When filling out the class evaluation this past Thursday, I realized that a big part of Project-Based Learning (at least from a teacher's perspective) is getting out of my comfort zone. Part of what made this class so successful (or at least made me successful) was having a teacher that knew how to guide me out of my comfort zone without making me freak out and panic. Dawn's confidence in this type of learning as well as her ability to demonstrate the how to use tools like Kahoot, emaze, consensus protocol, gallery walk, and critical friends protocol made diving into this process a lot less scary. Because SHE believed that I could successfully implement my projects, I could, and I did everything in my power to make it a useful learning experience for my students.
So, isn't this what we do for the kids in our class? If we believe that they can do it and we give them the tools they need to succeed, chances are they will be successful. But it takes us having a masterful command of our content knowledge, establishing connections with our students that show that we are genuinely concerned about their success, and that we believe in them. In addition, we also have to give them the tools they need to succeed and show them how to use it. It might be the difference between pointing them towards quizlet.com and actually showing them how to use it to get them into their comfort zone.
One of my favorite things about PBL is its ability to push students out of their comfort zones. Sitting through lectures, doing worksheets, working through problems in the back of their books for homework is familiar, comfortable, boring, and a lot of times, not engaging. When working through a PBL style project, they have to take responsibility for the learning. A lot of the kids are unused to that (and often reluctant), but if you can hook them, I find they better master the content/skills the project focuses on building than through the traditional models.
ReplyDeleteNot only does getting out of our comforts zones add a new layer to the classroom, it also lets you see side to our students that would normally stay hidden. It is very easy for kids to blend into the background within the traditional classroom but PBL forces them to "step up". I've seen talents from my students that I would have never known about had I used strictly lecture, notes, test format.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeneane,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your kind words for me and for the cohort, but I know that your students were successful because you believed in them and you were successful in implementing pbl in both semesters because of the intentional way you worked to balance the demands of your content and the rigorous scope and sequence with the most engaging tenents of pbl - choice, authenticity, collaboration. This wasn't an easy task but it was doable and you made it happen. I have been impressed with the ways you've shifted already effective instruction through the lens of pbl and enhanced it!
Sincerely,
Dawn
I will say that say PBL pushes my comfort zones as well. I think that it adds demensions to my students learning and my way of teaching. I think teachers find it easy to just used what they have in the past to do their job. However, I think we have to adapt to the changes of our students. Adaptation must include stretching outside of our comfort zones.
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