Chapter 2:

          Before I begin my PBL, it is essential for me to know several things about my students. First, I need to know where they are in their understanding and application of math in a real-world situation. The majority of the students in my classes are working significantly below grade level and often get frustrated and "shut down" during instruction or practice. Second, it is important to know the learning modalities of the students in my PBL class. Understanding their preferred method of showing what they have learned will help me decide on the options for the final piece. Next, I need to know which students work well together and motivate others. Out of the 90 studnets that I see in a day, 35 have IEP's and 15 are ESOL, with nine of those below level three on the WIDA test. Among these students, there are those who motivate and push the others to do their best, but there are also those who will let others take over and do all of the work. Finally, I will need to differentiate and provide scaffolding support for many of the students during the process. My goal is to cause my students to think and look at situations differently than they have in the past. Table 2.1 shows how research connects PBL to changing the brain, and that is very exciting when you work with underperforming students.

Chapter 3:

         Classroom environment has a great effect on student learning. In preparation for this project, I changed my classroom from desks to tables. Since this will be a non-traditional situation for my students, I felt like they needed to get used to the environment in which they would be working before that time comes. Since we have been working in this environment for several weeks, I realize that I will also need to purchase risers so that students can stand and work at the tables. Many of the special education students in my room need to stand to complete assignments, but they are bending over to write on the tables. I have also occupied a horseshoe table where I can conference with students. 

Session 2: Meeting 1

Chapter 2: As a performing arts teacher, one of our biggest "sells" is brain research.  Many studies over the years have shown that music affects the brain in a multitude of positive ways, and playing an instrument seems to be one of the best things a person can do for their brain development.  Because of this, I found this chapter to be quite fascinating.  How true that we limit the neural growth of our students in order to achieve positive test scores and results.  PBL seems like such a positive way to learn--building and developing brains in the natural way of learning instead of feeding information to spout back on an exam.  I'm excited about learning more about this whole process.

Chapter 3:  I for sure have some challenges ahead of me in my physical classroom.  We are set up for orchestra, and once a week I need to find a way to comfortably work and research.  I'm not sure how that will look yet, but we've done laptop day once before and the kids seem mostly comfortable spread out on the floor, at the few tables I have, and using chairs as surfaces.  I may look in to getting some more tables around the edge of the classroom, or maybe some flexible soft seating.

Alana McSharry- Course 2: Post 1

Chapter 2
Before beginning a project I will need to know about my students' academic skills and social and emotional skills. This knowledge of my students will be the foundation of the project and will help me to successfully navigate my students through the project. My students come from different familial and cultural backgrounds. These backgrounds cause the students to have brains that are unique from each other. This uniqueness in their brain will influence how the students approach the project, the choices they make throughout the project and what they learn at the end of the project. During the project some of my students will need more support to work through the project. It is important to realize that even the act of learning will change my students' brains which is an important part of learning. The project will cause students to think and this process of thinking actually enhances the students' ability to think better. As students learn they connect old information to new information which helps the brain become more organized and increases their ability to understand the world around them. The idea of novelty is interesting to me. To improve my teaching I will need to teach skills to my students in new and unique ways which will support my students' learning experience.

Chapter 3
The physical environment of a classroom can enhance students' learning. The environment needs to have an area for students to collaborate throughout the project. It is important for students to have an area for students to research the information they need for the project. My current classroom situation has many aspects that is already conducive to student learning. There is a large space for whole class instruction as well as small spaces for small group or collaborative work. Students can sit at tables or sit on the floor to do their work. I would like to improve the research areas for my students. This improvement would include adding more books to the classroom and increasing the use of technology.

Kathy Feigenbaum Chapters 2 and 3 

I always enjoy getting to know my students at the beginning of the year, as well as ongoing throughout the school year. I make a point of learning all their names (120+) the first week of school, and in the past few years we have used pets as a topic for introductions. It seems that everyone is more comfortable telling stories about their pets than they are talking about themselves. In an intangible way, I have always felt like knowing something about my students (beyond their names) helps me be a better teacher. In chapter 2 of Project Based Thinking Through Learning I see that familiarizing myself with my students’ interests will help me give them “voice” in the learning process. Personal relevance can help students retain what they learn because they care about the things that are more relevant to them.

In table 2.1 : I am concerned about the statement “all brains are not equal because context and ability influence learning.” I would like to know more about how I can challenge students who need it, while supporting students who need more help – all within the same PBL…  I wonder if this was covered in the class discussion that I missed due to Open House. I have not completed the baseline data; I am not sure where to go for that information related to my subject. I use 504’s and IEP’s to accommodate students as required, but I have not gone more in depth with students’ histories. I think I could use a recap of the 5 W's.

Having a safe place for thinking is what school is all about, right? I really like the idea of “thinking out loud’” in which I envision Winnie the Pooh tapping his head and saying “think, think, think.” Flexibility enhances the work environment, but I have a very small classroom. This year I have grouped my students into desk pods of four (which can easily be broken into pairs in two ways.) I have extended our work zone to the library, conference room, hallway, and even outside the classroom to the picnic tables. My students enjoyed the Gallery Walk in the hallway, which I told them to pretend was an actual museum, so they had to be serious and quiet as they observed and took notes. I also really like the idea of the refrigerator box as a photo booth!  I am trying to remember to “act positive and excited” - which is, of course,  easiest at the beginning of the school year.

I wonder what an example of immersive environments is?

Ashley Blackwelder Blog Post 1, Course 2

It is so interesting to think about how knowing our students can impact the WHAT and the HOW of our teaching, even when we think we've got everything planned out perfectly. I'm in a unique situation, as I see all grade levels and all abilities on a daily basis, and it is fascinating to see how those "perfect" plans change, improve, and develop into such different situations from one class to another. What makes PBL so much fun from the teacher's perspective is watching what the WHO of our classrooms can do to make our original ideas that much better. The diversity of our students undoubtedly brings challenges, but it is also such an exciting thing to observe. When we've started to create a classroom community that celebrates our students' questions and ideas, they have the confidence to question and challenge us even further, to create the best, most meaningful experiences for themselves. For example, our reading coach and I have been working with our 5th grade teachers on a mini geometry unit about tiny houses. We prepared resources, including interactive videos, graphing websites, infographics, and a floor plan-designing website. We divided the class into 5 groups (mainly because that's how many free floor plans the website would allow us), and challenged them to design their own tiny house, specify the dimensions, build a scaled model of their house, and create a House Hunters-style video to convince us of the economical and environmental benefits of "going tiny," along with the design elements that made their particular house the one to buy. It's been fun--and I spent a good hour of today on the floor in my room, hot-gluing tiny cardboard rectangles together in order to help each group construct their tiny models. 
We started a second group on the same project yesterday: same challenge, same resources, same basic approach. However, this group was really fascinated by the idea that we measured out the area of an entire tiny home within their classroom--and, instead of wanting to divide up and out-design each other with multiple model homes, one student simply asked: "Can we build a real one?" Well...I have a seemingly endless supply of cardboard in my room, and we have the courtyard right outside your window...so, why not?! With this end goal in mind, our approach has completely changed with this second group. So now, we have two completely engaging and fun projects going on, which I honestly look forward to each day--and the two very different directions that they have taken can be attributed simply to the WHO we have encountered in each classroom. The statement from Table 2.1 of Chapter 2 has been SO evident to me this week: "Human brains are as unique as faces." This is such a fascinating truth, even when it causes what can seem like a "mess" of our plans. As we begin work on my community photojournalism PBL unit for this class, the reading coach, the 2nd grade teacher, and I are already seeing the influence of our WHO; students are already asking questions and expressing interest in visiting locations that we had not even considered. Their unique ideas, experiences (or lack thereof), and curiosity will undoubtedly shift our unit plans in some way. But if we approach it with flexibility, and support them as they try to make sense of their community and tell stories in their own way, I am confident that it will end up even better than I could have anticipated.
As for the physical classroom environment discussed in Chapter 3, I was happy to see the phrase "busy-messy" used. That's a gentle way to describe the constant situation in my room. As a classroom teacher, I thought for many years that staying neat and tidy and meticulously organized were signs of being a competent teacher. I WANT to be neat and organized all the time. But in a creative classroom environment--at least in the one I inhabit--it's just not possible. There is always a work in progress, and there should be. "Busy-messy" invites students to take some risks and explore their curiosity, and I want to provide that type of space for all students who come into my room. My PBL wish list seems to be endless (one possible explanation for the constant clutter), but I have started re-vamping my room to work with what I have NOW, and I've found that some small changes have made a big difference. I love the idea of flexible seating, and I've made that a priority as I re-made our old computer lab into a STEM lab with a more relaxed atmosphere and makerspace. Simple things like lowering desks and providing comfy materials (so far, a rug and a toddler play mat that can be separated for any seating arrangement we want) have completely changed my room. I always have a few dream items, like the LEGO wall I'm currently begging for on Donors Choose, but I've got a more-than-decent collection of electronics, a multitude of craft supplies, various building sets, and plenty of recyclable materials that students are free to use however they see fit. It's an inviting space for any grade level, and I'm fortunate enough to have the supplies I have needed for any project-based learning I've facilitated so far. Our kids have done some outstanding things with LEGOs, laptops, and a mountain of cardboard! The great thing about PBL is that we don't necessarily need a fancy wish-list (although the fancy things are so fun!) to create great experiences for our students. With curiosity and ingenuity--ours AND our students'--they will find ways to learn and share that learning with pride. 

Course #2: Post #1

*Knowing WHO you teach impacts WHAT and HOW you teach:
As I think about my little kiddos, I must remember that they are all coming from different backgrounds and have had different experiences.  Collecting data about each of them has given me insight about their family and homelife.  This data also shows me that because of their ages, they haven't been exposed to a lot of food that I plan to introduce to them through my project.   For some of them, my classroom is the first school setting they have been in.  So as I teach these 3 and 4 year olds, I have to constantly explain and model how and when to do pretty much everything!  However, I see this as a great thing because I, along with my staff, have the honor of molding them.  On one hand, I feel this is the perfect age to begin the PBL approach with for a couple of reasons:
1. My kiddos are naturally super curious, and curiosity was mentioned in chapter 2 as the engine for learning.  This age group is definitely curious and always want to know WHY.  They have not been jaded by "traditional" instruction.
2.  My kiddos are always moving, so implementing the necessary movement for our PBL project will be a natural fit.

*Applying Mind-Brain-Education Science Insights to Projects:
Including differentiation and scaffolding in my PBL project will be crucial for all of my little kiddos because their brains are operating at different levels.  In order for each of them to be challenged, as well as not become too frustrated, I will need to be design each activity very carefully.  This also reminds me how important student choice is and what an important part it plays in PBL.  Based on what I know about my students so far, I will have to start the project with building much knowledge about names of fruits/veggies and which foods fit in each of these categories.  This will involve a lot of literacy and science.  It seems that this project will last about 4-6 weeks, which is longer than I had initially expected.  When I developed my project this summer, I wasn't thinking about how I might end up having a classroom made up of mostly 3 year old students!

*Physical Classroom Environment:
I set up my classroom this school year with PBL in mind since I was going to be implementing the project.  So, I felt a sense of relief when I was reading this chapter.  According to what is described, I seem to be on the right track in this area.  I removed a good bit of furniture to be sure to have space for movement between various areas.  I purposely left a lot of wall space for our charts/documentation that we will collect throughout the project so we and visitors can follow/refer back to the process/journey.

I can truly say that I am excited, anxious, and nervous ALL at the same time!

Course #2, Post #1 :)

As I completed the readings in Thinking Through Project-Based Learning, I felt more and more deflated. I know that we were warned about how hard the implementation can be, but I feel COMPLETELY frustrated a lot of days with the slow progress (is there even really progress?!) that my students are making as we trudge through my Pieces of Me unit.

Here are some of the things that the chapters brought up for me:

Chapter 2
1. My kids' brains are not all in the same place right now. They've had different experiences and they are in different developmental places. I have some kids who are totally engaged in this process of self-discovery, and other students who are clueless when it comes to a journey into one's self. It could be something as simple as our first assignment to share 10 number facts about yourself (i.e. I have seven pets) and I have kids that are telling us they have 10 fingers. (Duh! Most of us do!) I have to find a way to do a better job of meeting each child where they are, but with 30 kids in a class, that is hard to do!!! As they share with their reflection teams, I am hoping that they are seeing strong examples and learning to be more open, but I also worry that they are not getting enough explicit instruction from me, which leads to me talking WAYYYYYYYY too much.
2. Novelty.... in my quest to create routines in the beginning of the school year, I've forgotten how important novelty is. Yes, it's nice to have a journal routine at the beginning of class, but I can't believe how differently they responded when the prompt was a YouTube video I'd selected. They wrote more and were much more enthusiastic. Need to latch onto that and work in more novelty in my class periods.
3. The struggle with executive function: I have got to provide opportunities and scaffolding for my kids so they can develop the ability to set goals, self-monitor, and manage time. Knowing that many of them are new to this style of learning, I know I have to help them "get on board" and find their way, but I feel like I am so "in charge" right now, and I can't seem to get out of my kids' way. I want to provide the explicit instruction and practice they need, but end up taking over.  I think I am worried they are going to be stressed and thus don't allow them any chance to struggle.

Chapter 3:
1. This quote just feels like my project: "The key is engagement early on. We know that if a project is flat at the outset, it's going to be six weeks of dragging them along." They just have not embraced this unit like I thought they would.... :((((
2. Physical Space: This is such a point of frustration for me right now. Because I am floating, I don't have my own classroom to set up in a way I find conducive to learning. Thirty people in a room that I can't really reconfigure is tricky (not to mention, sometimes I arrive to find the room has been randomly rearranged by the teacher who occupies it). Tables are in rows when I need clusters or there isn't room for kids to gather in circles on the floor or in chairs with their reflection teams. We do have open community space, but with that I'm having trouble managing behaviors.... This is totally on me though. Just have to back up the bus and do some more modeling and "fishbowling" of groups who are doing things well and working on the task at hand.
3. Places to display the learning process: lacking this!!!! I have a small section of whiteboard in each classroom I float to where I can write our learning target and have posted our class's core values, but nowhere to hang student work or do our displays that I had been so excited about for our final piece. I may have students just set up their exhibits at their desk for the day and invite teachers and school leaders to come see their exhibits during their block. (And then where do I put everything to assess it?!?!?!) Oh, I guess I could take a photo of each exhibit!

Anyway, I hope this doesn't sound too negative, you guys. I just think it's really hard to jump right into a PBL as my first unit when I didn't know the kids yet (or the school yet). I would have preferred to have had the chance to model and teach more inquiry-style thinking and build collaboration skills with some simpler stuff first, but I won't give up!!!! (Imagine how great my unit will be second semester when I get my new crop of kids and have ironed out the bumps!?!?!) :)