Shanna Pittman
Blogpost 3: Growth of Soft Skills in Kindergarten
When I
enrolled in our PBL class last summer, I was excited about offering my students
a different and engaging way of learning. I had attended a writing conference
the previous year and Project Based Learning was a big focus. The conference
was the first time I had heard about Project Based Learning. I thought it would
be a great way to engage students in learning, help them make connections with
the world around them and a way to get them excited about school and learning
from a young age. After taking this course, I have discovered that Project
Based Learning is all of those things and much more. What I did not anticipate
when I began this journey is that PBL has had a profound effect on the growth
of my students’ soft skills!
During
my first PBL in the fall of this school year, my students (many of whom had
never attended preschool) really struggled with taking turns and listening
respectfully to one another. Some students also lacked the confidence to
participate in conversations and contribute to their groups. However, after
teaching both PBL units and applying PBL principals to other units throughout
the year, I have noticed a drastic positive change in both their social and
communication skills. Our class also has a community/family feel now.
I also
noticed throughout the course of my units this year that my students have
developed confidence and a willingness to try new things without fear of being
“wrong”. Throughout my years as a kindergarten teacher I have observed that
most young children, beginning their school career have a fear of not being
right. They want to copy what I do and they want me to tell them exactly what
to do. The PBL units have given them freedom to try new ideas, self-direct
their work and confidence because they get positive feedback from me, as well
as their peers.
Imagine if all students were taught to learn and think this way at such a young age. Every time I hear about what you are doing with your kindergartners, I think about how how prepared they will be for this type of learning by the time they reach 5th grade (assuming that they continue PBL all the way through). It is great to know that they have grown as communicators and risk takers.
ReplyDeleteYou and your kindergartners are amazing, and I am so glad that our littlest Bobo Bears are learning these important skills at such an early age! Assuming they continue to practice these skills throughout their school careers, they will be more ready to tackle more complicated problems in fifth grade while working cooperatively and talking respectfully to one another. This is always an area that we spend lots of time working on in fifth grade, when it would be nice to have those skills already in place!
ReplyDeleteHi Shanna,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate this post more than you know and I appreciate the many ways you have embraced pbl into your kindergarten classroom, providing your students with opportunities to take risks and to make choices and to grow through each unit of study. They are better collaborators and communicators and creators as a result and I know that this will carry forward to their future and yours!
Sincerely,
Dawn
I loved to read that your students have grown as risk takers. I feel like this is how all Kindergarten classrooms should be; students learning from the beginning that it is okay to be wrong and that by being wrong, you grow and learn from that! Just curious, but I wonder if you can tell a difference in your student's communication/group work skills compared to Kindergarten classrooms that did not implement PBL. So glad your students are practicing these soft skills now!
ReplyDelete