What I Used to Think, But Now I Know - Jessica Barwick

Because I made the decision to change my PBL unit to westward expansion after I had already started it, I do not have as much baseline data as I would like to be able to compare and see growth.  I did have STAR reading scores from the beginning of the school year, and because this unit incorporated reading literary and informational text, I expect to see growth in my students when we re-take STAR later this week.  However, I know that this unit alone is not responsible for all growth in reading skills.  I did give a narrative cold writing prompt at the beginning of the year, and most students were weak in several areas.  Ones that especially needed work were story development, character and setting, and figurative language.  During the unit, I focused mini-lessons on these areas, and even though my students haven't all finished publishing their final writing projects, from my observations and conferences, I have seen tremendous growth in these areas.  I also did not give a pre-test on westward expansion before this unit because the social studies standards are all new in fifth grade, so students rarely have prior knowledge on any of the topics.  However, I realize that to truly see growth in westward expansion understanding, I should give one in the future.  The majority of my students passed the unit test, though, with many making As and Bs, so I feel confident they learned the material well.  Along with growth in their reading, writing, and social studies skills, my students learned a great deal about seeing stories from multiples perspectives, collaborating with others, solving problems by asking new questions and researching, performing in front of others, and time management.  These real world skills are invaluable and will transfer to future projects inside and outside of school.

Not only have my students learned from our first PBL unit, but I have as well.  I saw the benefits of infusing project-based learning elements in all curriculum, even if there is not always time for a full culminating project presentation with an audience.  Inquiry, agency, collaboration, student choice, and real-world connections can be incorporated into many units and will generate more interest in the topics and better prepare students for problem solving in life.  In my westward expansion unit, collaboration was high and helped students learn how to compromise and create within a group while still keeping their individual voices in their own writing.  I also felt that the focus on point of view worked well because being able to see things from multiple perspectives can instill a sense of empathy, so the social studies content can be applied to everyday life.  We connected our pioneers' journeys to bullying by reading stories about bullying from different points of view (the victim, the bystander, and the bully).  There were some struggles along the way, of course, the biggest one being time.  I underestimated how much time that collaborating, creating, writing, and practicing would take, and some of my well-intentioned plans had to be limited.  This has also led to me being behind with regard to my long range plans.  I also feel like I did not allow enough time for peer critique and feedback, which would have helped the projects turn out better, and our audience was limited to just another fifth grade class.  For my next unit, I will continue with the elements that worked well, but limit the scope or time frame of my project (quality over quantity), plan for more opportunities for peer feedback and revision, and expand our audience to include community members.

Overall, I am pleased with the way my first PBL unit turned out.  Honestly, I was skeptical about implementing some of these elements, even though I was excited about them in the summer.  I wasn't sure how my fifth graders would be able to handle working in groups, researching independently, and presenting to a real audience, especially without knowing who they were at that point.  Now, after getting to know my kids, I can keep my high expectations and plan for what they need and are interested in.  Yes, there will be those students who do not rise to the occasion, but most will surprise you with what they are capable of as long as you show that you believe in them.  I was not sure how interested my students would be in project-based learning, but after seeing the excitement on their faces when they presented, the in-depth knowledge they gained, and the questions of "Mrs. Barwick, can we do this again?," I know that, while difficult, PBL is worth it.