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Dear all,
This course was recommended to me by an expert from my NA since I am currently coordinating a KA1 project. To be honest, I was rather reluctant to join the course because of the hectic time it had been scheduled for. Anyway, I decided to take it (because I checked, and noticed, there was an option to leave it at any time). I didn't have much expectations at first, so I missed the first week (when module 1 was introduced) , as well as the second one. However, I am not the one who will surrender so easily, so I started working seriously from October 28. Then, I was truly impressed by the meaningful input offered to all of us. I managed to cover all the assignments in less than two weeks just because I was eager to learn more... And here I am; a teacher who gained a lot of experience due to the hard work of all the amazing experts who are behind the course, but also because of the wonderful ideas, reviews, and teaching materials shared by my colleagues . So, what are my advantages from this course? First of all, I realised how important it is to use rubrics for (self)assessment. Then, I came across so many incredible online tools that could ease my life as a pedagogue. Last but not least, I have learned how to make my learning designs attractive to all the participants in the TLAs.

Because of what I have mentioned above, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the administrator of the course - Mr Benjamin Hertz (I checked his expertise in the field, and I was truly impressed); to  the course moderation team: Kornélia Lohyňová, Nair Carrera Martinez, Benjamin Hertz, but especially to Ms Kornélia Lohyňová ‘s dedication to our progress; to the Teacher Academy Pedagogical Advisory Board - Anne Gilleran, Danguole Rutkauskiene, Daniella Tasic Hansen, Diana Laurillard, Diego Rojas, Hannah Grainger-Clemson, Luis Fernandes, Madeleine Murray. You, guys, are wonderful experts, who have been working really hard to make a difference in our global future! Thank you!!!

I have also had the chance to interact with my peers from so many countries. I tried to give a helping hand to those, who had underestimated the importance of reading the Course Introduction page, where everything was set quite clearly :) . I also came across an old friend of mine from Greece. I have made new friendships via frequent interactions on the FB group. I was nicely surprised to find out there are colleagues from my school who joined the course on their own.
I would recommend the following
(1) The course team should require a level of B1 in English (at least) for avoiding misunderstanding;
(2) It would be great if all the participants had the chance to reply to their peers' reviews;
(3) Mixing all levels of teaching is a bit frustrating; I would personally like to interact with teachers who share my own experience (i.e. English teachers from secondary schools);
(4) Getting credits from such a MOOC would be another plus.

To put it in a nutshell, I am really sad to have finished this course; it has given me so much personal satisfaction to follow it! However, lifelong learning has become my destiny, and I am looking forward to the next rewarding course of  the Teacher Academy's Pedagogical Advisory Board!

All my respect, and thumbs up, for this wonderful course!

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Stafania contacted me via Facebook, and I could enjoy her lovely learning diary :)

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Stafania contacted me via Facebook, and I could enjoy her lovely learning diary :)

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A MOOC (a massive open online course) is a response to the challenges in education in the time of information overload. It is a free way of learning in a digital world; it supports lifelong networked learning. Participants create networks by engaging with each other; new ideas develop and different points of view coexist;

The PBL approach offers the tools needed for teaching 21st century skills;

A teacher should capture their project idea in the form of a challenging driving question;

A series of strategies and activities should be developed in the context of PBL to promote effective collaboration between students, as well as with actors outside of the classroom;

21st century learning design rubrics are useful tool to self-assess if learning activities are truly collaborative or not;

While applying PBL, one should keep in mind James Fester‘s 5 strategies:
-          Make sure team members know what is expected of them;
-          Create norms and roles where appropriate;
-          Monitor progress constantly;
-          Celebrate even little successes;
-          Give students ways to informally develop cohesion.

Collaboration tools are great to flip one's classroom;

A teacher should try to develop a student-driven environment in which the energy and persistence of what is happening in the classroom does not primarily come from  them but from the students by:
-          understanding the importance of scaffolding the PBL process so that students increasingly develop independence and ownership over the tasks;
-          understanding the importance of a positive environment and mindset for building student confidence and resilience;
-          developing a range of activities, strategies and tools that facilitate an entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial skills.

Technology can provide flexible, unobtrusive scaffolds for learning;

A teacher should develop resilience in their students through a combination of setting out the right environment, building positive relationships, and offering space for independent decisions;

For students to take ownership of the PBL process and move their own and their peer's learning forward, they need to have an entrepreneurial mindset;

A teacher should fuel curiosity, boost confidence, encourage thinking outside the box, and stimulate positive attitude;

Assessment should not only be about giving a grade at the end but it should be an on-going process, where teachers and students alike assess their learning as they work on the projects. The process of peer assessment or peer review can be a powerful learning activity for the reviewer and the reviewee;

The Ladder of Feedback is a tool for providing communicative feedback about an idea, a plan, or a behavior.

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An email received by The Teacher Academy team said: ''One interesting Learning Diary we saw in Module 3 is that of Margarita Dobreva, which was singled out because of its nice reflections''.

THANK YOU, dear Teacher Academy team! <3
I feel deeply honoured!

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1. Review made by Isabel Nunes, date 14-11-2017 17:48
Dear Marguerita,
I think that your project is focused on teaching students specific and important knowledge, understanding, and skills.Important success skills are explicitly targeted to be taught and assessed, such as critical thinking/problem solving, collaboration, and self-management.

The central problem or question is framed by a driving question for the project, which is: ¬open-ended and it will allow students to develop more than one reasonable answer, Besides is understandable and inspiring to students.

Students and teachers engage in thoughtful, comprehensive reflection both during the project and after its culmination, about what students learned.

I think that you can improve your project by letting the students have some voice in some decisions. For instance, why not let them choose how to present their reflection? They could draw paintings, make vídeos, build an ict product...

The vídeo is a great tool to work about. Technologically it would be better to edit it again, because it has some mistakes.

Congratulations for your work

Isabel Nunes

2. Review made by Irina Ignat, date 14-11-2017 21:31
Dear Margarita,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I particularly like your diary and the suggestion for Pink Shirt Day that I want to do with my students as we face some bullying in our school.

As for your design, I can say that I am truly impressed. It is very well thought and planned. I like the topic and the driving question - quite intriguing. The instructions for students are clear, so are the goals you have set for them.

I also appreciate the reverse brainstorming, having them research for empathy, which finally leads them to the opposite concept, maybe a better way of making them understand what a terrible thing bullying is.

The questions asked to students are well put, involving the school psychologist is a good move as it is a specialist in the matter and ensures visibility, as does the essay in the school magazine.

I have a question: how would you ensure the collaboration and team-building among the members of the group? Have you planned a nice socialising game-like activity for them?

I consider your design well structured, with student driven activities that foster inquiry. I have some things that I could change about my plan considering your model.

All the best,

Irina, Romania

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1. Exercise of Stefania Altieri:
Learning Diary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb59R5uHrtg&t=104s
Learning Scenario Template:
My response:
Dear Stefania,
I attended the Teach-meet on November 8, and was impressed by your presentation! Your work as a teacher is outstanding - congrats!
However, I am a bit puzzled how to assess your work for 4.5. Unfortunately, you haven't provided neither a learning diary (your YouTube presentation is wonderful but it cannot function as a diary), nor a learning design that complies with the Bulk Institute  Design Rubric. Although you mentioned there is a collaborative rubric to reflect on your eTwinning project, you actually didn't attach it. Sorry, but I can hardly leave any further commentaries. You didn't provide your contact details, and I can't discuss the above issues directly with you. Please, keep in mind that I might be completely wrong with all these reflections here, and, actually, you have demonstrated creativity in action. I would recommend a consultation with Ms Kornelia Lohynova for clarification.
As for your eTwinning project, I find the learning activities and the goal well aligned, and I am sure it will be a great project! Good luck with it!
Kind regards,
Margarita Dobreva, Bulgaria

2. Exercise of Antonella Petrini:
Learning Diary: https://padlet.com/avenusitita/rurqvqiyp8qe
Learning Design: https://v.gd/5SjSM9
My response:
Dear Antonella,
I have read your learning diary, and I am pleased to have found out that we are colleagues; I also teach English in a secondary school. Your reflections on your graders made me smile since I often encounter the same problems with mine, the most serious being their lack of motivation. Luckily, the two of us joined this amazing course to find answers to our problems in school.

As for your learning design, I have noticed some shortcomings that you might take into consideration in order to make a perfect lesson plan. To start with, you haven‘t  formulated your driving question (the one that we had as a task in 1.6., and later on - 2.6.). So, you can replace the name ‘PBL COURSE‘ with it. I also noticed the mismatch between the learning and designed time (just correct the 60 minutes to 540). The description section is absolutely exhaustive, and I have a clear idea what you are planning to do; however, don‘t you think it might be better to shorten it to a simple instruction? You can always explain the tasks in details in the classroom.  Perhaps you didn't pay attention, but you put no outcomes; it takes few minutes to add those.
Your TLAs are well designed, and the activities are clearly scaffolded to achieve your final goal. I especially like the time planned for students‘ collaboration activities. Assigning a personal role to each member of the groups is a great idea, really. However, why don‘t you try to flip your classroom , thus giving more independence to your students? Your presence throughout the project would be a minus. Are you sure a PP presentation is the only option for a final product? Perhaps your students can use a great number of other tools (to their liking) to present their opinions on the matter.

Last but not least, the topic of your project is very important, and I do like your idea to invite stakeholders from outside your classroom to participate in the discussions/debates with your students. That will definitely make your project more visible to the community, and the impact will be much greater.  As an afterthought, you may further  add innovation and creativity to your project by simply encouraging your student to create models that can apply directly to your school (or their homes, etc). Thus, they may come to absolutely new solutions.
The rubric you are going to use is perfect, of course; you might also add few short peer -, and self-assessment  approaches such as he KWL Chart ( what do you know, what would you like to know, and what have you learned?), or  some others,  like those enumerated in ’53 Ways to Check for Understanding‘.

Fingers crossed for an enjoyable and rewarding time with PBL!
Kind regards,

Margarita Dobreva, Bulgaria

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Due to my newly acquired competences, I already know how to assess my students' work (I carefully checked all the suggested resources).
Now I know what has been the missing link between my teaching approach, and my students' important feedback  - rubrics...
I have already added some assessment techniques to my Learning Design.
I simply love this course! <3

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

In Project Based Learning, teachers make learning come alive for students.

Students work on a project over an extended period of time - from a week up to a semester - that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating a public product or presentation for a real audience.

As a result, students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills. Project Based Learning unleashes a contagious, creative energy among students and teachers.

And in case you were looking for a more formal definition...

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Watch Project Based Learning in Action

These 7-10 minute videos show the Gold Standard PBL model in action, capturing the nuts and bolts of a PBL unit from beginning to end.

This project features teacher Rayhan Ahmed at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, NY, with his 11th grade chemistry class.

This project features Kimberly Head-Trotter of McKissack Middle School, in Nashville, TN, with her 6th grade ELA/History class.

This project features teacher Cheryl Bautista of Katherine Smith Elementary School, San Jose, CA and her third graders.

How does PBL differ from "doing a project"?

PBL is becoming widely used in schools and other educational settings, with different varieties being practiced. However, there are key characteristics that differentiate "doing a project" from engaging in rigorous Project Based Learning.

We find it helpful to distinguish a "dessert project" - a short, intellectually-light project served up after the teacher covers the content of a unit in the usual way - from a "main course" project, in which the project is the unit. In Project Based Learning, the project is the vehicle for teaching the important knowledge and skills student need to learn. The project contains and frames curriculum and instruction.

In contrast to dessert projects, PBL requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication. To answer a driving question and create high-quality work, students need to do much more than remember information. They need to use higher-order thinking skills and learn to work as a team.
Learn more about "dessert" projects vs PBL
The gold standard for high-quality PBL

To help ensure your students are getting the main course and are engaging in quality Project Based Learning, PBLWorks promotes a research-informed model for "Gold Standard PBL."

The Gold Standard PBL model encompasses two useful guides for educators:

1) Seven Essential Project Design Elements provide a framework for developing high quality projects for your classroom, and

2) Seven Project Based Teaching Practices help teachers, schools, and organizations improve, calibrate, and assess their practice.

The Gold Standard PBL model aligns with the High Quality PBL Framework. This framework describes what students should be doing, learning, and experiencing in a good project. Learn more at HQPBL.org.

Yes, we provide PBL training for educators!

PBLWorks offers a variety of workshops, courses and services for teachers, school and district leaders, and instructional coaches to get started and advance their practice with Project Based Learning.
Learn more

This project features teacher Rayhan Ahmed at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, NY, with his 11th grade chemistry class.

This project features Kimberly Head-Trotter of McKissack Middle School, in Nashville, TN, with her 6th grade ELA/History class.

This project features teacher Cheryl Bautista of Katherine Smith Elementary School, San Jose, CA and her third graders.

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects. Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

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Dear colleagues,

I do believe that encouraging students‘ empathy from an early age is a powerful resource to make a difference in the contemporary troublesome reality.

This PBL design has been created to support the Pink Shirt Day which our school annually participates in with a number of activities. Thus, for example, last  February we joined the campaign "School without Violence" held by the "Civic initiatives - Lovech‘‘ NGO, in partnership with the  Municipality‘s Local Commission for Combating Delinquency of Minors. Our students supported tolerance by making a flashmob in the shape of a heart. You can watch a short video here: https://www.facebook.com/sgilovech/videos/1364655073609379/

I am planning to test my newly acquired skills in PBL in roughly 3 months‘ time – the week before next year‘s Pink Shirt Day (February 28, 2018). https://www.pinkshirtday.ca/about/
For that reason, I will highly appreciate any commentaries on my Learning Design that will help me further improve my TLAs.

While reviewing my LD, please, pay attention to my attachments; especially the video in the second activity in TLA 1. I would like to know what your reaction to that video has been. It is really important to me since I used to be Grigor‘s form teacher, and his bravery has had an enormous impact not only on a local and national, but as you can see, on an international level, too. I am happy to tell you that currently he is an excellent student at university, and is competing again for the Bulgarian men‘s  wheelchair basketball team.

Challenging my students to brood on their peer's real-life example makes me believe that this project will engage them on a personal level, and thus further motivate them to create some fantastic outputs, and achieve the desired outcomes.

Here are the links to:
(1)    My Learning Design: https://v.gd/Mof6On

(2)    My Learning Diary: https://padlet.com/daisy63b/idc9f98jbo9t
In case you need to contact me, don‘t hesitate to do it via my email: daisy63b@gmail.com

Kind regards,
Margarita Dobreva, Bulgaria

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October 11, 2017
Knowledge Discovered > Knowledge Received: The Case for PBL

by Esther Park
Teacher, Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School, Hawai'i

Imagine This: You are a student who has just finished learning a unit on early European explorers. The teacher tells you to create a diorama and hands you a checklist of requirements you must fulfill. How do you demonstrate your understanding of early European explorers with a figure of Christopher Columbus on a ship? What concept or skill mastery can the teacher actually assess with your product? What is it that you really learned about early European explorers? Why do teachers assign students projects like these?

Too often projects are teacher-directed initiatives assigned only at the end of a unit. The focus is placed on answering questions that have already been assigned. The teacher asks students to follow a specific set of directions that have been outlined, which leaves very little room for student choice on how to demonstrate their learning. The teacher may not even need to be present for the actual creation process. The final products end up being more or less the same, only to be graded and returned for students to take home. They sit on a shelf collecting dust or go straight to the recycling bin without making an impact on the student or the real world.

How is Project-Based Learning Different?
There are several elements that make up project-based learning but simply put, the learning process is student-driven and teacher-facilitated. Students determine what they want to learn by posing their own driving questions about a topic or unit. Students identify a real-world problem they want to solve within its context and collaborate with others with similar interests. Students create a product of their choice using multimedia tools that best fit the purpose of the project. Students share their product or solution with an authentic audience of their choice (e.g, school-wide assembly, legislators, etc.) and reflect on areas for improvements and change. The teacher's role is then to work with students throughout the learning process by guiding and pushing their thinking. The teacher may also assist in connecting students to external resources to further their investigation. Project-based learning is an ongoing learning process that is authentic and engaging.

Taking a Risk to Grow in My Practice
I was drawn to the authenticity of the PBL approach and energized by the possibility of deeper learning for my students. I imagined my students fully engaged, excited to learn, and retaining what they discovered. It would provide my students an opportunity to build and practice 21st century skills that will prepare them for their future careers.

Eager to try something new, I was anxious thinking about the inevitable factors of uncertainty. Managing several different ongoing projects at once seemed pretty daunting. I was unsure of how to pace and structure the working timeline. I wondered if I had adequate resources available for my students. What if it fails? But what if we succeed? The benefits my students would take away from PBL were much louder and clearer than the sounds of my own doubts.

Last year, I decided to implement PBL in my own classroom with the support of my colleagues. I taught a mini unit titled "Diversity & Inclusion" during our Language Arts block where we discussed issues of race and ethnicity, gender stereotypes, and disabilities, at the elementary level. Once the students became curious about the subtopics, I guided them in identifying a real world problem to shape their driving question. The students conducted research to gain background knowledge and brainstormed potential solutions. When I checked in with the students, I was completely floored by the ideas proposed by my fifth graders.

What Did PBL Look Like in My Classroom?
PBL looks like two students realizing how gender stereotypes can hurt people's feelings. They discuss how they can play a role in making people of both genders feel equal. They decide to interview fellow students with survey questions they have created (Should all girls like pink? Should boys be smarter than girls? Should girls be less athletic than boys?). After hearing the biases firsthand, they work with a sense of urgency to collect data, identify patterns, and create a video to communicate the results to their peers. PBL motivates students to take initiative in practicing both standards-based skills and 21st century skills that are necessary to their success.

PBL looks like four students holding a discussion to identify the cause of gender stereotypes. A student poses a question, "Where did cooties even come from?" which leads the group to research the concept and to trace its origin. The intention of creating a skit evolves into a PSA video titled "Cootie Shots" which aims to prevent gender-based bullying in elementary schools. PBL allows students to explore their curiosities and pursue creativity in ways that best suit their current interests.

PBL looks like a student recognizing the very real problem of discrimination and feeling compelled to take action. The student rewrites the lyrics to a popular song ("All of Me" by John Legend) to articulate her thoughts on diversity and inclusion.

The student decides to include homeschooled students in helping her sing and record the song. She then posts the video on YouTube in hopes of reaching and inspiring a global audience. It is about seeing the glimmer of excitement in the student's eyes when she tells you that the video has reached over 1,000 views. PBL helps students realize that their work has the potential to move and even change the hearts and minds of others.

PBL looks like two boys learning about the challenges of being blind and wanting to raise awareness of blindness. The students decide to code a mini game called "What It Feels Like" in which the player must find a gold key by clicking on a screen that has been blacked out. It is about seeing these two fifth grade boys spelling out the rules to a line of second graders wanting to play their game. PBL emphasizes relevance to students because they have the prerogative to choose their own audience. The final product is not intended for the sole purpose of receiving a grade from a teacher but rather as a vehicle to influence and interact with others in a positive manner.

What Do the Students Think?
This year, I posed the following question to my current 10 and 11-year old students: Why should more teachers try PBL in the classroom? I have categorized their responses into four main areas. Here is what the students have to say:

1. PBL engages students to learn for themselves.

2. PBL promotes communication and collaboration among students.

3. PBL provides students with a choice in their final product.

4. PBL connects students to real world problems that matter.

The Importance of Assisting Student Discovery
PBL truly captures the idea that knowledge discovered is more powerful than knowledge received. Nothing excites students more than learning about something meaningful and relevant to their own lives. Students exude joy as they design and create a product that has the potential to make an impact on the world around them. As an educator, PBL helps me reground myself in the idea that teaching is about assisting student discovery.

My first attempt in Project Based Learning was in no way perfect, but the lessons I have learned throughout this process are now indispensable tenets of my journey as an educator. How I choose to facilitate and structure the learning process in the classroom is up to me. No matter how challenging it may be, I know that I must continue to empower my students to take the lead in their own learning.

The students have spoken.

Follow Esther Park on Twitter @hawaiiest

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by Esther Park Teacher, Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School, Hawai'i Imagine This: You are a student who has just finished learning a unit on early European explorers. The teacher tells you to create a diorama and hands you a checklist of requirements you must fulfill.

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How to Use the "4 C's" Rubrics | Blog | Project Based Learning | BIE

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This excerpt appears in the Buck Institute for Education's book, "PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity." Rubrics for each of the "4 C's" are in the book, and we offer guidance below on how to use them in a PBL context.

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Formative assessment: you've heard about it, you've read the research, and you've probably tried it out in your classroom.

Whether you're a formative assessment newbie or a veteran, these techniques can help spice up how you check for understanding in the classroom. They range from the classics, like exit slips, to ideas you may have never thought to try.

This post was inspired by Todd Finley's big, printable list, " 53 Ways To Check For Understanding".

1.

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10 Fun-Filled Formative Assessment Ideas

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Whether you're a formative assessment newbie or a veteran, these techniques can help spice up how you check for understanding in the classroom. They range from the classics, like exit slips, to ideas you may have never thought to try.

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You have done a GREAT JOB!! Thanks

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Kornelia Lohynova, you rock, as usual <3

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Kornelia Lohynova, you rock, as usual <3

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Our amazing moderator - Kornelia Lohynova (y)

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Our amazing moderator - Kornelia Lohynova (y)

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Well done, Stefania Altieri from Rimini, Italy!

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Well done, Stefania Altieri from Rimini, Italy!

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Wonderful presentation by Eva Toth, Hungary! 

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Wonderful presentation by Eva Toth, Hungary! 

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Project Based Learning for all. We build the capacity of teachers and school leaders to design and facilitate quality Project Based Learning.

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Plan projects with Gold Standard PBL's Essential Project Design Elements.

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RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics, but does not have the time to develop them from scratch.

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How to Get High-Quality Student Work in PBL

"I thought the project was going well... but by the end, I felt that the work my students produced was not as good as I imagined it would be. I was a little embarrassed and almost wanted to dial back the audience's expectations on the night of the presentations!"
This is a common concern of teachers who are new to Project Based Learning. Things can appear to be going smoothly; students have been engaged by the project, they've been learning content and skills, they've been busy and meeting deadlines... but their thinking is not as in-depth and their final products not as polished as they should be. If this is your experience, it's time to ask yourself some questions...

Log in to get this resource...

To view or download this resource, log in here.

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How to Get High-Quality Student Work in PBL

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Five steps for in-depth and polished student products.

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Why would you create a rubric? Simply because rubrics:

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Why would you create a rubric? Simply because rubrics:

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convey timely feedback;

make evaluations more objective;

bring structure to your grading;

provide transparency to the student (they know exactly what is being assessed, and the grade values assigned to each component prior to the assignment;

encourage student self-evaluation (they can self-check their own work to mark the progress).

In short, students can perform an assignment according to the grade that they wish to earn. Rubrics lessen grade frustrations and students will appreciate the transparency.

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A rubric resembles a grid and consists of 4 parts:

description of the assignment;

performance criteria;

range scale;

individual description

Before you begin:

consider the course level objectives;

provide relevance.

So, how do you build a rubric?

first, you have a title; then - assignment or a task;

performance criteria (dividing the assignment into chalks); the students will thus know the importance, or value, of each criteria;

range scale (eg. exceptional/average/poor quality);

individual descriptions within the group  (they describe what must be accomplished to achieve each level)

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A rubric is a grading tool that lays out the specific expectations for an assignment. A rubric is an assessment tool to:

save grading time;

improve student feedback;

promote student self learning.

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As a final step on this course we ask you to self-assess your own work as part of the course. This should help you understand to what extent you have managed to successfully participate in the different areas of the course and it will also help us understand better the areas of the course where you have felt less engaged in or were struggling to complete. Your answers in this self-assessment do not impact your completion record of the course and will not influence if you receive a certificate or not, so please be honest. Of course we will also be launching soon a separate and more comprehensive course evaluation where you can provide us with specific feedback on the course.
I answered to all the questions with ''Strongly agree''

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In the last 3 weeks you have:

identified a class and subject with which you want to implement PBL

identified a driving question and received feedback on it

created a PBL Learning Design and received feedback on the design, which so far includes

aims, learning outcomes, short description

activities that support group work and the development of collaborative skills

activities that scaffold for student independence and ownership

We hope that the feedback you received so far was helpful and that you have used it to improve your driving question and activities on your design.

In this final week we ask you to embed numerous assessment activities throughout your design. The activities should be short and immediate such as those explored in section 4.2 but some also more comprehensive and in the form of peer assessment. They can be formative or summative and would ideally make reference to a rubric.

As a final step, make sure to finalise your design with further activities (TLAs) so that it becomes a rounded and rigorous design that follows as much as possible the features of an effective PBL as identified in the Project Design Rubric by the Buck Institute of Education. The criteria used for the driving question and TLAs in the previous P2P activities were based on this rubric. Make sure that your final Design will help you to implement PBL in your classroom next school year but at the same time is clear enough for an outsider to understand what you are planning to do.

When you have finalised your Design, make sure to submit it in the text box below, together with a link to your Learning Diary, your name and contact details so that your reviewer can contact you in case they have issues in accessing your work. The deadline to submit your final Learning Design is Wednesday 15th November, 23:59h CET.

As usual, please also provide feedback to 2 of your peers on their final Learning Designs by Wednesday 22nd November, 23:59h CET. Use the Buck Institute Project Design Rubric to guide your feedback. You can go through each of the rubric categories and identify to what extent the design corresponds to this but please also address aspects not specifically mentioned by the rubric such as collaboration and assessment. Please make sure that you include fair, encouraging and helpful feedback that allows the author of the design to improve their design. Of course also make sure that you take into account the context of where the design will be implemented. For an example of the type of feedback that you should provide see here.

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PBL Course Participant Rubrics

You can see the responses to this form and the rubrics here: https://goo.gl/581Nhp

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This will be very useful for you once you start implementing your PBL design next school year but please note that the above activity is not obligatory. It is not essential for you to have a full rubric ready as part of your Learning Design. It is perfectly fine for you to also prepare a rubric after the course has finished.

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You can also find quite a number of ready-made rubrics that are relevant for PBL here. If you register on the BIE website you can download the rubrics as pdfs or Word documents so you will be able to adapt or translate them according to your own needs. On this page you can find some more rubric examples, mostly in Spanish but also some in English.
Finally, give the Rubistar tool a try, adapt an existing rubric or create one from scratch that you could also put to use in your PBL activities, and then share it in the form below. Your rubric can be in your own language. In order to get the link of your rubric you need to register on Rubistar and after finishing your rubric click on the "Make Available Online" button, then click on "Click Here to View or Print Your Completed Rubric" and finally copy the URL from your browser and paste it in the form below. That way we will collect a series of interesting rubrics and you can get a feel how others are approaching rubrics. You can see other participant's rubrics via this link here.

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4.4 Creating & Using Rubrics for PBL Assessment

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4.4 Creating & Using Rubrics for PBL Assessment

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Rubrics are grading tools that can be used for summative as well as formative assessment and they are also a very useful tool to help students with self- and peer assessment. While they can be used for grading, they should in fact be seen as a learning resource that is used by students throughout their work. Rubrics lend themselves especially well for PBL because they can capture a complex range of criteria in an organized and clear way.

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4.3. Share your experiences with peer assessment in the padlet below, either as someone participating in peer assessment type activities like on this course or as a teacher organizing peer assessment activities with your students.

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4.3. Share your experiences with peer assessment in the padlet below, either as someone participating in peer assessment type activities like on this course or as a teacher organizing peer assessment activities with your students.

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My entry:
Peer assessment has it pros and cons, depending on the context it is applied to. For example, in this online course, it may vary to its extremes – either neutral and discouraging, or critical and meaningful. As for my classroom reality, it is often subjective, hence not so efficient, because students tend to be less critical to their friends, or rather stern with those who they don‘t like so much. Therefore,  peer assessment does not always achieve the desired outcome, which is why it has to be alternated with the other assessment methods.

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The Ladder of Feedback is a tool for providing communicative feedback about an idea, a plan, or a behavior. The idea or plan is presented to the group.  Then the group moves through the following steps (moving from one rung of the ladder to the next):

Step 1: Clarify

Ask clarifying questions to be sure you understand the idea or matter on the table. Avoid clarifying questions that are thinly disguised criticism.

Step 2: Value

Express what you like about the idea or matter at hand in specific terms. Do not offer perfunctory “good, but,” and hurry on to the negatives.

Step 3: State concerns

State your puzzles and concerns. Avoid absolutes: “What’s wrong is . . .” Use qualified terms: “I wonder if . . .” “It seems to me . . .” Avoid criticizing personal character or ability and focus on ideas, products, or particular aspects.

Step 4: Suggest

Make suggestions about how to improve things.  This step is sometimes blended with step 3: people state concerns and then offer suggestions for addressing them.

There is no set time limit for this process: It can be done in a few minutes or over the course of an hour.

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Peer Assessment: Reflections from Students and Teachers

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0:00 / 2:30•Watch full video

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 Dylan Williams, Professor of Educational Assessment at the Insitute of Education in London

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 Dylan Williams, Professor of Educational Assessment at the Insitute of Education in London

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Professional development

Finally! The revised Embedding formative assessment pack for schools and colleges to run their own two-year professional development programme on formative assessment is now available worldwide. In Europe, this can be ordered through SSAT, in Australasia through Hawker-Brownlow, and in North America from Learning Sciences International. Further details of the pack are here.

Also, a series of high-quality video presentations by Dylan Wiliam, with a total running time of over two hours, is now available free world-wide. Details are here.

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Professional development Finally! The revised Embedding formative assessment pack for schools and colleges to run their own two-year professional development programme on formative assessment is now available worldwide. In Europe, this can be ordered through SSAT, in Australasia through Hawker-Brownlow, and in North America from Learning Sciences International.

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The process of peer assessment or peer review can be a powerful learning activity for the reviewer and the reviewee.

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There are many more such simple formative assessment techniques so share any other such techniques that you are aware of or can think of in the Tricider below

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There are many more such simple formative assessment techniques so share any other such techniques that you are aware of or can think of in the Tricider below

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My entry:
My favourite way to check students' comprehension of the covered material  is to apply peer instruction. This way I can have a better idea if my teaching strategies have upgraded their skills, or I have to do further practice for deeper understanding.

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Build assessment into the project flow;

Build in chances for self and group assessment;

End project with a product or performance;

Present work to an audience beyond the class

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In the video below, one of the teachers mentions the "quick-check" technique which simply uses a thumbs up approach to assess if students are progressing.

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Embedding Assessment Throughout the Project: Keys to PBL Series Part 5

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Community Partners: Making Student Learning Relevant

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Assessment as part of PBL should not only come at the end but should be seen as a learning activity that is embedded throughout the PBL process. It should become a standard feature of any scaffolding activities you might plan for your PBL implementation. Such type of assessment is known as formative assessment.

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Join us for our course Teachmeet on Wednesday 8th November at 18.30h CET (Brussels Time). 12 course participants will be presenting their ideas about PBL.

A TeachMeet is an informal way of sharing ideas amongst teachers. It's similar to a webinar except that you, the participants, are the speakers.

The 12 speakers have been selected from the numerous applications received last week. All speakers get a maximum of 3 minutes each to present their idea, tool, resource, etc.

Join us as a participant on the Teachmeet via this link here. The event will be recorded and the recording will be shared here on the course soon afterwards.

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Starter activity:Are you free to assess students in any way you want? Or do you have to follow a strict testing system with regular standardised tests every few months? What types of assessment are common at your school/in your country? Do you collaborate with colleagues when it comes to assessment?

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Starter activity:Are you free to assess students in any way you want? Or do you have to follow a strict testing system with regular standardised tests every few months? What types of assessment are common at your school/in your country? Do you collaborate with colleagues when it comes to assessment?

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My reflection:

While formative assessment aims at monitoring the learning process by giving some feedback, the summative assessment  just tells you if a student has achieved a certan learning goal or not, because of which I find it rather outdated. Unfortunately, I mostly use summative assessment since in my country there is a norm that regulates how many grades per subject we are to assess a student per term (our school year is divided into two terms). So, I grade entry tests,  end-of-unit  tests, term tests, etc. And that‘s a pity because I spend a lot of time checking tests instead of using my potential to foster students‘ communicative skills instead. I often collaborate witn my colleagues, especially when it comes to set the criteria for the entry tests, to make sure we keep the same high level of standard in foreign language teaching.

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You' ve done a great-great job here! Well-done!
ps. it's a small world!
Sofia Venetopoulou- Greece

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The learning objectives for this module are:                                       

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The learning objectives for this module are:                                       

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1.    Understanding the difference between formative and summative assessment

2.    Understanding how assessment can be embedded into PBL activities

3.    Understanding what a rubric is and why it can help us assess PBL

4.    Develop a finalised and rigorous PBL implementation Learning Design

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THE ROOT OF THE WORD "ASSESSMENT" IS FROM THE LATIN "ASSIDERE" WHICH MEANS "TO SIT BESIDE"

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THE ROOT OF THE WORD "ASSESSMENT" IS FROM THE LATIN "ASSIDERE" WHICH MEANS "TO SIT BESIDE"

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As the quote above suggests, assessment should be about "sitting beside someone", providing feedback and helping them to improve. Assessment should not only be about giving a grade at the end but it should be an on-going process, where teachers and students alike assess their learning as they work on the projects.

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Uploaded by EunAcademy EUN on 2017-09-29.

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                                                                                                                           MODULE 4 - Assessing PBL

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                                                                                                                           MODULE 4 - Assessing PBL

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The Backpack lets you store the Open Badges you earn, and share them between platforms, anywhere on the web. It gives you complete control over your own achievements by allowing you to organise and display your badges in the places that matter to you.

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Open Badges provide a flexible way to recognize learning wherever it happens, in and out of formal education and the workplace.

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Kornélia Lohyňová

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You will receive digital module badges for every completed module of the course as well as a course badge and a course certificate upon completion of the full course. All badges can be exported to the Mozilla Badge Backpack.

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Using Project-Based Learning To Flip Bloom’s Taxonomy For Deeper Learning

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Using Project-Based Learning To Flip Bloom’s Taxonomy For Deeper Learning

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Using Project-Based Learning To Flip Bloom's Taxonomy For Deeper Learning
by Drew Perkins, Director of TeachThought PD

One of the central features of high quality project-based learning is the pedagogical relationship between the Driving Question and the "Need to Knows" that stem from it. In the video below I use the Explain Everything app to show how teachers and schools, using a process of rich inquiry, can leverage great thinking and learning by flipping how you approach the concepts behind Bloom's Taxonomy.

Instead of starting at the bottom and focusing on the teaching and learning of content prior to moving up, consider flipping that approach by starting at the top and asking students to create an authentic product with a strong Driving Question. Doing this can help the teacher facilitate deeper learning of the content and skills we find at the lower level as students identify and pursue what they need to know, remember, and understand to create and meet the challenge of the project.

Looking to grow deeper learning with PBL at your school?
Using Project-Based Learning To Flip Bloom's Taxonomy For Deeper Learning

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Using Project-Based Learning To Flip Bloom's Taxonomy For Deeper Learning -

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Using Project-Based Learning To Flip Bloom's Taxonomy For Deeper Learning by Drew Perkins, Director of TeachThought PD One of the central features of high quality project-based learning is the pedagogical relationship between the Driving Question and the "Need to Knows" that stem from it. In the video below I use the Explain Everything app to [...]

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In the Teacher Academy, we are always looking for ways we can improve our services to you. For this reason, we have introduced a “blackout” period of 1.5 weeks at the end of each of our courses, during which the course will not be accessible.This “blackout” period is a designated time during which we – the Teacher Academy team – will focus our attention on assessing the work of course participants where needed, dealing with any possible issues (plagiarism, missing final course activities/reviews, technical aspects), and preparing the course certificates. During this period, the course will not be accessible, but all your work on the course is saved and will become available again at the conclusion of the blackout period. After the “blackout” period, certificates will be awarded to those who have finalised all required course activities. The course will remain open for those who would like to benefit from the pedagogical content but there will be no moderation on the course, and therefore no certification will be awarded anymore.

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Comment 1: Review made By Serena Santomaso date 04-11-2017 18:41

Hello Margarita. My name is Serena. I am a primary school teacher.
I have found your project really interesting, well designed and full of great ideas.

The description, aims and learning outcomes are clear and aligned.

It is clear what the teacher and students are doing as part of the collaboration TLAs and surely student's collaboration skills will be improved.

I have especially appreciated the subject of your project. I think  it is really important and relevant to make students of that age face the issue of bullying and to analise empathy as a resource.

My compliments.
Serena

Comment 2: Review made By DAVID NAVARRO date 05-11-2017 21:55

Hello Margarita, I'm glad to have seen your diary and learning design because you have done a great job.

The topic of your learning design “Showing empathy is a stylish conduct” is perfect to prevent violence at school. The aim is clear and it’s well organized in four stages from definition till self-refection.

Paying attention to your work makes me know that I need to improve mine and use those ICT tools properly because they are really powerful to organize PBL methodology.

I think that participating in this optional P2P activity is important because I can find people like you. Thank you!

David, Spain

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2.6. Step two: Feedback on my peers' PBL Learning Designs

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2.6. Step two: Feedback on my peers' PBL Learning Designs

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Provide some feedback to them before Deadline 2, Wednesday 22nd November 23:59h CEST. IN ORDER TO ACCESS YOUR PEER'S LEARNING DESIGN, MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE FIRST LOGGED INTO THE LEARNING DESIGNER.

1. Are the description, aims and learning outcomes clear and aligned? Do they fit to each other? Can you identify further learning outcomes based on the description and aims?

2. Is it clear what the teacher and students are doing as part of the collaboration TLAs? Do the collaboration TLAs build student's collaboration skills or scaffold the process of working together

Assigned tasks for review:

Exercise of Imen Tekaya: https://v.gd/R9fwHr

Dear Imen Tekaya,
I am not an IT specialist, but your topic seems quite interesting for a PBL. However, why don‘t you try to make it look even greater? You MUST enter the exact time for each of your planned activities. Furthermore, by adding some extra TLAs, you can achieve the scaffolding effect of the process, and obtain wonderful final results. Why don‘t you attach some online resources to flip your classroom?

I would deeply encourage you to watch the video about how to create a lesson plan by using Learning Designer, and make your lesson plan look fantastic!

Kind regards,
Margarita Dobreva from Bulgaria

Exercise of Serena Santomaso: https://v.gd/2r6Lvw

Dear Serena Santomaso,
I love the topic for your PBL learning design since it can engage your young learners in a creative 'trip' around your city. Since it is only your draft, I don't know how you are planning to proceed, but you will definitely manage to scaffold your activities in the best way possible.
I would like to make some suggestions: (1) your designed time of 1200 minutes is unrealistic; you cannot spend 20 hours on a single project within your school curriculum, so you'd better reconsider it; (2) why don't you start with an online activity, let's say, an advertising professional video about your region? Add an attachment, and let your students get an idea what the landmarks are; at their age they might lack experience when it comes to sightseeing; (3) I myself wouldn't opt for a 90-minute discussion with young kids; you can shorten it for a greater effect.
Finally, I'd like to congratulate you on your choice for final outputs and outcomes. With some final touches, you can make a wonderful  PBL in your classroom!
Kind regards,
Margarita Dobreva from Bulgaria

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Shortened URL: https://v.gd/Mof6On

My Learning Diary: https://padlet.com/daisy63b/idc9f98jbo9t

Dear colleagues,

You will find a detailed information about my lesson plan on my diary. Thank you in advance for your constructive reviews.

Margarita Dobreva, Bulgaria

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My PBL Learning Design - HANDED IN
Shortened URL:  https://v.gd/Mof6On
My driving question was:  Showing empathy is a stylish conduct. Do you perceive yourself as someone who would tolerate bullying?
I decided to group this lesson plans' exercises around the two contradictory (for a greater impact on students' mindset ) concepts in my driving question: empathy vs bullying
Name: Showing empathy is a stylish conduct
Topic: Bullying at school
Learning time: 160 (a regular class in my school is 40 minutes)
Number of students: 24
Description: Dear students, during this week's session you will work in 4 groups of 6. While performing your individual and group tasks, you will have to reflect on the key question: Do you perceive yourself as someone who would tolerate bullying?
Tip 1: to get better learning results, you are deeply encouraged to take notes about your findings / conclusions on your personal blog. You can also create a diary, using Padlet for that purpose:  https://padlet.com;
Tip 2: start collecting images of violence (domestic, road, verbal violence), child abuse, school bullying, as each group is supposed to create a poster on that topic at a later stage.
Aims: To develop safe and tolerant relationships in the classroom; to enhance students' moral system towards a responsible overall perspective
Methodology: online research, individual and group work, real-life examples, discussions, debates, class survey, oral and written production
Final outputs: posters, essays
Outcomes:

Knowledge: getting familiar with such concepts as empathy, tolerance, civic behaviour,  respect;

Analysis: class survey about bullying;

Evaluation: making a personal judgement based on preset tasks;

Affective learning outcomes: upgrading students' attitudes, motivation, and moral values;

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Next Wednesday 8th November at 18.30h CET (Brussels Time) we organize an online Teachmeet. A TeachMeet is an informal way of sharing ideas amongst teachers. It's similar to a webinar except that you, the participants, are the speakers.

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Let's continue working on our PBL Learning Design. For module 2 you added all the key background information for the Design and already added some TLAs (Teaching and Learning Activities) focussing on collaboration. For this module we would like you to continue adding TLAs to your Design, with a focus on scaffolding for student independence and ownership, building resilience and an entrepreneurial mindset in general. For example, you should include a TLA where students reflect about their own work and how they can improve it, thereby supporting independence and ownership over the learning process. After adding these TLAs your Design should ideally provide opportunity for students:

to identify the questions they would like to pursue (within the context of your Driving Question)

to make choices on all key project-related aspects such as resources used, products created, use of time, etc.

to take significant responsibility and work independently from the teacher, but with guidance if necessary

to reflect during the project about their own work and learning

With the final steps in mind, you can also already add further TLAs that ensure you have engaging starter activities for your PBL as well as ensure clear and effective links between TLAs. This will help you for next week where we will add formative and summative assessment TLAs into our Design as well as ensure the Design is well-rounded.
As usual, please submit the link to your Learning Design, a link to your Learning Diary for context, as well as some contact details in case your reviewer needs to contact you. The deadline to submit your work is Wednesday 15th November at 23:59h CET.

For the reviews use the four criteria above as guidance on providing feedback. Feel free to comment on all aspects of the Learning Design ready so far or only the TLAs focussing on this module's topic. Make sure that your feedback is positive and helpful with concrete suggestions on what and how it could be improved. The deadline to submit your reviews is Wednesday 22nd November at 23:59h CET.

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3.4 OPTIONAL P2P - Building your PBL Learning Design

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3.4 OPTIONAL P2P - Building your PBL Learning Design

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Thinking outside the box is more than just a business cliché. It means approaching problems in new, innovative ways; conceptualizing problems differently; and understanding your position in relation to any particular situation in a way you'd never thought of before. Ironically, its a cliché that means to think of clichéd situations in ways that aren't clichéd.

We're told to "think outside the box" all the time, but how exactly do we do that? How do we develop the ability to confront problems in ways other than the ways we normally confront problems? How do we cultivate the ability to look at things differently from the way we typically look at things?

Thinking outside the box starts well before we're "boxed in" - that is, well before we confront a unique situation and start forcing it into a familiar "box" that we already know how to deal with. Or at least think we know how to deal with.

Here are 11 ways to beef up your out-of-the-box thinking skills. Make an effort to push your thinking up to and beyond its limit every now and again - the talents you develop may come in handy the next time you face a situation that "everybody knows" how to solve.

1. Study another industry.

I've learned as much about teaching from learning about marketing as I have from studying pedagogy - maybe more. Go to the library and pick up a trade magazine in an industry other than your own, or grab a few books from the library, and learn about how things are done in other industries. You might find that many of the problems people in other industries face are similar to the problems in your own, but that they've developed really quite different ways of dealing with them. Or you might well find new linkages between your own industry and the new one, linkages that might well be the basis of innovative partnerships in the future.

2. Learn about another religion.

Religions are the way that humans organize and understand their relationships not only with the supernatural or divine but with each other. Learning about how such relations are structured can teach you a lot about how people relate to each other and the world around them. Starting to see the reason in another religion can also help you develop mental flexibility - when you really look at all the different ways people comprehend the same mysteries, and the fact that they generally manage to survive regardless of what they believe, you start to see the limitations of whatever dogma or doxy you follow, a revelation that will transfer quite a bit into the non-religious parts of your life.

3. Take a class.

Learning a new topic will not only teach you a new set of facts and figures, it will teach you a new way of looking at and making sense of aspects of your everyday life or of the society or natural world you live in. This in turn will help expand both how you look at problems and the breadth of possible solutions you can come up with.

4. Read a novel in an unfamiliar genre.

Reading is one of the great mental stimulators in our society, but it's easy to get into a rut. Try reading something you'd never have touched otherwise - if you read literary fiction, try a mystery or science fiction novel; if you read a lot of hard-boiled detective novels, try a romance; and so on. Pay attention not only to the story but to the particular problems the author has to deal with. For instance, how does the fantasy author bypass your normal skepticism about magic and pull you into their story? Try to connect those problems to problems you face in your own field. For example, how might your marketing team overcome your audiences normal reticence about a new "miracle" product?

5. Write a poem.

While most problem-solving leans heavily on our brain's logical centers, poetry neatly bridges our more rational left-brain though processes and our more creative right-brain processes. Though it may feel foolish (and getting comfortable with feeling foolish might be another way to think outside the box), try writing a poem about the problem you're working on. Your poem doesn't necessarily have to propose a solution - the idea is to shift your thinking away from your brain's logic centers and into a more creative part of the brain, where it can be mulled over in a non-rational way. Remember, nobody has to ever see your poem...

6. Draw a picture.

Drawing a picture is even more right-brained, and can help break your logical left-brain's hold on a problem the same way a poem can. Also, visualizing a problem engages other modes of thinking that we don't normally use, bringing you another creative boost.

7. Turn it upside down.

Turning something upside-down, whether physically by flipping a piece of paper around or metaphorically by re-imagining it can help you see patterns that wouldn't otherwise be apparent. The brain has a bunch of pattern-making habits that often obscure other, more subtle patterns at work; changing the orientation of things can hide the more obvious patterns and make other patterns emerge. For example, you might ask what a problem would look like if the least important outcome were the most important, and how you'd then try to solve it.

8. Work backwards.

Just like turning a thing upside down, working backwards breaks the brain's normal conception of causality. This is the key to backwards planning, for example, where you start with a goal and think back through the steps needed to reach it until you get to where you are right now.

9. Ask a child for advice.

I don't buy into the notion that children are inherently ore creative before society "ruins" them, but I do know that children think and speak with a n ignorance of convention that is often helpful. Ask a child how they might tackle a problem, or if you don't have a child around think about how you might reformulate a problem so that a child could understand it if one was available. Don't run out and build a boat made out of cookies because a child told you to, though - the idea isn't to do what the child says, necessarily, but to jog your own thinking into a more unconventional path.

10. Invite randomness.

If you've ever seen video of Jackson Pollock painting, you have seen a masterful painter consciously inviting randomness into his work. Pollock exercises a great deal of control over his brushes and paddles, in the service of capturing the stray drips and splashes of paint that make up his work. Embracing mistakes and incorporating them into your projects, developing strategies that allow for random input, working amid chaotic juxtapositions of sound and form - all of these can help to move beyond everyday patterns of thinking into the sublime.

11. Take a shower.

There's some kind of weird psychic link between showering and creativity. Who knows why? Maybe it's because your mind is on other things, maybe it's because you're naked, maybe it's the warm water relaxing you - it's a mystery. But a lot of people swear by it. So maybe when the status quo response to some circumstance just isn't working, try taking a shower and see if something remarkable doesn't occur to you!

Do you have strategies for thinking differently? Share your tips with us in the comments.

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Thinking outside the box is more than just a business cliché. It means approaching problems in new, innovative ways; conceptualizing problems differently; and understanding your position in relation to any particular situation in a way you'd never thought of before. Ironically, its a cliché that means to think of clichéd situations in ways that aren't clichéd.

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3 tips to boost your confidence - TED-Ed

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3 tips to boost your confidence - TED-Ed

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3 tips to boost your confidence - TED-Ed

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The Power of Positive Attitude Can Change Your Life

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The Power of Positive Attitude Can Change Your Life

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Positive Attitude - Its Power and Benefits

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Positive attitude brings optimism and motivates toward success. With a positive attitude, your life becomes happier and more successful.

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The Cycle of Learning If a child stays curious, he will continue to explore and discover. The 5-year-old finds tadpoles in a tiny pool of mud on the playground. This discovery gives him pleasure. When he experiences the joy of discovery, he will want to repeat his exploration of the pond.

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Question of the week: It is important to develop resilience of our students, but what about teachers? We should be role models for our students

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Question of the week: It is important to develop resilience of our students, but what about teachers? We should be role models for our students

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My answer:
That's a very tough question to answer, really ...  Decision makers always focus on students' educational needs, but few dare discuss teachers' resilience problems in the long run. Do I always feel motivated, or am I able to perform my duties immaculately in each of my classes?! Well, I think the answer is more than clear to all my peers in this group. J However, I do my best to be my students' role-model, despite my personal resilience shortcomings.
Online test about resilience: https://www.verywell.com/quiz-how-resilient-are-you-4008851?quizResult=f54d7a63

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The characteristics explored in the previous sections, such as resilience, initative and ownership, are all part of an entrepreneurial mindset. For students to take ownership of the PBL process and move their own and their peer's learning forward, they need to have an entrepreneurial mindset.

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TASK 3.2.: Identify how we as teachers can weaken our student's confidence and independence

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TASK 3.2.: Identify how we as teachers can weaken our student's confidence and independence

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In my opinion, the easiest way to discourage my students is to give them tasks they cannot perform because of lack of previous knowledge. By losing confidence in their abilities, they will be reluctant to make further efforts. Furthermore, if I keep demonstrating I am superior than them (and make them follow my instructions without letting them experiment on their own to find an alternative solution to a certain problem), they will become dependent learners, with few chances to cope with real-life issues.

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1.  Always build from strengths: select activities that students like; then it will help them to do the things they don't like;
2. Ensure that every student gets a chance to be successful in your class;
3. Give students opportunities for meaningful contribution; they need to see relevance in their learning and actions;
4. Encourage them to seek knowledge and be creative;
5. High expectations for pupils' performance are important as they help them understand that they are able to be successful;
6. Show students that you care; create supportive environment;
7. Encourage students to know each other and develop positive social relationships with each other;
8. Support cooperative learning projects in which all students must contribute to the final learning product;
9. Avoid focusing on failure or negative behaviours;
10. Praise more than criticise; praise for success can be given in public but criticism should be given in private;
11. Support helping, sharing, cooperating, collaborative problem solving and treating others with respect and courtesy;
11. Enable students to be more open-minded; encourage them to help each other and build positive beliefs in their abilities;
12. Teach by example; enjoy your time spent with your students!

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'How to build resilience of students' by Kornélia Lohyňová 

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'How to build resilience of students' by Kornélia Lohyňová 

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Self-assessment test

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What makes a person resilient? There are many factors that contribute to resilient behavior, including personality traits, upbringing, genetics, environmental factors, and social support.

If you want to become more resilient, learn about the characteristics of resilient people and when and how to ask for help building resilience.

What Does Resilience Mean?

Being resilient means facing difficulties head-on instead of falling into despair or using unhealthy coping strategies. Resilience is often defined as the mental reservoir of strength that helps people handle stress and hardship.

Resilient people are able to draw upon this strength to cope and recover from challenges. That's true even when they face significant traumas, such as job loss, financial problems, serious illness, relationship challenges, or the death of a loved one.

Characteristics of Resilience

Some of the main characteristics of a person who has resilience are awareness, self-control, problem-solving skills, and social support. Resilient people are aware of situations, their emotional reactions, and the behavior of those around them.

By remaining aware, they can maintain control of a situation and think of new ways to tackle problems. In many cases, resilient people emerge stronger after such difficulties.

While people vary dramatically in the coping skills they use when confronting a crisis, researchers have identified some key characteristics of resilience. Many of these skills can be developed and strengthened, which can improve your ability to deal with life's setbacks.

The five basic characteristics of resilience are:

1. Problem-solving skills

2. Strong social connections

3. Survivor mentality

4. Emotional regulation

5. Self-compassion

Sense of Control

Do you perceive yourself as having control over your own life? Or do you blame outside sources for failures and problems?

Generally, resilient people tend to have what psychologists call an internal locus of control. They believe that the actions they take will affect the outcome of an event.

Of course, some factors are simply outside of our personal control, such as natural disasters. While we may be able to put some blame on external causes, it is important to feel as if we have the power to make choices that will affect our situation, our ability to cope, and our future.

Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving skills are essential for resilience. When a crisis emerges, resilient people are able to spot the solution that will lead to a safe outcome. In dangerous situations, less resilient people sometimes develop tunnel vision. They fail to note important details or take advantage of opportunities.

Strong Social Connections

Whenever you're dealing with a problem, it is important to have people who can offer support. Talking about the challenges you are facing can be an excellent way to gain perspective, look for new solutions, or simply express your emotions. People who possess a great deal of resilience have a network of friends, family members, co-workers, and online support groups to keep them socially connected.

Survivor Mentality

When dealing with any potential crisis, it is essential to view yourself as a survivor. Resilient people avoid thinking like a victim of circumstance and instead look for ways to resolve the problem. While the situation may be unavoidable, they stay focused on a positive outcome.

Emotional Regulation

Resilience is also characterized by an ability to regulate emotions effectively. The ability to recognize that they are having an emotional response and to understand what is causing the response can help them better handle emotions and cope with the situation at hand.

Self-Compassion

Resilient people are also compassionate toward themselves. They tend to notice when they need to take a break and can accept their emotions, which is important for resilience. Self-compassion can help boost overall health and resilience and ensure you're ready to face life's challenges.

Examples of Resilience

So what does resilience look like in action? Some examples of resilient behaviors and ways that you can show resilience include:

Trying to take a positive perspective on situations

Viewing challenges as learning opportunities

Regulating emotions and expressing feelings in appropriate ways

Focusing on the things you can control instead of dwelling on what you cannot change

Recognizing that cognitive distortions are false

Reframing negative thoughts to be more realistic and positive

For example, imagine that you get stuck in traffic on the way to work. For a non-reilient person, they might get angry, stressed out, and worried about how being late will reflect on them at work.

If you are resilient, however, you might choose to focus on what you can learn from the situation (leaving the house earlier for work), control your emotional response (using stress relief strategies to calm your mind and body), and avoid negative thinking (by reminding yourself that you are always on time and your employer will understand).

How to Ask for Help

While being resourceful is an important part of resilience, it is also essential to know when to ask for help. During a crisis, everyone can benefit from the help of psychologists and counselors specially trained to deal with crisis situations. Other potential sources of assistance include:

Books: Reading about people who have experienced and overcome a similar problem can be motivating and suggest ideas on how to cope.

Online message boards: Online communities can provide continual support and a place to talk about issues with people who have been in a similar situation.

Psychotherapy: If you are having trouble coping with a crisis situation, consulting a qualified mental health professional can help you confront the problem, identify your strengths, and develop new coping skills.

Support groups: Attending support group meetings is a great way to talk about the challenges you're facing and to find a network of people who can provide compassion and support.

Get Advice From The Verywell Mind Podcast

A Word From Verywell

Resilience is important for mental health and well-being, and luckily, everyone can learn to be resilient. While some people may be naturally more resilient, it's a skill that you can strengthen.

Start by practicing some of the common characteristics of resilient people and focusing on your existing strengths. Don't get discouraged; becoming more resilient may take time, but the investment will have big payoffs on your health and well-being.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the seven resilience skills?

They are competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control. Pediatrician Ken Ginsberg, MD, created the 7 Cs of resilience model to help children and adolescence build resilience. However, these skills can be developed at any age.

What does non-resilient mean?

Being non-resilient, or lacking resilience, often involves becoming overwhelmed by difficult or stressful situations, dwelling on problems, or using unhealthy coping mechanisms to cope with the challenges of life.

What does it mean to be stress-resilient?

People who are stress-resilient have better coping strategies for handling stress. They can recover more quickly from the major and minor stressors that occur day to day.

Is resilience a character trait?

While resilience is often portrayed as a character trait that people either have or don't have, it is actually an ability that people can improve. According to one study, resilience can fluctuate over time and may depend on the situation and circumstances that a person is facing. This means that with practice, you can learn to strengthen your resilience.

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What makes a person resilient? There are many factors that contribute to resilient behavior, including personality traits, upbringing, genetics, environmental factors, and social support. If you want to become more resilient, learn about the characteristics of resilient people and when and how to ask for help building resilience.

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What is resilience? It comes from the Latin resilire, “to bounce back”. Resilience refers to the capacity to return to good mental health after challenging and difficult situations. It is not one specific thing, but a combination of skills and attributes that help to solve problems, cope with challenges, adapt and bounce back when things don´t go as planned. Resilient people learn from their mistakes, they look at their failures and mistakes as lessons to be learned from, and as opportunities for growth.

Working in teams and pursuing a complex question or problem over a longer period of time as part of PBL will require student resilience. We know that it is possible to develop resilience in our students through a combination of setting out the right environment, building positive relationships, and offering space for independent decisions. Take a look at the video below developed by course moderator Kornélia Lohyňová for a series of strategies to develop student resilience and see here for a nice video focussing on building confidence.

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Margarita Dobreva, Bulgaria
Letting students jump into the deep end is like pushing someone who can‘t swim into a roaring river. A teacher should provide ‘life jackets‘ for their students at the beginning of the learning process, and step by step, through scaffolding their knowledge and skills, teach them how to ‘swim‘ successfully. Later on, when they become independent 'swimmers',  the less motivated students will opt for the safety of the river flow. However, there will be those special ones, who will start swimming upstream...

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Give students voice and choice in the process;

Let the students seek answers independently;

Make time for reflection and revision;

Have students track their own progress.