PBL Course 03 - Blog 01 - Smith, Robert

How Can We Flip Assessment to Build a PBL Culture?

Students must become aware that they “are their own first assessor” (Bentley, 2016). How do teachers go about fostering that mindset in their learners? Classrooms must first become a place where learners give more than a correct answer. Learners also need to learn and practice reflection on themselves and their work.

Learners need “frequent opportunities to individually reflect on tasks within Project Based Learning units prior to discussing their work” (Bentley, 2016). This works by slowing them down and forcing learners to think about what they learned; how they learned; even if they learned, and eases them past the “is this right or wrong mentality” that has been instilled in them throughout their earlier school careers.

Bentley suggests using rubrics to promote self-reflection and autonomy. I agree with him. By providing learners with rubrics, it allows them to work, assess what they are doing, and think about where their work should progress, or regress! He also suggests allowing students to peer review each other’s work. The project based learning (PBL) framework outlines how learners should be working with one another and growing collaboratively. Rubrics are an essential tool to them to assess both their individual and group progress towards project completion.

In summary, we flip classroom assessment by changing the learner paradigm from them telling teachers that they are “finished” to them beginning to think and reflect about how to revise what they finished into a more complete artifact. This occurs through practice and opportunities to reflect. Offering rubrics and differentiating assessment puts learners in charge of their learning. They will grow and become better individuals for it.

Bentley, J. (2016, July 14). How can we flip assessment to build a PBL culture? Retrieved from Buck Institute for Education: http://www.bie.org/blog/how_can_we_flip_assessment_to_build_a_pbl_culture

Mandy Irick Class 3- Blog Post 1: Emerald High School Visit

    The visit to Emerald High School was very invigorating, opening up my eyes to a world of possibilities. The first thing that stood out immediately to me was the culture that they have created among teachers, administrators and students. When entering into the classrooms, you could see students were very familiar with the terms and strategies that are connected with PBL. This was something that I think at my school is really key. Having a common language among both students and teachers helps to remove time spent on revisiting or discussing and leads to less confusion. Everybody must be on board and have that time to talk through what are the essentials. To create this type of culture, you have to have teacher buy in and collaboration. Teachers have to be willing to collaborate and discuss coming up with how this should be approached. It was apparent that they have done this which helps makes the jumping into PBL so much more efficient because you are spending more time on the things that you need to versus building the knowledge of simple terms or strategies. Mrs. Glace shared that she was able to pair off students who currently have had her in the past with students who haven't to help with strategies like consensus protocols or silent debates.
    The soft skills rubric was another common language that was used throughout that grouping of teachers. For the most part, this wasn't modified or adapted by other teachers and stayed the same format. After listening to the principal discuss that a major focus in their PBLwas on soft skills, I thought it was effective to again from a common language. For me, I feel that it is so essential that have a strong structural foundation for PBL to make it the most beneficial for our students and teachers. A simple start is to build common language and strategies that are utilized in every grade level so that it becomes both natural for the students and the teachers. It also clears up confusion. There is nothing more challenging in a school environment where students who are constantly changing classes who now have to decode what concept is being discussed for PBL because of vocabulary. I am all for teacher individuality and placing your own "spin" on things however, using PBL across curriculum and building a school wide culture requires key components that are the same no matter the content nor grade level. This is one of the primary focuses we have at GMS for our teachers and administration is to build a school wide culture with commonalities.
       The honesty and humility stood out above all when listening to the staff and administration talk. When the principal was discussing his school's journey into this shift, I could relate to everything that he was saying. He didn't refer to them just as a PBL school but instead a school trying to provide the best education for their students. The major focus was on PBL but in particular the soft skills. A lot of the times, we forget to really explore this because we are so driven my the content. Content is very important because we all know that as educators our students are assessed on all their knowledge for one day. This of course it always frustrating because it is only a vague snapshot at best and doesn't truly show the whole learner. Putting the testing frustrations aside, content is important but those soft skills are as well. I could clearly see this in effect at the school because students were able to work in groups having valuable conversations. At the same time, if one of us asked them a question, they could turn around, maintain eye contact and clearly explain what their focus was on. Being able to not only hold peer conversations but with adults as well is a valuable life skill. Being able to have conversations that are clearly focused, maintaining eye contact, listening to the speaker and understanding what is being asked of you is key. The students demonstrated the ability to do this.
      One of the important factors in making this a successful environment was that you could tell there was 100% buy in and collaboration among both the administration and teachers. The first thing I noticed was how the teachers talked about how they made time to work together even if they had to compile a Google doc., group text, time in the hallway or even carving out some time to plan together at school. Regardless of how they did it, they were all in and made time for the planning and discussing. They talked about how they worked out problems and spent time building some common languages to help the students understand the process. The other part of was the administration team. They took the time to become invested in the process. It was great for them to be as knowledgeable  as the teachers about how PBL should look and function for their school. The administration set clear goals for the teachers to follow when it came to trying at least one PBL per semester and then building upon it. It was very reasonable and touch on the needs of the students along with faculty. The teachers were constantly praising the administration for  facilitating the learning environment that was conducive to both students and themselves. You could tell everyone felt supported. Yet, they were realistic in what they were doing. Instead of being a PBL school, Emerald is a school that does PBL. The realization that reading comprehension and stamina was a problem was constantly echoed by the principal. The goal was to use this type of instruction to build upon preexisting  struggles. These were just a few things that I noticed and want to use this for my school to build a strong foundation.

Savannah Griffith - Blog Post 1

Response to Emerald High School

                I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Emerald High School in Greenwood today. I thought that the students and teachers truly had a very authentic approach to the idea of Problem Based Learning. I picked up several possible strategies to begin implementing into my classroom. 

                I loved the color personality test from the ELA class and I really think that this could be a great strategy when I group my students for my new PBL lesson. I had originally thought I would let them select their groups but I think this could possibly work better. I am excited to try this method and see the outcome. I also really want to focus more on the soft skills that students need to be growing daily. I see how important these skills are and the impact that they have on a students future. 

                I think that I could also really use the large dry erase boards in my classroom. This could be like a drawing board for students to throw out ideas, practice drawings, and sketch ideas. I saw many new little hacks that can really enhance my classroom environment. 

                I also greatly enjoyed this experience because I was able to go to the art room. I loved seeing PBL from the view of an art teacher. The collaboration that takes place around the school. The projects that grasps students and truly engage them. I took away a fresh set of eyes for PBL and look forward to implementing them into my classroom! 

Clark H. Maxwell Course 3 blog 1

Reflection:  Emerald High School


The visit was a little bit of an eye opener.  I haven't been to see other subjects in a PBL setting.  The students were engaged and attentive.  You could tell learning was taking place.  I liked how the history class was kind of team teaching the initial part of the unit.  I think that would be a good way to get things started.

I noticed how small there classes are.  I know it's a rural country type school.  Small class size coupled with 90 minutes of class time would be great.  I think our 3 middle schools each have more students than Emerald.  I liked what the chemistry class was doing.  Those kids were really doing a good job in groups.  One thing that stuck out to me were the groups sharing information with each other. 

Before we all came back together I got a chance to go down to the gym and talk with one of the PE coaches.  High school PE is a little different that middle school.  They are only required to have PE in the 9th grade, unless they fail of course.  Also ROTC counts as a PE credit.  Because of these two factors, class size is very small.  The coach I talked with had 6 kids during that block of 90 minutes, wow.  They do one PBL per semester.  I bet its a whole lot easier with long classes and few students.

Overall, I like what they are doing, and it was a fun trip.  I'm glad I got to talk with a PE person and get some ideas.  It seems the entire district has bought into this, which is why it appears to be working as well as it is.

Sarah Golightly Course 3. Blog 1

Sarah Golightly        Reflection on Emerald High School

            Overall the students were engaged and participated in the instructor’s directions.  I found it interesting that several grade levels were in the same class though.  The history teacher had his students complete story boards and I liked that.  That is an activity I need to have my students complete also.

            I really liked that last year their PBL actually caught the attention of the superintendent, changes were made to the lighting, and funds were saved in the district.  That project was definitely real world.  How inspiring would it be for students of FMS, GMS, and DMS to have the same results!

            It was exciting to see all that Emerald is doing.  That just prompts me to think of all the other schools across the nation that are using project based learning.  I’d love to see the finished products from many of those English departments.

Taylor Thomas - Course 3: Blog 2

Emerald High School Visit

While visiting Emerald High school, it was evident that a PBL culture has been created. After hearing from teachers and administrators, we learned the main schools that feed into Emerald are also PBL schools. This is a major aspect that contributes to facilitating student learning. The high school students that we saw and spoke with have been learning through the problem based approach for many years. I was quite impressed with student interaction and their communication skills.

One possibility I want to explore with my students is grouping by personality. I will need to explain several of the traits, but am interested to see how this would turn out with my students. I also want to introduce their condensed soft skills rubric to my students. I like its simplicity and how student friendly it is.

I would love to know more about how teachers’ PBLs work together. I know that they are very connected and communicative, but I’m interested in how their projects work together because they do not share students. I’m sure their culture contributes greatly toward this. 

Taylor Thomas - Course 3: Blog 1

Post Observation of class visit on 1-25-18

Dawn visited my classroom when students were creating driving questions for their research on a global issue. She provided them with a mini lesson on creating driving questions and reviewed their work contract with them. After Dawn’s mini lesson, students had time to write their driving question. Most students were already on the right track with creating their question and some needed more guidance. Students worked together which helped them bounce ideas off each other before coming to us with questions. Students came to Dawn or me for assistance and to have their driving question approved. We were a little crunched for time and some needed to work on this again the next day. Overall, this class time was successful. Students were prepared for the next day and understood their expectations for the unit.