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Proyecto Final del 2025 : La herencia indígena en la familia

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Proyecto Final del 2025 : La herencia indígena en la familia

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¿Cuáles es la historia a través de la herencia indígena entre familias hispanohablantes?

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Use this template to design you PBLL-aligned unit.

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7 Questions to Guide your PBL Implementation Plan

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7 Questions to Guide your PBL Implementation Plan

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7 Questions To Guide Your PBL Implementation Plan -

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7 Questions To Guide Your PBL Implementation Plan by Drew Perkins, Director of TeachThought PD Grow your school with TeachThought PD Project-Based Learning Workshops It's that time of year again where the students are walking out the door for the summer and the gears of next year start accelerating.

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Steinberg's 6 A's for Designing Projects

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Steinberg's 6 A's for Designing Projects

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Useful tool for evaluating the quality of your project!

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Collaborative writing and quality in G-Docs.pdf

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Collaborative writing and quality in G-Docs.pdf

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When I think about my “why” for teaching project-based learning I think of a particular student I had last year in fourth grade. I’m an ESL teacher for the Newcomer Program at Webster Elementary School...

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When I think about my "why" for teaching project-based learning I think of a particular student I had last year in fourth grade. I'm an ESL teacher for the Newcomer Program at Webster Elementary School in the Manchester School District, New Hampshire. The majority of our students are refugees and immigrants. I use project-based learning in my classroom because of the impact it has for EL students like this particular fourth-grade student. When he joined my class, like many of my students, he knew very little English. Fast forward a year, and his transformation was so incredible that he was selected to do a live video interview with a panel of about 100 administrators describing how PBL has helped him. You never would have guessed he'd barely spoken English a year before! He also described the impact of PBL perfectly. When talking about a project that required research, he said, "It helped me learn to ask questions." Another project teamed him up with a partner "so that helped with communicating," he said. For another project he wrote letters "and that helped me [learn to] write information," he said.

"When [a teacher] tells you and just gives you worksheets to write everything down, I think that's boring for most kids and they just want to finish it," he said. "But when we do projects, it's better because you actually get to do something and get some motivation."

As a teacher, seeing his interview was an amazing moment because it was proof that what we are doing is working. This is the kind of confidence, courage and growth that I see in my students every day and it shows the impact of quality PBL on students -- particularly EL students.
Project-based learning to support equity
The Manchester School District receives training and support from the nonprofit PBLWorks through a grant-funded project to help support educational equity. Manchester is a refugee resettlement community and my school serves a diverse student population that includes students from 19 countries who speak 14 different languages. We also serve non-English speaking students from throughout Manchester in magnet classrooms. For some of my students, it is their first time in a classroom setting.

My students start at very different levels of proficiency. Some can read and write English beautifully, but either can't or don't have the confidence to speak it. Others can hold perfect conversations in English, but don't have reading and writing skills, while others have difficulty with all areas of proficiency. Every student has a completely individualized level. We wanted to find a way to meet each student where they were. PBL is the perfect solution because of its ability to engage students at all levels in authentic learning through authentic, hands-on projects.

PBL requires students to work on projects that examine a real-world problem or answer a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge by developing a product or presenting for an audience. PBL helps students engage more deeply in content and language acquisition while also developing skills such as critical thinking and communication.

Want to give it a shot in your classroom? Here are some things to consider:

Meet students at their proficiency level. The rigor, engagement and methodology of PBL provide a fast track to confidence and language acquisition for newcomer students, but it is important to meet each student at their specific level of proficiency. I do this by being intentional and strategic about scaffolding PBL readiness skills such as higher-order thinking and problem-solving. The majority of my students come to me without basic educational skills, so they require much more coaching than traditional EL students. I need to heavily modify PBL to make it accessible to them. I use linguist Stephen Krashen's "i +1" theory of second language acquisition, in which the "i" symbolizes the learner's current area of proficiency -- wherever that may be -- and the "1" is the next immediate step to improve their level of competence. Here is just one example. If a student needs an accommodation, I help them brainstorm what could help them. This metacognition is something that I am scaffolding. Once the student can independently come up with the rationale for the resources or tools they need, I know that I have made a huge leap in their autonomy and problem-solving. The exercise intertwines problem-solving, confidence, advocacy and language ability and vocabulary. This might seem small, but it is just another example of something that my students have never done before and will be expected to do within one year.

Make sure projects are culturally responsive. Allowing students to bring their own culture and experiences to a project makes it more engaging. For example, one of our projects focused on what makes up a community. Students researched the components of a community -- for example, what types of restaurants, businesses and government buildings are in the community. Students brought their own perspectives and shared what their communities were like where they came from which helped them connect with the project and created more opportunities for dialogue to build vocabulary and communication skills.

Include field trips. Experiences help students gain a greater understanding of a topic and can add another layer of excitement. If the project involves the water system, take a trip to the local water treatment plant. If it involves animals or the ocean. Go to the zoo or the aquarium. For our community project, we toured our neighborhood and took photos of what we saw in the community. They ultimately used the photos to create photo books that they presented to the mayor for their final project.

Encourage authenticity. A quality PBL project helps students understand how what they are learning applies to the real world. For example, one of our projects focused on environmental awareness. As students were doing research they realized that our three ESL classes dispose of 400,000 plastic forks every year. Students were fascinated by this, so the project snowballed into a campaign to use real silverware in the cafeteria. As we researched this idea, we learned that having real silverware would require our school to purchase a dishwasher. So, the project has morphed into a letter-writing campaign asking our PTO to support funding for a dishwasher. This evolution showed the students how environmental awareness can have a local impact. It's also been incredibly rewarding to see students so passionate, which helps them engage in the content.

Encourage voice and choice. Project-based learning is all about helping students take ownership of their learning. One of my favorite success stories was when some of my students came to me without prompting and said, "we have an idea for a project." It's so rewarding to see students empowered -- especially students who may have been marginalized in the past because of their backgrounds or because they weren't fluent in English. The students wanted to create a "diversity day" for the 100th day of school. I coached them through the project, which they presented to the principal. For the project they put decorations and items such as artwork throughout the school that would showcase the diversity at our school. The students leading the project then had non-ELL students collect the items and use them to create a "diversity tree" display for the 100th day of school that celebrated our diverse student body. This project was completely led by students and I was blown away by how they took charge and ownership of it from start to finish.

So, whenever I'm asked why I use project-based learning, I share stories like those above. I describe how powerful PBL has been in helping individualize instruction to address my students' ability levels and help them acquire English more quickly. I describe how they get so engaged that they want to collaborate with their peers, which is a huge step for an EL student to get over that hurdle. Their excitement helps them stretch outside of their comfort zone. I had some students' parents tell me that their children never wanted to take English class before but are now excited to come to school. I attribute this to project-based learning, and that's an amazing "why" for teaching with PBL.
Elizabeth Leone is an ESL teacher at Webster Elementary School in the Manchester School District in New Hampshire. The district uses PBLWorks.
Like this article? Sign up for SmartBrief on EdTech to get news like this in your inbox, or check out all of SmartBrief's education newsletters , covering career and technical education, educational leadership, math education and more.

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When I think about my "why" for teaching project-based learning I think of a particular student I had last year in fourth grade. I'm an ESL teacher for the Newcomer Program at Webster Elementary School in the Manchester School District, New Hampshire. The majority of our students are refugees and immigrants.

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5 Examples Of Project-Based Learning Protocols
contributed by Michele Mattoon, Director of the National School Reform Faculty

Have you worked with project-based learning protocols?

Schools design Project-Based Learning (PBL) because the process helps engage students in learning and helps them develop necessary real-world skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, and the use of technology. PBL focuses on students working together over a significant amount of time to solve actual problems, answer complex questions, and develop both critical and creative thinking skills.

The structured processes and guidelines of protocols support meaningful, efficient communication, problem-solving, and learning. Protocols give time for active listening and reflection, thereby engaging the brain's 'slow' critical thinking processes (as opposed to the 'fast' reactive thinking of the brain). In doing so, they tap into the brain's capacity for creativity, visualization, and analysis. Protocols ensure that all voices in the group are heard and valued and promote strong communication skills, cross-cultural understandings, and productive collaboration.

Because protocols can be used whenever a group of people needs to work together in an efficient and effective manner, they become go-to tools for project-based learners. Protocols offer structures that guide groups to collaboratively solve real-world problems, ask probing questions, and discover the difference between assumptions and facts.

Those who already know NSRF® protocols and Critical Friends Group® work understand that this is exactly what our organization has been doing for more than 20 years. We develop and then provide educators with an ever-growing library of collaboration and communication tools called 'protocols.'

Many activities and protocols from NSRF are great to use in PBL classrooms, including:

1. Compass Points Activity allows students to explore their own and their collaborators' preferences when they are working together. Next, they learn how to leverage these preferences so they may work even more productively as a group.

2. Feedback Nightmares Activity asks participants to share a time when they have received painful and/or useless feedback. Then participants co-create a list of giving and receiving feedback "do's and don'ts." This is an important foundational activity before any group is expected to offer useful feedback to their peers.

3. Speed Success Protocol allows participants to analyze their successes so they and their peers might learn from those experiences and incorporate that learning into future projects.

4. The Chalk Talk Protocol, one of our most used protocols in classrooms and meetings, provides structure for a 'silent conversation' in order to:
-Brainstorm ideas
-Check on learning
-Develop projects
-Solve problems

5. The original version of the Modified Tuning Protocol used in TeachThought PD Foundations of PBL Workshops was actually created by a teacher so that students in his class could give each other feedback before they presented their final projects. Now the Tuning Protocol is widely used to "fine tune" any piece of student or adult professional work that needs improving.

Text, data, and brainstorming protocols, as well as many materials related to dilemmas, all have uses within PBL environments. Because our work is so focused on collaboration and the resulting student achievement, I might be hard-pressed to think of a protocol that would *not* be suitable in this context.

Together, PBL practices and NSRF tools can help students become continuous life-long learners who successfully navigate through their future lives.
5 Examples Of Project-Based Learning Protocols

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5 Examples Of Project-Based Learning Protocols

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5 Examples Of Project-Based Learning Protocols contributed by Michele Mattoon, Director of the National School Reform Faculty Have you worked with project-based learning protocols? Schools design Project-Based Learning (PBL) because the process helps engage students in learning and helps them develop necessary real-world skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, and the use of technology.

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ACTFL Proficiency Levels with Functions Poster

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ACTFL Proficiency Levels with Functions Poster

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Why inquiry learning is worth the trouble 

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Why inquiry learning is worth the trouble 

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Lehmann said it's important to question whether alleged "personalized," "project-based," or "collaborative" learning efforts are actually helping students and teachers to "hold ourselves in a state of questioning."

"Inquiry means living in the soup. Inquiry means living in that uncomfortable space where we don't know the answer."

For example, adaptive software that leads students through English/language arts or mathematics on a pace set by their own abilities fails to force students to ask questions about that material, contextualize it in real life, or communicate about the concepts with others, Lehmann said. The same is true of collaborative projects where restrictive guidelines result in several, nearly-identical finished products across student groups.

In a true inquiry-based model, how learning happens isn't as important as whether that learning encourages students to try to learn even more. Lehmann compared the scenario to the plight of a two-year-old child who has graduated from "yes" and "no" and proceeded onto an endless string of "why's."

"To me it comes down to process," Lehmann said. "Inquiry means living in the soup. Inquiry means living in that uncomfortable space where we don't know the answer."
SIGNS YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK
Although nailing down inquiry-based learning is a bit like trying to define the human soul, there are some indicators Lehmann and his audience both agreed signaled progress down the right path.

To paraphrase one teacher, a classroom where students are empowered to direct and control their own learning is one sign. Feeling tension between the direction of a course and the material covered on a standardized final examination may be another, said a second teacher.

"Oh God, yeah," Lehmann said in response to the latter teacher. "There's a reason we don't offer [ Advanced Placement] Classes here. If we are a truly inquiry-based school, why would our highest-level classes end in a test?"

Increased collaboration between students and increasing student scrutiny of educational content were two other signs Lehmann and the group said signaled the right approach, even if they clashed with classroom norms. For example, collaboration can often lead to tricky discussions about what part of a students' work are his or her own and what part is recycled.

Lastly, good inquiry-based learning should include a means for publication and communication, whether through blogs, printed reports, multimedia packages, etc. But Lehmann also said, in some cases, students should have the right to decide whether to publish their work.

"One of the scariest things about inquiry-based learning is the blank page," Lehmann said. "When you're toying with the ideas at first, sometimes your ideas don't have to be social to the world."
ACCEPTING THE DRAWBACKS
Inquiry-based education should improve student engagement, critical thinking skills, and cross-disciplinary opportunities, Lehmann said. But it may also hinder lesson planning, covering content benchmarks, and assessing student progress.

In a school that asks students to seize some autonomy over the course of their studies, the teachers most comfortable at the Science Leadership Academy are often the teachers most capable of improvising and deviating from a lesson plan, or even entering a class period without a lesson plan at all.

Further, while Lehmann believes the approach leaves students with the analytical tools they need to succeed on English/language arts standardized tests, he acknowledges that both teaching mathematics in general, and teaching it so students succeed on state and national benchmarks, is harder to do in an inquiry-driven fashion.

"Math is a little harder, and I own that," said Lehmann.

Creating teacher-administered assessments that accurately measure progress, in an environment where the path is often long and winding, is also difficult.

"That could probably be 10 sessions of EduCon," Lehmann quipped. "'What are we authentically assessing when we assess?'"

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Why Inquiry Learning is Worth the Trouble

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Lehmann said it's important to question whether alleged "personalized," "project-based," or "collaborative" learning efforts are actually helping students and teachers to "hold ourselves in a state of questioning." "Inquiry means living in the soup. Inquiry means living in that uncomfortable space where we don't know the answer."

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PBLL units repository at the NFLRC at the University of Hawaii, Manoa

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PBLL units repository at the NFLRC at the University of Hawaii, Manoa

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Free example projects from our collaboration at the U of Hawaii

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Advanced level Project

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During my second year of teaching at a wall-to-wall PBL school, I had a project that was a dud. The content was the Spanish American War, the most difficult part of my curriculum to make relevant. Students drudged their way through the heavy topics that I presented poorly without applying it to anything pertinent today. At the end we made Common Craft style stop animation videos. I thought that we ended well, and that students enjoyed the final product.

Boy was I wrong!

At the end of every project, we pause to reflect on how our groups functioned and on the project itself. Students crucified me in their criticism of the project:

"Too traditional."
"Too boring."
"You said that this class would be different."
"If this is how you are going to teach, I might as well go back to my regular high school."

Ouch, that hurt. But the truth is that they were fair and correct in their critique, as difficult as it was to hear. I had done the classic "dessert" project: learn a bunch of content and then throw on a "fun" activity at the end with no purpose, authenticity, or audience.

The Importance of Asking Students to Critique Their Teachers

Critique and revision isn't just for students. It is vital that teachers seek and listen to feedback from students. Who better to give a critique of your project than the students who did it? PBL is all about continuous growth for both students and teachers. Seeking feedback from students models productive critique and builds a PBL culture where student voice is heard and respected.

Here are seven important things I have learned about how to effectively conduct student critique of PBL units and teachers.

1. Set Clear Expectations

Explain to your class what quality feedback sounds like. Student feedback should be specific, helpful, and kind. Consider showing them Austin's Butterfly first. Students should emphasize specific and solution-oriented feedback. If students say that something in class was boring, then require them to explain how to make it more interesting. The goal is not complaining, but improvement of your planning and execution of projects.

2. Offer Multiple Modes

In order to get the best feedback from all students, offer multiple ways to give it. First students can individually fill out a Google form evaluating their groups for collaboration and evaluating the project ( Example). Then follow up with a class discussion of the students' "likes and wonders." Quiet kids may be too shy or afraid to share out in a whole class discussion, but will give you excellent written feedback. Others won't want to write, but prefer to talk it out. Don't make either method a requirement (meaning don't grade them!). Instead treat the process as an expectation and integral part of PBL.

3. Model How to Receive Feedback

It is critical that the teacher does not respond immediately to the feedback, even if students are misguided or wrong. Write it down; reflect on it; and respond LATER. The only thing you need to add to the conversation is to ask clarifying questions to get them to share more specific details. Otherwise my standard answer is to say, "Thank you for the feedback." If you find yourself feeling defensive and end up arguing with their feedback, you will be communicating that you don't really want to hear the truth and students will stop sharing what you need to hear. You have to respect their voice!

4. Validate Student Voice

One of the keys to critique is that you have to not only humbly listen to what students say, but revise your class based on their feedback. Otherwise it will become an artificial process without substance and students will quit giving authentic advice. Teachers love to give students choices in their learning, but the real power of PBL is when students learn to exercise their voice. Once they learn how to respectfully do this with you, they will start to use their voices against injustice in the world throughout their lives!

5. Handle Unfair Criticism

Students will say some things that you disagree with. Don't respond immediately (see point 2 for how this kills students' voice). Give yourself a few days to reflect and craft an appropriate response. Acknowledge their feelings but then explain why their solutions may not work, if that is the case. Oftentimes it may be because of things outside of anyone's control, such as state/district requirements. Sometimes misguided critiques are based on their lack of experience and not seeing the whole picture. The key for you is to honestly explain your disagreement with their ideas at their level. Don't sugarcoat or make excuses. Kids will see right through that!

6. Demonstrate Vulnerability and Humility

When you carefully listen to students, you are voluntarily giving up some of your control of the classroom and making it a more democratic place. Allowing students to critique you can be humbling and unpleasant, but it will get to the truth of what areas you need to grow in more than any formal evaluation from an administrator. Allowing students to critique you builds a safe and strong culture in your room. Students will respect you because you are respecting their perspectives.

7. Become a Warm Demander

Listening and adapting to student critiques builds up your authentic relationship with students by showing that you care for them personally. This stores up credit for you to apply later when students need to you be assertive and give them critical feedback on their work or their behavior. Your words won't come from a place of authority, but students will know that you are pushing them to be their best selves because you have given them permission to push you.

Critique and revision isn't just a protocol to improve students' final products in a project. Critique and revision of everything in your class builds a strong culture of trust as students learn the skills of disagreeing with authority in respectful and productive ways. It teaches students to have a critical lens, but with a bent toward solutions. Respectful critique trains our next generation appropriate ways to change the world!

Want to learn more about PBL? Check out our books. Register now for PBL World 2019.

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Critique and Revision Isn't Just for Students

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A teacher reflects on a lesson learned from student feedback on a project, and offers 7 tips for how to effectively honor student voice by inviting student critique of projects and their implementation by the teacher.

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Although this is not a fully-aligned PBLL unit, it offers novice low students an opportunity to do learn about creativity, to have voice and choice, to experience high levels of success, and to develop a low affective filter for their WL class.

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100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know

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100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know

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Audio Recording
Advertisement
Analogy
Animation
Avatar
Blog
Book Jacket
Brochure
Bulletin Board
Cards (Playing/Task)
Caricature
Class Book
Creative Non-Fiction
Collage
Comedy Skit
Comic Strip
Commercial
Concept Map
Conversation
Dance
Data/Analytics Visualization
Debate
Demonstration
Diary Entry
Digitally-Documented Discussion
Diorama
Doodle
Drawing
eBook
Essay
Experiment
Fake Social Media Account
Film
Freestyle (hip-hop)
Flow Chart
Game
Gif Animation
Glossary
Google Earth Tour
Graph
Graphic Organizer
Infomercial
Interview
Kahoot!
Learning Log
Literature Circle
Live Stream
Magazine
Map
Mock-Up/Wireframe
Mock Product-Pitch
Model
Monologue
Movie Poster
Mural
Mash-Up
News Report
Newsletter/ Newspaper
Panel Discussion
Photo
Prezi
Podcast
Poem
Portfolio
Poster
Presentation (PowerPoint)
Product
Puppet Show
Reenactment
Relevant Visualization
Review
Role-Play
Rules/Framework
Scavenger Hunt
Scrapbook
Sculpture
Survey
Self-Directed Project
Self-Directed Short Video
Show & Tell
Simulation
Slideshow
Social Media Branding
Socratic Discussion
Song
Story Map
Speech
Tag Cloud
Team-Building Game
Time Capsule
Theatrical Play
Timeline
Tutorial
Video Game
Website
Whiteboard Animation
Word Splash
Word Wall
Wiki
YouTube Channel

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contributed by Ryan Schaaf, Notre Dame of Maryland University

When I was a high school student, I had the privilege of having a wonderful English teacher.

She was kind, often helped her students, and created a wonderful classroom environment that was rare in my high school experience. To this day, I regard her as a great educator; one of the very best. Due to her help, I improved my writing abilities to the point I moved ahead to an Honors course the very next year.

As I now reflect upon her and my learning experiences fondly, I had only one criticism - I did the same type of work day in and day out. Although repetition is a tried and true method for learning, performing the same academic exercises over and over again really left a great deal to be desired. I wanted to express myself in new and different ways. After all, variety is the spice of life.

Nowadays, many educators use the same methods over and over again in their lessons for students to express themselves and demonstrate their new knowledge. Today's students want to express themselves in a variety of different ways. They want their academic work to be relevant, engaging, and fun.

Below is a diverse list adapted from resources found at fortheteachers.org of potential student products or activities learners can use to demonstrate their mastery of lesson content. The list also offers several digital tools for students to consider using in a technology-enriched learning environment.

100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Kno w

1. Audio Recording

2. Advertisement

3. Analogy

4. AnimationAvatar

5. Blog

6. Book Jacket

7. Brochure

8. Bulletin Board

9. Cards (Playing/Task)

10. Caricature

11. Class Book

12. Creative Non-Fiction

13. Collage

14. Comedy Skit

15. Comic Strip

16. Commercial

17. Concept Map

18. Conversation

19. Dance

20. Data/Analytics Visualization

21. Debate

22. Demonstration

23. Diary Entry

24. Digitally-Documented Discussion

25. Diorama

26. Doodle

27. Drawing

28. eBook

29. Essay

30. Experiment

31. Fake Social Media Account

32. Film

33. Freestyle (hip-hop)

34. Flow Chart

35. Game

36. Gif Animation

37. Glossary

38. Google Earth Tour

39. Graph

40. Graphic Organizer

41. Infomercial

42. Interview

43. Kahoot!

44. Learning Log

45. Literature Circle

46. Live Stream

47. Magazine

48. Map

49. Mock-Up/Wireframe

50. Mock Product-Pitch

51. Model

52. Monologue

53. Movie Poster

54. Mural

55. Mash-Up

56. News Report

57. Newsletter/ Newspaper

58. Panel Discussion

59. Photo

60. Prezi

61. Podcast

62. Poem

63. Portfolio

64. Poster

65. Presentation (PowerPoint)

66. Product

67. Puppet Show

68. Reenactment

69. Relevant Visualization

70. Review

71. Role-Play

72. Rules/Framework

73. Scavenger Hunt

74. Scrapbook

75. Sculpture

76. Survey

77. Self-Directed Project

78. Self-Directed Short Video

79. Show & Tell

80. Simulation

81. Slideshow

82. Social Media Branding

83. Socratic Discussion

84. Song

85. Story Map

86. Speech

87. Tag Cloud

88. Team-Building Game

89. Time Capsule

90. Theatrical Play

91. Timeline

92. Tutorial

93. Video game

94. Website

95. Whiteboard Animation

96. Word Splash

97. Word Wall

98. Wiki

99. YouTube Channel

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100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know

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Students can express themselves and demonstrate knowledge in new ways. Here are 100 things they can create to show what they know.

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https://tinyurl.com/y7wvx2et

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Taji Allen-Sanchez, a sixth- and seventh-grade science teacher at San Francisco's Aptos Middle School, is one of a growing number of teachers who believe that traditional methods of teaching aren't preparing students for life beyond school. Lectures and direct instruction can be used to convey information to students, but they don't enhance skills like teamwork, problem solving, and curiosity that employers are increasingly looking for.

"If you just give students answers, they're not going to understand [the science]," he explains. "Really, any kid can memorize information, but can they apply it to an actual real-world application?"

A 2013 survey of over 700 business leaders bears out Allen-Sanchez's point: Half of the respondents reported that many job applicants who were technically proficient lacked the communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills necessary to do the jobs they applied for. Far too many college graduates touted high grades and test scores, but lacked key skills to be successful in the workplace.

"It's not a matter of technical skill," explained one employer in the survey, "but of knowing how to think."

New Research Shows the Power of PBL

In an attempt to foster those necessary skills, Allen-Sanchez uses a combination of project-based learning (PBL) and performance assessments to encourage his students to gain a deeper understanding of science. The curriculum he uses came out of a Stanford project looking at how PBL, paired with performance assessments, can boost student learning. The results so far have been promising: The three-year project revealed significant growth in state standardized English language arts (ELA) and math tests for students in the program. Significantly, teachers also reported seeing higher rates of participation and engagement for their students.

The program's focus on academic discourse was especially helpful for English language learners, who outperformed their peers on the state's measure of language proficiency.

Research shows that by organizing learning around meaningful goals, PBL can be an effective way to cultivate a "need to know" attitude in students-students are motivated to deepen their understanding in order to solve a problem that is meaningful to them. Concepts are better understood when students see a need for their use because that need encourages them to apply what they're learning to relevant situations, leading to a better sense of understanding.

In schools participating in the study, students took an active role in their classrooms, asking questions, solving problems, conducting experiments, and participating in group discussions. The students felt that their assignments were more interesting, challenging, worthwhile, and enjoyable than did students in classrooms with a traditional science curriculum. Researchers also observed higher rates of students staying on task and paying close attention to the teacher and their peers.

Redefining How Students Learn

Project-based learning can be a catalyst for transforming science learning, helping students move from asking "what?" to also asking "why?" and "how?" In a traditional classroom, students often focus on memorizing facts to pass a test. At Aptos Middle School and other schools across San Francisco, PBL is being used to encourage scientific inquiry, putting students in the shoes of scientists applying authentic reasoning practices-such as experimentation and trial and error-in the classroom. While students still learn facts, they also learn to apply those facts in open-ended projects that they help design.

This transformation is driven by the 5E model, which eschews a traditional "scope and sequence" approach in which students progress along a fixed path of concepts and skills throughout the school year. Instead, instruction is organized around five phases:

Engage: Students' interest is piqued with novel ideas.

Explore: Hands-on activities deepen understanding.

Explain: Students describe ideas in their own words.

Elaborate: Ideas are applied to a broader context.

Evaluate: Students provide a rich picture of their understanding.

Allen-Sanchez explains that this model "really pushes kids to take an experience, really get immersed in it, learn about it through articles, and conversation, and discussion, and then get into more of it through the Elaborate by pushing what they already know to give more answers."

Students in Allen-Sanchez's science classes do more than just recite correct answers-they develop projects that utilize the 5Es. For example, students may work in groups to solve real-life engineering challenges such as working with a restaurant to design an energy-efficient kitchen. These students learn STEM concepts like the impact that windows and doorways have on thermal insulation, and they apply those concepts in complex situations: working with clients, managing projects, and executing the design cycle of prototyping, testing, and revising solutions to solve problems.

"We knew that we wanted to create a science environment in our classrooms that would disrupt the way that it had become: a course in which facts were learned and memorized," said Jim Ryan, the former STEM executive director for the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).

Student Group Work

Despite the importance of team problem-solving in today's workplaces, only 8 percent of students could meet the demands of a highly collaborative environment, while 28 percent would struggle because they have only basic levels of important skills. Schools largely aren't addressing this skills mismatch-highlighting the need for more opportunities for students to work together to solve the complex problems that do foster the necessary skills.

At the beginning of every school year, teachers in SFUSD emphasize the need for students to work together, not just to complete challenging projects but also to help change beliefs and stereotypes about science identity.

"We recognize that students walk in the door of this classroom with issues of status behind them, that they recognize themselves as being a science person or a non-science person," said Ryan. "It's through student discourse and group work that they will start to dispel those beliefs about not only themselves but about their peers, and recognize that each of those students is bringing an aspect of smarts into the problem that they're trying to solve around science."

Throughout the year, teachers use group work to address the myth that scientists work in isolation. For Eric Lewis, the district's science content specialist, science "requires lots of people with lots of different specializations to work together to explain an idea and to come up with solutions for the big problems that we have today."

Teachers as Designers

To improve student learning, start with teachers-that's the philosophy driving project-based learning in SFUSD. In a landmark study, John Hattie found that teachers account for 30 percent of the variance in student achievement, beating other factors like quality of curriculum, class size, and school funding. So after Stanford developed the new science curriculum (which can be downloaded for free), SFUSD educators worked with the researchers to improve it, playing a key role as co-designers.

"In developing this curriculum, it was absolutely critical that it was a true partnership. One, not only between Stanford and San Francisco, but between teachers, designers, administrators, etc.," said Nicole Holthuis, a Stanford researcher and one of the creators of the curriculum. Teachers took the curriculum into their classrooms to test out and then gave each other feedback on what worked and what didn't.

The partnership seems to be effective: Lewis says that with the 5E model and PBL, "We're seeing more students getting their hands wet. We're seeing more students contribute ideas. We're seeing more students participate in many different ways."

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Boosting Student Engagement Through Project-Based Learning

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A researcher-practitioner partnership in San Francisco shows promising results for middle school science students.

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This is the PDF of the Framework for High Quality PBL

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This is the PDF of the Framework for High Quality PBL

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From Getting Smart - A Framework for High Quality PBL 

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From Getting Smart - A Framework for High Quality PBL 

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A growing number of educators around the world believe that project based learning (PBL) is an important instructional approach that enables students to master academic skills and content knowledge, develop skills necessary for future success, and build the personal agency needed to tackle life's and the world's challenges.

Projects are an easy way to engage students in authentic challenges, but delivering all of the possible benefits requires well-constructed, sustained and supported experiences. A new Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning ( ) was developed to help teachers better prepare young people to contribute in the innovation economy.

This post provides a brief rationale for project based learning, outlines the new HQPBL framework, and provides tips on using the framework effectively.

Why Projects?

"Artificial intelligence and machine learning are taking over jobs that don't require as much creativity," said Joi Ito , who directs the MIT Media Lab. That's why he advocates for the 4Ps: projects, peers, passion and play. "We know project-based learning is more effective than textbook-based learning," said Ito.

He added that interest-driven learning is more motivating and better retained. Ito reflected that "school is almost the opposite of these four," noting that peer learning is often called cheating and play is relegated to recess.

The work of the Media Lab is interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary. Ito thinks that (like New Tech Network ) interdisciplinary projects would be a good way to organize school.

"Artificial intelligence and machine learning is changing every year," added Ito. "We need an education system that is dynamic, that changes every year-and it's got to be lifelong learning."

There are four important reasons that project based learning should be at least a periodic component of every student's experience:

1. Project management is one of the most important career skills (see a longer discussion in our report Preparing Students for a Project Based World ).

2. Projects are the best way to build transferable career-ready skills including self-direction and management, critical thinking and problem solving, media literacy and technology skills.

3. Team projects build social awareness and collaboration skills.

4. Using design thinking skills to attacking new situations and constructing projects prepares young people for a life full of novelty and complexity.

Building all of these deeper learning benefits into a project and ensuring that students experiences are high quality requires a comprehensive approach.

Until now, there has not been a common guidepost and language for describing what high quality PBL student experiences look like. Many organizations have project tools and resources available for educators looking to plan for PBL, but these do not articulate criteria for what the resulting PBL experience ought to include and look like.

Top experts in project based learning came together to create a framework for high quality project based learning to help more students reach deeper learning outcomes. The new framework is based on best practice research and went through several rounds of feedback and critique from hundreds of leading educators.

The includes six criteria that are meant to serve as a baseline for educators, organizations, parents and students:
Intellectual Challenge and Accomplishment Students learn deeply, think critically, and strive for excellence.
To what extent do students:

investigate challenging problems, questions, and issues over an extended period of time?

focus on concepts, knowledge, and skills central to subject areas and intellectual disciplines?

experience research-based instruction and support as needed for learning and project success?

commit themselves to completing work of the highest quality?

Authenticity Students work on projects that are meaningful and relevant to their culture, their lives, and their future.
To what extent do students:
Public Products Students' work is publicly displayed, discussed, and critiqued.
To what extent do students:
Collaboration Students collaborate with other students in person or online and/or receive guidance from adult mentors and experts.
To what extent do students:
Project Management Students use a project management process that enables them to proceed effectively from project initiation to completion.
To what extent do students:
Reflection Students reflect on their work and their learning throughout the project.
To what extent do students:

Using the HQPBL Framework

Who developed the HQPBL framework? With support from Project Management Institute Educational Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation , the Buck Institute for Education , with help from Getting Smart , convened a 27-member steering committee and a 90 member advisory board.

The design process focused on describing, from a student's perspective, what a high quality PBL experience should include. The steering committee and advisors were supported by a research review and comments from hundreds of educators who graciously shared their perspectives and ideas after reviewing the draft framework at professional meetings or by visiting .

How can I use the Framework? The Framework provides an essential starting point for educators, students, parents, and community members as they consider how to make classrooms and schools productive and innovative environments preparing students for adult success. Anyone who is seeking to provide students with high quality PBL experiences can use the Framework to reflect on a PBL experience or as a conversation starter. Additional Framework resources and tools are currently being developed.

Does HQPBL replace our project design approach? The Framework does not replace a project design framework like Buck's Gold Standard Design Elements. The steps an educator uses to plan for PBL and/or the content in their plan may be impacted after reflecting on the Framework for HQPBL, but the intent of the Framework is to focus on the student experience as a result of PBL - not to critique PBL planning or design. The Framework can be used to reflect on student PBL experiences and how they can improve to be even higher quality.

What about other criteria for high quality PBL that aren't on this list? The HQPBL Framework is comprehensive but not complete. Other factors such as classroom and school culture, quality instructional materials and practices, adequate time for teachers to learn and plan, and adaptable policies for curriculum delivery and assessment are equally important for the effectiveness of PBL. Also imperative is the fundamental belief that all students can learn, and that their voices should be heard in their own education.

to find supports and the official partner list. You can also email Where can I learn more? Visit hqpbl.org@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to learn more.
This blog is a part of the HQPBL Campaign Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update . This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures, please see our Partner page supported by the Buck Institute for Education and sponsored by the Project Management Institute Educational Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation. For more, visit hqpbl.org and follow @hqpbl and #hqpbl on Twitter and Instagram.
For more, see:

Tom Vander Ark is author of Better Together, Smart Parents, Smart Cities, Getting Smart and The Power of Place. He is co-founder of Getting Smart and Learn Capital and serves on the boards of Education Board Partners, 4.0 Schools, Digital Learning Institute, Latinx Education Collaborative, Mastery Transcript Consortium and eduInnovation. Follow Tom on Twitter, @tvanderark.

Emily is the CEO of Boundless. Follow Emily on Twitter at @EmilyLiebtag.

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Introducing a Framework for High Quality Project Based Learning

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A growing number of educators around the world believe that project based learning (PBL) is an important instructional approach that enables students to master academic skills and content knowledge, develop skills necessary for future success, and build the personal agency needed to tackle life's and the world's challenges.

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January 19, 2018
Q: What's the Right Dosage of PBL? A: Not Once Per Year

It's January, the middle of the school year, and if you're a teacher who uses PBL, or tried it earlier in the year, I hope you're planning to launch your next project. I hope you're not thinking, "I did a project in the first semester, check, so I'm done with PBL for this year!"

Some teachers may only do one project a year because they saw PBL as something they were required to do by their school/district leaders, but did not buy into it as a teaching method they will use regularly. They saw it as a thing to be checked off, but not worth the effort to do again and again. For these folks, I'd urge their leaders to spend more time building the "Why PBL?" case, as a whole school-community, then reach agreements about who will adopt PBL when, how many projects will be done, and what support teachers will need. (And leaders, don't think of PBL as just one more tool to drop in a teacher's toolbox; it's a profoundly different way of teaching and learning that requires a long-term, serious school change effort.)

Some teachers may have done a project in the first semester (at least in one of their classes, in the case of secondary teachers) and it went fine, but they decided not to do another project, much less use PBL regularly. Perhaps they saw PBL as useful for a few purposes/topics/standards/classes, but not most. I commented on this in my 10 PBL Resolutions for 2018 post of January 5; first on my list was "Use PBL regularly for core academic instruction."

Or, there could also be a lack of clarity around dosage; how much PBL is the right amount? We often hear this two-part question from teachers, schools, and districts:

Does adopting PBL mean we should use it all the time and teach everything via projects?

If not, then how many projects should teachers do per semester or year?

All the Time or Some of the Time?
I don't think you need to do PBL all the time, just lots of the time. Some schools (like those in the New Tech Network) make wall-to-wall PBL work, with some breaks, and modifications for some classes such as math and world languages. Other schools in the Deeper Learning Network such as High Tech High and EL Education schools use PBL frequently but not exclusively. Independent progressive schools that do not face some of the (perceived) barriers in public schools use PBL much of the time, or some variations of it. I see these schools as something to strive for.

I trust that teachers who experience success with their projects will use it more and more, and their students and community will demand it, and their schools will eventually move toward widespread and regular use of PBL. Until then, we're seeing many schools using PBL and mixing it up with other methodologies - albeit progressive ones, not traditional didactic, transmission-oriented instruction. The contrast would be too great; too jarring for students, and the difference in philosophies about how people learn would be apparent and irreconcilable. And as we've said in posts such as this one and this one, Project Based Teaching Practices are actually just good teaching, period, and many of the practices can be used in the classroom when students are in between projects.

How Many Projects?
Lately, when we talk with potential district partners who are just beginning their PBL journey, we've been saying, "Just make two high-quality projects per year for every student be the goal." In a K-12 system, that means each student would experience 26 projects at a minimum-which sounds like a lot! But that's only the start. Perhaps students in middle and high school, at first, would experience two projects per year in one subject area-if, say, only social studies teachers begin to use PBL. But assuming PBL spreads across the school, students would do projects in other subject areas, or do interdisciplinary projects, and eventually experience many more than 26 projects if they stayed in one K-12 PBL-infused system.

There's no hard and fast rule about how many projects are right for a particular classroom or school. It depends on the teacher and students, how long the projects are, how complex, how many subject areas are included, and many other potential factors. But assuming projects are between 3-6 weeks long, I'd like to see a minimum of two projects per year in every K-12 classroom, in all subject areas-so that all students, no matter who they are, can gain the benefits of high quality PBL.

Even better, make it one project per quarter-four per year. And while you're at it, sprinkle in a few mini-projects to help build a PBL culture or tackle a relatively confined topic or task. But it's OK to work up to that; don't move too fast, learn as you go.

Why is the PBL dosage important?
Why should students experience PBL regularly during their years in school? Here are four reasons:

The effects of PBL are cumulative. Students cannot build 21st century success skills if they only get occasional opportunities to practice and internalize them.

Students will get better and better at working in a PBL environment-and might even be transformed. Teachers won't face the challenge of helping students (and their families) understand what PBL is and why it's beneficial, or spend as much time building a PBL classroom culture if the whole system is preparing them every year. Students will become more confident, independent learners-even identifying and tackling problems authentic to themselves, their communities, and the wider world.

PBL will become easier for teachers to use. It will save time and lighten the load if teachers can share projects, use the same rubrics, follow the same project planning and reflection protocols, and be part of a culture that celebrates risk-taking and innovation.

As PBL takes root, school systems will have to make changes that will benefit students and teachers. If only a few scattered teachers use PBL in a school or district, or only a few students experience it and thus limit demand, then the system's basic structures, policies, and culture will remain the same. But if a critical mass is reached, schools and districts will need to rethink the use of time, teacher workloads, community relationships, assessment systems, decision-making processes, and much more. Here's to reaching the PBL tipping point!

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It's January, the middle of the school year, and if you're a teacher who uses PBL, or tried it earlier in the year, I hope you're planning to launch your next project. I hope you're not thinking, "I did a project in the first semester, check, so I'm done with PBL for this year!"

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downloadable PDF

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What about those introverts? Tips for ensuring they are included in group and teams

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What about those introverts? Tips for ensuring they are included in group and teams

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Reading Susan Cain's excellent book, , made me rethink many of the strategies we use in Project Based Learning when it comes to the introverts in our classrooms. Are PBL practices bringing out the best in introverts and allowing them to demonstrate their deeper gifts? Certainly, elements of PBL like reflection and choice support the needs of introverts. But many of the dynamics and practices of PBL seem to have been designed with extroverts in mind, and can end up feeding into old educational and social norms, requiring what Warren Susman called a "performing self" whether or not it's in the student's nature.

Following are a few elements of student-centered learning in general, and PBL in particular, which I believe need some rethinking when we consider that up to half of our learners are introverts:

We need to rethink group work so that introverts also thrive.

While group work is the heart of collaborative, student-centered learning, it doesn't always bring out the best in every student. Whereas an extroverted student will thrive in groups of 4-5, even when students talk over each other constantly, the din will be too much for most introverts. Many introverts dread group work, as they rarely feel heard or able to make a constructive contribution in groups over 2-3 maximum. These students may, in fact, thrive most when allowed to work alone or when paired with other introverts.

We need to rethink the traditional participation grade.

I used a participation grade for most of my career, but I'm no longer convinced it was a measure which effectively captured the effort, engagement, or growth of every student. Many teachers complain of individual students dominating classroom and small-group conversations, but few have the strategies in place to safely draw introverts into the conversation. What I learned over time was that participation comes in many forms, and in my last years of teaching I varied more consistently the kinds of participation I acknowledged and encouraged. I used journaling before every deep class discussion, both for the writing/thinking practice and the way it brought my quietest students into the mix (we used to make agreements, my introverts and I, that I would call on them early so that their insights wouldn't be shared first by the more extroverted students). But even my way of handling this was geared toward getting the introverts to speak in class, which is a very traditional way of thinking about participation. What if we include written or other forms of communication in our assessment of participation? How else might we measure engagement? Or is it possible that "participation" is about growth, engagement and intention, not the number of times a student speaks during class?

We need to create alternative spaces for self expression and be open to alternative expressions of learning.

Most introverts need alternative spaces for sharing their thinking. Smaller group discussions and opportunities to write in silence are gifts to most introverts, who shut down during rowdy discussions because they find them overstimulating and overwhelming. Everyone needs a chance to reflect, but introverts need it like humans need air, so giving students opportunities to think through writing often brings out their best ideas. Online contexts, Cain found, increased the willingness of introverts to engage openly, as they provided a less intimidating platform than face-to-face classroom discussion. I tried this in my classes toward the end of my career, and I found that quieter students were often the most participatory online. As teachers, we also need to be open to more artistic forms of self expression - including the products in PBL projects - that don't necessarily include live presentations, such as film making or artistic exhibitions. Remembering that introverts are often our deepest thinkers, you can be sure that amazing things will happen when you provide true choice of product.

We need our schools to include "restorative niches" where introverts can recuperate.

Susan Cain's exploration of restorative niches, or spaces for solitude, left me thinking a lot about both the students and teachers who might need to step away from their peers occasionally to recharge. PBL schools need such spaces even more, since the demands of group work can leave both young people and adults exhausted and spent.

We need our extroverts to learn some of the skills of our introverts.

Most introverts spend their lives apologizing for who they are, having to explain constantly that they aren't lonely simply because they choose to spend more time alone or have only a handful of friends. What might happen if we insisted on a better balance between extroversion and introversion, which honored the different ways all of us live and make friends? The assumption that introverts need to adjust to the world around them isn't new. Rarely, however, do we ask that extroverts make similar adjustments. What might extroverts learn if they were asked to work alone, slow down, or reflect more? Knowing oneself as a learner and person relies on a level of reflection that requires slowing down and listening differently, both to oneself and others. Because achievement in student-centered environments tends to focus more on self-motivation and self-management, the quiet diligence achieved through mindfulness and reflection can help all students be more successful as learners and thinkers.

We need to ask our introverts what they need and listen to their answers.

Introverts are totally capable of expressing what they need from teachers and peers if they're asked in one-on-one settings-and you don't suggest you believe their introversion is a deficit. Remind them to stretch throughout your course, and hold them to a few public expectations so they learn to articulate their ideas in different ways. But tell them you want to honor who they are, too, and ask them how they'd like to express their learning, what conditions would allow them to feel more comfortable with group work. And remember that it's not just about asking; it's also about implementing the kinds of modifications your introverts say would help. After all, student voice means nothing if we don't listen and act on what students share.

As Cain points out repeatedly, many of quiet thinkers are the future inventors, artists and creators who will contribute to human progress, just as introverts have contributed throughout human history, and it would be a shame to miss out on what they might contribute inside our learning environments.

Here's another blog post about introverts in PBL by Kristyn Kamps. Jennifer D. Klein is author of "The Global Education Guidebook" and Head of School at Gimnasio Los Caobos, a PreK-12 project-based school in Bogotá, Colombia.

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PBL & Introverts: 6 Modifications to Bring out the Best in All Students

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Reading Susan Cain's excellent book, , made me rethink many of the strategies we use in Project Based Learning when it comes to the introverts in our classrooms. Are PBL practices bringing out the best in introverts and allowing them to demonstrate their deeper gifts?

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by Laura Sexton as well !

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Combining Problem-Based Learning with Proficiency Goals

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Some PBLL-Units for Spanish by my friend Laura Sexton (@SraSpanglish)

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Some PBLL-Units for Spanish by my friend Laura Sexton (@SraSpanglish)

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Some great PBLL ideas for WL classes!

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This is a list of PBL projects I have attempted in my Spanish 1, 2, and 3 classes. I have included links to posts related to each project (where available) and evaluated the success of each project.
For more information on
Project-Based Learning in the Target Language,

Audience: Sister Cities guests

Why students care: other teenagers are actually coming

What the project needs: a system to share the end product

Audience: teammates (support group)

Why students care: personal investment and rewards

What the project needs: an outside audience and clear final product goal, more attention to interculturality

Why students care: brain candy, eye candy, authentic culture, absurd acting and storylines

What the project needs: a more purposeful final product goal

Audience: language competition judges
Why students care: competition, choice
Success level: 9
What the project needs: more scaffolding for research and script revising in the TL

Audience: Colombian school children, charity organizers
Why students care: sympathy for children, curiosity about their lives
Success level: 8
What the project needs: more focused final goal and incorporation of communication into the final product

Audience: elementary ESL class/library
Why students care: interaction with children, exercise creativity
Success level: 8
What the project needs: scheduled story time with actual Spanish-speaking children, more focus on story development scaffolding in TL

Audience: representatives of local Latino community
Why students care: marketable skill/product, exercise creativity
Success level: 8
What the project needs: actual representatives from the community were hard to bring in, but the products and presentations turned out well

Audience: elementary ESL class
Why students care: interaction with children, field trip, eating
Success level: 8
What the project needs: to focus on simpler recipes, perhaps more culturally oriented, not requiring heating, if possible, more practice interacting with children

Audience: English-speaking EMTs, Spanish-speaking patients
Why students care: marketable skill/product
Success level: 7
What the project needs: a more flexible app interface and means of testing the final product with audience as well as more defined requirements

Audience: classmates
Why students care: college goals + friends
Success level: 7
What the project needs: a more relevant audience and more defined requirements

Audience: English class in Argentina
Why students care: kids their age, choice
Success level: 7
What the project needs: more defined requirements and more opportunities for presentation

Audience: local elementary Spanish classes

Why students care: interaction with children, creative expression

What the project needs: more engagement with the Spanish classes throughout, more book options

What are some fun games or crafts from Spanish-speaking countries that you could teach children?

Audience: Local Latino families/elementary ESL classes
Why students care: choice, interaction with children
Success level: 7
What the project needs: more scaffolding for research and presentation strategies

Audience: school/local/online community
Why students care: choice, connections with other classes
Success level: 7
What the project needs: more specific--OUTSIDE--audience, more follow-up and connections IN other classes

How can we convince middle schoolers who speak Spanish to come to our school?

Audience: middle school ESL students
Why students care: school pride, marketable skill/product
Success level: 7
What the project needs: more defined requirements and opportunities to address audience directly

Audience: classmates
Why students care: self exploration, music
Success level: 6
What the project needs: a more significant audience and product goals, clearer connections between texts and self

Audience: students' choose
Why students care: hot-button topic, music
Success level: 6
What the project needs: a predetermined audience and medium for presentation

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This is a list of PBL projects I have attempted in my Spanish 1, 2, and 3 classes. I have included links to posts related to each project (where available) and evaluated the success of each project.

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Driving Question Tubric 2.0 | Project Based Learning | BIE

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Why do we like it? The Tubric is a fun, hands-on way to practice the often-challenging task of writing a Driving Question for a project.

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Intermediate to Advanced PBLL example unit

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Intermediate to Advanced PBLL example unit

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Article on Edutopia about Student Voice and Choice

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Article on Edutopia about Student Voice and Choice

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Working with students over multiple years can provide teachers with unique understandings about learning, growth, and the potential of school. While a long-term connection with a student doesn't inherently provide insights, a teacher's questions, observations, and a willingness to listen offer an opportunity to learn more about the student experience of school. With these goals in mind, I took an opportunity to reflect with a student who was nearing graduation.

A Student Perspective

For the past three years, I had the honor of working with Amanda Thieu, an 18-year-old who just graduated from Science Leadership Academy. During this past school year, Amanda reminded me of the immense potential for students' voices to occupy powerful positions in the world. Our teacher-student relationship also challenged me to understand and accept the complex dynamic of collaboration and supporting someone else through the highs and lows of creative and intellectual processes. A culminating experience for both of us was when Amanda's essay on bullying was published and aired by our local NPR station. (It's also worth listening to her self-recorded version that she mixed with music.)

Joshua Block: Amanda, I met you when you were in tenth grade. I remember you as someone who was timid but often motivated. What do you remember about your experiences as a student when you were younger? What challenges did you face and how did you view your schoolwork and your abilities?

Amanda Thieu: I'm the polar opposite of my underclassman self. My younger years were the awkward stage of not knowing who I was as a person, and I tried extremely hard to fit in with my peers. I remember specifically in your class, I used to get distracted a lot because I was talking to my friends and not focusing. I wanted to fit in so bad, my grades started to suffer because I was prioritizing my popularity over my schoolwork. I'm upset that it took this long for me to realize what is more important in life. I underestimated my abilities to produce work. I always put myself down because I thought, "Why would I try if someone else is going to outshine me?"

JB: It is fascinating to hear your reflections and compare them to my perceptions! While you remember social struggles, I remember focusing on working with you as an intellectual, trying to support you to produce work that was meaningful and high quality. What do remember about the types of support that were most helpful for you? What was not helpful? What should teachers know?

AT: Everything that I experienced throughout my high school career helped me in some way, shape, or form. Receiving critiques and feedback made me gain a sort of writing independence. I chose whether to proceed with the suggestion, mold the suggestion to my liking, or keep my original piece. I think it's important to give suggestions to students if they ask for it, but not have an expectation of them changing it to your liking. In Senior English this year, you reached out to different organizations in Philadelphia to come and talk to our class about projects to use as models for our work. I think that's the best thing that has happened for me as a student, being presented opportunities like a collaboration with a local radio station to produce and broadcast my work.

JB: At times, I struggle with figuring out how to distinguish support from enabling. This comes up is when a student is struggling to complete work. What manifests as a motivation problem is often much more complex. What do you think teachers should know about working with students who are struggling? Are there certain questions or approaches that have worked or not worked for you?

AT: As a student who struggles a lot to focus in class, I think the best thing that a teacher can do is be very patient with the student and check in with them a couple times before the assignment is due. It is crucial to be flexible with assignments. I wouldn't be upset with students if they can't complete a checkpoint on time. I don't think asking, "How is the project coming along?" works very well. If you ask a broad question, you'll receive a very broad response. My advice is to be specific, and to do this, you must listen to the student when they describe the work. You as the teacher must be interested and invested in the student's process for finalizing the components of their project. Ask them questions like, "What led you into this direction of the project rather than another? Are there specific sources that you've researched?" This makes it more of a conversation rather than telling students what needs to be done.

JB: This year, among other things, you created work that told a very personal story of being bullied and then turning into a bully, and you recorded and published immigration stories from your family, some of which you had never heard before. In what ways has this type of work been important to you? How would your experience of school be different if you were not given opportunities to do work you felt connected to and passionate about?

AT: The work I've been producing has been extremely personal. While I write these stories for an audience, I think it's important to acknowledge that I've been writing these stories for myself. I've known these stories for years, but it's a relief to finally sit down and get a chance to put my thoughts on paper. It's therapeutic to me to publicize these personal stories. If school consisted of teachers lecturing the class, I would not enjoy going to school every day. I think that's what I love the most about Science Leadership Academy. The opportunities made me go outside my comfort zone and gave me a head start in the right direction to fulfill my dreams of becoming a journalist.

JB: Amanda, it has been my honor to be your teacher. Thank you for sharing your reflections and insights. Congratulations on all that you accomplished this year!

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A Student Perspective on Voice, Choice, and Meaning

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Working with students over multiple years can provide teachers with unique understandings about learning, growth, and the potential of school. While a long-term connection with a student doesn't inherently provide insights, a teacher's questions, observations, and a willingness to listen offer an opportunity to learn more about the student experience of school.

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Tour de France: Sagan d'un cheveu, Froome toujours jaune - sports - RFI

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ACTFL Performance Descriptors of Proficiency Levels

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ACTFL Performance Descriptors of Proficiency Levels

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Alignment of ACTFL to Common Core Standards

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Alignment of ACTFL to Common Core Standards

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ACTFL and European Framework Correlations

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ACTFL and European Framework Correlations

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Let's eat out in a French-speaking country!  A unit for first year (novice) students.

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As a part of our research at Michigan State University, we've been developing ways to integrate creativity into classrooms and explore the role of teachers in enhancing students' creative skills (Mish...

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Edmodo group for PBLL - open to all interested! Join our PLN

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Edmodo group for PBLL - open to all interested! Join our PLN

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Berkeley World Language Project - a site of the California WL Project

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Presentational Written Communication Rubric - novice

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Presentational Written Communication Rubric - novice

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Interpersonal Oral Communication Rubric - intermediate

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Interpersonal Oral Communication Rubric - intermediate

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Interpersonal Written Communication Rubric - novice

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Interpersonal Written Communication Rubric - novice

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Interpersonal Oral Communication Rubric - Novice

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Interpersonal Oral Communication Rubric - Novice