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AJ Juliani Design Sprint

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I often get asked to do short design sprints with leadership teams and teaching teams. One of the major areas to focus on is having people talk about REAL problems, challenges, and opportunities they are currently facing (instead of hypothetical situations).
Instead of just talking about challenges at your next meeting, use this design sprint to start planning solutions. Then share out your thoughts in the comments below!
Get access to the slide deck here.
Hi.

Today we are going to solve the biggest problem in education.

And that is going to require all of us to roll up our sleeves, get our fingers warmed up for typing, our minds spinning for innovative solutions, and our vocal cords ready for talking.

This is not going to be a "sit and get" session.

This is an "earn to learn" session.

Sorry if you thought otherwise

Ok, are you ready to get to work?

Great.

The first thing we need to do is get set up.

Can everyone pull out a device (or open one up) and go to_______________ - this site will have all the resources you need for today's session.

Second thing is to look around you. See any paper you may have in your bag or on the table. See the people and spaces around you. Use them all to the best possible means today as we are working. Think like Jason Bourne.

Third. We are going to move extremely fast today. There is going to be time to talk, but that talk should lead to action. And the action should lead to some type of outcome or solution.

If you feel pressed for time, that is a good thing. If you feel like there is a lot going on at the same time, that is also a good thing. This is the world we live in now. Lots of noise and not much time to get things done.
*Note: The numbers on the side are a general marker for time (in minutes) throughout the activity. 5: Here are the 21st-century skills that we love talking about:
The problem is that these skills were created 20 years ago, and a lot has changed since then, much of it not "predicted" well.

What I found during my years teaching and in a leadership role is that the 21st-century skills are a great starting point, but they should be just that: a starting point.

If we want students who are future-ready, we must add the following skills to the mix:

Developing and Navigating Choice

Inquiry (ask the right questions)

G.R.I.T. (guts, resiliency, integrity, tenacity)

Authentic Challenges and Environments

Pace Management

Any classroom that has learners developing and working through those skills, is an innovative classroom.

Ok, enough of me talking. Time to get to work.
10: What (in your opinion) is the biggest problem in education. And the biggest challenge in your classroom/school/district?

Why is it such a problem?

Can you solve this problem in your school?

Can you solve this problem in a specific classroom?

15: Get in a group (2-3 people) to share your problems - see which one is shared across the group. 2 mins per person to share - then 2 minutes to see which one is shared across the group. 25: Choose one problem to tackle today...
Example: Students are worried about grades and not concerned about learning.

Understand the challenge: 1 minute for each question

Who does it impact?

Who makes decisions impacting this problem?

How has it impacted you and your school (stories)?

What do you and your group have control of, influence over, and no control of...?

What circumstance might lead to a solution?

30: Ideation: Creating and evaluating ideas for solutions.
Example: The game of school leads students to believe learning is always tied to a grade, and always needs to be something they are "forced" to do by a teacher. Students need to see that they learn all the time. I have control over my classroom (to a point) and a circumstance would be students learning because they excited about the content or possibilities of that topic/project etc.
40: Prototype: Time to turn that idea into reality.

What are some opportunities to solve this challenge?

Who are some people that could help? Can you contact them?

What can you write, record, create, build and/or promote to solve this challenge?

50: Get feedback - jigsaw groups for 5 mins (share quickly - 30 second pitch - 30 second feedback)
Choose an idea for a solution-
Use your device, hands, or mind to sketch out what this might look like.
55: Build (make and do something!)

1. What problem are you solving?

2. What are you making/creating/building to solve it?

3. Feedback

Put the idea into action.
65: Evolve (something to think about today, tonight, tomorrow, and later this week)
Take three actionable steps to make this a reality.
1.
2.
3.
70: Whole Group-Reflection

What are the next steps to solve this challenge?

What did you do well and can build on?

What did you do poorly and should scrap?

What did you learn from mistakes/failures and what did you take away from successes/wins?

Check those 21C skills off the list...
Today we solved one of the biggest problems in education: Talking about what we should do, instead of taking action.
Check those new skills off the list...

Sometimes innovation is simpler than we think. Sometimes it's about taking one action, then building on that with another action.
Get access to the slide deck here.
It's going to be messy. We are going to make mistakes. But the innovative classroom needs students to experience exactly what you all experienced today: a choice, a challenge, and a reason to fail and keep working for a solution together through any means necessary.

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Try This Design Sprint At Your Next Faculty Meeting

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I often get asked to do short design sprints with leadership teams and teaching teams. One of the major areas to focus on is having people talk about REAL problems, challenges, and opportunities they are currently facing (instead of hypothetical situations). Instead of just talking about challenges at your next meeting, use this design sprint to start planning solutions.

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Share Your Learning on the importance of exhibitions with podcast

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Whether it is getting student work on the walls, showcasing a class project, or hosting a whole-school exhibition with community members and experts, celebrate students' work and learning by making it visible. Download Exhibition Toolkit

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In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg describes keystone habits as, "small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives." Reflection has been one of habit that has transformed my life as a teacher, leader, author, and dad.

My day is probably like most of yours. I wake up, drink some coffee, read, write, attempt to work out, get dressed, give the kids and wife a kiss goodbye, head off to work and grab something to eat.

I then spend hours at work in meetings, talking with people, creating, managing, teaching, learning, and eventually get to head home where I'll play with my kids, go to events, sports practices/games, activities, sometimes out to eat (or a rate date), help put my kids to bed, and then get to spend an hour or two hanging out with my wife thankful the house is quiet for the moment.

Student lives look very similar to adult lives, except they rarely have any choice in what they do. Students are consistently shuttled from one class to another, one spot to another, one event to another. When the day is over, have they even had a minute to think about how each class or event went?

It wasn't until I actively started to reflect, both by myself in writing each and every day, and also with my wife at the end of the day, that I could open up my world to new possibilities. Reflecting helped me recognize where I was currently at (in my job, in blogging, in being a dad and husband) versus where I wanted to be.

If we don't reflect, we tend to go through the motions, not conscious of what steps we can take to get better or move forward.

The same goes for students. When students are allowed, given time, supported, and praised for their reflection, something changes. They begin to own their experience, instead of being forced into a series of choices they aren't sure about.
Here are Seven Ways Reflection Gives Students Ownership of their Learning:
#1. Reflection is an accurate view of how students see themselves as learners

In John Hattie's review of 900 studies in Visible Learning, one of the highest indicators of positively impacting student learning was reflection (or self-reported grades).

Hattie's work references that students are extremely accurate predictors of their achievement. However, they will often aim for average or "good enough" and therefore achieve average or good enough. Hattie believes, "Our job as teachers is to help students exceed their targets (based on their reflection)."

When we allow students to reflect (on a consistent basis) we end up with more opportunities to challenge our students to a higher standard and help them reach it.

#2. Reflection breeds humility

"Implementing extreme ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team."― Jocko Willink

When we reflect we must be honest. At least honest with ourselves about our choices, our success, our mistakes, and our growth.

This is a constant reminder to stay humble and continue working hard to achieve results.

#3. Reflection is linked to Growth

With all the attention "growth mindset" over the past few years in education, we often miss one of the most critical pieces which is reflection.

Dr. Jackie Gerstein has seen this in her work and created a checklist for students when reflecting (and how it impacts on growth mindset):

#4. Reflection is tied to sharing

Although reflection can be a private practice, it is also necessary to reflect in groups. When reflection is used in group work and group scenarios it can be a powerful tool to learn from each other.

We love Reality TV because we are witnessing constant reflection on the part of the people in the show. We see their actions and then they cut to a video of them reflecting on what happened, what went right/wrong, what they would have done differently etc. This same method can be used in the classroom to share what worked and what didn't (and what you learned from the mistakes).

#5. Reflection leads to more ideas

It is hard to imagine coming up with a new idea if you aren't reflecting on a personal experience or something you've witnessed, read, or watched.

When we reflect on these experiences we begin to connect and mary different ideas and solutions together. Reflection is a driver of big ideas and new innovative practices.

#6. Reflection is a form of curiosity

When we reflect we become naturally curious of "what could have been" and what we might do different. Reflection is also a practice in which we can become more and more curious over time. It is the act of being mindful of the possibilities in any given situation.

#7. Reflection leads to Empowerment
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." ~ Oprah Winfrey
As John Spencer and I were looking at research and reflecting on our own teaching and learning experiences for our upcoming book, Empower, we started to see how reflection was a key piece to many of the stories we were reading (and those in our own classrooms).

When students do projects such as Genius Hour, 20% Time, Geek Out Blogs, and others that we cover in the book, they aren't just given freedom to choose their content.

They are given the freedom to change their learning path. They will reflect on what is working (and what is not) and then pivot, tweak, and modify how they are learning and creating.
If you are anything like me, you've spent years putting reflection on the back seat. Other things seemed more important. But, when I finally gave reflection the respect it was due and made it a daily practice, things changed in my own life, and in my classroom for my students.
Would love to hear your thoughts below!

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7 Ways Reflection Gives Students Ownership of their Learning

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In his book, The Power of Habit , Charles Duhigg describes keystone habits as, "small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives." Reflection has been one of habit that has transformed my life as a teacher, leader, author, and dad.

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What happens when students own their own learning

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What happens when students own their own learning

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Ron Berger Podcast

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Halfway between Boston and Albany (as the Goose flies) is the little town of Shutesbury, Massachusetts. Just about everyone under the age of 50 in Shutesbury was in Ron Berger's class at the local school. The fact that his nurse, plumber, and accountant had all been in his class helped him understand the bigger picture, it made him ask, "do they understand high-quality work, do they have courage, do they have quality values and use critical thinking? Would I trust my life to that person?

To supplement his modest income as a teacher, Ron Berger worked as a carpenter. After 25 years of swinging a hammer, he had built or repaired most of the town. The work gave him an appreciation of craftsmanship. "In the r ush of schools to prep for tests, there's nothing more important than craftsmanship...but the legacy of schools is a treadmill of assignments and assessments," explained Berger.

He did his graduate work at Harvard where he began collaborating with Steve Seidel. They applied to become part of the New American Schools program in partnership with Outward Bound, a program focused on developing character through wilderness challenges, and Expeditionary Learning was born in 1993.

The project-based community connected school model, now called EL Education , blossomed into a 160 school network nationwide.
On Quality Work
"My deepest passion in education for 45 years has been collecting student work," said Berger. His office and home are filled with bins of student work.

To help teachers develop a picture of what good work looks like, Berger and Sidel developed Models of Excellence in 2011. It's a collection of the best math, science and writing project artifacts curated by EL and Harvard faculty. It includes hundreds of exemplary works p-12.

Berger sees students do world-class work in places where 1) there is a culture of respect and belonging, where students can be their true selves, 2) where work is meaningful and will make impact in the world, 3) where there are professional models of scientists, artists, politicians, professors that provide expert critique and guidance, and 4) where there is a real genuine audience.

"To do great work, we need to take risk, to be vulnerable," said Berger.

EL Education launched a literacy curriculum in 2011 to increase impact at scale. Having receive the highest ratings from , the curriculum "Empowers kids to do more meaningful work together," said Berger. It's used by big districts including Wake, Charlotte Mecklenburg, Detroit and New York.
On the Character to Contribute
The EL character framework says, "We help students get smart to do good." At the center of the framework is "contribute to a better world."

Developed about a year ago and championed by Chief Knowledge Officer Beth Miller , the framework encourages the development of ethical people and effective learners.

Berger sees community contribution as a way to enlist energy and commitment from young people, "We need you, your community needs your help."
Leaders of their Own Learning
Berger published a beautiful book called Leaders of Their Own Learning in 2014. It layed out eight practices that makes students the locus of learning. It reached the teachers of more than one million students.

A sequel was recently released, The Leaders of Their Own Learning Companion . It is based on the same eight practices but includes more examples and tips.

Berger piloted the new book with teachers, leaders, and coaches across the country, and used their input to make it as clear and useful as possible for a range of educators.

For more, see:
Stay in-the-know with innovations in learning by signing up for the weekly This blog was originally published on Forbes. .

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Podcast: Ron Berger on Helping Students Become Leaders of their Own Learning | Getting Smart

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Halfway between Boston and Albany (as the Goose flies) is the little town of Shutesbury, Massachusetts. Just about everyone under the age of 50 in Shutesbury was in Ron Berger's class at the local school.

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How to put Self-Directed Learning to Work

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How to put Self-Directed Learning to Work

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Edutopia Article

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Article from Getting Smart

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Project-Based Learning has long been about making learning a more transformational experience for students, as it's an opportunity to help them become more engaged, skilled, collaborative, connected, reflective and independent. But this transformational experience is not just reserved for students. Often, teachers are also transformed when PBL is implemented, as they begin to view their practice, their students and their classrooms in all new ways

My PBL journey as a teacher and site leader began in 1990 when I worked in PBL and non-PBL classrooms. I too experienced a transformation as an educator, and have seen the impact on students more times than one could count. The more ownership and choice I gave to the students, the more they succeeded and exceeded expectations. The more I was able to facilitate their connections to their communities and personal interests, the more engaged and focused they became. The more I allowed students to address real-world problems on and off campus, the more empowered and adult-like they were.

I recently reconnected with some of the many PBL teachers and schools that I have known and worked with over the years. It really stuck out to me how many of them had similar stories to tell about the positive impact that PBL had on their practice. To encourage all of us to engage in some PBL PD, I wanted to share some of these teachers' "aha's" - or revelations, if you will - of those who have undergone this PBL transformation. While some us will have heard about a few of these benefits before, I believe it is inspiring and impactful to hear the words straight from the horse's mouth.

PBL's Impact On Teachers' Practices

Many of the teachers I spoke with reflected on their changing roles as a teacher once in a more project-based environment, and on how they learned to really enjoy their new position of facilitator/coach instead of the traditional lecturer/presenter.

Minarets High School Social Studies Teacher Katie Morgan (@missmorgan810) said that although it took her awhile to adjust to the change, she's really enjoyed going from "the sage on the stage to the guide on the side." Which makes sense-if we all want to engage in PD that meets this criteria, shouldn't we provide a similar learning environment for our students?

"I am able to enjoy a great deal more opportunity for individual support and instruction," said Morgan. "I am more available to all students and have a greater understanding for where they all are at any given time."

In addition to the new and expanded role as a teacher, many PBL teachers at all grade levels have noticed that they feel more connected to their students, are more student-focused in their practice, are more aware of student success and needs, are less stressed and are having more fun in the classroom.

PBL's Impact On Students

Another common theme I observed was a realization that students are transformed by both demonstrating higher levels of ownership in their learning, and the deeper engagement that naturally follows student ownership. Surprisingly, many of the teachers I spoke with told me that they even began to view their students as more mature, professional, focused and ready.

Kingsburg High School Agriculture Teacher Amanda Ferguson (@MsFergieFerg) has enjoyed the fact that students seem to enjoy themselves a great deal more, because she feels like it has helped her to see greater student success. She also said that students see themselves as more successful.

"Students are just like you and me. When we love what we're doing, we perform better," said Ferguson. "We're all more productive and successful if we are enjoying the work as opposed to doing things that we dislike or consider irrelevant."

Many teachers remember when they first witnessed a transformational change. Katie Morgan said she will never forget when she first offered a PBL project and presentation as the final in lieu of a huge culminating exam. She vividly remembers one student who was almost in tears after indicating that this may be the first time she could pass a final since it wasn't based on a test.

"Even though she rarely missed school, mastered English, and had no clear learning disability, she was a terrible test taker," said Morgan. "In that moment, I knew that I couldn't go back."

In addition to increased student engagement and ownership, many teachers also indicated that PBL has helped them begin to see their students as more self-reliant, independent and capable. They also noticed that students' skill growth is addressed more in the areas of the Four C's, technology, soft skills and employability.

PBL's Impact On The Classroom

Another amazing by-product of a more project-based classroom is that a different classroom environment and culture emerges. The teachers I spoke with described their classrooms as more "dynamic," "collaborative," "engaged," "fun," "equitable," "alive," "vibrant," "interesting," "positive" and "learning-oriented," and said that they now see their classrooms as learning places driven by relationships and collaboration.

Project-based learning is the dominant pedagogy at New Tech Network schools. Teachers at the Napa and Sacramento New Tech campuses believe that PBL has helped create an environment and culture that are much more welcoming and collaborative. With an emphasis on team teaching, real-world challenges and community partnerships, teachers at both sites indicated that their culture has shifted to be much more student-focused.

Physics Teacher Dorothea McFarland said she experienced a major "aha" moment when she realized that she had finally helped the student that had previously struggled the most and that the student was now one of the most accelerated.

"In my eyes, PBL has been a real game changer for students. It has created a more equitable playing field in my classroom," said McFarland.

New Tech math teachers added that students now see math differently - that it's not "something that lives on an island," but rather something that can create new and authentic learning opportunities.

Students are the real stars at the New Tech campuses. These teachers emphasized that they join together with students to make the environment a positive one so the emphasis can be on teaching and learning. The educational environment reflects a professional atmosphere; relationships between staff and students are more like a mentor/mentee rather than teacher/student. Collaboration is maximized and lecturing is minimized! The culture is one based on a higher level of trust, respect, and responsibility than is typically found in most schools.

Back at Minarets High School, Katie Morgan said that classroom management or behavior issues are almost non-existent since she became a project-based learning practitioner.

"They don't have time to misbehave," said Morgan. "And for anyone that does, the student focus allows me the ability to intervene and support the student at a whole new level. I can now be more personalized and confidential when addressing student needs."

For educators who have yet to experience these transformational teaching revelations, project-based learning can be a breath of fresh air. If you're interested in getting started, Getting Smart's Preparing Students for a Project-Based World can be a great resource.

For more, see:
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

Michael Niehoff is a Getting Smart Columnist. He is a teacher, leader, blogger, and student advocate. Connect with him on Twitter: @mwniehoff

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What Will Change If I Start Practicing PBL? | Getting Smart

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Project-Based Learning has long been about making learning a more transformational experience for students, as it's an opportunity to help them become more engaged, skilled, collaborative, connected, reflective and independent. But this transformational experience is not just reserved for students.

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The beginning of the school year can often feel like a weird no-man's land. It's important to start the year strong by building up your classroom culture and making students feel part of a safe and welcoming community, but you also want to start the year with engaging and rigorous content. This awkward balance can sometimes make it difficult to figure out how to get started.

Whether you are someone who likes to start Day 1 with your first Entry Event for a project, or someone who prefers to take their time in the first week or so before launching into PBL, here are three routines and protocols that can help you make sure that whenever your first project launches, your students are ready to hit the ground running.

1. Establish a go-to academic conversation protocol.

I'm a firm believer that regular, predictable routines can help students get past learning how to start something and jump right into the rigorous, deep thinking we're all hoping to see. No matter the grade level, academic conversation skills are important, and often difficult, for students to learn. We can forget that, just like completing multi-step equations or difficult reading assignments, conversation skills also need to be explicitly taught and practiced.

I like to do this by setting up a regular protocol that we use at least once in every project. That way, I can increase the rigor and quality of the conversations with each practice by upping the amount of time students are asked to maintain the conversation, or by adding elements to the conversation such as synthesizing information, or providing counter-arguments.

My favorite conversation protocol is called Building Background Knowledge (BBK). This protocol was introduced to me by Clare Green, my former history colleague and current principal at Impact Academy of Arts and Technology. Many variations of this are available online, such as this one from EL Education.

Directions for BBK Protocol: Round 3

The general idea is that students begin with their prior knowledge of a topic, then together read a shared text or examine a shared document, and finally end with different "expert" texts or documents. In each round, students are given some time to silently read, think, and record their thoughts on chart paper, and then some time to share out in an academic conversation.

Once I introduce this protocol in September, I can rely on it throughout the year to engage students in building schema for new projects together.

2. Create expectations for collaborative work.

From Day 1, make it clear to students that they are going to be working together and relying on each other to learn in your class. This can help students work productively later on when they have more complex collaborative projects. I like to do this by starting with a teacher-formulated team contract that, throughout the year, I gradually release to student control.

For example, in the first week of school I like to do a scavenger hunt using maps in my room. This is a group assignment that includes a simple contract I create for them. In this contract, students must agree to complete their assigned roles, ask each other for help before they ask me, and each be responsible for their own notes. Students sign the contract and, at the end, I give them a small grade based on my observations of their collaboration

By the end of the year, students participate in the Revolutions Mock Trial project. In this project, students work in legal teams of 4-6 and create their own contract. Each team decides what 3-5 expectations they should uphold to be able to complete the project successfully, as well as what their rewards and consequences should be.

For example, some teams might decide that each team member must come to class prepared with their work. They might choose their reward to be a positive text to their parents from me, and their consequence may be that anyone who isn't prepared has to do 10 push-ups before they can move on. At the end of the project, rather than me assigning them a grade for their collaboration, students have the agency to review their contract and examine their team work, giving each team member an honest grade for how well they stuck to the agreements.

3. Lovingly establish the expectation of engaging in productive struggle.

From the moment they enter into your classroom, students will be trying to figure out how to succeed. They'll be examining how "easy" your class will be, how much you'll help them, and what they should do if they're confused. I try to make it clear from that first day that students will need to figure things out on their own and with their peers, that I won't just give them the answer if they're stuck, but also that it will be safe for them to struggle.

Thinking back to the map scavenger hunt I use during the first week of school, part of the contract students sign says that they can only ask me two questions throughout the entire assignment. At first, students don't believe me. They get stuck and can't find an answer, and immediately ask their group's assigned "liaison" to ask me for help. At that point, I try to make sure they really mean it. I ask them questions like, "Are you sure you want to use one of your two questions for this?" or "Did you really try everything as a group to figure it out already?". Usually, students will look at the rest of the assignment, realize they'll likely need much more help later, and decide to push forward without me.

The adverb "lovingly" is important with this expectation, because I want students to know that while I'm not going to give them all the answers, I also will reward their struggle and I will never shame them for getting something wrong.

One way to reward productive struggle is through positive reinforcement. My grade level team established a protocol for reminding students to engage in productive struggle and to reward them when we saw it happening. Students were asked to re-read directions, check their resources, and ask two peers before turning to the teacher for help. As teachers, we reviewed the protocol daily and rewarded students using our school-wide incentive system when we saw them using the steps we suggested.

Impact Academy's 10th Grade Team: Productive Struggle Protocol

As you look forward into a new school year, choose a few routines and structures that will set your students up for success and allow them, and you, to engage more deeply in the beautifully messy work of learning together.

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3 Routines & Protocols to Help Your Students Start the Year Ready for PBL

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A high school teacher explains how she scaffolds students' academic conversations, collaboration skills, and understanding of "productive struggle."

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20 minute protocol (can be adjusted dependent on grade level) used for students to get feedback on a presentation. Used when they are somewhere in the process, not a finished product.

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Project Documents; Project Overview, Calendar, Milestones

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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This is displayed in the classroom with Milestones, Storyboards, and need to knows

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What are our need to knows?

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Riding the Trolley and taking pictures of local landmarks

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Launch on the Trolley with a stop at the Farmer's Market Booth

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Why West Allis--Sample Commercials and Posters

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Why West Allis--Sample Commercials and Posters

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FRANKLIN'S FANTASTIC CREATIONS - THAT'S WHY WEST ALLIS

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Team Pursuit and Team Resiliency have been working on a project to convince families to come visit our city, West Allis. Mrs. Schaefer, Mrs. O'Connor and Miss Hayes were inspired by the "That's Why West Allis" movement. Theses teachers educated and gave their students experiences to help them establish community pride.

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Early on in my project-based learning journey, I made a vow to go 100% project-based. My students would learn everything through exploration and discovery. I would remain the guide on the side observing the process and helping out only when necessary. After leading students through a highly-structured documentary project, I decided to pull back entirely. This would be more student-centered and authentic.

Then it tanked.

Not a week later or a month later. Two days into the project, I realized my mistake. My students didn't have enough background knowledge to navigate the complexity of the project. I had skipped the concept attainment lesson with the goal of learning through the project. However, my students didn't have a conceptual understanding of the topic. Still, I pushed forward, though the inquiry phase and into research, where I realized that most of my students were unable to do online research. At that moment, I took a timeout. I used direct instruction to build some conceptual understanding of the topic. I then used direct instruction and guided practice to help students learn how to do research.

I learned something valuable through those mistakes. Authentic projects can coexist with direct instruction. If authenticity involves making the learning real and relevant to students, then there might be moments when direct instruction might be the authentic choice. Yes, we want the learning to be student-centered, but as teachers, we still have moments when we need to use direct instruction. True, it's important to be a guide on the side. However, you're still the expert and sometimes you need to teach students the concepts and skills they need in order to thrive in an authentic project.

Listen to the Podcast

If you enjoy this blog but you'd like to listen to it on the go, just click on the audio below or subscribe via iTunes/Apple Podcasts (ideal for iOS users) or Google Play and Stitcher (ideal for Android users).

http://www.spencerauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Direct-Instruction.mp3

If you're new to PBL, here's a quick explanation of the model:

The Buck Institute for Education (PBL Works) identifies the following seven project design elements:

1. Challenging Problem or Question

2. Sustained Inquiry

3. Authenticity

4. Student Voice & Choice

5. Reflection

6. Critique & Revision

7. Public Product

Note that project-based learning can work in tandem with other pedagogical models, like inquiry-based learning, design thinking, and problem-based learning. But the key idea remains that students are learning through projects and as a result, they engage in deeper learning.

When you look at those seven design elements, they don't initially seem compatible with direct instruction. However, there are some key reasons to use direct instruction within your PBL units plans.

1. Direct instruction is necessary to build background knowledge and conceptual understanding.

I began this article with the story of a failed project. My biggest mistake was assuming that students had the background content knowledge they needed to engage in the sustained inquiry and research phases of their project. Although my goal was to honor student agency and choice, I failed to provide the opportunity for students to wrestle with the concepts. From an equity perspective, I need to give every student the opportunity to gain background knowledge.

This is a key reason we still need direct instruction within PBL. According to John Hattie's research, inquiry-based learning had only a .31 effect size on student learning. However, Hattie clarified that inquiry is still vital for learning. Inquiry-based and problem-based learning are ineffective in learning surface-level information. However, they are highly effective in learning deep information. Hattie argues that inquiry should occur after students have gained prior knowledge.

We can build this prior knowledge through direct instruction. It might involve an outline of core concepts or the front-loading of vocabulary. Often, it includes a concept attainment lesson. Note that concept attainment lessons don't have to be long, drawn-out lectures with slide after slide of text. Some of the best concept attainment lessons are actually discussions, guided experiments, simulations, or game-based learning activities.

By starting with an interactive approach to direct instruction, you can actually pique students' interest in the project while also helping them gain a deeper conceptual understanding of the topic.

2. Direct instruction can reduce cognitive load.

Greg Ashman wrote an interesting article about the downside of inquiry-based learning and student achievement. In his article, he makes the distinction between epistemology (what it means to know something) and pedagogy (what it means to teach something). Scientists can engage in open inquiry because they have a wealth of prior knowledge (addressed in the last point). However, students who lack that prior knowledge often struggle with cognitive load. This was a key issue raised over a decade ago by Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark, who linked a minimalist approach to PBL to cognitive overload. However, a year later, Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, and Chinn pointed out that the researchers had conflated unstructured discovery learning with project-based learning, problem-based learning, and inquiry-based learning.

The bottom line is that direct instruction can reduce the cognitive load for students. This might include an initial concept attainment lesson or a smaller direct instruction activity embedded within the project.

3. Direct instruction can help facilitate skill development.

Creative projects require students to master certain creative skills. This might involve research, problem-solving, brainstorming, or peer assessment. However, you might need to introduce these skills through direct instruction. I've heard teachers say "don't waste time showing kids how to make a video. Let them make a video." However, a video is challenging to make. Whether they learn it through a tutorial or a guided lesson, they need some direct instruction in order to master the skill. Similarly, a short direct instruction lesson can help students learn the best practices for making slideshows or podcasts.

When my students did Scratch video game projects, we used a Gradual Release of Responsibility approach starting with direct instruction, guided practice, a mash-up game (where they combined two games) and finally their longer video game they created from scratch. Similarly, when my current students learn to write lesson plans, craft assessments, or design their Professional Educator Blogs, I use direct instruction to help facilitate skill development.

Initially, I viewed this as less authentic than "real PBL." But then I realized that in nearly every creative skill I learned, I sought out experts who guided me through direct instruction. I watched videos on YouTube to learn about techniques.

4. Direct instruction can help facilitate guided inquiry.

The Buck Institute includes "sustained inquiry" as an element of project-based learning. However, inquiry doesn't necessarily mean students are on their own asking whatever question they're curious about and finding the answers. Heather Banchi and Randy Bell conceptualize inquiry on a continuum from a more guided to open approach. Note that their approach focuses on science but the process can be generalized to other content areas:

Level 1: Confirmation Inquiry
The teacher has taught a particular science theme or topic. The teacher then develops questions and a procedure that guides students through an activity where the results are already known. This method is great to reinforce concepts taught and to introduce students into learning to follow procedures, collect and record data correctly and to confirm and deepen understandings.

Level 2: Structured Inquiry
The teacher provides the initial question and an outline of the procedure. Students are to formulate explanations of their findings through evaluating and analyzing the data that they collect.

Level 3: Guided Inquiry
The teacher provides only the research question for the students. The students are responsible for designing and following their own procedures to test that question and then communicate their results and findings.

Level 4: Open/True Inquiry
Students formulate their own research question(s), design and follow through with a developed procedure, and communicate their findings and results. This type of inquiry is often seen in science fair contexts where students drive their own investigative questions.

I explore these ideas in this short video (warning: there is a Harry Potter reference)

Here's where direct instruction comes in. As teachers, we may need to engage students in a direct instruction activity to help facilitate structured inquiry and guided inquiry.

5. Direct instruction can work as an embedded intervention

When project-based learning runs smoothly, you will have students working independently. However, you might have students who need additional support. It might be an ELL student who needs a small vocabulary or grammar mini-lesson. Or it might be a student who is struggling with a particular skill set within the project. In these moments, you can do small group direct instruction as a support for students.

6. Direct instruction can reduce project fatigue.

This sounds odd but even in a highly engaging project, students often need a break from the routine that sets in within a project. When engaging in creative work, it's common to experience project fatigue. Even if they love the project, students will often get tired of doing research, working on prototyping, or revising their work. A highly engaging period of direct instruction can create a sense of mental space while also building background knowledge or helping with skill development.

So, what does this actually look like within a larger project? Consider the phases of the LAUNCH Process. This is a design thinking framework you can use to structure the phases of a PBL unit:
L: Look, Listen, and Learn
In this first phase, students look, listen, and learn. The goal here is awareness. It might be a sense of wonder at a process or an awareness of a problem or a sense of empathy toward an audience. You might use a concept attainment lesson at the start of a project However, you might also pull aside a small group and do a direct instruction mini-lesson to clarify misunderstandings.

A: Ask Tons of Questions
Sparked by curiosity, students move to the second phase, where they ask tons of questions. You might do guided inquiry here and use direct instruction in a way to facilitate the inquiry process. But you might also pull aside a small group and do a skill-based inquiry lesson with sentence stems to guide students who are struggling with the question process.

U: Understanding the Process or Problem
This leads to understanding the process or problem through an authentic research experience. They might conduct interviews or needs assessments, research articles, watch videos, or analyze data. In this research phase, you might do some direct instruction on a part of the research process. For example, we also used the five c's of critical research:

Initially, I might need to do some direct instruction and have students practice the research process. However, I might also need to pull aside a small group and do direct instruction as a small group intervention.

N: Navigate Ideas
Students apply their newly acquired knowledge to potential solutions. In this phase, they navigate ideas. Here they not only brainstorm, but they also analyze ideas, combine ideas, and generate a concept for what they will create.

In this area, you likely won't need to embed direct instruction into the project. However, you might need to do some direct instruction to help students understand the brainstorming process. If it's a longer unit, you might do some direct instruction on how to do project management.

C: Create a Prototype
In this next phase, they create a prototype. It might be a digital work or a tangible product, a work of art or something they engineer. It might even be an action or an event or a system. Typically, you'll have students working independently in this phase. However, they might need to learn a particular prototyping skill. If it's a documentary, you might need to do optional mini-lessons showing how to film videos and operate a camera or how to use a program like iMovie or Final Cut for editing. If it's an engineering project, you might need to show students how to use a 3D printer or how to navigate 3D modeling programs.

H: Highlight and Fix
Next, they begin to highlight what's working and fix what's failing. The goal here is to view this revision process as an experiment full of iterations, where every mistake takes them closer to success. Here, you might need to do direct instruction as a review of skills for the previous prototyping skill. You might also need to clarify misconceptions through a small group direct instruction intervention. But this is also where you might take a break from your project and do a direct instruction lesson to help break up the monotony and reduce project fatigue.

Launch to an Audience
Then, when it's done, it's ready to launch. In the launch phase, they send it to an authentic audience. Here, direct instruction might involve a mini-lesson on marketing or a whole class discussion on what it means to launch.

I tend to brace against the idea of lecturing. It conjures up images of a crowded hall and a professor droning on and on while we sit in the audience feverishly taking notes. But lectures aren't inherently bad. After all, I love a good podcast or TED Talk. I regularly deliver keynotes for conferences, school districts, and universities. Great direct instruction is often an act of storytelling. It's exciting and fun. The following are a few ideas for how to keep direct instruction engaging for students:

Keep direct instruction interesting. Some of the best direct instruction involves storytelling. It's engaging and motivating. You might have visuals or videos you use to tap into student interests.

Make direct instruction interactive. You might use game-based learning or simulations to teach a concept. You might add pair-share and discussion activities to break up what would traditionally be a lecture. Or you might add a TPR (total physical response) to the front-loading of vocabulary. But the idea is to give students the opportunity to make sense out of the information and build on their prior knowledge.

Tie the direct instruction to the larger project. Help students to see that the direct instruction will help them understand the concepts or develop the skills they will need in their project.

Ultimately, there's a time and a place for direct instruction within PBL. A student-centered approach does not require us to ditch all things "teacher-directed." Sometimes, the most authentic, student-centered approach might just be a quality direct instruction mini-lesson. Direct instruction can feel less authentic. However, it might just be what students need in order to gain the skills and conceptual understanding needed to access a project - and if that's not authentic, I don't know what is.

Are you thinking about getting started with project-based learning? If so, you might want to check out the PBL toolkit. It includes resources, a free eBook, and a sample project.

If you're interested in learning more about PBL, fill out this form below and get the toolkit. You might also want to check out this PBL webinar or the PBL Master Course and use the coupon code Spencer to get 20% off.

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Direct Instruction Is Still Necessary in a PBL Classroom

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Early on in my project-based learning journey, I made a vow to go 100% project-based. My students would learn everything through exploration and discovery. I would remain the guide on the side observing the process and helping out only when necessary. After leading students through a highly-structured documentary project, I decided to pull back entirely.

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Kindergarten-1st grade

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Building Empathy through Math

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Building Empathy through Math Sample (version 2)

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Building Empathy through Math Sample (version 2)

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Building Empathy through Math sample

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Periodic Table of Classroom

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7th Grade ELA/SS

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How can I as an entrepreneur run a restaurant....

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How can my contributions lead to a positive community?

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How can we make our community more beautiful through lines?

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Presentation with Feedback

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What is space? How does space impact our lives?

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The process of learning as described by a student.

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The process of learning as described by a student.

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Students carry these around when giving feedback to each other

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How PBL creates a Culturally Responsive Classroom

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How PBL creates a Culturally Responsive Classroom

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Project-based learning (PBL) is starting to catch on across the country and it's important that we understand why it works. As we look for answers to close the opportunity gap, for our historically oppressed groups in society, it's useful to see the connections between PBL and culturally responsive teaching (CRT). Both CRT and PBL push us to teach deeply, be relevant, and develop skills. They also redefine the student to teacher relationship and change the learning process.

But why does it work?

After reading Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, by Zaretta Hammond, three years ago, I see the justification for so many of our educational reforms and initiatives. Not all (Open Court, hyper testing, double Math and English) but PBL is one of them and it is very culturally responsive! Culturally responsive teaching is the ability to "recognize students' cultural displays of learning," the "use of cultural knowledge as a scaffold," the promotion of "effective information processing," all while teachers are "being in relationship and having a social-emotional connection" with students (pp 15, Hammond).

However, be advised, PBL can be done in a culturally non-responsive way, such as:

The project is tacked in at the end of a unit or made optional

The question comes from the teacher or the textbook

There is only one answer and diverse viewpoints are suppressed

Projects are done individually and overly competitive

Students become focused on the product and not the skills

Students are not prompted to reflect on their learnings about the process

The content is not relevant to youth, students or color, or the present day

Here are 5 culturally responsive reasons for doing PBL:

1) Students do the heavy lifting in PBL

PBL puts student inquiry at the center of the learning, propelled by curiosity. Instead of teachers spoon feeding students, what Paulo Freire would call the banking approach to education, PBL asks students to research and present their learning. Students become the experts and teachers become supporters. Additionally, teachers facilitate these learning spaces, add fuel to the fire, and keep the party going.

Zaretta Hammond writes about engaging students by putting them in a "productive struggle" in order to create more independent learners. Students need to "chew" on the content and use cognitive routines to develop deep understanding.

This directly connects with the High-Quality Project Based Learning Framework (HQPBL). One component is "intellectual challenge" where students "investigate problems" and "focus on concepts, knowledge, and skills." The days of memorizing dates, facts, and names are long gone.

We have spent decades crippling students and making them dependent on teachers. We have wasted their time with worksheets, fill in the blank questions, and copying definitions. We have dumbed it down, especially for our students of color. But they are capable of much more and PBL can make that happen.

2) PBL starts with a hook and sparks curiosity

The brain pays attention to, "something relevant, something that stimulates curiosity, or something that elicits a strong emotional response. Picture, puzzles, sound, and other attention getters..." (pp 125) This is the hook, project launch, or entry event. It can be a cultural reference or an artifact.

PBL is best kicked off with a provocative question, a challenge, or better yet, a controversy. This gets students excited, intrigued, and drives the learning. The brain will be locked in. The HQPBL Framework calls this students engaging in "work that makes an impact on or otherwise connects to the world beyond school, and to their personal interests and concerns." What else matters?

Organizations like New Tech Network call this an entry event or entry task. This should kick off authentic research. It helps to have a crafty essential question or controversial news clip.

3) PBL allows for an authentic application of knowledge

"The brain has 5-10 minutes to begin processing the input" and this is where we use "movement, repetition, story, metaphor, or music to help the brain to process." (pp 126). Later, we have "24-48 hours to revisit, review, and apply..." (pp 127). This is where projects come in! Get them creating!

Further, Bloom's Taxonomy was recently revised to place creation at the top of the pyramid, instead of evaluation. Why, because it's where the learning happens. Stop saying you don't have time for it. That's like saying you don't have time to ensure student truly learn the content. This creation connects with Hammond's discussion of the "elaboration of knowledge". Our brains want to make meaning by organizing content into existing understanding and doing something new and different with the information.

One goal of PBL is to develop 21st century and common core skills more deeply. Students will need these skills in higher education and their future jobs. The vehicle is PBL and the approach is culturally responsive. Students should do something with their knowledge, and something that doesn't have an easy answer.

4) PBL harnesses collectivism

Collaboration is coded into our culture, the way we learn best, and kids already love to socialize. Here's a contrast between individualism and collectivism, followed by a study of the level of collectivism in various cultures.

This chart would suggest that only some groups benefit from group work, structured student talk, and discussion. However, even our European and Northern Asian descendants will benefit by developing collaboration skills. These are the "soft skills" now desired by today's workforce and definitely necessary for anyone hoping to lead any group of people.

True PBL requires students to talk, work in groups, and make meaning of academic language. This "chewing on the content" and translating it back and forth between students, allows students to put knowledge in their long-term memory. It also builds literacy and academic vocabulary.

Group work also reduces the "amygdala hijack" caused by having to perform in front of the whole class, at the pace of the students who raise their hands first. We know that kids love to work together and we know that adults are required to do this. Productive teamwork releases oxytocin, priming the brain to learn.
It also builds the relationship between the teacher and students, through partnership and a breakdown in the traditional hierarchy. See this summary of building learning partnerships with students, from Hammond's ready for rigor framework.

5) Extra Credit: PBL empowers students to address social justice issues
Learning for the sake of learning is not good enough, and not engaging. We've seen this. A student with their head down or checked out. Students are demanding to know why any of this matters, especially as they see societal contradictions surrounding them. So let's get them applying their content and skills!

Critical pedagogues like Freire wrote that we can engage and best educate oppressed students by supported them to act upon their society. PBL, done with a lens towards critical pedagogy pushes/invites students to attempt to solve our most difficult challenges (immigration, poverty, pollution, police brutality, globalization).

This empowers students to take action on their world, with a charge to make it better. Oppressed students just might realize their true power, engage in their learning, and get access to higher education. They can hold our country accountable to its ideals and offer a solution we haven't considered. What if?

What Leaders Can Do

Read about Culturally Responsive Teaching, or better yet, attend a workshop

Learn about PBL by reading Transforming Schools with PBL by Bob Lenz or attending NTAC or PBL World. (See books and conferences)

Check out Cult of Pedagogy's PBL overview

Review the Framework for High-Quality Project Based Learning

Try to create your own PBL unit

Form a PLC at your school focused on PBL

Weave CRT and PBL elements into your staff PD and highlight your pedagogical moves

Create space for staff to reflect on the mental models, bias about education, and privilege

Want to learn more about PBL? Check out our books.

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5 Things That Make Project-Based Learning Culturally Responsive

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Project-based learning (PBL) is starting to catch on across the country and it's important that we understand why it works. As we look for answers to close the opportunity gap, for our historically oppressed groups in society, it's useful to see the connections between PBL and culturally responsive teaching (CRT).

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Students Use Tuning Protocol for Critique & Revision in PBL

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A 9th grade biology teacher explains how students use a formative assessment tool to improve their work in a project on diseases.

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Student Reflections at the End of a Project

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Student Reflections at the End of a Project

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Springtime brings about change and a time for reflection. As adults, we think of what we can do differently, both personally and professionally, to better ourselves. More specifically as educators, we reflect on the student growth that we have seen and make adjustments to maximize the months before summer vacation.

I am a fifth grade teacher at Goshen Post Elementary School in Aldie, Virginia. We are a brand new PBL school and create authentic learning experiences for every child, every day. Prior to this year, I always thought that a PBL project was a one time "event." I now realize PBL is embedded throughout all content areas and throughout the day, and gives students the opportunity to become contributors to the world.

As I reflect on my new PBL journey and how far I have come since the start of the school year, one of my favorite days in class was the day that my students and I reflected on a PBL project we had just wrapped up. Our driving question was "How can we as stewards of the ocean, advocate for the protection of sharks?" The students researched the importance of sharks in maintaining a balanced ecosystem. They created elevator pitches in collaborative groups and had the opportunity to present to Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. The power behind their public product and authentic audience empowered them to always be advocates for what they believe to be right.

How I Managed Student Reflection

I knew that reflection was an important piece of the PBL process, but what happened in this project just sealed the deal on how important it truly is. I was curious what the students thought of the project. What went well? What could we make even better for our next project?

After each project we have always reflected collectively as a class. With each project, I give the students more responsibility. I knew they were ready for more in-depth reflection, so I put posters on the wall gallery style, with one of the four questions below written on top. The students silently walked around the classroom, reflecting and writing answers to the questions on post-it notes which they stuck onto the posters. It only took about 20 minutes and their responses blew me away, so I want to share their thoughts--thoughts I may not have otherwise learned, had I not taken the risk of trying something new in my classroom.

In all we do there should be purpose.We set up our classrooms with purpose, meetings with purpose, and our PBL projects with purpose.Most students responded in reference to our driving question: "We advocated for the protection of sharks".Although some found the purpose to be the importance of learning and reflected that they were "researchers" while others felt the purpose to be that they were now more like "scientists" and questioning more.

With purpose we need to determine how we will reach our end goal. The process for one student was, "Better understanding the elements of PBL" and another student "Felt the process led them to who they became because of the project." Which leads me to my favorite question.

We all want to become better. We want our students to not only grow academically, but we want them to become what they never thought possible. While PBL focuses on content, it also focuses on giving children the ability to become lifelong learners and see themselves growing in a different light. The students now saw themselves as researchers, communicators, critical thinkers, collaborators, and creators, just to name a few!

Finally, my favorite part of the PBL journey is the takeaway. Because of this project what can my students apply to their daily lives and for the rest of their lives? They 100% agreed that they became advocates and in their own words, they now can "communicate for a cause."

Take Time to Reflect!

As I reflect on this lesson, I have come to understand that reflection is a critical component of active learning. It should not only occur at the end of the school year or at the end of a project, but throughout the journey. Imagine how much deeper the learning experience may be if we allow our students to reflect throughout the process!

I still have a lot to reflect on, but I do plan on making these questions a permanent part of my PBL classroom culture. Giving students the opportunity to reflect on their work has proven to increase their empathy towards others, deepen their learning, and increase their drive to make a difference in their world.

I hope your takeaway is that you provide time for yourself and students to reflect on your PBL experiences. Do not wait for the project to end. Imagine how different your journey may be if you take the time to reflect today. It's powerful!
Want to learn more about PBL? Check out our books. Register now for PBL World 2019.

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Springtime brings about change and a time for reflection. As adults, we think of what we can do differently, both personally and professionally, to better ourselves. More specifically as educators, we reflect on the student growth that we have seen and make adjustments to maximize the months before summer vacation.

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SchoolWide PBL Exhibitions--Not just about the Student

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SchoolWide PBL Exhibitions--Not just about the Student

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Each year in the spring, like most schools around this country, we prepare for and take "the test." Some traditional schools see this as the end goal, the pinnacle of the year, but at my school we believe there is an even more important event that happens in May: Exhibition Night! This event replaces a traditional Open House and does away with passive parents walking through their child's classroom, looking at only their work, checking things to see off of a checklist. It's a chance for parents, community members and partners, neighboring schools, (and even some PBLWorks staff) to congregate on our campus to see almost all of our 530 students sharing their learning and project work-all on the same night! Sounds exciting, right?

We know that public product and authentic audience are key components in high quality Project Based Learning, and the deeper learning community believes that all students deserve to exhibit their work in an authentic way. When done right, we see students beaming with pride, transferring their knowledge to new applications, and realizing they can soar even higher than they previously thought. It's the secret sauce.

But with all the focus on students, we often don't consider the adult experience. Exhibition Night is stressful! How do we coordinate all of these grade-level projects into one cohesive event? What if people don't show up? What if we open our doors and it isn't as amazing as we'd dreamed? What if students haven't created beautiful work?

These fears make sense, so there are a few things I'd like you to consider based on our experience at Katherine Smith Elementary School.

Designing Builds Professional Culture

Early in our PBL journey, Dr. Gina Olabuenaga, then a National Faculty member and now director of curriculum at PBLWorks, helped us establish our vision for what Exhibition Night could be. She used a "Back to the Future" protocol and asked us to write narratives as if the event just ended, describing in great detail how and why we were so elated with the outcomes. We then shared them with cross grade level triads and our partners listened for key details. In the whole group share out, we determined non-negotiables for the evening, we worked through logistics, we shared our fears and excitement. We created a sense of shared ownership and professional culture that exists to this day... and the event hadn't even happened yet!

Embrace the Chaos

The week before exhibition will be crazy. There will be glue and paint all over the place and your students will be moving at breakneck speed to put on finishing touches to displays, props, sets, signage, etc. Your colleagues will be feeling the same way, but take advantage of the shared experience. What a perfect opportunity to build empathy with one another, to share your expertise in supporting the projects in other classrooms, and collectively reflect on how you may design the project more intentionally the next go around.

Don't Hide the Failures

As teachers, we want all students to experience success, especially when sharing work with their families. While we do need to consider and plan scaffolds for the project deliverables for our students, don't feel like you have to hide the uh-ohs, the incompletes, or the not-good-enoughs. Our pride as teachers makes us want to take full ownership over a student or group that presents incomplete work, but remember, building resilience requires discomfort. It may require acknowledging disappointment in lack of effort. We need to let students experience these feelings and make sure they know they will have another chance to improve with the next project.

Connect Parents with Purpose and Process

There is no better way to make parents feel connected to your school than opening your doors. Send flyers and emails home to let parents know why it's so important they attend. Create structures where parents and visitors are encouraged to see more than just their child or group. Have students wear stickers that prompt visitors to "Ask me about..." Make sure you include feedback opportunities in multiple languages because Exhibition Night is not just about demonstrating learning, it's about educating the community about Project Based Learning and showing them why our children need to learn this way.

Exhibitions are scary, but I encourage you to take the risk. Some will be better than others, but as adults, we need to embrace the "ideal graduate" outcomes we want for our students and trust the process. We need to walk the walk and be public. Trust me, it's worth it.

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School-Wide PBL Exhibitions: Not Just About the Students

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Each year in the spring, like most schools around this country, we prepare for and take "the test." Some traditional schools see this as the end goal, the pinnacle of the year, but at my school we believe there is an even more important event that happens in May: Exhibition Night!

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Getting Students Ready to Present in front of the Classroom

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Getting Students Ready to Present in front of the Classroom

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How to Prepare Students for Explaining Their Work in Public

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A teacher explains how he uses discussion protocols during projects, plus presentation scripts and small-group audiences to ease the pressure.

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Sharing the PROCESS of learning, not just the PROJECT

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Sharing the PROCESS of learning, not just the PROJECT

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Picture yourself at one of those events where you've invited families to come in and see what your students created during a PBL unit. Enter the oohs and aahs as they peruse all the well-polished finished products. It's all very rewarding to see it all come together. But wait. Do you ever wonder if they really understand just how much work went into making that happen? Do the displays or presentations show the struggles that occurred during team work time or the great moments of discovery students experienced as they dug into engaging investigations? Are you helping the audience better understand what Project Based Learning is, or are you just sharing the big "things" students created?

At the end of a PBL unit, it's pretty common to show off student work at some kind of showcase or performance that families are invited to attend. Perhaps you even open these presentations up to a wider community audience. Sharing their products gives meaning to students' work and offers them an audience, but if you're not sharing the process as well, you are missing out on a powerful learning opportunity for the audience and, more importantly, for your students. Lots of incredible work happens throughout the unit and uncovering that rigor and depth for your audience has great benefits.

What does "share the process" mean?

When students to share the process, they tell the story of the PBL unit. They explain the learning that happened along the way. They may detail the lessons, talk about guests who came in or field work they did, explain how the products came together, the feedback they received, what they did independently and what happened in teams. All of it. And we're not just talking about academic content here. The content is important, but so is all the learning, including what students discovered about themselves along the way-what their strengths are and where they still have room for growth. Sharing the process allows students to reflect on all of the rich learning experiences, the questions that came up, the successes and the stumbles throughout the unit.

What needs to happen during the PBL unit to make this possible?

An important element of Gold Standard PBL is reflection. This calls for "students and teachers (to) reflect on the learning, the effectiveness of their inquiry and project activities, the quality of student work, and obstacles that arise and strategies for overcoming them." When reflection is happening throughout the unit, sharing their reflection with an audience at the end will be very natural to students, and they'll be more in tune to their successes and areas for growth. Written reflections are helpful so they can refer back to their own thoughts when it is time to look back on the whole unit at the end.

During the unit, you will likely make anchor charts and offer resources to your students, including things like learning materials and rubrics. A project wall is a great place to display everything, and these artifacts help to tell the story. Post your driving question and consider even sharing your project planning documents. Sharing your process as the educator is important too! Don't forget to take pictures throughout the unit. You'll want to capture the work in progress, students collaborating, guests that came in, field trips... all of it.

How will this all look during the showcase?

As the unit is wrapping up, you will want to set aside some time to revisit all the work students have done. Start on the first day when the project launched and record all of the milestones along the way until you reach present time. For younger students, writing down all the steps is especially helpful.

Rearrange your project wall to reflect the unit in order like a timeline. If you have written out the steps, maybe even hang those below the artifacts on the wall and add in the pictures you took so guests can actually see what took place. Treat it like a museum exhibit of your project. Set up tables with drafts of their products, prototypes and other planning documents like storyboards or graphic organizers. Include student notebooks open to key pages and display the books you read during the study, too. Students can literally point to these things as they talk to guests about their experiences throughout the unit, and they can serve as visual prompts for guests, which helps them ask better questions about the body of work.

While students are planning out what they'll say related to their products, they should also plan out how they will share about the process. An end of unit reflection might include a challenge the student had, a success, something meaningful they learned about the content, something they learned about themselves and a goal for future work. You may also want them to share revisions they made based on feedback and even detail their steps if they've used the engineering design or design thinking process. All of these are great to share during the showcase, so the final reflection can serve double duty. Remember that for many families, this whole PBL thing is quite different from what they experienced in school. Part of our job is to help them better understand the work students are doing today. This supports that understanding in a powerful way.

When your students share both their products and their process, they solidify all the learning that occurred within the unit. Those experiences take on greater meaning and they are better able to articulate why the work they are doing really matters. They know their strengths and have a clear understanding of where they can grow.

What are some ways you can share the process next time you open up your classroom for a PBL showcase?

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Don't Just Share the Products, Highlight the PBL Process

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Picture yourself at one of those events where you've invited families to come in and see what your students created during a PBL unit. Enter the oohs and aahs as they peruse all the well-polished finished products. It's all very rewarding to see it all come together. But wait.

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Design Thinking and PBL Mashup (Another one!)

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Design Thinking and PBL Mashup (Another one!)

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Inherent in Project Based Learning is the design thinking process that questions, opens up, builds, iterates, tests and redesigns, then starts all over again. There are many models of design thinking; it is a process that is always developing and changing. As Karl Fast states in his recent article, ' The Fundamental Job of Design is not Great Design " it's about integration, transformation and evolution. In other words, it's about learning, developing and growing.

I recently tried a design thinking activity with students that would be a great way to prepare them for PBL, because it engaged them in thinking differently and critically, and allowed us to talk about what it meant. I wove the learning process underlying design thinking with parallel elements of Gold Standard PBL -and, most engaging of all, we used Legos!
Here are the stepping stones down the design path:
Step 1.

Start with the question, "How might we...?" and then fill in the blank depending on your subject matter. So, for an 8th-10th grade science class, I used, "How might we think about or design for the future of technology?"

Sounds vague, right? Yes, it is vague, and embracing the ambiguity and realizing there is a benefit to the unknown as a point of discovery is the point. It's like the purpose of the entry event and driving question in PBL: to get students out of their comfort zone and thinking!

Step 2.

Have students construct something in groups. Think about appropriate and available design elements you can use-such as, in my case, pipe cleaners, paper clips, string and Legos. I set up 5 baskets of 100 Legos each, and gave students the following instructions:

Form groups of 5 or 7 people.

Individually pick out 10 pieces of any Legos.

Pool your Legos as a group and get to work designing your idea for what may be emerging in the future of technology.

This step incorporates Gold Standard PBL's element of "student voice and choice" and emphasis on collaboration. It also mirrors what happens in design thinking when people learn and collaborate with others while observing differences.

This stage naturally leads to quickly experimenting in different ways, strategically moving the Legos around, letting all voices be incorporated into the design process.
Quite naturally, students find insights, common and not so common ground as specific challenges, problems and questions arise. These questions are the golden nuggets of experiential learning and are at the heart of design thinking as well as PBL. Questions of, "What if ...", "How might we...", "What about..." are all posed as ways to think differently, even if unplanned.

Step 3.

Introduce an option. I told the teams they could choose 5 more Lego pieces to incorporate into their design-an opportunity every team jumped on, now that they knew a little more about their design process and ideas. They were in fact expanding on the design, which is inherent to design thinking and reflects the process of creating a public product in Gold Standard PBL.

Step 4.

Present designed pieces/products for critique and revision. This is the design testing phase. Each group, presenting to me and peers, communicated their concept, their strategy in building out their idea, the benefit of their design and the knowledge they shared getting to that point. The feedback started with, "What I like about that is..." before critique of each Lego design, followed by pointed questions from the class.

Step 5.

Have students reflect and iterate their product, by incorporating the suggestions and opinions of others who see value in the team's design.

Step 6.

Switch up teams and do it again. After a good amount of reflection on not only how they answered the open-ended question, but also the design process, it's worthwhile to put Legos back, switch up teams, build something again, and reflect on the process.

This kind of activity could be used for any grade level. By clearly stating a learning outcome to achieve, the question to design for (vagueness is good as it reflects what we encounter every day), defining the parameters of the groups, the timing of the exercise, and allowing sufficient time for reflection, you've strategically introduced the kind of thinking and working used in PBL with the overlay of design thinking. You've created an exciting opportunity for your students to practice a myriad of skills starting with listening, collaboration, creativity, empathy and reflection.

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6 Steps to Practicing Design Thinking in PBL

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Inherent in Project Based Learning is the design thinking process that questions, opens up, builds, iterates, tests and redesigns, then starts all over again. There are many models of design thinking; it is a process that is always developing and changing.

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When I help science teachers plan PBL units, I often suggest using the scientific method as a framework for the flow of their projects. It starts with inquiry, is cyclical in its process, and encourages presenting the results at the end.

Similarly, when I work with schools teaching engineering, such as those using Project Lead the Way, I suggest using the engineering cycle. It starts with inquiry, is cyclical in its process, and encourages presenting the results at the end.

When I started learning about the Project Based Learning process more than 10 years ago, PBL was seen as the future of education-something every educator would be using by the year 2020. At that point in time, PBL had been around for a long time already; it wasn't a new thing. In 2019 there are more and more teachers across the United States and internationally using PBL, but it is far from the norm.

Here we are in 2019 and the "next big thing in education" has come along: design thinking. However, as with the scientific method and the engineering design cycle, design thinking shouldn't be seen as something that is separate from the PBL process. Instead we should be teaching students to take a design thinking approach to the process of maneuvering through their projects.

Marrying Design Thinking with PBL

Utilizing the design thinking process from the Stanford d.School, we can marry its five modes to the seven Essential Project Design Elements in PBLWorks' model for Gold Standard PBL: Challenging Problem or Question, Sustained Inquiry, Authenticity, Student Voice & Choice, Reflection, Critique & Revision, and Public Product. How would this work?

1. We start with the "Empathize" mode. We want our students to be asking, "Why are we doing the project?" They should be considering questions such as, "Who cares, and why?", "What has been done before?", and, "How might we create a solution to this problem?". These questions don't always come up when students generate "need to know" questions for inquiry in a PBL unit-but would become standard in every NTK list with a design thinking overlay.

2. In the "Define" mode, students rethink the problem, based upon what they discovered in the empathy mode. Additional NTK's might be generated based upon this new thinking. Students do a final framing of the task(s) at hand and start creating a list of what their team needs to get done to successfully complete the project.

3. In the "Ideate" mode students try to generate alternative solutions to the central problem. In some projects the scope can be very narrow and this phase might not be very significant. In other projects, with a wide scope, this mode could be critical to finding the best solution to the problem. When done right, the ideate mode can help the team get rid of the obvious solutions right away so that more innovative solutions can be uncovered. This mode could dramatically push the inquiry process along if done well.

4. Next is the "Prototype" mode. When we hear the word prototype we often think of a scaled model of the final product. But in the DT process, according to the d.School, it can be "... a wall of post-it notes, a role-playing activity, a space, an object, an interface, or even a storyboard." Once again we can see key components of the PBL process-inquiry, reflection-all coming into play in the creation of the prototypes.

5. The final "Test" mode is the one section expected to be iterative. Critique and revision reside in this mode. The d.School tells us, "Prototype as if you know you are right, but test as if you know you're wrong." We want students to be getting peer and teacher feedback that will help them create the best final product. When there is a safe classroom that allows for impactful feedback from peers and adults, the prototyping and testing will be at a high level. This, in turn, will lead to products that are of the highest quality.

Authenticity Promotes Empathy

With a challenging problem that is truly authentic, students will see the importance of building empathy. Empathy with their real-world audience or end-user helps students focus on what the real problem is that needs attention. With their problem clearly defined, they will find themselves invested in inquiry as they are ideating solutions or products.

DT + PBL = Getting a Job

Using a design thinking framework in a PBL unit makes sense. And, more importantly, it will help students go deeper with their learning. If we are overt with calling out the parts of the design thinking process as we are progressing through projects, students will benefit from understanding how the design thinking process works. Then, when future employers want to know what they have experience with design thinking, they can talk about managing projects and the design thinking process they used. That might just make the difference in getting a foot in the door!

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Supporting PBL with a Design Thinking Framework

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How the 5 steps in the design thinking process align with PBL-and how making students aware of it could help them in job interviews.

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Display of project milestones used in project planning

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Sample Tuning Protocol Video (great for staff)

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6-8 ELA Common Core Alligned

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CCSS Aligned for ELA

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CCSS Aligned for ELA

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Plan for students on what a successful presentation looks like

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2019 Version

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Did the American Revolution have more than two sides?

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What makes someone a community hero?

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How can we redesign a public space to make it more environmentally sustainable?

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How can we, as photojournalists, tell the untold stories of our community?

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How do businesses be financially successful?

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How can we as historians uncover and share stories about our communities?

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How can we use light and sound to communicate different kinds of feelings without words?

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How can we help new friends get to know our community?

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How can we plan and prepare a meal to feed people in our community?

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How can we design a tiny house that meets the needs of our clients?

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How can we as historians design an interactive digital tool that demonstrate's our local community's influence on a period in history?

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PBLWorks - Detailed Project Resources - History in Pictures

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How can we use music to communicate about characters and themes in a story?

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What stories do we have to tell?

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PBLWorks - Detailed Project Resources -The Moth_1

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How can we impact hunger in our community?

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PBLWorks - Detailed Project Resources - Hunger_0

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Which is better; the book or the movie?

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PBLWorks - Detailed Project Resources - Creative License

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What masks do we wear to go about our daily lives?

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Gold Standard PBL Checklist

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Feedback for project tuning

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Designing PBL Project, MAKE A COPY!!!

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Structured protocol that allows students/teachers to present, receive feedback, and reflect

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Video on students giving critique and feedback

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Austin's Butterfly: Building Excellence in Student Work

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Ron Berger from EL Education demonstrates the transformational power of models, critique, and descriptive feedback to improve student work. Here he tells the story of Austin's Butterfly. First-grade students at ANSER Charter School in Boise, ID, helped Austin take a scientific illustration of a butterfly through multiple drafts toward a high-quality final product.

This video accompanies the book Leaders of Their Own Learning: Transforming Schools through Student-Engaged Assessment.

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Designed for releasing emotion and having hard conversations in which listening is key, not responding.

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Contains video explaining the Tubric

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Designing driving Questions

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Question Stems for developing for PBL Essential Question

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Too often, teachers tell students exactly what they need to learn instead of guiding students with questions. Essential questions (also known as "driving questions") create authentic learning experiences to engage and motivate students. With strong essential questions, you'll never hear students ask "why are we doing this?"

The most engaging questions are open-ended and require research. They also give students choice by allowing them to align their learning with their own passions and interests. Essential questions are a key element of project-based learning, so we've outlined 14 essential question stems to help you get started.

2. How can _______ be applied to ________? 3. How can _______ change ________? 4. How would you design a new _______? 5. How does _________ affect __________? 6. What impact did/does __________ have on ________?
8. How do/does __________ impact my community? 9. What is the relationship between _________ and ___________? 10. What would __________ be without __________?
12. How can you use __________ to inspire ________? 13. What if _______________?
What if you could go back in time, what would you change?
What if America did not have a public school system?
What if the world lost the internet for one year?
How can you use poetry to inspire change?
How can you use storytelling to inspire people take better care of the environment?
How can you use science to inspire people to eat healthier food? What would our school be without classrooms?
What would the Earth's climate be like without the atmosphere?
What would the world be without art?
What is the relationship between geometry and architecture?
What is the relationship between economics and history?
What is the relationship between transportation and trade?
How does racism impact my community?
How does the food grown in our region impact what people eat?
How does geography impact my community? What impact did humans have on the environment during the 20th century?
What impact does war have on art?
What impact did the media have on the 2016 U.S. Presidential election?
How does immigration affect communities around the world?
How does fake news affect our community?
How does food affect our daily lives?
How would you design a new school?
How would you design a new system to purify water?
How would you design a new flag for your community?
How can individuals change their communities?
How can fashion change culture?
How can the human behavior change the environment?
How can geometry skills be applied to cartography?
How can economics be applied in our daily lives?
How can ethics be applied to solve environmental problems? 1. How can ______ improve _______?
How can studying flags improve our understanding of communities around the world?
How can robotics improve the healthcare industry?
How can access to clean water improve communities in developing nations?

7. What makes a good/effective _________?
What makes a good flag?
What makes an effective school?
What makes an effective robot?

11. If you were in charge of ____________, what would you change?
If you were in charge of our school, what would you change?
If you were in charge of our national parks, what would you change?
If you were in charge of Facebook, what would you change?

14. How might your community change if ______________?
How might your community change if it were twice as big?
How might your community change if it rained everyday for a year?
How might your community change if every person were given $1 million?

Seeing the different ways students approach an essential question is one of the most rewarding parts of project-based learning, and you'll get to learn a lot about the learners in your class! Engage students through project-based learning by providing them with great PBL essential questions, then watch them dive in and take control of their own learning.

Additional Resources
How to Write Effective Driving Questions for Project-Based Learning
Driving Questions in Project-Based Learning

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PBL: Easy Essential Question Stems for Project Based Learning

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Question stems to help you craft the best essential questions for PBL. Improve PBL driving questions with these question stems.

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Further develop ideas in a short amount of time.

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Use this protocol to brainstorm ideas for Projects or gathering a large amount of ideas in a short amount of time.

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What helps teachers grow? What are next steps to support that growth?