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The importance of Speaking and Listening

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The importance of Speaking and Listening

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June 7, 2016
Speaking Matters! Improving Project Presentations

A student turns in this paper:

many people think that we should not have ginetticly modifyed foods we could be having health problems in the future if we eat them, Some studys say that they cause cancer we should pass laws to stop this.

What do you do?

1. Nothing. That's just how kids write.

2. Nothing. I want authentic writing, and I don't want to devalue student voice.

3. I teach some lessons to help improve the writing.

Most of us will choose option C. We might teach a lesson about capitalization and give practice with capitalizing the first word of a sentence. We might then teach a lesson about "changing the y to i" before adding an ending and give some practice activities. We might reteach sentence structure with lessons about run-ons and then give some practice activities to help students identify run-ons.

A student turns in this work:

What do you do?

1. Nothing. That's just how kids do math.

2. Nothing. I want authentic work, and I don't want to devalue student work.

3. I teach some lessons to help improve adding fractions with unlike denominators.

Most of us will choose option C again. We will teach finding common multiples and give students lots of practice activities.
One more example. A student speaks poorly while doing a Project Based Learning presentation:

What do you do?

1. Nothing. That's just how kids speak.

2. Nothing. I want authentic speaking, and I don't want to devalue student voice.

3. I teach some lessons to help improve speaking.

In my experience, most teachers choose option A. In the case of most presentations in PBL, I fear that the teachers are so excited about the project that they fail to notice that students did not present their work very well. We seem to have very low expectations. Many teachers post student project presentations on YouTube for the world to hear even though they are clearly "rough drafts" of speaking. A few teachers choose option B, claiming that they don't teach speaking because they value "authentic" speech, as if a child cannot be both well-spoken and authentic. I have found almost no teachers who teach specific lessons with guided practice about speaking skills.

A Better Project Presentation
Let me give you an example from the BIE website. Watch the "Courtyard Redesign" video. I love this project. I love the real world thinking, the creativity, the geometry, the art, the community involvement... the entire concept. But there is a breakdown. Teachers didn't help these 5th grade students enough with some basic presentation skills. They expected too little, perhaps, or maybe they somehow failed to notice errors of speaking. But why have a wonderful project finish with less than wonderful speaking when it would be so easy to help students shine? Let me share three examples.

One boy says, "...this pond because like if like birds, if ducks were born like swimming here..." How was that not noticed? I teach students a lesson about Verbal Viruses, the extra things that infect our speech from time to time. "Like" is an example. Do not sell that boy short: if he had been made aware of the problem, he (and all the others) could have corrected it.

Did you notice that every child faced their drawings and talked at the display wall when speaking? I teach a simple lesson about Eye Contact to my students. After explaining why eye contact is important, I give a presentation tip: "Point to what you want to tell us about, turn your head and face the audience, talk to us, not the wall." All of the children could have easily done that and been much more engaging.

And one final missed opportunity: one boy has a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the courtyard. A KFC! I teach a lesson about Life, adding passion/feeling/emotion to make the talk more interesting. I offer practice with little phrases and little speeches so students can develop life. With that help, this child would impress. Do you think he is incapable of conveying excitement about the KFC? He isn't. He would have had a blast, and the audience would have loved it: "I have a swimming pool, a hot tub,... and... wait for it... a KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN! I know! Crazy, right?" All of the other students would have had more life as well, if they had been given those lessons and practice activities.

In short, I break speaking into little, teachable pieces and offer lessons for each piece. See some ideas here. Do you teach those lessons and offer practice activities before PBL presentation day? I guarantee that your presentations will be as impressive as your projects if you do.

Importance of Speaking Skills
We live in an age where speaking well matters. Digital tools showcase speaking: podcasts, videos, Facetime, Skype, webinars, video conferences, and more. Verbal communication skills consistently rank near the top of the list of skills employers want. Speaking (and listening) is emphasized in the Common Core and other recent state standards.

Unfortunately, we have given teaching oral communication little time in traditional classrooms. We make kids memorize poems in the poetry unit and ignore the fact that most of the recitations are quiet poor. We have students do their biography/country presentations and ignore the fact that most listeners were not particularly engaged and two days later would be able to tell you almost nothing about the reports they heard. Too often we say, "That's just how kids speak." If you listen with new ears, it will be painfully obvious that we have shortchanged our students and failed to give them needed instruction.

In classrooms that engage students in Project Based Learning, we have even more incentive to teach core oral communication skills. When parents and other adults show up for presentations, or when students present to a panel of experts or the city council, we want them to be impressive and persuasive.

It is time to quit shortchanging our students. We have expected too little and have failed to give them needed help. Let's help them with speaking the way we help them with writing, with math, and with all other subjects. Your projects deserve a great finish. Your students deserve a chance to be well spoken.

Erik Palmer provides resources for teachers to help students master oral communication at www.pvlegs.com.

Do you have questions or comments about student presentations? Please enter them below.

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Speaking Matters! Improving Project Presentations | Blog | Project Based Learning | BIE

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A student turns in this paper: many people think that we should not have ginetticly modifyed foods we could be having health problems in the future if we eat them, Some studys say that they cause cancer we should pass laws to stop this. What do you do? Nothing.

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Makerspaces are not just for engineers, writers like them too!

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Nell Duke, author of Inside Information, writes this article on PBL for Edutopia.

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Project-based learning is often associated with STEM learning, but PBL is a powerful context for literacy learning as well. Many research-supported practices for developing literacy can be seamlessly embedded into projects. A meaningful and engaging context, as in PBL, can make instruction in research-supported practices even more effective (Guthrie et al., 2004; Guthrie et al., 2008).

Strong readers pay more attention than weaker readers to how texts are structured or organized. Fortunately, paying more attention to text structure is something that we can teach to all readers. Research shows that this practice helps many readers, even young children and those with learning difficulties (Gersten, Fuchs, Williams, & Baker, 2001; Shanahan et al., 2010). Consider the following seven steps to teach informational text structures within a project:

1. Project-Related Texts

Select a text that one or more students are using in a project. Early on, consider using shorter texts, such as articles, that have a single, easy-to-identify structure, such as compare/contrast. In later lessons, you can move to longer texts with multiple and more complex structures.

2. Graphic Organizers

Consider using a graphic organizer, such as a Venn diagram, flow chart, hierarchical diagram, or timeline, to help students learn that structure. While many graphic organizers are available online, you can also develop organizers in most word-processing software or concept-mapping apps. With young children, it may help to make a large graphic organizer and use objects rather than texts at first. For example, you might introduce the idea by sorting classroom objects into a Venn diagram made of hula-hoops.

3. Uncovering the Structure

Begin the lesson by explaining that uncovering the structure of a text can help students understand and gather information for their projects. The more students connect this skill to success in their project, the more motivated they are likely to be as they learn and apply it.

4. Identifying the Structure

Work with students to identify the structure of the text that you selected, explicitly teaching not only about the structure, but also about how to recognize it in a text. Consider using common clue words as in the table below (adapted from Improving reading comprehension in kindergarten through 3rd grade: A practice guide).

5. From Structure to Practice

Encourage students to identify the structure of texts that they'll be reading during that day's project time. Circulate the room as they work so that you can support them in this process. Consider pulling together small groups of the students using the same or similar texts to work together on text structure identification. Many students will find it helpful to draw the structure of the text.

6. Review the Practice

Pull students back together to share the structures they found and how those structures helped them understand and find information for the project. Review key points from your initial lesson, and plan opportunities to follow up in later lessons. Encourage students to let you and their peers know when they uncover particularly interesting or accessible structures, such as information organized into an alphabet book or a question-and-answer format. Just as we create a word-conscious classroom by modeling and encouraging an interest in words, we can create a text-structure-conscious classroom by modeling and encouraging an interest in how authors organize their texts.

7. Extend Text Structure Instruction to Writing

Students are likely to understand text structure more deeply if you also draw their attention to text structure in writing. For example, you might invite students to use the same graphic organizers for project writing that they have been using in their reading.

With all that we need to accomplish not only in STEM, but in literacy development as well, we should take advantage of any opportunity to incorporate practices that research has shown to be effective, and to amplify that effectiveness through a PBL context.

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Talking About Text Structure in the PBL Classroom | Edutopia

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Project-based learning is often associated with STEM learning, but PBL is a powerful context for literacy learning as well. Many research-supported practices for developing literacy can be seamlessly embedded into projects. A meaningful and engaging context, as in PBL, can make instruction in research-supported practices even more effective (Guthrie et al., 2004; Guthrie et al., 2008).

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Updated model of PBL

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May 11, 2015
Why We Changed Our Model of the "8 Essential Elements of PBL"

Back in the day - September 2010 to be exact, but it feels like long ago - the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) published an article entitled "7 Essentials for Project-Based Learning" in ASCD's Educational Leadership magazine. Soon thereafter we added an eighth element, "Significant Content," to counter stereotypes that PBL was not an effective method for teaching standards-based knowledge, understanding, and skills - and to remind teachers to design projects with a clear focus on content standards. These "8 Essential Elements of PBL" became the framework for our publications and "PBL 101" workshop, which had now been experienced by over 50,000 teachers. That article, and the hexagonal graphic below, has been widely circulated and cited over the past few years.

Old Model for PBL

In 2014, however, we decided a revision was needed, and developed a more comprehensive, research-based model that we call "Gold Standard PBL." With PBL's growing popularity, we worried that if too many teachers and schools jumped on the PBL bandwagon without clear guidance and adequate preparation, problems will crop up. A lot of practices and curriculum materials labeled as "PBL" will not be rigorous or even truly PBL, and yield disappointing results. Some "projects" will really be only "hands-on activities." Poorly designed and implemented projects could frustrate students, disappoint teachers, and damage PBL's reputation. PBL could become another fad on the trash heap of failed efforts to transform education. We believe a Gold Standard PBL model will help ensure this does not happen, and we look forward to seeing high-quality projects in all classrooms, in all settings, for all students.

What we call the new model
In our new conception for Gold Standard PBL, we have created two separate but related components of the model: Essential Project Design Elements, and Project Based Teaching Practices. We call them the Essential Project Design Elements because that's precisely what they are - not the "elements of PBL" the instructional methodology, which is a much broader topic than the design of a project itself. The Project Based Teaching Practices expand on what it means to implement PBL well, beyond designing the project. You can read more about our new model in the other posts linked above, but as you can see in the diagram below, while some of the familiar "8 Essential Elements" remain, others are gone. Let's explain where they went and why.

New Model for Gold Standard PBL

What's gone and what replaces it

From Significant Content to Key Knowledge and Understanding. To describe the student learning goals that are the central focus of a project, we think the word "key" still captures the idea that what students learn should be significant, in terms of state or local standards and what's important to students, teachers, schools and districts. The term "knowledge and understanding" means the same thing as "content" but says it in more everyday language, since we want to use as little edu-jargon as possible for a broad audience.

From 21st Century Competencies to Success Skills. Our older model separated this element from content - albeit with a dotted line, to indicate a connection - but we now combine the two into one set of student learning goals. Recent standards now explicitly include such competencies as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and making presentations; they are to be taught together with content, since students need to, say, think critically about something, such as history, science, math, and so on. Furthermore, we think the term "success skills" is more readily understood by all audiences, and has less baggage, than our older language or other terms such as "college and career readiness skills."

From Driving Question to Challenging Problem or Question. Our new model defines the fundamental element of a project - what it is "about" - more broadly as a "challenging problem or question." This may be expressed as a "problem statement" in classrooms and schools where problem based learning is the preferred style of PBL. In other settings, teachers may prefer to organize projects around an "essential question" or "design challenge." Although we welcome multiple ways to describe what a project is about, we continue to suggest in our PBL workshops and project design materials that teachers operationalize the challenging problem or question by putting it in the form of a student-friendly, open-ended "driving question" to focus the project.

From In-Depth Inquiry to Sustained Inquiry. Inquiry is pretty much, by definition, not a superficial process. So instead of depth, we decided to emphasize the point that in PBL, inquiry should take place over an extended period of time. Students could, during a not-at-gold-standard project, investigate a topic in depth but only on one occasion. But by extending inquiry over several occasions, students have enough time to engage in an iterative process that involves questioning, finding and evaluating sources of information, posing new questions, and applying what has been learned to the solution of a problem or creation of a product.

From Public Audience to Public Product. It's hugely important - both for motivational reasons and to make learning visible and discussible - that students make their work public in a project. It adds to a project's authenticity. But we don't want to suggest that students always have to make a formal presentation to an audience. There are others ways to make work public; students can put it online, display it on a wall, or provide a product or service that is actually used by people in the real world.

Goodbye Need to Know. The fact that an engaging project creates a genuine "need to know" in a learner is one of the most powerful arguments for PBL. As opposed to learning for the sake of a test, grade, or approval from teachers and parents, students in PBL are motivated to learn because they want to successfully complete the project. However, we think this term belongs in a "Why PBL?" argument, not as a thing teachers design in a project the way they would, say, an authentic product or opportunities for student voice and choice. This concept also was easily confused with the "need to know list" used as a tool in a project. Instead, our Gold Standard PBL model places a list of student-generated questions (which is initiated by an entry event that launches a project) as part of the "sustained inquiry" process. The list of student questions could still be given the heading "What do we need to know?" or it could be called something else, such as a KWL (Know, Want to Learn, Learned) chart.

Two new elements - and where to learn more

Hello Authenticity and Reflection. BIE's Essential Project Design Elements contain two new items, both of which are familiar to those who know PBL. One is "authenticity," which has to do with how real-world the project is. The other is "reflection," which we have previously coupled with "revision" but now stands on its own; students should reflect on what they're learning, how they're learning, and what they have accomplished in a project.

To learn more about these and the other Essential Project Design Elements plus the Project Based Teaching Practices, read our blogs and see our Hangouts on Gold Standard PBL at bie.org and see our new book published by ASCD, Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning, available in the bie.org/shop.

This post is also available as a downloadable article.

Watch a Hangout with authors John Larmer and John Mergendoller about the need today for high-quality PBL and the new model for Gold Standard PBL Essential Project Design Elements, Gold Standard PBL: The Why and the What.

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Back in the day - September 2010 to be exact, but it feels like long ago - the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) published an article entitled "7 Essentials for Project-Based Learning" in ASCD's Educational Leadership magazine.

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21 Reasons to Quit Your Job and Become a Teacher

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21 Reasons to Quit Your Job and Become a Teacher

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In a recent article about happiness at work, Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter suggests that the happiest among us are those who are solving the toughest problems and "making a difference" in people's lives. If contributing to the betterment of the world is indeed among the keys to happiness, then it's no wonder that the extraordinary teachers featured in "American Teacher: Heroes of the Classroom" [Welcome Books/Random House] express a deep sense of fulfillment and pleasure in the work that they do day in and day out. Against all odds, each of the fifty educators profiled is making a lasting positive impact on his or her students; the kind of impact that recasts futures, changes lives, and might just inspire the rest of us to consider a second career in education. As Ron Poplau, a 52-year public-school veteran who teaches high school community service in Shawnee, Kansas, explains to his students, "the doer of good becomes good." Still need a nudge? Here are 21 excellent reasons to quit your job and become a teacher:

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21 Reasons To Quit Your Job And Become A Teacher

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In a recent article about happiness at work, Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter suggests that the happiest among us are those who are solving the toughest problems and "making a difference" in people's lives.

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Larry Ferlazzo's Ten Most Popular Classroom Q and A posts

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Larry Ferlazzo's Ten Most Popular Classroom Q and A posts

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Education Week - Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo

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It's that time of year when it seems like everybody is putting together lists of their most popular content (see A Collection Of The Best Education-Related "Most Popular" Lists For 2015).

And I'm no exception with this blog.

Here are the ten most popular posts over the past twelve months - counting down from the tenth to the number one most popular column:

10. Ways To Build 'Authentic Engagement' & Not 'Strategic Compliance'

Educators Vicki Davis, Rusul Alrubail, Laura Cabrera and Dana Dusbiber contribute their suggestions.

9. "Ten Elements Of Effective Instruction"

This post includes pieces from Jim Burke and David B. Cohen, as well as comments from readers.

8. Goal Of Classroom Management Is To Have Power 'With,' Not 'Over,' Kids

Educators Dr. Debbie Silver, Richard L. Curwin, and Marcia L. Tate provide guest responses.

7. Positive Classroom Management Strategies - Part One

Educators Bryan Harris, Marcia Imbeau, Pernille Ripp, Gianna Cassetta, Brook Sawyer and Julia Thompson share their advice in this post.

6. Several Ways to Connect With Disengaged Students

Assistant Principal Jim Peterson and author Jim Anderson share their suggestions. Jim's downloadable instructions for conducting "walk-and-talks" with students seemed to particularly strike a chord with readers.

Justin Baeder, Allan R. Bonilla and Josh Stumpenhorst share their reflections.

4. 'Teachers Don't Leave High-Poverty Urban Districts; They Are Exiled'

Educators Pia Lindquist Wong, Rufus Thompson, Gail L. Thompson, Yvette Jackson, Veronica McDermott, Karen Baptiste, Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., Cynthia L. Uline, and Lynne G. Perez contribute to this jam-packed post.

3. Several Ways We Can Teach Social Studies More Effectively -- Part One

This post includes guest responses from three talented and experienced educators: Stephen Lazar, Bill Bigelow, and Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez.

2. Several Ways To Differentiate Instruction

I was lucky enough to get both Carol Tomlinson and Rick Wormeli to contribute their ideas here!

1. Classroom Strategies to Foster a Growth Mindset

Professor Carol Dweck and Dr. Lisa Blackwell, the co-founder of the organization designed to help schools be more effective in helping students develop growth mindsets, are the co-authors of this guest response.

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The Ten Most Popular Classroom Q & A Posts in 2015

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It's that time of year when it seems like everybody is putting together lists of their most popular content (see A Collection Of The Best Education-Related "Most Popular" Lists For 2015). And I'm no exception with this blog.

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TheRightQuestion.org

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Edutopia shows us..

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The Inspiration

Wildwood was already using inquiry-based learning to some extent, but things took off for them when, in Principal Mary Beth Cunat's second year, the school put on an Inquiry Fair. The event was similar to a science fair, where students demonstrated their personal inquiries/projects and results, some of which aligned with unit content and some of which drew from their own personal interests. This event catalyzed the school's a deep dive into inquiry-based learning once the teachers saw how invested the students became in their areas of research and inquiry.

"All of the sudden, we see our students doing things that really matter to them, and they're excited and they're passionate, and they want to talk about what they're learning," says Cunat.

"[Teachers were] realizing that when you let the students take the reins," reflects Cunat, "you get even better results than when you try to plan every detail, and that if you give students real time, resource, opportunity, support, and feedback to explore something that matters to them, you end up with more than if you just assign a project."

Student-driven inquiry is now the norm at Wildwood, as teachers regularly use student questions and lines of inquiry to drive their lessons. Students are also encouraged to pursue their curiosity through personal projects, lead school assemblies, work in one of the school's makerspaces, and more. Teachers are moving away from the "sage on the stage" style and facilitating or guiding students through learning subjects they are curious and passionate about.

It All Starts With Questions

Moving to a more inquiry-based style of teaching starts with questions. "Teachers need to develop a standards-based essential question, then open the conversation up to students," says Cunat. "What do they already know or think on this topic? What do they want to learn? What are they wondering about?" The responses will then allow teachers to see what topics or angles students are really inquisitive about as they plan lessons to harness that curiosity.

Wildwood works to gradually acclimate students unaccustomed to the inquiry-based practice. Some, when asked what they want to learn, may not be used to these questions or ready for the freedom to drive their own learning. A good start, says Cunat, is to begin teaching students about the kinds of questions: factual, conceptual, and debatable. Teachers in the lower grades often spend time teaching their kids how to ask questions, question assumptions, observe and ask follow-up questions, and evaluate information.

But while seeking and encouraging student questions is important, teachers at Wildwood try not to simply answer them. Instead, they say, it's more important to model what it's like to be a self-directed learner. So rather than giving students an answer, a teacher will work with them to find the answer, showing the steps along the way. Once students know how to find the information, they can continue learning even when outside of a classroom.

"Students are learning a process," says Cunat. "They're learning to ask questions. They're learning what makes a good question versus a 'yes/no' question. So those kinds of scaffolded experiences help build the child's understanding of how to ask questions. Where do you find answers out? Eventually, how do you save searches? All the way up through the upper grades or making sure that they are practicing good digital citizenship as they're involved in this kind of inquiry, because kids can go in directions that are not safe for them."

Student Curiosity Leads the Learning

Once teachers have teased out various lines of inquiry that capture the students' interest, they find avenues for channeling that inquiry and give students opportunities to explore. Inquiry-based learning is more concerned with the process of learning (how well the students learn how to learn) than the product of learning (a worksheet or correct quiz). If the students need to learn how to analyze a text, Wildwood teachers are more interested in teaching them how to analyze a text than the particular text that they choose to analyze.

"So kids are hitting the standards with the bigger questions and being able to create evidence of their understandings and their learnings in all kinds of ways that the kids get to pick," says Cunat. "If a kid wants to do a video about kangaroos, they can do a video about kangaroos to show they're learning about mammals. And then it's their job to show, 'What do I know about mammals, and kangaroos as mammals?' So a kid can take that content in the directions that they want to learn, and then it's their job to provide evidence of their learning."

A Willingness to Be Flexible

"Empowering students doesn't mean we're doing less planning," says Cunat. But it does mean that teachers must be willing to be flexible. Lessons can go anywhere. Depending on what the students are interested in, learning may go in a totally different direction than the teacher planned. "With inquiry, the teacher has a general road map of a possible end-result," says eighth-grade teacher Rebecca Braun, "but depending on the group of kids, that road map could be abandoned, tweaked, and/or revised. It makes it more interesting. This also requires the teacher to lean into the idea of allowing the learning to move in a different direction. Usually it's more fascinating and engaging than what I originally had planned."

Eighth-grade teacher Brigid Jennings believes that pacing is the key to ensuring that the curriculum is being covered. "It's OK to have fluid lesson plans, and to let things take off in whatever direction the students' love for learning takes them," says Jennings. "I would suggest for teachers to create a monthly and year-long pacing guide to make sure that everything that needs to be covered does get done."

Clear communication between teachers and students also is an essential part of opening up learning to student inquiry. "Very clear learning objectives are communicated at the beginning of each day and each unit, so students know what content is being covered," says Jennings. "Figure out what your non-negotiables are for the lesson, and give everything else up to the creativity and ownership of the kids."

When individual students develop interests that don't fit in with content that the whole class needs to know, or want to pursue something not built into curricular inquiries, Wildwood gives students the option of making it a personal project.

"For instance, we have a student who's so completely obsessed with wolves," says Cunat. "And he talked to wolf biologists, he talked to all kinds of people who love wolves. He joined wolf advocacy groups, and he eventually did a wolf assembly for the whole school. So he's learning the reading and the writing and the speaking and the listening. And he's doing all kinds of important work, and he's producing something that's uniquely his and talking about that. And you'll never be able to replace that. It matters to the child, and they'll carry that with them for their whole life."

Students can pair up with a faculty sponsor to determine the learning goal and audience, and examine whether the project might lend itself to an event or assembly. "This year, the number of projects, events, and assemblies got to be so frequent that teachers asked me to develop a protocol to limit how many times per quarter their students are pulled out of the classroom," says Cunat. "I am turning the development and approval process over to the student government. I am expecting that we may have two days per quarter that are big 'event' days -- kind of like a conference with breakout sessions run by students for students."

Steering Inquiries Keeps Students On Track

While flexibility is key to success with inquiry, class time is not a free-for-all. Teachers always need to guide the inquiry toward further learning and keep students from being sidetracked.

Fourth-grade teacher Georgia Melidis sometimes has to be creative with matching the inquiries to curriculum content, but she finds that there is almost always a way to do so. "We teachers are the best at tying things in or connecting things," says Melidis. "It will almost always connect with what I need to teach. . . In the event that it absolutely cannot connect or is taking away from what I need to teach, we compromise. I tell them if they want to keep going in the direction they took the inquiry, then they have to be held accountable for what I had in mind as well. I make it work by either telling my students to make the connections themselves, or by telling them to make it work their way. Basically, I tell them that we have to learn a certain skill/content, and I ask them to prove to me that they learned it, their way."

Teachers may also ask students to pursue some of their inquiries as private projects, or occasionally set boundaries when students broach a topic that is inappropriate or concerning. Teachers at Wildwood may discuss with parents and students why a particular topic has come up and what the boundaries are for their learning at that time.

"I was distressed this year because a line of inquiry and reading Number the Stars resulted in some fascination with Hitler and the Nazi party in one of my grades," said Cunat. "A few years ago, it was fascination with military weapons. This year a group of students wanted to examine genocide. Depending on the age, conversations have to occur with the students, parents, and teachers about what is developmentally appropriate for the learner at that time, and to assure them as they get older they will be able to explore those areas with more knowledge, experience, and perspective. We do not want to shut kids' curiosity down, but we have to frame some of the investigations into atrocity and human rights violations, animal cruelty, industrial massacre of the environment, in a way that is developmentally appropriate and solution-oriented."

Resources

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Harnessing Students' Curiosity to Drive Learning | Edutopia

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Wildwood was already using inquiry-based learning to some extent, but things took off for them when, in Principal Mary Beth Cunat's second year, the school put on an Inquiry Fair. The event was similar to a science fair, where students demonstrated their personal inquiries/projects and results, some of which aligned with unit content and some of which drew from their own personal interests.

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"PBL is the act of learning through identifying a real-world problem and developing its solution. Kids show what they learn as they journey through the unit, not just at the end." Heather Wopert-Gawron

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So the elevator opens up, a guy walks in and out of the blue asks you, "What the heck is project-based learning anyway?" I don't know why he would ask that, but for the purposes of this fantasy, it seems that any Joe-off-the-street is fascinated by your response.

You respond accordingly: "PBL is the act of learning through identifying a real-world problem and developing its solution. Kids show what they learn as they journey through the unit, not just at the end."

"That's it?" the guy asks.

"Well, no," you reply. "There's more to it than that, but this is your floor, and we're out of time." He gives you a brief nod of thanks and departs, leaving you to think of all the richness that this definition does not, in fact, impart.

After all, if we just look at that definition, it doesn't state certain trends in PBL.

A More Elaborate Response

So now that it's just you (the reader) and me again, let's bump up that definition so that it more accurately captures the power of this learning strategy:

PBL is the ongoing act of learning about different subjects simultaneously. This is achieved by guiding students to identify, through research, a real-world problem (local to global) developing its solution using evidence to support the claim, and presenting the solution through a multimedia approach based in a set of 21st-century tools.

Kids show what they learn as they journey through the unit, interact with its lessons, collaborate with each other, and assess themselves and each other. They don't just take a test or produce a product at the end to show their learning.

You realize that this definition, while closer to accurate than the previous version, would have caused his eyes to glaze over (as yours may have just now), and you decide that the earlier definition is by far the more efficient version, even as it shortchanges the awesomeness of the strategy.

Because PBL is awesome when it is implemented by teachers who buy into its methods. It is exciting to teach using PBL, and your excitement, in turn, causes excitement in your clients, the students.

PBL Creates a Learning Story

Nevertheless, it took me awhile to tease myself away from the daily drudgery of teaching with disconnected lessons. You know what I mean. I'm talking about the daily lessons that might teach a skill, and perhaps that skill fits within a unit based on a topic or a theme, but each lesson works independently and can function without being embraced in a unit that connects them all in a learning story.

But I grew bored, and I was concerned that my students would, too.

Teaching with PBL is the difference between the atmosphere at Disneyland and the atmosphere at a Six Flags resort. No offense to Six Flags, I love a great roller coaster, but their décor needs some serious work. At Disneyland, you are submerged in the story of each ride from the time you enter the line. The walls, the ceiling, the ground on which you tread as you advance to the actual ride, all support the end result.

Teaching with PBL is much the same way. It couches lessons in a tale -- a tale about a problem that must be solved or an activity that must be developed. The learning happens along the way towards the presentation of the solution.

After all, using PBL isn't about writing a state report. It's about using what you know about the state you study and then creating your own state. It isn't about building a replica of the Washington Monument. It's about researching someone to honor, designing your own monument, and persuasively pitching a committee to build it.

Project-based learning typically is grounded in the following elements:

Role-playing

Real-world scenarios

Blended writing genres

Multiple reading genres

Authentic assessments

Authentic audiences

Real-world expertise brought into the classroom

Units that assess multiple skills

Units that require research and comprehension of multiple subjects

Student choice

Collaboration

Multiple methods of communication (writing, oral speaking, visual presentations, publishing, etc.)

(Brief note here: Don't panic. You don't need every single one of these elements to call your unit PBL. These are elements to strive for, not to kill yourself to achieve.)

Allow me to personify for a moment: PBL cares about our mission to educate all. PBL never forgets that one of our main jobs is to prepare students for the predicted future. PBL knows that students are not standardized, they don't learn in a standardized way, and that our clientele can't be assessed in a standardized manner if we are looking to foster innovation. PBL keeps its eye on the ball no matter the trendy standard or curriculum package du jour.

PBL doesn't ask you to replace your content. It asks that you create a vehicle in which to communicate your content. If PBL is a play, then the math or science or history or writing -- or whatever you teach -- make up the scenes that propel each act toward the final curtain call.

The learning story that you and your students create together makes up the overall PBL unit. Be prepared, however. You'll plan and frontload tons, but once you jump in, you'll discover that when you hand over the writing of the learning story to your kids, they will take it far and above any book you've ever read.

The above post is an excerpt from Heather's newest book, DIY Project-Based Learning for ELA and History.

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What the Heck Is Project-Based Learning? | Edutopia

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So the elevator opens up, a guy walks in and out of the blue asks you, "What the heck is project-based learning anyway?" I don't know why he would ask that, but for the purposes of this fantasy, it seems that any Joe-off-the-street is fascinated by your response.

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In education literature, engagement is a linchpin, routinely cited as essential. Yet many experts offhandedly provide vague definitions of the term, or skip defining it altogether. So what exactly is engagement?

It depends on whom you ask. In a survey of education majors, Shari Steadman and I found that preservice teachers often confuse compliance with engagement-essentially flattening the meaning of the term. Wrote one education major, "Engagement is an agreement between student[s] and teachers to be there and present during class." This explanation implies that merely breathing and looking at instructors constitutes student engagement. In contrast, Ruth Schoenbach and Cynthia Greenleaf elevate the term with a more robust definition: "By adding the word engaged, we mean to distinguish between the skilled but rote and unsophisticated kind of academic literacy that many 'successful' students master, and the more analytic, critical, and discipline-specific ways of making meaning emblematic of engaged learners."

Adam Fletcher's definition is more succinct: "Students are engaged when they are attracted to their work, persist despite challenges and obstacles, and take visible delight in accomplishing their work."

The term hails back to a mid-17th century association with fencers. Imagine competitors facing off with their foils, all senses focused on the micro-adjustments of their opponent's blade as well as their own physical, emotional, and intellectual potential. When fencers lunge, circle, and feint, this fierce ballet is called engagement.

Benefits of Engagement

According to multiple research studies, engaged students:

Experience improved academic achievement and satisfaction

Are more likely to persist through academic struggles

Earn higher standardized test scores

Have better social skills

Are less likely to drop out of school

In contrast, disengagement:

Lowers cognitive performance

Increases disruptive behaviors

Causes academic avoidance behaviors

Exacerbates learning, behavior, and emotional problems

Increases absenteeism and dropout rates

Disengagement isn't merely the plight of a few outlier students in your classroom. In the early grades, eight out of 10 students are engaged. By middle school, the number is six out 10, and then four out of 10 in high school, according to a 2013 Gallup poll. "The drop in student engagement for each year students are in school is our monumental, collective national failure," said Brandon Busteed, executive director of Gallup Education.

Research-Supported Methods to Engage Students

From The Highly Engaged Classroom to School Engagement, Disengagement, Learning Supports, & School Climate (PDF) to " Strengthening Student Engagement," the books and articles that have been written on the subject of increasing student engagement could fill a gluttonous orca. But Kristy Cooper's rigorous study " Eliciting Engagement in the High School Classroom: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Teaching Practices " does an exceptional job of showing what works.

Cooper, an award-winning researcher at Michigan State University, examined the impact of three well-supported strategies that teachers employ to increase student engagement. As you read each summary below, try to guess which practice had the greatest impact.
Engagement Method #1: Lively Teaching
This method involves group work, games, and projects. Think social and fun. The emphasis is on the students constructing knowledge, not on the teacher delivering content.
Engagement Method #2: Academic Rigor
The instructor creates cognitively demanding tasks and environments-a culture called " academic press " (PDF)-and emphasizes that students will need to work hard. The teacher also shows passionate investment in the content.
Engagement Method #3: Connective Instruction
The teacher helps students make personal connections to the class, content, and learning. The power of connective instruction comes from the instructor helping students see the curriculum as critical to their current lives, their future, and their culture. Additionally, six instructor behaviors play into creating high-quality relationships where, according to Andrew Martin, students "actually internalize the beliefs valued by significant others."

1. Promoting relevance: relating content to students' lives

2. Conveying care: understanding learners' perspectives

3. Showing concern for students' well-being: demonstrating knowledge of students' lives

4. Providing affirmation: telling students they are capable of doing well and using praise, written feedback, and opportunities for success

5. Relating to students through humor: showing that you enjoy working with young people (not as a class, as individuals)

6. Enabling self-expression: connecting learning and identity by encouraging students' expression of ideas, values, and conceptions of self

Although lively teaching and academic rigor independently and collectively increase engagement, the single biggest effect, according to Cooper's study, resulted from connective instruction-it was seven times as effective as the other two well-established practices. Why? Because of kids' desperate longing for high-quality relationships. When a teacher fulfills that desire, students' achievement behaviors (PDF) and intellectual functioning soar.

For all teachers, regardless of subject or grade level, intensive effort to connect with learners is a nonnegotiable prerequisite for engagement.

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Engage Kids With 7 Times the Effect | Edutopia

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In education literature, engagement is a linchpin, routinely cited as essential. Yet many experts offhandedly provide vague definitions of the term, or skip defining it altogether. So what exactly is engagement? It depends on whom you ask. In a survey of education majors, Shari Steadman and I found that preservice teachers often confuse compliance with engagement-essentially flattening the meaning of the term.

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Check this out from Edutopia

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Draft on These Ideas

Some 600 educators spent the past week thinking hard about project design during the PBL World conference in Napa, Calif., sponsored by Buck Institute for Education. Getting peer feedback early is a key strategy for good project design. That meant conference participants were sharing their project ideas and driving questions at the formative stage, then revising them in response to feedback (just as students improve their work during PBL).
Here's a sampling of driving questions at the rough draft stage, along with suggestions about PBL planning to fire up your thinking:
Who were the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in terms of impact upon today's society?

Notice the phrase, "most influential." This embeds critical thinking into the project because it prompts students to develop criteria and then make a defensible argument for why they selected a particular leader. Imagine the wide range of products students might produce to tell the story of a particular leader. That's a good sign that students will have voice and choice in the project, deepening their engagement.

How can we use our knowledge of math to convince our families, our school, and our community to go solar?

This question sets up a real-world application of math and science. Imagine where this might lead: mathematical models of future cost savings; comparisons of prices for different solar materials; analysis of weather patterns and predictions during different seasons. Students might want to consult with solar experts to get feedback on their proposals. There's an authentic audience, too (families, school, community), and the need for students to make convincing arguments, pitches, or campaigns to "sell" their solar plans.

How can we make life sweeter in our community?

This one's deliberately provocative, causing students to ponder what "sweeter" means. The idea is to have students read about both fictional candy makers (i.e., Willy Wonka) and real-life philanthropists who have made their money producing sweets (i.e., Milton Hershey). Then, they'll research and recommend opportunities for community involvement in their own hometown. Imagine the reading and writing opportunities embedded in this project idea, along with the real-world connections to ensure relevance. Sweet, indeed!

How can we design a watercraft that maximizes both load capacity and speed?

Here's a good example of a design challenge, with authentic constraints built into the driving question. Good opportunities to engage with experts in engineering and water sports. Plus, imagine the fun learning ahead during the prototype and test phase.

How can freshmen be heroic for others?

Here's an idea to kick off the new school year. Imagine having ninth-graders learn about the hero's journey through literature and then document their own feats of heroism as they embark on high school. There's an empathy-building piece to this question, too ("heroic for others"), embedding social and emotional learning into an academically rich project.

Want even more PBL ideas to play with? How would you modify these to engage your students, address your content, and ensure meaningful, memorable learning?

Are robots friends or foes?

How do stories from the past define who we are today?

What new monument or museum should be built in our city to enhance the lives of our citizens and visitors?

How can we create a more sustainable and efficient modern ecosystem?

How can we manage scarcity?

How can we create "farm to table" at our school during the winter months?

How can we build community through art?

How can we make getting around in the winter more safe and convenient?

How can we prevent E. coli from entering our swimming areas?

I what ways can I change the injustices I witness?

What's the fastest and cheapest way for me to get to school on time?

Resources Galore

More great resources from PBL World are available in a Google+ community. Join the PBL World community to watch inspiring keynotes and download resources to help you with your own PBL Journey.

Which project ideas are you thinking about borrowing? Share your thoughts and ask for feedback in the comments section below.

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A World of Project Ideas (You Can Steal) | Edutopia

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Some 600 educators spent the past week thinking hard about project design during the PBL World conference in Napa, Calif., sponsored by Buck Institute for Education. Getting peer feedback early is a key strategy for good project design.

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Teaching Channel Next Generation Science Standards

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Teaching Channel Next Generation Science Standards

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This explains the 3 dimensions of NGSS

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NGSS: A Vision for K-12 Science Education

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An in depth look at the Next Generation Science Standards. This video talks about the 3 areas of the NGSS: Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science & Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts.

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Try the question activity here

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We revised the one from Work that Matters to make it more teacher friendly.

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A starter kit for PBL

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The NSTA Next Generation Science Standards Hub offers information, resources, news, professional learning opportunities, and expert advice in understanding and implementing the Next Generation Science Standards - NGSS

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Ask questions on the google doc

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Science teachers read all the time. See their list here.

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Synthesis of Deeper Learning

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An overview of PBL

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An Introduction to Project-Based Learning | Edutopia

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In this hands-on approach to teaching, students create schoolwork that demonstrates core subject knowledge.

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How Innovation is More Poetry than Science

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How Innovation is More Poetry than Science

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This article by Daniel Rasmus makes the link between literacy and innovation.

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In a recent conversation with Phil McKinney, former HP Chief Innovation Officer and author of Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation, we discussed innovation and theory. McKinney said that much of the literature about innovation comes from theorists, not practitioners. I responded that some of us assert practical innovation insights informed by very different experiences. Rather than learning about innovation through an Executive Innovation MBA program, or receiving an MBA in Innovation Management, I sat in hours of workshop classes learning to write poetry. The experience of reading, writing, reviewing and publishing poetry has informed all of the innovations that I have had the pleasure helping co-create, from the Surface Mount Assembly Reasoning Tool (SMART) at Western Digital to the Center for Information Work at Microsoft.American state and national legislators and leaders relentlessly harp on the need for STEM (an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math that suffers as a marketing tool due to its meaningless abstraction), but this mindset does not recognize the need for well-rounded, culturally connected, researchers and readers who extend themselves beyond simple categories of knowledge in order to create innovation. Poetry does not find valor under the auspices of STEM. Our future is as much threatened by the lack of imaginative connection making as it is from a dearth of engineers or mathematicians.Here are practical lessons from 35 years of writing poetry that can help individuals and teams deliver more innovative products, processes and services. Details MatterPoetry is not about words. Poetry is about the right words. Innovation isn't about ideas. Innovation is about the right ideas. Innovators need to carefully select the features, functions, or experiences that comprise a new product, process or service. As poets need a large vocabulary to precisely convey their meaning, innovators need a deep vocabulary of science and practice, engineering and management, to construct their innovative wares. Design Is CriticalSelecting the right word or feature, however, isn't enough. Words and features must also be arranged correctly. Modern poetry finds synergy with the visual arts. The way words sit on a page convey rhythm and breaks, breathing and emphasis, more so than the now often discarded punctuation. In innovation, design plays as much a role as function. How easy it is to get a device to do something often speaks more to innovation than the function itself. The iPod rose not because it played MP3 music, but because it did so through a unique design of hardware, software and services that changes people's relationship to their music. Understand the MarketPoets are not above marketing. Though writing an epic poem remains technically and intellectually possible, even in this age of micro-markets and one-to-one marketing, the chances of finding a publisher for such a poem is exceedingly unlikely. Short poems do best, and those that observe the world with a certain twist do better than most rants or rages. And in the world of poetry slams, well-practiced articulations of rhyme-packed observations fuel an entire subculture. My market remains the journal, not the slam, so I practice writing rather than the internalization of phrases that transform into seemingly, but-not-so-much, spontaneous verbal improvisation. Innovators, as much as they want to create new products for new markets, need to understand markets that exist. The poetry slam arrived more from cultural and political expression deficits, and the competitive nature of many Americans, than from any need to return poetry to its spoken language roots. Structure InformsMany outside of poetry imagine poets as free-form thinkers, sprinkling words along a page until they run out of inspiration. Poets, however, are more architects and tinkerers than verbal Jackson Pollocks. For most of history, poets were expected to work within the very structured constraints of the sonnet, the sestina, the villanelle or haiku (to name a few), each an innovation in itself with elaborate rhyme schemes and rhythmic rules.Truth be told, most poets, even the most sprawling and unstructured, have at one time or another tackled a sonnet at minimum, and if they were associated with a creative writing program, probably other forms of structured verse as well.This familiarity and experience with structure informs divergence. A poet who understands the history of poetry, has direct experience with the craftsmanship required to create structured verse is better equipped to introduce innovations in language than those with fewer tools. The same is true of innovation. Ideas are cheap. Innovations require skills and knowledge of structure and first principles in order to produce consumable value. People who want to innovate should be students of the domains being called upon to facilitate the birth of their creations. Cut RuthlesslyI have written very long poems. Many of my long poems have become short poems, and it isn't only because today's market mostly calls for shorter poems. My poems have become shorter over the years because I have relentlessly honed them. Poets often overwrite as much as people around Christmas over-decorate. If a box of tinsel is good, then two are better. The more ornaments, the more festive. But the essence of art, and the essence I believe of innovative design, comes through best with purposeful sparseness. A clever turn of phrase can be lost among many not so clever turns of phrase, the same as an elegant feature can be lost among many not so elegant features. That is one of the reasons that Apple is considered innovative and Microsoft less so when it comes to its operating systems and productivity applications. Apple usually strives for sparseness, choosing crispness over comfort. When they get into trouble, as they have done to some degree with OS X Lion, they have introduced too many non-sequiturs that users neither need nor desire. Microsoft has built its software to be all things to all people. Even as Redmond relentlessly pares down the interface to create Metro, they retain the entire current Windows experience behind a Metro tile, completely breaking simplicity of design for the sake of compatibility. Apple, on the other hand, abandoned its older operating system, for both end users and developers to adapt to a new platform. Innovators need to cut ruthlessly so that innovations can be easily discovered. Seek Collaborative Criticism ReligiouslyMy first experience in a poetry workshop came when I visited UC Santa Cruz as a high school junior, and was asked not only to sit in, but to participate. At the time, I didn't know that professor J.B. Hall would become my mentor, but he encouraged me to say what I thought of the poem that a student had just read. Being a brash 16-year old I quickly went for the mixed metaphors and words that seemed out of place. For a couple of years, that student and I continued to spar as peers after I entered Santa Cruz's creative writing program. I have always found that writing, even poetry writing, held too closely to the shadows is not as good as poetry exposed to the light of day. Several of my published poems have been modified by careful dialogue between myself and journal editors who sensed a word out of place, or an unnecessary clause. T.S. Eliot's now iconic The Wasteland would not be the poem we know today without Ezra Pounds' insightful edits. Unlike poetry, innovation doesn't have a private, hidden, personal journal version that can exist without criticism, a version written only for oneself. A tightly held innovation fails to adapt because it has become too precious, too rigid, too fragile to manipulate. Innovations should, like verse in a poetry workshop, be delivered into the world early so that worthy ideas may defend themselves and evolve, choking off superfluous ones now freed to find their own niche, or to die. Actively Explore the UnknownGood poetry makes unique observations about the world. Poetry focuses experience so people unfamiliar with an experience may, for a moment, share a gasp or sigh, lust or longing, repulsion or reverence. Similarly, innovation needs to create products, processes or services that offer unique value. Both activities require continuous learning and the ability to synthesize the unknown into something emotionally or physically consumable. If poets or innovators limit themselves to what they know, they will be capable only of reconfiguring the familiar, but not creating something new. Observe Your World With All Your SensesConjuring sensory-driven emotional responses through descriptive text might be a clinical definition of poetry. One can only achieve the translation of emotion into words if one practices emotions and equates them to a wide range of sensory experiences. Although the mind is a wonderful contraption of memory, it is an even better creator of distortion. Distortion can inform poetry and innovation by making new connections to seemingly disparate information. None of that is possible without a wide range of sensory input. Innovators need to touch, smell and feel, to listen and to watch, to incorporate all facets of what they observe, lest they find their bag a widget short of an insight just when needed. (Which is another reason to collaborate: innovators never know what they need, and they may be surprised by who brings it to the party.) Take Copious, Non-Linear NotesFor purists, observation comes not strictly from mental acuity, but from practice. Even while writing this article I had a moment of insight that was lost in a fleeting mind fart. Innovators and poets alike should take copious notes. They also need to reflect on those notes, to connect concepts through conduits, build infrastructure to support ideas. Notes hold mental sand and brick and steel, and without them, people leave destiny and wealth and recognition to the fragility of human consciousness. If you think something is important, write it down. What You End Up With May Not Be What You IntendedWhen I start writing a poem, I do so with some sense of where I intend to end up. Minutes or weeks or years later, the poem once so filled with the passion for a particular vector weaves itself along an entirely different path. I have seen great designs do the same. As knowledge is gained, experiences collected and feedback gathered, the original inspired thought morphs into something more robust, more resilient, more saleable. It can also morph into a Christmas tree with too many ornaments. These rules are not meant to be taken singularly or out of context, but to be applied simultaneously and continuously, lest what you end up with becomes not only something other than what was intended, but an anathema to aesthetics, or an unsalable kludge that reflects political promises it cannot fulfill. Endings Make all the DifferenceI was asked more than once in a poetry workshop if a person who writes poetry without publishing is a poet. In the context of innovation, my answer must clearly be no. Poets affect people's perceptions of the world, and to do that, they must extend their world so that others can interact with it. It isn't enough to end a poem well, the poem must find a home to be really meaningful. Innovators deliver a value of purpose. A product, process or service can only be called innovative when it emerges into the world, leaving a wake that changes the world, however subtly, forever. -You can read much of author Daniel Rasmus's published poetry at danielwrasmuspoetry.wordpress.com. [ Image: Flickr user Rhys Davenport]

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How Innovation Is More Poetry Than Science

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In a recent conversation with Phil McKinney, former HP Chief Innovation Officer and author of Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation , we discussed innovation and theory. McKinney said that much of the literature about innovation comes from theorists, not practitioners.

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When a lesson goes wrong

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Lesson plans sometimes fail. It happens to all teachers. But how can teachers quickly modify lesson plans for the next class? Here are some tips to modify lesson plans, using a High School English class as an example.

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Great explanation for students. For more see Carol Dweck

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The Power of belief -- mindset and success | Eduardo Briceno | TEDxManhattanBeach

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Design Thinking for Educators

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This article outlines how to create a culture of PBL in your classroom.

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Adapted from Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning: A Proven Approach to Rigorous Classroom Instruction, by John Larmer, John Mergendoller, Suzie Boss (ASCD 2015). This post is also available as a downloadable article.
Teachers who make Project Based Learning a regular part of their teaching enjoy their new role, although for some it might take time to adjust from traditional practice. It's fun to get creative when designing a project, instead of just using "off the shelf" curriculum materials. Most teachers like working collaboratively with their colleagues when planning and implementing projects, and interacting with other adults from the community or the wider world. And PBL teachers find it rewarding to work closely alongside students, tackling a real-world challenge or exploring a meaningful questions.

When transitioning to PBL, one of the biggest hurdles for many teachers is the need to give up some degree of control over the classroom, and trust in their students. But even though they are more often the "guide on the side" than the "sage on the stage," this most certainly does not mean that teachers don't "teach" in a PBL classroom. Many traditional practices remain, but are reframed in the context of a project.

Design & Plan

Teachers create or adapt a project for their context and students, and plan its implementation from launch to culmination while allowing for some degree of student voice and choice.

Align to Standards

Teachers use standards to plan the project and make sure it addresses key knowledge and understanding from subject areas to be included.

Build the Culture

Teachers explicitly and implicitly promote student independence and growth, open-ended inquiry, team spirit, and attention to quality.

Manage Activities

Teachers work with students to organize tasks and schedules, set checkpoints and deadlines, find and use resources, create products and make them public.

Scaffold Student Learning

Teachers employ a variety of lessons, tools, and instructional strategies to support all students in reaching project goals.

Assess Student Learning

Teachers use formative and summative assessments of knowledge, understanding, and success skills, and include self and peer assessment of team and individual work.

Engage & Coach

Teachers engage in learning and creating alongside students, and identify when they need skill-building, redirection, encouragement, and celebration.

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Gold Standard PBL: Project Based Teaching Practices

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Adapted from Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning: A Proven Approach to Rigorous Classroom Instruction, by John Larmer, John Mergendoller, Suzie Boss (ASCD 2015). This post is also available as a downloadable article. Teachers who make Project Based Learning a regular part of their teaching enjoy their new role, although for some it might take time to adjust from traditional practice.

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Use access code LDLiteracy

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"Lepidoptera". Please enter the access key that was given to you with this link. If you have not received an access key, please contact the author of this binder.

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These are books that I am reading or have added to my classroom library.