Blog Post 1 - Implementation Observation
Shanna Pittman

     For my implementation observation, I chose to have Dawn co-teach one of the protocols we've used in class, Critical Friends. One of the biggest challenges as an early childhood educator implementing Project Based Learning, is the reflection and revision part of the process. I have searched several official Project Based Learning websites and Pinterest for ideas on making the reflection and revision piece meaningful for young children, with little success. I tried Critical Friends protocol during my first unit and did not feel good about how it turned out and was unsure if it was any benefit to my children at all. This spring when we were able to signed the coaching agreement and I was able to invite Dawn in to help me implement Critical Friends, I was very excited.
     Dawn knew ahead of time what my concerns were and what I wanted to see. The students had conducted extensive research using nonfiction books and websites about Arctic animals. They used the information they had learned to create a fictional animal that could survive in the Arctic based on the adaptive features they had studied. Students then put their ideas on paper, drew pictures, labeled parts and decided what their animal would look like, what features it would have and what they would call it. After completing this part of the PBL, Dawn came in to assist with Critical Friends.
     Dawn, my assistant and I each took 2 groups to separate parts of the room. Each group had a set amount of time to present their ideas to the other group. The group that listened then gave group 1 feedback. They shared what they liked and also what they wondered about the other group's animal. Then we switched and group 1 listened and gave group 2 feedback. The process was a great success!
      My first attempt at Critical Friends in kindergarten was not nearly as productive as with Dawn's help.  After my first attempt, I was worried about the guidance, teacher prompting and support I was having to provide my students. I had attempted to do it with the whole group. It was not as focused and students' attention wandered. Also, Dawn began by choosing a student to role play how to give and receive feedback. This was more successful than the mini-lesson I began with. I learned some new techniques to use by having Dawn come in and co-teach with me. I also got validation that it is necessary to give kindergartners a lot of support. I thought I had failed because my students were unable to critique and revise on their own. However, in kindergarten, Critical Friends does not look like it does with older students. As a matter of fact, we changed the name to Feedback Friends which I thought was very appropriate!

Post 1 - Course 3 - Implementation Observation Reflection

     One thing I would like to successfully implement is a back-channel chat. I've tried it 3 times now, once with Padlet, and twice with Slack. I like Slack...I like it a lot actually. But with high school students (especially those armed with cameras and editing software) it quickly devolves into sharing memes.

     I'm guessing 15-18 year olds are just not quite ready for something like that without being closely monitored, and, to be honest, the whole point of a "back" channel chat is that it's something I don't have devote a ton of time to, but I can check off-and-on to monitor comprehension and provide supplementary materials through, which is what I actually like most about it. It's a lot easier to throw a link up on Slack than it is to make a new blog post on Weebly and share it with everyone.

  I also agree I need to get better with rubrics. One of the reasons I don't have one posted in the room is that w'ere not allowed to "decorate." I'm evidently not even allowed to have a white board installed; I'm supposed to do everything on the Active Panel (which is what I do).

     Let me digress for a second, maybe someone can help me with this. The holy grail of rubrics for me would be either an website or an app that would let me build a rubric that would look something like this:

that I could simply look at what I'm grading and click on the correct color to quickly grade it and have it total everything up for me. If someone knows how to make something like that or a tool I could use, I'd be eternally grateful.

   

Implementing Contracts

After leaving JL Mann, I was so impressed with the students' engagement.  This year it seems like my students are struggling with collaboration.  So one of the best "take aways" I received from JL Mann was the group contracts.  Currently my students are working on their Project Lead the Way unit.  This unit requires tons of collaboration and compromise.  The students are always excited about building a robot and they all want to do it, but each group of 4 receives one kit and one ipad.  I expected the arguments and disagreements ahead of time.  In previous years, the students usually disagree about who holds and uses the ipad.  They also disagree about who can put the pieces together.  So after seeing the group contracts put in action at JL Mann I knew that it would be something that I would have to use during this unit.  I gave the students the job descriptions an prior to giving out the ipads and Vex IQ kits.  I let the students get together and discuss who they thought would be best at the job.  I also told the students that in their groups they could decide to keep the same jobs during the entire build or if they wanted to rotate the jobs at any time.  I gave the students voice and choice with their contracts.   My students seemed to do well with the contracts overall.  I would have to meet with groups periodically to make sure they stayed on task and not vary far from their contracts.  I really like the group contracts and plan to use them again during my PBL implementation.

Blog Post #1 (Barwick)

First PBL Implementation Observation

As a reminder, this project was our "21st Century Progressives" unit in which students learned about the Progressive Era from the early 20th century, then applied concepts and ideas to current world issues.   They were given research time from approved sites on a Symbaloo I created to learn more about world issues, then they chose an issue that was important to them to focus their project on.

The lesson that Dawn observed was one of the first days of actually planning their projects.  The students helped me to create a class rubric of elements they felt would be important to grade them on, and they were tasked with making a list of materials they would need (including anything I would need to procure for them), as well as outlining what their product would be and how they would accomplish it.  My biggest concern with a project like this is student engagement and autonomy, so I had asked Dawn to specifically help me observe this with my students.  Overall, they did seem to be engaged while discussing their materials and products with their groups.  From watching the video clips and my own observations of the room, I felt like most students stayed on task and were enjoying planning how they would implement their project ideas.

I facilitated the groups, although I did notice from the video that I spent a long time on one group and not as much on others.  Reflecting on this, the girls in the bullying group that I spent the most time on were not as animated as the other groups in getting their project going so I felt I needed to help them the most.  One of those students is a non-native speaker (she is from Africa), and while she has good ideas, she is not always bold in explaining them.  The other two girls are generally quiet as well, so I felt that I needed to help them the most.  However, if I had left them alone more, would they have ultimately been fine? (I also think I worked with them more because, as an avid reader, I was most excited about their idea of writing a book about bullying, and I wanted it to get off to a great start!  I need to remember to show that same enthusiasm for all projects.)

I also noticed from the video clip that, at least in one group, one student was able to explain who progressives were and their purpose, but not the other one.  That led me to wonder if more students were confused about the overarching idea of the project and who progressives were and are.  I spent more time from then on reinforcing who progressives were back then and making connections to our current projects in order to cement that content knowledge.

At the end of this particular lesson, students were able to explain what their product was going to be, how they were going to implement it, and what materials I needed to get for them in order for them to be successful.  I felt that we had made good progress, and I was pleased that the students seemed to be engaged and working independently for the majority of the lesson.  It gave me hope for future PBL work time!

(That being said, not everything was this smooth sailing....other blog posts forthcoming...)

Class 3: Blog Post 1 - J.L. Mann Visit

It was such a treat to have time to visit J.L. Mann and see how they implement PBL. I really enjoyed being able to sit in on a planning meeting with the teachers. Their use of the critical friends protocol to discuss ideas for new units was great, and I wish this was something that would be easy to implement with my own coworkers. I think it is helpful that they have someone to facilitate this protocol and to be a resource for them as they plan and implement PBL units.

One thing that I found very interesting was how they pair up classes. The pairings that we were able to see seemed to work really well together, at least for the specific projects students were working on at the time. I would imagine that it is very difficult for high school teachers to integrate and/or collaborate with teachers of other subjects. As an elementary school teacher who teaches all subjects, I value the use of integration, especially in the PBL units I have implemented and hope to implement in the future.  It is important for students to continue to see that most real-world tasks are cross-disciplinary, so it is important for them to have skills in multiple subject areas. Seeing this integration first hand made me realize that I can definitely be more intentional about making my PBL projects cross-disciplinary. With new legislation that is going to impact our reading instruction next year, I know that I will need to heavily integrate to continue to implement PBL next year as I may not have as much time to teach science and social studies (which usually provide the driving question for my PBL units).

I also liked how the teachers displayed their driving questions, problem statements, and other elements of their projects on their class project boards. This is something I have already implemented in my classroom so my students can easily refer back to the driving question for our current project. It is a practical, fuss/frill free way to make that information easily accessible to my students.

I am glad we got the chance to see PBL in action. I was worried that I would not be able to take away much because I didn’t know how the high school experience would relate to the elementary experience, but I definitely learned a lot. I would really love to see PBL in action at the elementary level at some point! 

The Caliber of this Cohort - Post #1 - Darstein

I just spoke to Dawn and really feel the need to write this to all "my PBL peeps" (as Mr Tedder would say).

The creativity and passion that I have witnessed all of you putting into your PBL units has set the bar for what I think a PBL should look like.  And that bar is HIGH!!!  
We have learned the 'basics' of a PBL and as I research projects I see those basic elements BUT I rarely see the creativity or feel the passion I see and feel in the projects that come from this cohort.   Someone put each of your names on the list for this class and those folks really nailed it.  I am encouraged that our children are able to experience each of you in the classroom.  My dream school is a school where every teacher has the commitment, creativity, and courage to teach at full speed like each of you have demonstrated.   

Thanks for all you have taught me - I am inspired and honored to have learned from some of District Six's BEST!

Scott Taylor - blog #3 - looking at the final product

As I reflect on the unit I was very impressed at how my students completed the press conferences.  Throughout the unit they did awesome in their research, with the guest speaker, and during the speed dating concept.  Then, a difficult observation happened.  It was our next to last day and the students were practicing for the final presenations the next day and I had the classroom set-up as if were the real thing.  The podium was out, the American flag was on the stand, and the blue curtain was hung.  I had invited two English teachers in to give some feedback to the students when each of practiced up at the podium.  Then, and individual popped in to observe me for my 5 year renewal and she asked, "I thought I was here to watch you teach science."