Mandy Irick Blog Post 5

My knowledge of PBL was very limited and superficial. At first, I was not sure what the buzz was all about due to the given rotational nature of the educational system promoting a “best practice” that will eventually be replaced with something else. When I first began researching the ideas, I had this misconception that PBL was completely the students’ choice on a topic of interest to them without any teacher’s influence other than making sure they somehow covered the standards. As an educator, we allowed students complete control over the project from beginning to end. This obviously made me very worried about how I was going to ascertain grades while making sure students are learning the appropriate grade level standard. It also lead to the dreaded question of “how will I get grades” or “is it fair to grade group work” or “will parents understand this new method?” All of these are really misconceptions that were dispelled once I immersed myself with learning more about PBL through the cohort, research articles, workshops, school visits and Dawn Mitchell. However, these are common things that all educators at some point worry about with transition to this methodology. I often worried will I have to remove every practice that I have in place to make room for this new one. At times, I was also overwhelmed with thinking there needs to be some grand final product that is a model. Although my knowledge is still a work in progress, I feel that I have cleared up many of the misconceptions that have been floating around in my brain. Yes, PBL requires a methodology that has specific components that will have students reach their maximum potential. My schema has shifted because PBL is now just a more valid and in-depth way to teach our standards. Normally I change my delivery method or protocol based on the content and my learners’ needs. PBL lends itself perfectly to this because I am putting a new spin on the same standards as before but making it more interesting and relevant to my students. My goal has always been providing the best in order to meet the learners’ needs which PBL does this. Another misconception cleared up was that you do not have to eradicate everything to complete a PBL. Yes, if you provide a classroom environment that is deeply entrenched in a traditional method, you are going to have to make some shifts in how you model the class. Yet, you can still use activities, materials, literature and even tests as ways to bring about an awareness to the concept you are hoping they learn. You still have to have formative and summative assessments. The biggest and most important lesson learned was PBL is all about providing choice and voice. The choice by allowing students to pick areas of interest for them and making the project one where they can highlight their talents whether it is a choice in materials or the outcome. Voice is also important when letting students talk about their struggles and opinions. Having students communicate and build connections is important. Students are able to provide feedback in a least restrictive environment in authentic ways to help them grow as a learner. The voice and choice help students to learn how to be real world problem solvers and communicators. The goal for every teacher is to provide students with as many really world experiences in order to create a well-rounded productive citizen. If we are to be true to the Profile of a SC Graduate, we need to utilize PBL in our classrooms. It is not enough for students just to have a sound knowledge based. The world is filled with technology that at a click of a button, you receive the data needed. For a student entering into college, the workforce and beyond, they need to be able to not just restate the information but synthesize, analyze and apply it to whatever problem they are facing. Traditional skill and drill does not produce those learners. PBL does by pulling information into current situations and real life scenarios that students will face in their daily lives. By providing them with a platform for constructing and planning, communicating and strategizing, we are helping them be better equipped when the situation arises in real life. PBL provides students with the soft skills that often we do not think about how important they are. I often forget that in order to work collaboratively, students need to work on creating ground rules and protocols such as a contract. For digital media, students need to have an understanding and basic working knowledge of the application in order to make a product. So many soft skills taught during the PBL process are valuable lessons that will be used beyond just being in the classroom. As educators, to grow the SC Graduate, we need to begin by giving them all the tools that will make them successful like communicating effectively or participating in feedback sessions. Listening to the TED talk and participating in the class models really help me to develop an understanding of how I want my PBL to look in my classroom. I think that without having participated in the activity, I would not have had the understanding of it so I could effectively convey it to my students. The TED talk inspired me to offer plenty of student voice and choice within the construct of the project. This is why I went to social media since it dominates our society. It allowed me to think about the validity of the project that I was exposing them to so I could explore the middle school mind (frightening I know!) and see how they view the world. The classroom models that we participated in help me gain insight into knowing which would work effectively in a particular situation or scenario during the project. The class overall really gave me a chance to think and reflect on the materials that I was presenting to my students. I had time to receive other viewpoints and feedback so I could make this something that would be of interest to all my students no matter their personality. I hope to establish a learning community like we have in our cohort.