Jonathan Terry - Final Reflection

Over the course of this week, my thoughts and ideas on the validity of project-based learning has shifted dramatically.  To be completely honest, I thought project-based learning was just a set a buzz words to describe one way of teaching.  This week I’ve learned that project-based learning is not a new teaching fad that will fade away in the next few years.  PBL is what the scope of education is moving towards and, in a way, is what society is demanding.  Project-based learning is taking a project and making it the main focus of a unit of study.  Within this unit, students must constantly use inquiry to discover and answer their own questions.  The products and how they are presented create student ownership in the educational process.  As our students graduate and move into the business world, they will be more prepared to be successful independent thinkers.

There has been a huge paradigm shift for me as a classroom teacher.  I no longer want to depend on lecture, or “sit and get”, as my main way of presenting new information.  Inquiry cannot be something done once or twice a week, but constantly as students look to create new meaning from the world around them.  I’ve also shifted my view on the rigor that needs to be a part of my course.  Too many times I’ve given an assignment with the notion that “this is all they can do.”  From now on I will come into the classroom with the mindset that my students can perform far beyond what I expect and I should not be crippling their creativity.

My participation has expanded my expectations on the power of PBL and for what my students can truly accomplish in the classroom.  I loved the fact that class itself was structured as PBL so that I walked away with personal experience.  One of the most powerful things we can give students is the ability to collaborate and communication their feelings with peers.  This is not always easy in the middle school classroom and I know I will have to spend a lot of time teaching my 7^th graders how to properly critique each other.  Just like real scientists, critique and revision will become an essential cornerstone in my classroom, even if it is not necessarily a PBL unit.  I’m so appreciative of the opportunity to take this class and I cannot wait to share my enthusiasm for project-based learning with my colleagues.