Brittany Daly - Blog Post 6 – I used to think, but now I know….

 I have really enjoyed my experiences throughout our three PBL courses. When I was asked at the end of last school year if I would like to participate in these courses, I thought it sounded like a good opportunity. I figured it would help me meet my school’s STEM goals. I honestly thought that some of my instruction was already pretty similar to PBL, but I had a lot to learn. Our first course was so helpful in outlining exactly what PBL is. I realized that it requires much more planning and organization than I originally thought. I remember being so optimistic this summer, as I often am. I thought about all of the possibilities that awaited me in regard to PBL instruction this year. When it came time to actually implement my first project, it didn’t go quite how I planned it. I struggled with time management, and my students struggled with collaboration. It made me realize that I need to do a better job of pre-planning the need-to-knows of my project and how my students would learn that information. What would I need to teach directly? What resources would my students need to read? How would I direct my students in their research? I also had to reflect on how I could improve collaboration.

Throughout the course of the second and third PBL courses, I had opportunities to implement more PBL units and make improvements in these areas. With my 1920s and Ecosystems units, I think I did a much better job of identifying (along with my students) the need-to-knows. My students were much more aware of the knowledge they needed to gain through their research and product creation. I know that any new units I implement next year will require more planning in that area.

I know I will need to work with my students next year on collaboration. During our visit to J.L. Mann, we learned that they begin the year by creating community and establishing collaboration norms. I plan to begin the next school year in the same way. I also hope to improve collaboration by implementing group contracts. This is something that I saw but did not really take the time to try this year. I am hoping that this gives students more ownership over their behavior and effort during group work.

I am really excited to continue to grow in my PBL instruction next year, and I hope to participate in some way with the next cohort so I can get feedback on new units I am planning. Our school’s goal next year is for each grade level to plan and implement at least one PBL unit during the school year, and I am excited about the positive impact PBL instruction will have on all of our students next year!