Sarah Golightly—Blog 5—What I
Used to Think/But Now I Know
I used to think that ELA was
stories, essays, and grammar lessons.
Project based learning is exciting.
It’s
also exhausting. I had no idea what I
was in for, but I have enjoyed the newness of this venture. I have really liked offering the students
mini projects instead of the questions on a story.
I used to think that I had to
bring everything to the table, but through the Genius Hour I clearly saw that
students have talents I could have never imagined. I used to think kids would have a great deal
of resistance when asked to speak before their peers. I was wrong.
Ninety percent of my students couldn’t wait to present for the
genius hour.
I used to think that I
project based learning worked best in a science or math class. I see now that it’s great
everywhere. It’s fun
for the students and the teacher. The
walls only exist in the room and not in the mind.
I used to think that I was
working hard. I was mistaken!!!
My opinions were very much like yours,and they have changed just like yours. I can't wait to see where PBL will take us in the ELA classroom!
ReplyDeleteLol, you do work hard! I have noticed that PBL works great with all subjects too!
ReplyDeleteI agree. When you think about PBL is seems so daunting but in reality it pushes our students to be real thinkes, analyzing, applying and constructing. These things are goals for ELA anyway but for once it is on the students instead of the teacher carrying all the weight.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteYou do work hard and it is evidenced by your student's work in this unit. That is one major shift that I learned when I began the journey with project based learning...our hard work in planning and preparing the environment and the learning trajectory for a pbl unit of study should then transfer to the students' hard work. It is only successful if students' outcomes show their growth and provide evidence for their work. I am so glad that throughout this fall experience of implementing your pbl unit you have seen the viability of this structure in the ELA classroom and the benefit of inquiry based learning and all of the four c's that embed for your students.
Sincerely,
Dawn