Kathy
Feigenbaum
Blog 5: What
I thought I knew/ What I know about PBL
Somehow, I
was oblivious to PBL. Last year I got an
email about a PBL convocation at Furman at the end of the school year, and I
asked around. “Buzzword” was the response I got. So, I signed up for the
program to see if I might learn anything that would help me in teaching middle
school Spanish. After the one -day event I was convince enough to sign up for
the endorsement classes. It still seemed like it applies more to math and science,
but I really liked some of the aspects. At least I can bring some of these
(like student-driven learning) to my classes.
What I know
now is that PBL is amazingly effective. My students were more engaged than ever
when we were working through the We Need to Learn Spanish-Why? project.
I also know
that there is a lot of time and work involved in planning such a unit. We need
to have an authentic engaging question or problem to solve, student buy-in and
sustained inquiry at a challenging level of work, technology, collaboration,
choices, reflection, and opportunity for revision and the chance to show the
product beyond the classroom. So much work that I think it will take much of my
summer to prepare PBLs for the upcoming school year.
I would love
to share this PBL experience with a colleague – either by level or by subject
matter. I still feel isolated, and that makes the challenge more daunting. If I
can overcome the hurdle of how to apply PBL to teaching a foreign language, I
think I can handle the work that goes into preparing these invaluable
experiences.
Hi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you attended the spring PBL convocation last year! Many of the teachers in the previous cohorts that I have worked with in Spartanburg and Greenville and Pickens were there as well as one of my colleagues' cohorts in Greenwood were there and shared their presentations. I am so thankful you were intrigued and went and that this event was a catalyst into you enrolling in this year's cohort. I have loved seeing your pbl in action when I was able to visit your classroom earlier in the semester and appreciate the relevancy of your pbl's driving question. I believe their research in this first project provided relevancy for the rest of the learning and answered their own internal questions about why they need to learn Spanish. I agree with you that effective pbl requires intensive planning and like you, I like to prepare for those during my breaks both summer and winter. I want to encourage you to share your pbl experiences iwth your colleagues both those in related arts areas as well as those who also teach middle school. I know it is difficult being the only foreign language teacher in your school but I know you aren't the only foreign language teacher who values the pbl process. I would encourage you to reach out to others to see if they would be interested in joining you this spring. Sincerely, Dawn