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As a result of the addition of MakerSpaces in select libraries in Denton ISD, students are provided with an environment in which they are provided the opportunity to learn through play and experimentation. Students are honing their problem solving skills through various activities; many of which are different than traditional problem-solving assessments given in classes.They are encouraged to create products to demonstrate learning about various topics.

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Shawn Canney

English Teacher- PBL American Discourse and Drama and ADE 

I have been a high school English teacher for 15 years. Every year, I try to do something a little different because I like learning from the process. After teaching AP Literature for a while, I became an AP Reader. Then, I presented at a national conference. I feel that I need to grow and develop every year. By the time I read Julius Caesar aloud in class for the 55th time, it was time for a change. That's why my new school was a project-based learning school.

The First Try

To be honest, I had not heard the term PBL until the job interview. I went through a week of in-depth training and met with some veteran PBL teachers. The idea sounded great in theory -- creating projects that helped students learn educational concepts. The first unit that I created taught the basic elements of writing through analyzing advertising campaigns. Students selected a product, determined the target audience, and then had to rebrand the product and create an advertisement directed at a new target audience. I spent a lot of time putting the unit together, and I thought it was pretty good.

I wish I could say that it went well, but it did not. I tried to embrace the idea of exploration and let the project grow organically. I wanted the students to discover things for themselves. I floated around the room to answer specific questions about the assignment, and I worked to make sure that students were on task. Some finished the assignment pretty quickly, but others were still in the early stages when the project was nearly due. For their presentations, I got a friend who works in marketing to come in and provide feedback for their finished commercials (the authentic audience component of PBL). Out of 12 groups, only two were able to present by the end of the period, and they were scrambling to get their presentation together at the last minute. I felt like a failure.

The next day, the students and I had a pretty good dialogue about the process. Many said that they felt embarrassed because they were not ready to present. It turned into a real teachable moment for both my students and myself. Many of them said that they felt overwhelmed by the assignment because it was so broad. I realized that I had made some judgmental errors as well. This productive discussion made me realize that I had learned a lot from that first project.

6 Lessons Learned

My school is on the 4x4 block, so I made the following changes in January, and I am happy to say that the projects became a lot better. Here are the lessons that I learned.

1. Set clear goals.

In order to be successful, the students have to know what is expected of them. If you can, save projects from previous units to model your expectations.

2. Over plan.

One of the great things about PBL is that it has differentiated instruction built into it. Students move at their own pace and ask questions when they don't understand something. The second time I assigned this project, I also had my students read an outside novel for homework. Those who finished tasks early could then read or work on something else instead of hanging out and distracting others.

3. Make students accountable for their time.

I had students share their work with me through Google Docs so that I could see their progress on a daily basis. One group didn't want to use the school-issued laptops, so I took pictures of their handwritten documents with my phone. One way or another, I was able to see progress every day.

4. Give concrete deadlines for products.

This helps make a project seem like a goal that can be accomplished. I added steps to be completed by the end of each day. When every step was completed, the project was done. My students knew what deliverables were due each and every day.

5. Share rubrics in advance.

Rubrics help give your students insight into the design of the project. This helps them understand what they should be taking away from the experience. For example, when my students had to write essays about their projects, they were kind of lost. They were summarizing instead of analyzing, so my second rubric listed terms and devices that I wanted to see in their essays.

6. Reflect on what you are doing.

One reason why the project went smoothly the second time was because I took notes about the positives and the negatives the first time that we did the project. Reflection and bouncing ideas off your peers can help solve problems before they arise.

As I stated earlier, I grow and develop each year. I am interested to hear of any additional practices or tips that other PBL teachers maybe utilizing as well. Let me know what works in your classroom!

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Learning by Doing: A Teacher Transitions Into PBL

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Shawn Canney English Teacher- PBL American Discourse and Drama and ADE  I have been a high school English teacher for 15 years. Every year, I try to do something a little different because I like learning from the process. After teaching AP Literature for a while, I became an AP Reader.

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When my kids were somewhere around seven and eleven years old, they wanted a go-kart. A few kids in the neighborhood had them and so my children wanted one. I found a used go-kart, bought a new engine for it, fixed up the seat, added new tires, and before long we were riding up and down our dead-end road.

When I think back on this experience, I am sure I was reliving my own childhood dreams and frustrations. When I was eleven, I also wanted a go-kart. In my case I was more enamored with the soapbox derby karts I had seen through scouting. However, I knew there was no way my dad was going to buy one or even build one. So I made my own. I scrounged wheels from old lawnmowers. I picked up wood scraps off local construction trash piles. I borrowed my dad's tools. I learned a lot of physics building those childhood karts. For example, I learned that a nail was great for connecting wood to wood. I also learned that that same nail would not sustain the wear and tear of being used to hold a wheel on. In fact, nailing four wheels to a 2×4 frame and thinking they would still be there if/when you reached the bottom of a hill proved to be pure folly. I also learned that nailing a crude stick to the side of your kart to create a handbrake was more folly. I worked on these problems. In looking at pictures of go-karts, I saw they often used an axle to hold the wheels. So I sought out steel rods to hold my wheels. Unable to solve my brake design, I at least recognized the need to have room to coast to a stop.

Building go-karts was only one aspect of the "maker" nature of my childhood. Modeling was a huge aspect of my play. With money from a paper route, I bought and built many plastic models. I asked for model trains and racecar sets for Christmas and birthdays. I designed elaborate layouts, solved electrical problems, and built homemade scenery. Later I moved to model airplanes made from balsa wood that were powered by a small engine and flew in circles with control lines. I learned about fuel systems, carburetors, and different types of glue. I learned about lift and drag. I would often start with a ready-to-build kit, but soon I turned to designing my own planes. Some flew. Some just crashed. In junior high "shop" class, I learned about leatherwork, basic drafting, foundry, and woodwork ... by making things. I took architecture in high school. I was embedded into a basic drafting class where I spent the entire year doing an independent study of architecture. I learned as I designed and drafted a house. As a developing musician, I maintained, repaired, and even built my own instruments. I often made things out of necessity because there was no money to buy something new. I built speakers, repaired radios, and resurrected broken guitars. Each project delivered its own new learning about physics, mechanics, electronics, woodworking, etc.

As I grew older my projects grew more mature, as did my understanding of tools and physics. By the time I graduated high school, I could maintain and repair the family car. As a young man of 30, I designed and built my own workshop from scratch.

Phil Schlechty writes that learning begins with a problem or product about which the student cares. I do not need any convincing of this. It is obvious to me. It is a self-evident truth I live and experience every day.

This learning by making things has always struggled in the factory model we call public education, where the emphasis is on memorization of facts taught via direct instruction and where students often learn concepts in the abstract. I wish I could say that my schooling was supportive of my making, but in fact, it wasn't. I was left to tinker and form my own explanations when concepts revealed themselves through experience. If my science teacher had just pulled me aside and said, "Here are some formulas that might make your go-kart go faster," or explained lift and pitch and yawl to me, I would have jumped to learn these things. No one ever did. Even in my junior high shop classes, we only got to make things because "all boys need shop," not to support any project I was involved with. In fairness, my architecture teacher did give me some print resources to help me out. He really had no other choice. I was the only architecture student in a class of beginning drafters and he had no time to give me any instruction. This turned out to be a blessing as I could work to my heart's content on my house design and consult content when I needed it.

On the bright side, there are growing movements that challenge the status quo. The Schlechty Center advocates the design of engaging work that begins with a Product Focus about which the student cares. The Schlechty Center is not alone in advocating this concept. Stanford University hosts an entire strand of learning for aspiring teachers based on concepts of design. International author and educator Yong Zhao has advanced a concept called Product-Oriented Learning in his book entitled World Class Learners. The concept of Project-Based Learning has taken a foothold in many districts across America, supported by heady entities like the George Lucas Foundation and Edutopia.

And then there is the so-called "maker movement." Yes, that is an official title of a real-life movement that is committed to the concept that kids learn by making things. These people are very serious about children learning via Product Focus. They have the support of universities like Stanford and MIT. They merge the world of creative making and technology through the Internet of Things. They advocate for the creation and use of fabrication labs [FAB Labs] where 3D printers, computer-programmed carving machines, and robotics tools are commonplace. They have their own magazine entitled .

As I travel around the country with the Schlechty Center, in talking to students I find that this learning via Product Focus is still a powerful heuristic for them. In the past, I made go-karts, models, house plans, and musical creations. For twenty-first-century students, making still includes entities like the arts, woodworking, and tinkering with cars. But technology has driven a whole new world of making that includes video games, robotics, rocketry, and computer apps, to name a very few. 3D printing has taken modeling and prototyping to a whole new level.

Exciting possibilities! Keep your eyes on them. Want to know more? Read Engaging Students by Phil Schlechty, Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom by Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager, and World Class Learners by Yong Zhao.

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by Ron Wright When my kids were somewhere around seven and eleven years old, they wanted a go-kart. A few kids in the neighborhood had them and so my children wanted one. I found a used go-kart, bought a new engine for it, fixed up the seat, added new tires, and before long we were riding up ...

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Starting a School Makerspace from Scratch | Edutopia.How to Start a Makerspace When You're Broke | Knowledge Quest.What Kids Say about Maker Spaces.Makerspace Resources.Makerspace | Ideas.Makerspace Wishlist Part 4: DIY and Crafts | Renovated Learning.Makerspace Playbook School Edition.Designing a School Makerspace | Edutopia.Makerspace Expectations.Making a Makerspace: Two Weeks In | attempts at using tech effectively in education.Build a culture of learning around Makerspaces - Education Voyager.Maker Education Initiative - Every Child a Maker.Lewis and Clark Elementary: MakerSpace

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Why PBL?

Because Project Based Learning works. It engages students in learning that is deep and long-lasting. PBL can be transformative for students - especially those furthest from educational opportunity.

See the evidence and impact of PBL below...

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Because Project Based Learning works. It engages students in learning that is deep and long-lasting. PBL can be transformative for students - especially those furthest from educational opportunity. See the evidence and impact of PBL below...

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Home | Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers

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Magazine that celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.

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Sylvia Martinez - Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom

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Sylvia works in schools around the world to bring the power of authentic learning into classrooms, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) subjects. Sylvia speaks, writes, and advocates for student-centered, project-based learning, gender equity in technology, computer programming, and life-long learning.