Kathy's Blog 6

Kathy Feigenbaum

Blog #6

What I thought I knew about PBL but now I know:

Less than a year ago^h I received a forwarded email through my principal with a PBL flyer from Furman. I looked at it. I didn’t know anything about PBL. I asked some of the teachers at my lunch table what they knew about it. Nothing.In my defense, I look back at the email and there is no explanation as to what PBL even stands for! I started to investigate. I had a sense of projects, which, as we learned later are called “desserts.” That is the way I had been using projects in my classes. I decided to go to the June 8 PBL Convocation at Furman. I was intrigued enough that day to enroll in the 2018-19 PBL Consortium, and I’m so glad I did! My concerns at first were about how I might be able to make this method work whilst pushing students to speak in Spanish.

Now I know that it IS hard to incorporate PBL in a foreign language class. It IS difficult to work and communicate about something authentically in the language when students have no knowledge of the language. Yet I can imagine that there are hurdles in any subject and at every level.

I know what it takes to create a true PBL, both instructionally and motivationally. (I know the parts that make up one, as well as the effort involved.) I believe that the group we had in our cohort, with Dawn as our leader was incredibly helpful and supportive. One of my concerns is managing all of this without the support of other teachers. I am hopeful that the PBL pitch I gave to our faculty might bring some colleagues on board! Teaching itself really is a PBL by nature, and therefore collaboration should be a requirement.

Many thanks to you all for helping me through this challenging and rewarding experience.