Blog Post #5 What I Used to Think/But Now I Know- Mandy Irick

Blog Post #5

What I Used To Think/But Now I Know

What I used to think about Project Based Learning:

To be honest, one of the major reasons behind me taking this course was to develop my very limited understanding of PBL. The cursory knowledge that I possessed was that it was a paradigm shift composed heavily of the gradual release model of responsibility where students were present in the learning. It was a staunch departure from the more traditional classroom setting where the teacher had primary control of the learning environment and instruction delivery. I had an understanding of the big picture but was at a loss when it came to the different components that made PBL what it is. The other area that I was severally lacking was the implementation aspect. In my mind, PBL would allow students to branch off a skill, standard or concept taught, researching it due to their desire to learn more about it.  This lead to a concern because although exploring interests is very invalid and a proven success, where would the standards connect. The stress of students exploring and researching something that was unrelated from the standards would not allow for mastery nor application. Even though we hate to admit it, testing is important along with staying with the standards. These standards are our road map to how to narrow down the most important information that our students need to know in order to be successful. The other part that I made a wrong assumption on was that it needed to be freer flowing without as many guidelines to not inhibit students’ exploration and growth. This false knowledge made me worried as to how students would stay on track and be successful with their learning and discovery. The biggest part of my learning curve was really the lack of experience I had with construction of a PBL project to the implementation stage. Without having gone through this process, it gave me limited knowledge where I made assumptions to connect the lack of information.

But Now I Know:

After going through course one and two, I feel like I have such a better grasp on the fundamentals. A critical piece in this whole process was being able to have an instructor talk through each section of a functioning PBL unit. This helped to eradicate some previous knowledge that was causing me concern. The other part to this was building my unit from the ground up. I found having to complete every part of the process helped me to gain better insight into what the students would be engaging in. The first misconception to be shattered was that the students could just pick the topic, which could veer radically from the standard or indicator; you are trying to teach them. The teacher needs to make sure that whatever the PBL project is that you can always tie it back into a standard or indicator.  In many of the PBL implemented or I have constructed, the standards are broken down into mini-lessons or activities. The PBL project takes those standards and allow the students to apply them in different and creative ways. I also learned that providing checkpoints along the way during your PBL is very helpful in determining whether the students are learning the information covered within the unit. Teachers would question how we could get grades during this process. By implementing these checkpoints, teachers can gather the data needed along with grades. These helped to ease the stress and helped them become more eager to implement in their classrooms.  One of the most important things that I learned was that you can build a PBL unit but you are going to have to make modifications along the way because nothing is going to be perfect. With my PBL, I started so over the top and ambitious. I have since learned that PBLs should grow and change with your students and their needs. They need to be flexible but allow some rigid components that students have to work for. With everything, reflection is key.  If you do not reflect on how to improve on the negatives, the PBL can easily be derailed.  The course itself helped to provide me with a better understanding of each specific PBL component. This was critical for me so that I could help to provide guidance for the teachers at my school as they undergo the process of learning and implementing PBL.