Ken, expressed a climate crisis we face is a crisis of human
resources and that we make poor use of our talents. With the two types of groups Ken described,
we as teachers need to change the majority of people that endure what they do
rather than enjoying it and make that the minority. As much as I enjoy my job as a teacher, I
want to allow my students to enjoy what they are doing in my classroom, rather
than just enduring it because they have to.
Through project base learning (PBL), students will have an opportunity
to flourish and explore their talents and find out their passions.
Growing up, I use to say to myself, “when will I ever use
this in the real-world.” By using the
teaching strategy of PBL, our students will be able to say, that they “can” use
this in the real-world and not just for that moment in that class. My vision of a PBL classroom will be one that
is using real-world scenarios with challenges embedded for students to create
solutions to, using their problem solving skills and have a chance to present
their talents and what their passionate about to their group members to
overcome the ultimate goal. I will
continue to teach my students the concepts that are essential for them to attain
in to order to develop a deeper level of learning. Where they may then take the knowledge, they
have acquired and use it in future life events and situations. The challenge in implementing PBL in my
classroom this year will be retaining command of my classroom, while giving up
control. I will need to learn to let go
of some control, not behavioral, but of how they may learn the content and the
order, and just trust the process. I am very excited about incorporating PBL
into my teaching strategies to serve better the needs of my students.
AWESOME!!! I like the part in the second paragraph about the students figuring out problems on their own, not enough of that these days. I think your classroom would be a good one to watch.
ReplyDeleteOne of my challenges is also going to be letting go of some control in my classroom and being able to be more flexible with how the learning takes place. I'm looking forward to seeing how that goes in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristi,
ReplyDeleteIt is clear from your words and from my observations of your teaching that you enjoy engaging your students in learning science. I am glad that the pbl approach is one that resonates with you.
You identified maintaining command while letting students have some control as areas you wanted to target for growth. As you begin work on your unit plan today, keep these two areas in mind as you work to create your driving question, your culminating product(s), your need to knows, and most of all, the scaffolding and support your students will need to be successful.
Sincerely,
Dawn
I love that you are excited about PBL! I agree with your statement about giving up control of your class being the hard part but I am hoping that giving up control will make the students more accountable for their work and will make them more excited about learning.
ReplyDeleteThis is Robert Smith's Comment:
ReplyDeleteKristi H. Winslow Blog Post 1
There was a study published in 2015 that found that "...despite the efforts of a number of leading academics in the U.S. and elsewhere to promote student engagement, it doesn't improve student achievement" (Burt, 2015). It is hard to argue with empirical evidence; however, I am one who believes if it is not a detriment, then it cannot hurt. I want to have fun and I want my learners to have fun while they learn.
Here's the study link, if anyone is interested:
http://www.ewa.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/brown_ctr_2015_v2.pdf
The 2015 Brown Center Report on American Education: ARE ...
www.ewa.org
The Brown Center Report on American Education 5 a wealth of background information from students, including their at-titudes toward school and learning.