Tota's PBL Learning Diary by Tota Economou

Me and my School

totaeco — 2016-06-15 08:42:44 UTC

Hi everyone! My name is Tota Economou and I live in Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. I am a teacher of English as a foreign language at a private secondary school called Arsakeio. My students are aged 12-18.

To get a rough idea of my school you can visit its official web site or the local blogs for Junior and Senior High school.

www.arsakeio.gr/enwww.arsakeiogt.wordpress.com

www.arsakeiolykeiothess.blogspot.gr

1.2 Why use PBL

totaeco — 2016-06-15 09:09:54 UTC

Why you think PBL is not used more widely in our education systems? What is stopping us from achieving what is outlined in the video? What are the biggest challenges we as educators face and who is stopping us from adopting the PBL approach in our classrooms?
In order to incorporate PBL in teaching, you need to look at teaching through a new perspective and adopt fresh teaching methods. This new approach will probably force teachers to get out of their comfort zone and and reconsider about the traditional teaching methodology and what they have been accustomed to so far. They have to work harder and adjust to 21st century skills.
It's a great challenge adopting PBL in our classroom since it gives a great boost to students' learning and helps them connect to the real world outside the classroom.

1.3 P2P - Reflections on our current teaching practice

totaeco — 2016-06-15 09:35:30 UTC

What teaching strategy do you use most commonly? A mixture of traditional methods and more modern approaches
What do YOU do most of the time in the classroom? Try to talk less and make students get more involved and stir their interest.
What do the students do most of the time? It certainly depends on the class, but they usually try to lay back and avoid commitment.
Do you feel your current approach could be easily complemented with a PBL approach? Yes, certainly!! I find it very challenging and inviting.
Do you sometimes have the problem that students don't remember what they "learned" the day before? How do you address this?
Unfortunately yes. I usually try to repeat, explain again, practise more, engage students in more activities, pair/group work.
Do you already use some of the PBL approaches mentioned in the video? What works, doesn't work? Why?
Not to that extent. The seating arrangement of my classroom is quite discouraging, there isn't enough room to move around.
There's is lack of advanced technological equipment, there's only one netbook with internet access.
How do you find out about your student needs and how do you incorporate this knowledge in your teaching?
By encouraging class discussions, strongly urging them to freely express themselves. I do my best to keep updated and learn about heir interests.
Finish your reflection by identifying a class and a subject topic that you teach which you can use to experiment with PBL.

1.4 Components of Good PBL

totaeco — 2016-06-15 11:53:08 UTC

5 PBL KEYS
1. real world connection 2. Core to Learning 3. Structural collaboration 4. Student driven 5. Multifaced assessment.

Which of the 5 components (or keys as they are called in the video) you feel will be the most challenging for you to realize and why. I
I strongly feel that a combination of all 5 components will be the most challenging. But since I have to select one of them, I think I'd go for COLLABORATION. My students are not used to collaborating and exchanging their personal beliefs and ideas in a civilized manner. They find it quite difficult to work as part of a team and be able to share with others. Helping my students become good listeners is a huge challenge.

1.5 The Driving Question

totaeco — 2016-06-15 12:15:04 UTC

One of the first steps in preparing a PBL approach is to identify a project question or problem, often referred to as "the driving question". Effectively, this question should be the guiding principle for the entire PBL process that you will go through with your students. The question should be open-ended, engage and inspire students by creating curiosity, and be aligned to the learning goals you would like to achieve. Take a look at the video below for an example and to get a better idea of what is meant by this.
Non-Googleable Question 1: “What does it mean to be a healthy eater?” How would you turn your school canteen into a healthy one?

Non-Googleable Question 2: “How are airplane wings constructed?” Can a plane fly without wings?

1.6 P2P - Your PBL Design: Formulating your driving question

totaeco — 2016-06-15 12:31:20 UTC

As a first step in section 1.3 you identified a class and topic which you could use to experiment with the PBL approach. Thinking about this class and topic, we would now like you to identify your driving question. Effectively, this question should be the guiding principle for the entire PBL process that you will go through with your students. Keep in mind the different criteria identified in section 1.5: the question should be open-ended, engage and inspire students by creating curiosity, be aligned to your learning goals, and at the same time be non-Googleable.
When you have come up with a good driving question post it in the peer review activity text box below, together with a bit of context about where you plan to implement it, such as the student age-range, subject, etc. and the learning goals you would like to achieve with the class (what skills, knowledge, etc. students should acquire). In order to provide some context you could also post your Learning Diary entry reflection from section 1.3 together with your driving question. Please make sure that all information is provided in English language as otherwise the peer review process does not work.

Once you have submitted your question, it will be sent to two other random course participants. Around 24 hours after submitting your question, you will receive 2 questions of your peers. Provide some brief feedback to them and possibly some suggestion of how to improve the question. As criteria for the feedback use the 4 aspects mentioned here:

Is the question open-ended? It will allow students to develop more than one reasonable answer.
Do you feel the question will spark curiosity and engage the students? (remember this might be dependent on the local contexts of the students)
Is it aligned to the learning goals identified? To answer it students will need to gain the intended knowledge, understanding, and skills.
Is it difficult to answer by using Google?

totaeco — 2016-06-15 18:30:53 UTC

TELL ME AND I FORGET,
TEACH ME AND I REMEMBER,
INVOLVE ME AND I LEARN
TELL ME AND I FORGET.
Benjamin Franklin

MY DRIVING QUESTION

totaeco — 2016-06-15 18:47:25 UTC

“Life is a ﬁght, but not everyone’s a ﬁghter. Otherwise, bullies would be an endangered species.” ― Andrew Vachss, Terminal

               What can you do to fight bullying in your school?

The project is for 14-year-old students who learn English as a foreign language at level B2.
Students through collaboration and team work will have to be creative and inventive and come up with ideas and ways to combat bullying in their school and organize an anti-bullying campaign to raise their classmates' awareness.
They will make posters, put on a theatrical performance, write songs, invite specialists to talk about bullying.
They will practise their English, enhance their vocabulary, writing, listening and speaking skills and acquire public speaking knowledge.

totaeco — 2016-06-15 19:14:22 UTC

totaeco — 2016-06-18 16:40:25 UTC

COMING TOGETHER IS A BEGINNING,
KEEPING TOGETHER IS PROGRESS,
WORKING TOGETHER IS SUCCESS
Henry Ford

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totaeco — 2016-06-18 17:07:49 UTC

2.3 Ideas for activities to develop effective collaboration

totaeco — 2016-06-18 17:37:01 UTC

Share below your own ideas and activities that you use to build team spirit, better communication amongst groups, etc. Any activity that can help students learn to collaborate effectively. And vote for those ideas and activities suggested by your peers that you would like to try out in your own classroom (you only have 3 votes).

2.4 Finding collaboration partners outside the classroom

totaeco — 2016-06-18 17:50:38 UTC

Reflecting on which people from your community you or your students could engage with. Think about if you have contacts to or knowledge of networks of local professionals? Which organisations or people engage with the school on a regular basis? Are there any businesses working with the school such as caterers, IT companies, or sports organisations? Who are your school's neighbours? Could they be approached? What about school alumni? And who could you or your students ask for support in identifying the right people? Think about these questions as you draft your Learning Diary entry and then post your entry also in the below Padlet to share it with your peers.

COLLABORATION TOOLS

totaeco — 2016-06-19 16:38:12 UTC

team up
edpuzzle
fb closed group
wikispace
answer garden
suervey moonkey
google docs
powtoon
etherpad
kahoot
imagechef
slack
writecomics
Podio,
Show Document
thinkbinder.
Edmondo
titanpad
pinterest ( to organize)
google drive (to share materials)
edmodo (virtual classrooms)
prezi (great presentation)
Tagul ( word cloud generator)
Youblisher ( flipped books)
story jumber ( create a collaborative book)
https://www.graphite.org/top-picks/best-student-collaboration-tools

My Learning Designer

totaeco — 2016-06-19 17:35:49 UTC

https://v.gd/1Yhblq

IT'S NOT THAT I'M SO SMART, IT'S JUST THAT I STAY WITH PROBLEMS LONGER Albert Einstein

totaeco — 2016-06-20 18:23:10 UTC

3. Developing student-driven activities for PBL

totaeco — 2016-06-20 18:25:55 UTC

Next to developing collaborative skills of students, another key part of PBL is for students to
take ownership of tasks, initiative at solving problems, and
most importantly to stick with these tasks and problems until they have come to a satisfactory conclusion.
In other words, we try to develop a
student-driven environment in which the energy and persistence of what is happening in the classroom does not primarily come from us but from the students.
Albert Einstein's quote above captures one of the key essences of this module:
getting students' to develop grit and resilience to stay with a problem or project even though they have failed previously is one the most difficult parts of PBL and at the core of developing a student-driven environment. As an example and at a quite simple level, when students work for the first time in a group as part of PBL, the first attempts at collaboration might not be successful. It is essential that students don't become frustrated and demotivated but rather excited and motivated to try again and improve, again and again and again. Creating an environment that allows and promotes this, is what the module is all about.
The learning objectives for this module are:

Understanding the importance of scaffolding the PBL process so that students increasingly develop independence and ownership over the tasks

Understanding the importance of a positive environment and mindset for building student confidence and resilience
Developing a range of activities, strategies and tools that facilitate an entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial skills

As a starter activity, briefly describe a situation in your professional or personal life where you were first unsuccessful but because you stuck with it you succeeded in the end. Finish by identifying why you stuck with the problem/task and did not give up (and make sure to copy your entry also into your Learning Diary).

MODULE 3

totaeco — 2016-06-20 18:27:30 UTC

Developing student-driven activities for PBL

Resilience - staying with problems

totaeco — 2016-06-20 18:33:16 UTC

Briefly describe a situation in your professional or personal life where you were first unsuccessful but because you stuck with it you succeeded in the end. Finish by identifying why you stuck with the problem/task and did not give up.

“Resilience. It’s when you decide to give up on giving in”

totaeco — 2016-06-20 18:37:39 UTC

Todd Carmichael

MODULE 2

totaeco — 2016-06-21 17:34:41 UTC

Developing effective collaboration for PBL

2.5 Collaboration Tools

totaeco — 2016-06-21 17:36:25 UTC

The great thing about the web is that there are so many tools out there that can help us, as teachers or students, to collaborate in more effective or even entirely new ways. However, here we can only introduce you to one example and it will be up to you, the community of learners on this course, to share your knowledge of tools that you and your students can use to collaborate as part of the PBL process.

The tool we would like to introduce here is a tool that can help you not only for forming teams but also for ongoing assessment of students' PBL work. The tool is calledTeamUp and you'll find a brief introduction to it below. Make sure then to share with your peers other collaboration tools out there by posting their name, a brief description and a link in the Padlet below the video. Before posting any suggestions however, make sure you take a browse through the Padlet to check the tool you would like to suggest isn't already there.

3.1 Scaffolding for Student Ownership and Independence

totaeco — 2016-06-21 17:50:09 UTC

If we want PBL to be a student-driven learning process we cannot simply give students independence and hope they will just take charge of the process. Students' ownership over the process needs to develop as part of PBL and it is our job to scaffold classroom activities in such a way that allows such ownership to develop. For more information about scaffolding for learning see here. Take a look at the video below for some concrete tips on how to scaffold for a student-driven environment in PBL.

totaeco — 2016-06-21 17:52:17 UTC

3.2 Developing Student Resilience

totaeco — 2016-06-21 18:03:30 UTC

What is resilience? It comes from the Latin resilire, “to bounce back”. Resilience refers to the capacity to return to good mental health after challenging and difficult situations. It is not one specific thing, but a combination of skills and attributes that help to solve problems, cope with challenges, adapt and bounce back when things don´t go as planned. Resilient people learn from their mistakes, they look at their failures and mistakes as lessons to be learned from, and as opportunities for growth. If you are curious about your own resilience, take this self-assessment test here (or even use it with your students).
Working in teams and pursuing a complex question or problem over a longer period of time as part of PBL will require student resilience. We know that it is possible to develop resilience in our students through a combination of setting out the right environment, building positive relationships, and offering space for independent decisions. Take a look at the video below developed by course moderator Kornélia Lohyňová for a series of strategies to develop student resilience and see here for a nice video focussing on building confidence.

Student Resilience - Reverse Brainstorming

totaeco — 2016-06-21 18:07:12 UTC

Identify how we as teachers can weaken our student's confidence and independence. Use your own and others' reflections to help you create a classroom environment that supports students to become confident and independent learners.

Do you have an entrepreneurial mindset and can think out of the box?

totaeco — 2016-06-21 18:20:11 UTC

Let's create a Word Cloud together for lots of different uses of a plastic bottle. Click here and write down at least one use you can think of for a plastic bottle.
The results will appear in the word cloud below (based on the frequency of uses identified the words are larger).

3.5 P2P - Building your PBL Learning Design

totaeco — 2016-06-22 17:19:12 UTC

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

to identify the questions they would like to pursue (within the context of your Driving Question)
to make choices on all key project-related aspects such as resources used, products created, use of time, etc.
to take significant responsibility and work independently from the teacher, but with guidance if necessary
to reflect during the project about their own work and learning

With the final steps in mind, you can also already add further TLAs that ensure you have engaging starter activities for your PBL as well as ensure clear and effective links between TLAs. This will help you for next week where we will add formative and summative assessment TLAs into our Design as well as ensure the Design is well-rounded.

As usual, please submit the link to your Learning Design, a link to your Learning Diary for context, as well as some contact details in case your reviewer needs to contact you. The deadline to submit your work is Wednesday 29th June at 23:59h CEST.
For the reviews use the four criteria above as guidance on providing feedback. Feel free to comment on all aspects of the Learning Design ready so far or only the TLAs focussing on this module's topic. Make sure that your feedback is positive and helpful with concrete suggestions on what and how it could be improved. The deadline to submit your reviews is Sunday 3rd July at 23:59h CEST.

3.6 eTwinning Learning Event: How to Develop Resilience at School

totaeco — 2016-06-22 17:33:04 UTC

If you are interested to explore the topic of resilience in more detail, make sure to check out the upcoming Learning Event on the eTwinning platform about "How to Develop Resilience at School". The Learning Event has been designed and will be led by our course moderator Kornélia Lohyňová so this will be an excellent opportunity for you to explore this topic in more depth. Importantly, the Learning Event does not only focus on building student resilience but also building our own resilience as teachers.
The Learning Event will take place in September with the exact date still to be confirmed so keep an eye out on the eTwinning Live platform.

Learning Events are short and closed online learning sessions with a smaller number of participants than this MOOC and therefore allow for more direct interactions with the course instructor. They are only accessible to members of the eTwinning network.
So if you are not yet an eTwinner, make sure to join the eTwinning network here and check out this amazing Learning Event by Kornélia in September. Please note that if you are not a teacher you cannot join eTwinning so this opportunity will not be available to you.
In advance of the Learning Event you can also already join Kornelia's eTwinning Group here and below you'll see a sneak preview of what is planned for the Event:

totaeco — 2016-06-26 17:20:07 UTC

totaeco — 2016-06-26 18:25:16 UTC