Infographic: Anatomy of the PBL Process

I created this PBL infographic using Piktochart to help students and their parents visualize the anatomy of a project at my school.  Some have requested if they could use it, so here it is- have at it.  Modify as needed.

Google Apps for Ed: Resources to Inspire!

My district finally got on board the Google for Ed train. Since my school has been using the apps for the past six years (as a PBL magnet), they invited me to show ed tech leaders from across the city how the apps can be used in practical and transformative ways.  

The goal was to inspire, but I didn't want to overwhelm first-timers, so I made sure there were plenty of templates they could copy and use right away, and I also built a resource site to further support their exploration of each of the tools (you'll see a link to it in the last slide). 

If you have any questions, or you hit a wall after clicking on an enticing link to a resource, feel free to comment and I'll make sure you've got access.  Hope this helps!  I enjoyed developing it!

NOTES Thinking Through Project-based Learning: Guiding Deeper Inquiry

I've been teaching Humanities at a wall-to-wall PBL magnet for the past six years, so you'd think I'd be well-versed in designing PBL experiences for my students. While I've had lots of practice (mostly hits, but plenty of misses, too), I figured it was time to get back to the basics and see if I could glean new insights into some of the practices that have felt a little stale for the past couple of years.

Here are my notes on the book authored by Jane Krauss and Suzie Boos of the Buck Institute (PBL flagship). I'm posting them here for my colleagues, but I also thought they could be useful to anyone who's thinking about purchasing the book, as well. It can be purchased HERE.

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Chapter 1:  The Whys and Hows of PBL

PBL definition:

Students gain important knowledge, skills, and dispositions by investigating open-ended questions to “make meaning” that they transmit in purposeful ways.

The goal is to help students develop into knowledgeable, autonomous, and life-long learners.

High-quality PBL involves:

• setting conditions in which students are compelled to inquire
• real-world concerns
• open-ended questions leading toward essential understandings 
• personalization: student choice around content, process, and/or product
• potentially life-changing relevance: students care about the content enough to give quality thinking toward complex challenges
• students learn together and from one another
• learning is meaningful to people beyond school
• students are personally affected by what they learn and so they're more likely to remember it
• technology is used to investigate and construct new meaning and reach beyond the classroom to a community of learners (not simply to create flashy products)

PBL students:

• • aren't afraid to ask questions until they arrive at answers that make sense to them
  • don't give up when they run into challenges
  • know how to use feedback to revise & improve their work

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Chapter 2: The Inquiring Human Animal

Inquiry

The personal path of questioning, investigating, and reasoning that takes one from not knowing to knowing.

Looking for patterns, analyzing systems, scrutinizing processes, exploring relationships, and solving problems.

Research

Mind, Brain, and Education Science (2010), Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa synthesizes more than 4,500 studies to offer five key concepts:

Cultivate Wonder

In PBL, curiosity

• • is the engine for learning. If they don't care from the beginning, the project will fall flat.
  • drives students to ask questions, research, investigate, and reach out to experts.

Use Novelty Deliberately

• • Novelty causes students' brains to become alert and receptive. 
  • That's why lectures are less effective.  4-8 minutes of pure content before brain goes elsewhere (Perry, 

Executive Function

Self-directed learning develops executive function (cognitive processes that help regulate actions). Patterns of behavior become more established, and neural pathways in the brain actually become “hard wired” more so during the middle/high school years than any other time. 

Relevance

• • New learning sticks best when it makes sense and has meaning.
  • To make sense, a concept has to connect to one’s current understanding.
  • To have meaning, a concept or investigation needs to matter on a personal and emotional level.
  • Assess and connect to students' prior experiences
  • Meaning = personal relevance of an idea
  • We assign meaning to things we value, find interesting, or respond to emotionally

Stress vs. Struggle

• • Rigor - putting students at the edge of what they know so they have to reach to grasp new ideas
  • Well-crafted projects are challenging without triggering stress that inhibits learning (Willis, 2007)
  • Pleasurable learning releases dopamine, stimulates memory centers, increases attention (Willis, 2007)

Liberating Constraints

Seek the right balance b/w stress and struggle by designing for "optimal ambiguity" (Davis, Sumara, & Luce-Kapler, 2007)

• • Provide enough organization to orient students toward the work, while at the same time...
  • Permit enough openness to accommodate a variety of abilities, interests, and creative approaches

Analogy: Soccer game...within the rules, there's still room for brilliance. Without rules, a free for all.

Brain-based PBL Strategies

• • Pre-writing / thinking activities before discussion: gather thoughts, jot down notes, sketch
  • Getting people to think individually about a topic before combining their ideas is more productive than starting out thinking as a group (Kohn & Smith, 2010)
  • allow time for noodling around and exploring ideas from many different perspectives
  • Sleep on it. Allow time for students to think about and discuss the project at home before starting

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Chapter 3: Making the World Safe for Thinking

Ideas:

• • Flags outside the doors for current projects and "Coming Soon" posters for projects
  • Video booth. Turn an empty refrigerator box into a three-sided video booth to capture student reflections. 

Thinking

“Simply placing our students in problem-solving situations is not enough for these [thinking skills] to develop. Skillful critical thinking has to be explicitly taught” (Developing a Thinking Curriculum Coote, n.d., p. 6).

Fertile Questions

Six characteristics:

• • An open question. A question that in principle has no one definitive answer; rather, it has several different and competing possible answers.
  • • Has the importance of the individual changed over time?
    • Are we more a part of nature or apart from nature?
  • An undermining question. A question that undermines the learners' basic assumptions, casts doubt on the self-evident or common sensical, uncovers basic conflicts lacking a simple solution, and requires the critical consideration of origins.
  • • Just because we can, should we?
    • Does something we throw away ever really go “away”?
  • A rich question. A question that necessitates grappling with rich content that is indispensable to understanding humanity and the world around us. Students cannot answer this question without careful and lengthy research; such research tends to break the question into subquestions.
  • • How does the debate over genetic engineering affect our future?
    • In what ways are stories a reflection of the time in which they werewritten?
  • A connected question. A question relevant to the learners, the society in which they live, and the discipline and field they are studying.
  • • How would your view of water change if our taps failed?
    • How can I turn a hobby (or talent) into a business?
  • A charged question. A question with an ethical dimension. Such questions are charged with emotional, social, and political implications that potentially motivate inquiry and learning.
  • • 
      
  • A practical question. A question that can be researched in the context of the learners, facilitators, and school facilities and from which research questions may be derived.
  • • What does our in-depth study of the pond by our school teach us about oceans?
    • How does the availability of local food shape our diet and culture?

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Chapter 4: The Thinking-Out-Loud-and-in-View Classroom

Foster a Culture of Curiosity

• • Make space for word play (38)
  • Invite students to ponder "grand challenges" in human rights, global health, engineering, etc. "How could the world's fresh water supply be shared equitably?"  Invite students to post their own challenges.
  • Discuss daily news:  How did the event come about? What might happen next? Is there more to this story? Is it part of a pattern? Question media sources
  • Read opinion pieces, opinion pieces, invite debate.  
  • "Buzz Talks" - Pairs, one topic for 3 minutes.  Prior to whole-class discussion.

Help Students Build a Thinking Toolkit

• • Developing a Research-worthy Question
  • • Have students brainstorm a list of research questions before choosing
  • Knows <---> Need to Knows    (A spectrum, a circle)
  • Understanding a Key Idea
  • Understanding How Something Happened or Came to Be
  • When Stuck...
  • Instead of Waiting for Help
  • When Overwhelmed
  • Getting Thoughts Flowing
  • Solving a Problem Creatively

S = Substitute

C = Combine

A = Adapt

M = Modify

P = Put to other uses

E = Eliminate or minimize

R = Rearrange or Reverse

• • Giving Feedback

C = Clarifying questions

L = Like

A= Advice

M= Meet in the middle (discuss)

Teacher as "Meddler in the Middle"

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Chapter 5: Designing Rich Learning Experiences

Step 1: Identify Project-Worthy Concepts

What important and enduring concepts are fundamental to the subjects I teach?  

ID 4 or 5 big concepts.

Step 2: Explore Their Significance and Relevance

Why do these topics or concepts matter?

What should students remember about this topic in 5 years? For a lifetime?

In what ways are they important and enduring?

What is their relevance in different people's lives? In different parts of the world?

Step 3: Find Real-Life Contexts

Who engages in these topics? 

Who are the people for whom these topics are central to their work? 5-7 professions

What are the interdisciplinary connections?

Step 4: Engage Critical Thinking

What might you ask of students? How might you push past rote learning into investigation, analysis, and synthesis?

How can you engage critical thinking in a project by asking students to:

• • Compare and contrast
  •  Predict
  • Make a well-founded judgment or informed decision
  • Understand causal relationships (cause and effect)
  • Determine how parts relate to the whole (systems)
  • Identify patterns or trends
  • Examine perspectives and alternate points of view
  • Extrapolate to create something new
  • Evaluate reliability of sources

Step 5: Write a Project Sketch

An overview and what students will learn

Step 6: Plan the Setup

A title, entry event, and driving question

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Chapter 7: Language Arts

Individual writing tasks for lit skills in addition to team products (86)

Writer's Workshop model is an ideal fit for the writing that happens during projects in any subject.

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Chapter 8: Social Studies

National Council for the SS:  (90)

Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence.

NCSS recommends aligning curriculum and instruction with what kids care about—“unifying motifs” that represent developments in children’s social and emotional intelligence. The motifs include:

• Concern with self: development of self-esteem and a sense of identity

• Concern for right and wrong: development of ethics

• Concern for others: development of group- and other-centeredness

• Concern for the world: development of a global perspective

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Chapter 11: The Project Spiral

When projects "go big" and generate local buzz, or they have a greater impact than expected.

The Nuts and Bolts of Preparing Students for NaNoWriMo

This is part of a SERIES of posts about engaging my students in National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo, a challenge to complete the manuscript for a novel in the course of a month.
 
NaNoWriMo's winding down and I've been continuously impressed by my sophomore students' level of energy and excitement around completing their first-ever novels. My last post in this series will include their voices and their individual experiences-- the positive ones as well as a few that may serve as cautionary tales (if you're considering trying this yourself). In the meantime, these next few posts will focus primarily on the instructional planning and the supports that were in place before, during, and after November's write-fest. This one details the prep leading up to the first day of NaNoWriMo. Enjoy!
LATE SEPTEMBER PREP


Phase 1: The Hero's Journey

• Students were introduced to Joseph Campbell's hero's journey as well as some Jungian archetypes common to ancient and modern narratives. 

• Each step and archetype of the hero's journey was explored through multiple forms of storytelling such as mythology, literature, poetry, song lyrics, and films.

• Students were challenged to reflect on their own lives relative to the hero's journey and the archetypes that impact them as hero's of their own story.

OCTOBER PREP

Phase 2: Genre Study

• Using a Google Form, students generated a list of their favorite genres of fiction.  They then voted on the one genre from the list that they'd use for a genre study and how the hero's journey unfolds in the narrative.  This year's choice: fantasy fiction.

• Individuals proposed novels to use for the study by creating "billboards" and adding them to a class slideshow so that students could vote for the top six choices. 

• Book clubs (literature circles) were formed for each of the 6 novels. Each book club determined their own reading schedule, developed a contract conveying group norms, members' roles, and expectations, and met at least once a week to discuss the novel.  Students were given class time to read (individually or in groups, depending on the group's agreed-upon norms) and annotate with the purpose of identifying stages of the hero's journey and whatever archetypes they could find.

• Book clubs were tasked with completing a slideshow by the end of the three weeks that detailed the fantasy novel's hero journey and archetypes.  This essentially created the conditions that made group discussion more purposeful in that members had to agree to which hero stages they would include in their group's presentation.

Phase 3: Hello NaNoWriMo!

• As groups engaged in their genre study, they were given a number of writing prompts for creating their own hero journeys.  These "zero drafts" were shared on their blogs and during "open mic" sessions at the end of class, which-- in turn, fostered a supportive culture for sharing and providing constructive feedback on ideas. 

WriteAbout.com is where our blogs live

• NaNoWriMo was introduced by sharing fun videos about the annual event created by experienced NaNoWriMo participants. 

• A parent letter was sent home introducing NaNoWriMo with a request for prize donations (for word wards, goal achieving, etc)

• Students engaged in lessons and activities provided by the NaNoWriMo site along with a free student booklet. I used most of it but modified the lessons so that they were on Google docs rather than an edit-able pdf file.

• As the Book Clubs went into their final stretch (mid-October), students chose one of their stories (from their collection of zero drafts) to further develop by creating character profiles and by experimenting with different ways of organizing plot outlines.

LAST WEEK OF OCTOBER 

• Students were introduced to the NaNoWriMo site as well as the Young Writer's Program site (geared specifically toward teens).

• Students had a couple of practice writing sprints to guage how many words they could type within the span of an hour, and-- using those numbers, determined which writing goal they would choose: 15K, 30K, or 50K, which was then broken down into daily word count goals (500, 1000, or 1667).

• Calendars were distributed to help time manage and keep track of word counts and goals.

• Contracts were signed (the contracts NaNoWriMo provides in the student booklets are both funny and reassuring to first-timers).

• In the final days of October, having already developed the concept and characters for their novels, students created book covers that included graphics and an enticing blurb for the back cover. These were posted on a discussion board to generate excitement and to provide positive feedback as a writing community.

Example Book Cover

• On the last day of October, students were encouraged to bring a writing totem to school for the start of NaNoWriMo (totem = good luck charm).  Some of the totems were profoundly personal. Nicole chose to write the story of her grandfather's army days and so her totem was his actual dog tag (more stories like that to come...)

Students' totems from both classes

I hope this has served to help rather than overwhelm. As soon as I have some time freed up, I'll add links to most of what's listed above.  In the meantime, if there's any particular detail you'd like me to elaborate on in a separate post or a resource you'd like to have access to, please let me know in the comments.

Next: Instructional Supports Provided to Students during NaNoWriMo

Diving Into NaNoWriMo as a First-Timer (Whilst Holding a Hundred Young Writers' Hands)

This is part of a SERIES of posts about engaging my students in National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo, a challenge to complete the manuscript for a novel in the course of a month.


Happy NaNoWriMo Eve!  

Tomorrow marks the first day of the 18th annual National Novel Writing Month, a "fun, seat-of-your-pants approach" to writing the complete first draft of a novel in 30 days. 

I've only seventeen regrets in my life and they are that I've missed NaNoWriMo for the past seventeen years. I'm done procrastinating and, b'gosh, I'm going to write that novel that's been knockin' on my belly's door, the one that costs me hundreds of dollars each year in therapy co-pays for ignoring it!  Time to clear up this creative constipation.  This is happening.

I'll be a newbie-- not just as a novel writer, but as a teacher who's holding the hands of her entire sophomore Humanities class as we all take the proverbial leap en masse.

Oh, geesh...I'm realizing the full weight of this endeavor as I write.  Goddess help me.  Rubber duckie totem, where art thou?  

Ah, there you are. I'll be okay now.  So I'm a little petrified.  That's normal, right?  It's probably good that, whilst modeling the writing process, I'm able to also model the fear and trepidation that comes with setting a daily word count of 1667 and committing to a total of fifty thousand words [rubs duckie].

I'm thinking if I crank out a few short blogs each week to share my experience, it might be useful to other first-time educators who are going in as blind as I am.  

It won't be a perfect novel.  It won't be even the least bit pretty. Hell, it might not even get done, but if I'm asking a hundred teens to try it and I'm cheering them on and lighting all kinds of fires beneath their feet, the least I could do is jump in there with them so we can all suffer, bleed, laugh, and celebrate together.  

It's the write thing to do.  

Part II: The Nuts and Bolts of Preparing My Students for NaNoWriMo