Playing with PBL, Part 1

It took me awhile to come to this ah-ha moment: the difference between students doing projects and project based learning (PBL) is that in authentic PBL, the project IS the unit.

PBL is something that I have been playing around with in my classroom and trying to wrap my head around for quite a few years now.  I have come to realize that I have often engaged in aspects of PBL with classes in the past without even realizing it.

The Buck Institute defines true Project Based Learning by the following:

Challenging Problem or Question

Sustained Inquiry

Authenticity

Student Voice and Choice

Reflection

Critique and Revision

Public Product

I am drawn to PBL so much because it is authentic, inquiry is built into the framework, and, perhaps most importantly, student voice is central to the entire process.  Teachers are truly co-learners, or “guides on the ride” (I learned that awesome term from the book Empower by John Spencer and AJ Juliani) throughout the journey.  

A group of teachers at my school and I have been working on an innovation project, so we have had the privilege of collaborating on infusing PBL across three grade levels. I want to document the journey that I have been on with my students in our classroom.  We are only part of the way through the journey, who knows where it will go, or where we will end up!

The Starting Point : BIG IDEAS!

The first thing I did was put the Big Ideas that we would be working on throughout the project up on my back wall.  This not only makes the curriculum visible for the students, but is also a reminder for me. I find that I reference the big ideas a lot.  It provides an anchor for the project, and really allows us to work together to uncover the curriculum.  For this project, we decided to tackle both Geography and Science Big Ideas.

Provocations

I LOVE provocations!  Provocations can come in all different sorts of ways.  A book, poem, songs, field trips, drama activities, problem to solve, maker challenge, videos, a space set up to explore.  The purpose of provocations, as the name suggests, is to provoke student thinking and curiosity. We engaged in a number of different activities to start thinking about the topic. I used to think that I had to create everything from scratch in inquiry and PBL, or that it had to be all open inquiry all the time.  I’ve come to realize however, that there is a place for guided instruction and it’s good to pull from a variety of resources.

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Some of the ideas in this project launch come from this resource   published by OESSTA.

Plotting where our clothes come from.

We watched the short documentary “Story of Stuff” and made our thinking visible through exit passes.

Compared the world to an apple: a metaphor

The next provocation was an experience set out for students to explore. This included a number of images of the earth and the impact of how we use natural resources, combined with our stuff (running shoe, t-shirt, plastic bag, water bottle, cardboard boxes, even my diamond ring!!). At every station, there was a piece of chart paper where students could record their thinking, and build on to one another’s ideas. The book Making Thinking Visible has this strategy “Chalk Talk” outlined in it, along with many other fantastic ways to make student thinking visible and foster critical thinking across all subject areas.

After students experienced this provocation, we sat together in a Knowledge Building Circle and students shared what stood out to them as they explored the space. As we discussed in the KBC, I recorded their thinking, along with their exit passes after the circle, and posted that to make our journey visible for all of us.

Knowledge Building Gallery is a great resource, as is Natural Curiosity.

It is very important to me that student voice be the central part of the project.  Even though I designed the provocations, they were the ones exploring them, and their voices guiding how the project would take shape.  Throughout all of this, we were constantly having discussions and sharing further thoughts on exit passes. When my teaching partner and I originally spoke about the project in our planning sessions, we had one idea in mind, but as I listened to my students and what they were curious about, what seemed to interest them, I knew that it would go in a slightly different direction.

The Project Launch!

One day, we sat together and talked about what it is we could do as a class.  Students seemed motivated, they seemed fired up. They cared about what we had been discussing, and they wanted to make a difference.  I suggested to them that we “think global and act local”. One of my amazing kids challenged me, see the tweet below:
The student who said this has since become our project 'podcaster'.  He also came up with our project hashtag: #goglobalsaveearth . I know he feels empowered, I know he feels his voice is being heard, that his voice has power.

We framed our project together.

More to come on the journey soon!!

PBL is still something that I am playing with, tinkering with, wrapping my head around.

There is a lot that has happened in our classroom since I originally started to put this post together, I'm looking forward to sharing more soon.

I would love to hear other ideas and experiences about how educators bring projects to life!


-Christine

Magic Moments

I went in today thinking it was not going to be a good day. Rainy days, double indoor recesses can be rough! On top of that, I had a headache, the cards were not stacked in our favour. 

After first break, students were yawning, and itching to get outside.  I wasn’t sure if it was a good move or not, but I pushed ahead and had them set up the space to continue on the inquiry we’ve been working through, which is part of a larger Project Based Learning experience (more to come on this in a future post!).  I didn’t think it would go well.  I couldn’t feel the energy in the room, and today, I didn’t have the energy either.  It took quite awhile for students to start their investigations, I had to give some reminders to a few to make good choices, people were asking to take a walking break early into the period, it didn’t feel great.  

Then, something shifted.  

Two boys ran up to me, computer in hand, wanting to show me a video they were watching on the impact of seismic blasting on marine animals.  They were excited that the video featured an Inuit perspective.  As they were telling me about it, another student had overheard our conversation and said, 

“Can you throw that link on classroom, it sounds interesting.”

It was like their energy, their passion was contagious, it began to spread around the room. 

A few minutes later someone else called me over to watch a video she had found showing the impact of extracting resources on animals.  Before I knew it, half the class were up and were gathered around her computer. We all shared a bit of an emotional moment, and it sparked ideas about how we might use art to make an impact.  Off another student went to the idea board.  

I suggested that a group tweet out some of what they had found using the hashtag (#goglobalsaveearth) we had developed and try to make some connections.  They sat huddled around a chromebook in the hallway, composing a tweet. 

Someone else came up, asking if we could have a chart paper up somewhere so that he could put up new learning and thinking that isn’t necessarily connected to any of our questions, but that shouldn’t be forgotten. 

I was about to redirect a couple boys who just seemed to be wandering and chatting, I assumed they needed some help to focus or figure out where to go next.  As I approached, they turned to me and said, 

“So, we were just talking about how money, the government, business, all this stuff we have, it’s just one big endless cycle that we can’t seem to stop.”

It was so neat, because they are doing two completely different questions, but are sharing theories and ideas, finding connections. 

By the end of the period, every single student had something to add to our knowledge building board. Arrows were being drawn, connecting ideas.  I stood back and watched, listened.  Even if they weren’t all talking at that point about their inquiry, I was witnessing something special, a little bit of magic. They were connecting intellectually through the inquiry, by sharing ideas, critical thinking and questions. Perhaps more importantly though, they were connecting as individuals, relationships that we had built over the year were strengthening.  

Teaching this way is not easy, it is so messy, so unpredictable.  It does not work so beautifully every day.   Kids are resistant sometimes, they aren’t always engaged, not every one of them, not all the time. Sometimes I wonder if they are learning enough. Do I give them too much freedom, do things need to be more structured, less structured? Am I giving everyone what they need? Are my expectations high enough? 

These questions are important for me to keep asking. We need to be reflective about our practice and what is happening in our classrooms. 

Even though it is messy, I believe in it. I’ve seen the impact that teaching like this can have on kids.  The power of Knowledge Building and PBL was so clear to me to me today. Teaching this way empowers students, gives everyone a voice, deepens the learning and creates communities of creative and critical thinkers. It helps students develop confidence by discovering their strengths and realizing their passions.  Isn’t that what school should be about?

My students make me want to do better.  

My students inspire me to learn and to grow.  

Their voices are so powerful

                                        when we take the time to listen,

                                                                                         when we let them tell the story.