Sunday, July 2, 2017

Sarah Kate Chatel- Blog #5

Project Based Learning
Sarah Kate Chatel
  Project Based learning is an approach to teaching that engages and challenges students beyond any other approach to teaching. I used to think the Project Based Learning was not anything that I could implement for my students, who struggle as learners already. I had a perception that it was something for science teachers to utilize with their experiments. I had difficulty seeing how I could use this model within my own room. I see now that this should be a primary approach to teaching within my classroom. I teach a resource math class where I focus on math foundational skills, often times my students are exposed to the skills I teach multiple times throughout their educational careers, yet they still have not reached mastery. I can see that by implementing the PBL model I can hopefully have students make deeper connections within these foundational skills in a way that they will never forget. I hope that I can make these skills as real world as possible, so that students see the importance of learning and the impact it will have in the real world, not just on a worksheet. I can see the importance of Project Based Learning (PBL) and how effective it is with teaching real world life skills. I believe that my students can be extremely successful within the real world as long as they have foundational academic skills and real world skills that are instructed and utilized, within the PBL approach. I am so excited to see my students enhance their self-awareness and their ability to collaborate and work with others in a way that impacts the world in a positive way.

            I have loved learning the Project Based Learning approach through living it. I, like my students, remember through experiencing much more than just reading or listening. My favorite part about this class is going through a variety of protocols, because it has expanded my way of thinking on how I can assess and monitor understanding of my students in a different way than just an exit ticket or a quiz. I enjoyed this past week spent learning about project based learning and I am looking forward to implementing this approach within my own classroom. 

3 comments:

  1. I agree that experience is so important to learning and TRULY remembering what you learned!

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  2. My favorite part about this experience was also learning a variety of protocols to use in our classrooms. It gives different ways of assessing our students, than through typical way.

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  3. Hi Sarah Kate,
    I am glad that you enjoyed this class and have found project based learning to not only be relevant for your students but an approach that could work for all students. Like you, I have enjoyed the collaboration that the various protocols promote and the new learning that inquiry based learning brings to us individually and to our whole group, collectively. I appreciate so much the ways you've integrated what you've learned about pbl into your career exploration and interview you created for your students.

    Sincerely,
    Dawn

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