curriculum standards? Don’t be afraid to throw stuff out…if you are just focused on coverage, there is no depth / retention…cover it deep and look for understanding…it will show in test results…