Sir Ken Robinson challenges educators today to acknowledge that what worked in the past, what was necessary to learn in the past, what was enjoyed in the past is vastly different from what works, is necessary to learn, and is enjoyed today. He doesn't directly address PBL, but he does state we need to encourage passion and flexibility in the classroom. We can't always plan ahead of time for those moments that will excite the students, but we need to embrace them and nourish the students' passion in order to motivate them them to pursue their interests. I believe District 6 is encouraging the teachers to step away from traditional learning opportunities (that often lose students' interest) and embrace PBL's unique, and sometimes organic, learning opportunities that result in learning opportunities students remember long after the assignment is done. I will not say that PBL is fully embraced on all levels, nor do I believe it will ever be fully accepted; however, I believe we are moving in the direction Robinson recommended. Seeds are being planted, and perhaps we will reap a substantial harvest.
Robinson's inclusion of Abraham Lincoln's quote resonates with me: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country." I have often found myself falling into the same routine year in and year out in order to avoid having to constantly reinvent the wheel. However, if someone hadn't continued to reinvent the wheel, we would be rolling around on bumpy stone wheels using our feet for brakes. The students I teach in my classroom are not the students who sat next to me when I was in ninth grade, nor are they the same students who sat in my classroom fourteen years ago when I first began teaching. These students enjoy a different outlook on life and strive for goals once unimaginable. I need to embrace these changes and grow with my students in the classroom. Project based learning encourages the students to explore their interests and discover their creative talents--aspects of learning often stifled by traditional lessons in my classroom. My vision of a PBL classroom is one where students and teacher work together to identify a need and pursue ways to fill the need. I think of Mr. Bigweld's (from Robots) motto: "See a need; fill a need." As the teacher, my role would to be to provide them with some parameters and encourage them to use their talents to create a final product; along the way, I provide them with guidance and instruction in ways to reach that final product. Unfortunately, from experience, I sometimes don't provide enough scaffolding with some of the skills necessary to create the final products. Or I don't leave enough time and must sacrifice creativity in order to cover the skills. I need to remind myself that even through the struggles of creating a unit, sometimes the end result is completely worth it.
It's easy to fall into a routine of teaching the same thing the same way year after year. I have found that changing things up, even if it's just a little, keeps me excited and students engaged. PBL helps with this because the needs of students differ with each group, so you're always making a change somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI do feel PBl may be more difficult to implement in certain classes. But Mrs. Lux has inspired me to be a professional. Every year I do try and change thins up but only to fall back into the same patterns of teaching. By the end of the year I am angry I didn't stick to my plan for change. Change is so difficult. I took this course to make myself change. Last year another teacher discussed this with our department but I am someone who has to be immersed in something in order to fully understand and implement it. My students deserve something new and more innovative. The challenge for me will be to set aside the time each night to develop new units, make changes to prior PBL's, and ask for help. I am not one to ask for help and that is a flaw. Our district is phenomenal at meeting teacher needs so all I need to do is seek help. I do think PBL can be done at all levels. The hardest part with project based work at lower levels is truely time management at least from my past experience. Yet, because I know this as a teacher I need to develop a PBL that is easily completed in an allowable amount of time and focus on time management skills before we even begin the unit.
ReplyDeleteJulianna, I love when you stated, "PBL classroom is one where students and teacher work together to identify a need and pursue ways to fill the need." We as teachers have got to take a step back and listen to what our students bring into the classroom through their personal experiences. I love putting an emphasis on the collaborative approach and being able to step back and learn from our students in moments.
ReplyDeleteJuliana, I really liked your approach to pbl and how for you, the essence of a pbl classroom is meeting students' needs as learners. I smiled when I read your reference to Mr. Bigweld's robot quote, "See a need, fill a need" in your post because that perfectly summarizes the teacher's role in a pbl classroom. When we thoughtfully design projects that are content based but student driven we provide ourselves with the role of facilitator and work daily to identify and then meet individual and collective student needs.
ReplyDeleteYou identified providing students with scaffolding and support as an area you wanted to target for growth. As you begin work on your unit plan today, keep these two areas in mind as you work to create your driving question, your culminating product(s), your need to knows, and most of all, the scaffolding and support your students will need to be successful.
Sincerely,
Dawn