D6PBL (on Slack)

So I was struggling to come up with the 12th reply to a post (that wasn't repetitive at this point) and one of the things I saw that kept coming up in other people's posts was the desire to have some type of continuation of PBL discussion with the members of our cohort. So, I made a Slack team for us:

Click here to sign up

I set it up so that anyone with a spart6.org or d6du.org email address could sign up. 

If you've never used Slack before, it's pretty much one of the best messaging apps I've ever seen. I've included some information for you below:

Getting started for new users

And here's a more detailed overview for those of you who have never heard of it:

What is Slack and how does it work? - Pocket-lint

Let me digress for a moment. I use Slack as a backchannel chat option for my own classes. I've learned there are 3 kinds of people who slack: those who use it as intended, those who use it to post memes and/or other distracting stuff, and those who don't use it. So, just be aware of that if you think about using it with students. I had to basically make a "Memeteam" channel for some of my kids so that they wouldn't clutter up the general channels where we actually got work done. Before I did that, a lot of productivity was lost to spam.

Anyway, back on topic, Slack is cool because it's a group discussion, and you can also very easily post links/share files through it. It's a simple drag-and-drop for files (my kids use it for collaboration a lot) as long as you're not dropping massive files in there (think long videos).

Slack has a pretty slick mobile app, but be warned if there's a lot of activity going on in a slack channel, you may want to turn push notifications off for it on your phone.

I think Slack is really cool, and I think it has a lot of potentials; I hope people sign up/actually use it if they're serious about keeping the discussion going.

Thanks, everyone, it's been a great series of classes.

Blog Post 6: I used to think, but now I know...

At the beginning of this year, we were informed that we would have to add 2 additional PBL units to our curriculum at RES.  Last year, we were required to complete 4 PBL science units with Project Lead the Way being one of the units.  This year the additional PBL units needed to be in other subject areas. I used to think that PBL was a way to plan a science unit.  All I can think about was how can I use the Engineering Design Process in other subject areas.  I remember sitting in class looking at Mrs. Harris and saying, “we have to get away from thinking about PBL with science.  This isn’t about science.”  I realize PBL is a much bigger picture.  It is a way of planning instruction that integrations multiple subjects while teaching students several skills needed for the 21^st century jobs.  After this class, I think about how can I incorporate PBL across the board.  Now, at the end of the school year,  I have began to think about my planning for next year.  My brain is overflowing with great ideas to provide my students with a learning experience that will keep them engaged and prepare them for life.  I used to think that PBL unit planning was a long drawn out process, but now I realize that it can be done fairly quickly especially if the teachers collaborate.  This method of teaching, not only requires to students to work collaboratively, but the teachers learn to work together in planning. I now know that PBL is the way to create 21^st century learners. 

Blog Post 5- Growing Soft Skills

This PBL class has been really beneficial to me as a teacher.  Each year is always different then the year before.  This group of fifth graders seems to be “that” group.   In years past, I have enjoyed allowing my students to work in groups or partners.  My students, this year, have had a hard time working with a partner or in a collaborative groups.   This year our school has focused on guided math, reading, and writing groups.  The students have to be in groups for each of these things. Through this class, I feel like soft skills in my classroom has evolved.  Class 1 gave me some strategies that I could implement into my classroom.  At the beginning of the year, the strategies that I learned were at the back of my mind.  Thankfully, class 2 rolled around and I was reminded of the strategies.  I was able to use things like the Gallery Walk and critical friends with my students and help them to realize the importance of communication and collaboration amongst their peers.  Through this year my students have evolved to better communication skills.  The students learned how to talk to each other instead of at each other.  Some of the students quickly picked up on the correct way to communicate very fast, while others are still working.  I think as my students learned the appropriate way to communicate, their collaboration skills improved.  The students were able to collaborate in partnerships and larger groups.  At this point of the school year, I can ask my students to get with a responsible partner to complete an assignment and they will choose partners that they can work with productively.  Now, that I am in class 3, I am truly thankful for the trip to JL Mann.  The group contracts have been a lifesaver for this PBL unit.  My students worked so hard to assign their jobs and then they held each other accountable.  I did not have to follow up behind my students.  They were able to do it all by themselves. Not only did my students “grow,” but they surely made me “glow.”

Blog Post 4- Peer Project

                Naturally, when we were assigned the peer project, Mrs. Harris and I looked at each other knowing we would partner up to do this, but unsure of what we would do.  Since RES is a STEAM school and we focus heavily on STEM and PBL staff development, we were not convinced that our peers at school would receive us so graciously.  We knew we had to think outside of the box.  We had to dig deeper than the surface area. Afterschool one day, I was talking with a first year teacher about how her year was going.  She mentioned that she had an upcoming meeting with all of the other first year teachers.  After giving her session of 21 questions, I knew that Lindsey and I would have to help our first year teachers. 

                STEM has been a transition for all the teachers at RES.  Some have had to completely alter their way of teaching, while  others have been moldable to make STEM work in their classrooms. Most teachers, like myself, had never even discussed a STEM education in my college practices.  Lindsey and I spoke with several first year teachers and many of them said some of the same things, “They had never heard of it, They was not sure if they were doing it right,  They were handed the lesson plans and never explained anything, etc.”   So, Lindsey and I decided to create a general powerpoint to help the first year teachers understand what they should be doing in their PBL unit because we are required to complete 4 per year at RES.  Also, we created a google form for the teachers to fill out and provide us with feedback so we could know how to specifically help them.  Next year, there will be several new teachers in our building.  Hopefully, the Harris sisters will be supportive to all of those who need our help!

Brittany Daly - Blog Post 6 – I used to think, but now I know….

 I have really enjoyed my experiences throughout our three PBL courses. When I was asked at the end of last school year if I would like to participate in these courses, I thought it sounded like a good opportunity. I figured it would help me meet my school’s STEM goals. I honestly thought that some of my instruction was already pretty similar to PBL, but I had a lot to learn. Our first course was so helpful in outlining exactly what PBL is. I realized that it requires much more planning and organization than I originally thought. I remember being so optimistic this summer, as I often am. I thought about all of the possibilities that awaited me in regard to PBL instruction this year. When it came time to actually implement my first project, it didn’t go quite how I planned it. I struggled with time management, and my students struggled with collaboration. It made me realize that I need to do a better job of pre-planning the need-to-knows of my project and how my students would learn that information. What would I need to teach directly? What resources would my students need to read? How would I direct my students in their research? I also had to reflect on how I could improve collaboration.

Throughout the course of the second and third PBL courses, I had opportunities to implement more PBL units and make improvements in these areas. With my 1920s and Ecosystems units, I think I did a much better job of identifying (along with my students) the need-to-knows. My students were much more aware of the knowledge they needed to gain through their research and product creation. I know that any new units I implement next year will require more planning in that area.

I know I will need to work with my students next year on collaboration. During our visit to J.L. Mann, we learned that they begin the year by creating community and establishing collaboration norms. I plan to begin the next school year in the same way. I also hope to improve collaboration by implementing group contracts. This is something that I saw but did not really take the time to try this year. I am hoping that this gives students more ownership over their behavior and effort during group work.

I am really excited to continue to grow in my PBL instruction next year, and I hope to participate in some way with the next cohort so I can get feedback on new units I am planning. Our school’s goal next year is for each grade level to plan and implement at least one PBL unit during the school year, and I am excited about the positive impact PBL instruction will have on all of our students next year! 

Brittany Daly - Blog Post 5 – PBL Planning

This week, I was able to meet with Dawn to discuss a future PBL unit. Our 1920s unit was such a success, and we want to do something similar with a new unit next year. My team decided to focus on WWII. It is one of our favorite units to teach, and it will work better with the timeline of our program. When I met with Dawn, I didn’t have any set plans yet. I wanted to focus on determining a driving question that would give our project purpose. Together, Dawn and I talked about how we could focus on the heroes of WWII, both hidden and historical. I have drafted a driving question and problem statement that are sure to change as the planning for this unit continues.

Driving Question: What are the qualities of a hero? How did your chosen hero exemplify those qualities during the time of World War II?

Problem Statement:

The Smithsonian is adding a WWII Heroes exhibit to the WWII wing of their museum. You will act as museum curators as you research and showcase the hidden and historical heroes who made a difference during WWII.  Your job is to define what makes a hero and report on a WWII hero that exemplifies those qualities. Your research and artifacts will be added to the new Hero Exhibit of the WWII wing.

As I mentioned, this is a rough draft. I am hoping to develop the unit framework and present it to the next PBL cohort to get some feedback! 

Blog Post 6 - What I Used to Know / What I Know Now

So after 3 grad classes on PBL, I definitely feel like I learned a lot. I started doing PBL before I even knew it was a thing; it just seemed like the right way to teach my subjects. However, after nearly a year of focused study on the topic, I realize A) I was on the right track and B) I have a long way to go. PBL fits me; I can stand up and lecture, but that's not engaging for the students, and it's definitely tiring for the teacher. PBL is a lot of work...like a lot of work. But, it's not exhausting in that it leads to some really great progress in the classroom. 
I'm not much of an educational buzz word kind of person, so I didn't really have any expectations going into the class about what PBL was. I saw the email announcing it and thought, "Huh, that sounds like what I already do," and "Oh! Dawn is teaching it. I'm in!" After the first course, I decided to go all-in on PBL and redesign my entire program around a PBL model. I think it's been a good thing. It's been a lot of work (so, so much work), and I'm pretty sure I haven't done this much lesson planning in a long time (and I typically do a lot of lesson planning), but I've felt energized, and I've felt excited to see what the kids can do with the projects.

Here's a quick breakdown (in no particular order) of things I've learned during my time spent going all-in with PBL (in which I include  the digital curriculum as a part of it, since they're fully integrated in my classroom). 

My experience with a digital curriculum

-There's a tremendous amount of front-loading. This is unavoidable. 

-Students fall into 3 groups, the ones that get really into it, the ones that realize they actually have to work and get on the ball, and the kind that have no intrinsic motivation (and were incorrectly placed into a class like this). One and two are easy; grades and their own personalities motivate them. I haven't quite figured out the third group yet. 

-Produces content/skill masters

-Very flexible/adaptable for differentiation. It scales well (e.g. I can make it easy for those who need it easy, and very complex for those who need it to be complex).

-Dead links are the worst

-Internet outages are also the worst

-No more scrambling to assemble makeup work; "Everything is on the website...and has been since the beginning of the semester. Along with dates!" 

-Once you build the curriculum, you can focus on tweaking, augmenting, and streamlining your content. It’s a big trade-off; you spend a ton of time building stuff, but if you do it well, you don’t spend a lot of time maintaining, freeing you up to actually teach/grade/etc.

-It’s easy to show your kids’ progress off

-It’s very authentic.

-You have to teach a lot of computer skills.

-Kids will lose files/break computers constantly. They will also install a lot of crap on your computers.

-It’s amazing how bad students are at internet research and/or using computers in general

-Kids do not understand the concept of backing their files up. This is bad and must be fixed because sooner or later, one of them is going to lose all of their work for the year. 

My experience with PBL

-Authentic, real-world projects make the best PBL Projects

-Good PBL development takes times/revision

-Good PBL has lots of student choice, but it's not completely nebulous

-Your first implementation of PBL will probably suck

-Your second implementation of PBL will also probably suck

-Repeated implementations of PBL will suck less as you get a better idea of just how much guidance/oversight your kids need. 

-PBL is a commitment; you have to really throw down to make a good PBL project

-PBL starts with a question and end goal in mind…you build it backwards

-PBL is very much like real-world learning/on-the-job training

-It teaches responsibility; it’s a lot like college and a it frustrates some students, but it excites and inspires others

-PBL is a lot of work; it’s very rewarding, but you absolutely will spend a ton of time building/tweaking/thinking about your projects/classes/curriculum. You think about your lessons more, and you get more excited to build, implement, and tweak them. 

-PBL projects that build on themselves lead to better results (e.g. building a portfolio/website/etc.)

-PBL that puts kids in a little over their heads is great for learning.

-Formal, constructive, but public critiques work wonders

-Kids need to present more

-Kids need more practice collaborating

-You wind up with lots of opportunities to teach soft skills

-PBL rocks

I hope some of you found this useful and/or interesting. It's been a great journey diving into this educational model, and I feel this is only the beginning for a lot of us!