Julianna Lux Assignment 5

What I Used to Think/But Now I Know

I have a confession to make: I was very skeptical about Project-Based Learning (PBL) at first.  I have been part of a PBL committee for the past two years and researched it a little bit on my own, but I never really understood what it was.  Sure, I knew how to create intriguing projects, and I did on a regular basis (Odyssey Amusement Parks, Dream Montages, Shakespeare Festival Stations), but I never really understood everything that went into implementing a PBL.  I thought that if I introduced the project at the beginning of the unit, reminded my students to be working on it throughout, reviewed it a few times along the way, and then had them present, I was doing a PBL.  I spent hours searching the internet for ideas on how to implement PBL in my classroom, but I never understood what I was looking at and couldn’t figure out how to use it.  The closest unit I found was an I-Search unit that was inquiry-based; I tweaked the unit (it was initially a lower-middle school unit) to use in my classroom.  Even doing that, despite providing multiple opportunities for feedback, sustained inquiry, and reflection, the unit wasn’t quite PBL because I wasn’t providing opportunities for choice or collaboration.  I was told it wasn’t PBL, and my frustration with PBL turned to disdain for PBL.  When this course was offered, I reluctantly accepted because no one else in my department was available for the week.  

After learning more about PBL, creating a full PBL unit, and receiving feedback and validation from my colleagues, I’m sold.  Students and teachers can both benefit from implementing PBL in the classroom.  According to the Buck Institute’s Gold Standard Project Based Learning, a PBL unit will provide students with the opportunity for choice and voice during the learning process of a unit.  Standards and skills are embedded into lessons that directly impact the outcome of a project as opposed to being a part of isolated traditional lessons. Students collaborate with each other to solve problems, think critically, provide feedback, and create projects.  Even though collaboration is a key element of PBL, the project does not need to be a group project (this was an initial concern of mine that was assuaged as the week progressed).  Because students are working together to solve real world problems or as real world roles, they are taking their learning to a different level that provides them with the skills they need to be successful in the world well beyond my classroom.  With PBL, I am providing them with opportunities to think outside of the box and challenging them to reflect and to grow as a result of the learning process.

I am very excited about my Learning from the Past PBL unit.  I’ve taken a project I’ve completed only once before and tweaked it to fit the Gold Standard PBL.  I’m adding an elevator pitch and entry event (hopefully a visit from a veteran) instead of just handing them a project sheet and jumping right in. My students will be collaborating to create interview questions instead of coming up with the questions on their own.  Students will practice giving interviews with each other in order to receive “I think...I wonder…” feedback from each other.  Inquiry is sustained throughout with numerous opportunities to generate questions and conduct research and interviews to find the answers.  I’m hoping to partner with the art department to create cover pages for each of the booklets.  The final booklet will be a public product that is presented to the interviewee as a gift.  Students will create a digital showcase to highlight what they’ve learned and present it to the community.  By becoming an interviewer and historian, students gain a sense of authenticity in the product, and by sharing the final product with those who helped them along the way, students gain a sense of urgency and desire to do well.

This course provided me with an opportunity to see PBL in action.  As early as the first day, we were thinking critically about the previous units we’ve done with our students and the ways different protocols and student choice could be added to PBL to engage the students in the learning process.  We collaborated with each other, providing feedback and useful suggestions for individual units during the Gallery Walk and Critical Friends Protocols.  We talked (even when we shouldn’t have) about our projects, bouncing ideas off of each other in the hopes that we could build each other up and create successful PBL units.  The class was organized chaos at times, and I loved it.

I am so glad that I took this course. I’m sold on PBL, and I can’t wait to advocate and promote it more at DFC.