Category: Project Based Learning

Project Based Learning: Some Great Things Happening At Harlan!

Project Based Learning (PBL) is an effective instructional strategy for capturing students’ imaginations and helping them become truly involved in their own learning. I’m particularly excited about the level of student engagement and ownership that can be generated when students are involved in relevant and meaningful projects.  Documenting students in action reminds me just how effective well-implemented PBL can be.  There are many wonderful examples of how teachers at Harlan Elementary are using this strategy in their classrooms.  A few are showcased below.

Ten lessons I’ve learned about PBL from the incredible experts at Harlan:

1)   Student choice helps generate interest, excitement, and engagement.

2)   Scaffolding projects with effective instruction in scientific exploration and research is key to student success.

3)   Modeling, support, and guidance during the research process helps students stay on track and allows for a smooth release of responsibility within any given year and across grade levels.

4)   Partnerships enhance instruction.  Ask your media specialist how he/she can help kids learn about key word searching and using databases.

5)   Stretching across the curriculum can make for rich projects and the development of connected skills.

6)   Finding ways to help students figure out how their projects can be relevant and impactful in and outside of makes learning real.

7)   Enlist other teachers, administrators, and parents to provide an authentic audience for your students.

8)   Capping off a project with a fun, social, showcase event can help motivate your group to focus on quality.

9)   Celebrate the progress and outcomes.  Highlighting parts of the process as important landmarks can help students understand the their value.

10)  Authentic enthusiasm is contagious.  When teachers are excited and involved, student learning is enhanced!

 

A Few Examples:

Karen Abels introduced a Michigan project by allowing her 3rd graders to choose their course of study.  Incorporating student choice helped generate interest and excitement. Mrs. Abels gave her students some suggestions as to what might be important to study about their great state, she supported them in researching the topics, and she guided them in a collaborative effort to narrow those topics down.  After some initial learning (both of content and research skills) the group chose to move forward with “invasive species” as their focus.  It’s important to point out that Mrs. Abels enlisted the help of Mrs. Stayer, the incredible Harlan Media Specialist, to co-teach throughout the project.  Critical partnerships can be extremely effective!

Candi Gorski put together an incredible cross curricular project for her 1st graders that got them thinking about ways in which they can be impactful in their community.  Mrs. Gorski read an amazing true story about a boy in Africa who designed and built a windmill to help his village generate much needed energy, eventually leading to cleaner water and other key resources that improved lives and inspired others with hope.  After sharing the story she facilitated critical processing, helping her students make connections to their own lives.  The students were charged with designing contraptions that could help keep people stay safe during in extreme weather conditions.  These 1st graders were given a license to be creative in exploring the finer points of their science study while considering social studies concepts and using important reading and writing skills.  Mrs. Gorski did an incredible joy implementing this cross-curricular model of learning.  They were invited to be innovative and suspend disbelief, effectively giving them the sense that they are able to make a difference through research, understanding, creativity, and action.

Karen Hasler engaged her 5th graders in a design project that had them working with faculty members as architectural clients.  The students used their math skills along with drafting technology to design homes for their clients.  Mrs. Hasler organized a design expo to culminate the project, effectively extending an authentic audience for her group.  Parent and teachers gathered in the media center to see the designs and speak with young architects.  I was amazed with the enthusiasm that the students presented their work with.  Not only were they proud of the outcomes, they were also excited to go into detail about the process.  Students, dressed to the nines, stood by their finished designs posing for pictures and pictures and answering questions.

Each of the above projects is similar in that the students involved were actively engaged and excited about the work they were doing.  From 1st graders to 5th graders, they were collaborating with one another, being creative, thinking critically about their work, and being concerned about the outcomes that they were working toward.  There are many other incredible PBL efforts happening at Harlan and around the district.  Whether you’re working to plan for the final month of this year or preparing for the fall, get in touch with a colleague who you know has an interest in PBL, put your heads together, and make some plans.  Let me know if I can help!

Engagement: A Great Start for Critical Thinking!

The Point: When students are authentically engaged, learning is enhanced.  There are lots of ways to promote and sustain engagement through the purposeful use of instructional strategies including hands on explorations, interest based inquiry, effective modeling, motion and exercise opportunities, connected technology integration, and the incorporation of learning games in a workshop model.

The Story: Another great week for learning and growth with my partners in BPS!  I experienced all kinds of great instruction and collaboration across the grades (and had some fun designing blogs with the wonderful Senior Leibson in the Spanish department).  Something that really resonated with me this week is the incredible way my colleagues have been able to keep their students engaged in the learning process.  I saw students from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade taking ownership over their learning and stretching their critical thinking capabilities to awesome depths.  Here are five examples:

1.  These two girls have a box full of stuff.  They’re building a machine that will help them explore motion.  I walked past them in the hallway a few times as I was in and out of a neighboring classroom working with groups of students on video production.  Each time I walked by the girls they were totally wrapped up in the task at hand.  One of them was in my class last year and she didn’t even take the time to look up and say, “Hi, Mr. Berg!”  When students are so engaged in critical problem solving that they can’t look up to notice their 4th grade teacher walking through the 5th grade hallway, something’s going right!

Sometimes I find myself so distracted by people walking by that I can’t focus on my work.  These two didn’t even realize I was there…good stuff.  I recently heard of a great idea called “Take It Apart Tuesday.”  Just like it sounds, the teacher solicits “junk” from home during the year.  Every Tuesday the students spend some time just taking things apart.  They get old radios, small pieces of furniture, toys, etc.   They explore and discover.  The teacher who told me about it also told me that her students count the minutes until it’s upon them each week.  Seeing the girls working reminded me that I want to try implementing a “Take It Apart” workshop one of these days.  I’m going to check in on next week to see what they discovered.

2.  These 1st and 2nd graders are doing a “See, Think, Wonder” routine.  The incredible Ms. Prindle often implements this and other “Visible Thinking” routines when she’s introducing content for her inquiry units.  If you look closely you can see the picture on the back wall.  It’s a picture of Mars.  Everyone, including me, thought that it was the moon.  It was great to see the students get excited about what they thought they were seeing, to think about what they knew, to enthusiastically write down information about the moon, and to actively wonder about their curiosities.  This age group is particularly exciting when it comes to wondering because they don’t tend to limit themselves when it comes to possibilities.

The best part about being in the room during this great lesson was watching Ms. Prindle model the type of enthusiasm she expects from her students.  She was excited about letting a visual prompt guide her thinking, she was excited about the moon, she was excited about the potential for learning more, she was excited about having a team of learning partners who would be exploring interesting ideas that she would eventually learn about too, she was excited about outer space, and she used her words and her actions to make all of that excitement clear.  It was authentic, it was contagious…it was engaging!

3.  All students get the wiggles, some more than others, and some are better able to focus through them.  The brilliant Mrs. Radeky found this old exercise bike and thought that it might help quell some of the more intense wiggles in favor of engagement in learning. I’m happy to report that it seems to be working!  The students in her 3rd grade classroom have come to understand the purpose of, and the expectations about using the bike.  Those who need it us it, when they need it.  Mrs. Radeky has done an incredible job of making clear that her goal is focus for all.  The bike is not a toy, it’s not a weight loss device, and it’s not a Tour de France training apparatus…it is a tool for enhanced engagement.  Well done!

4.  The 3rd and 4th graders pictured above are super motivated about research and writing.  The process that Mrs. Rayle and Mr. Keilmen use is heavily reinforced by modeling and practice with finding and understanding how to process digital information that connects to content and personal interests.  These students look forward to digging for information about their topics and translating it into something meaningful, knowing that in the end they will have opportunities to communicate it in creative ways.  I really appreciate the intentional use of technology for this purpose.  The students are excited about using iPads, laptops, and desktops to explore information.  They are fully engaged in collaborating on the transfer of that information, through their writer’s notebooks, and onto their group’s wiki page.  The room is steeped in creative energy!

5.  Fun games are engaging.  Fun math games are engaging and they provide students with opportunities to practice critical thinking about math!  Mrs. Lindsay and her students have this concept down pat.  I was in the room with these 1st graders when a group of them invited me to join in a round of “Top It,” a great game from the “Everyday Math” Program.  I noticed two very important things.  First, these students were extremely excited about playing a game during their math workshop.  They all knew how to set it up and they were thrilled to have an opportunity to teach the new guy (me).  Also, the room was functioning like a machine.  It was great to see that Mrs. Lindsay’s 1st graders have the workshop structure so engrained in their daily routine that she was able to spend the entire time rotating through small groups, conferring with students, gathering formative data, and delivering individualized instruction.  Everyone knew where to go and what to do.  The group I was working with was wonderfully engaged in having fun and building critical understandings!

 

Digital Backpacks: From Learning Experiences to Experiencing Learning

Last week my partner Joan Roettenberger and I facilitated a workshop focused on DIGITAL BACKPACKS (DBs) or e-portfolios.  We worked with an incredible group of k12 teachers who came with a variety of backgrounds, and who are currently teaching in a range of classroom situations.  The session was structured around building a group DB of our own to illustrate its potential for learning and give participants a sense of what students experience when working with this engaging tool.  I was thrilled with the result.  More importantly, I was thrilled with the process and our ability to think critically about it…before, during, and after.  Check out some of our learning artifacts from the 2 ½ hour session at http://tinyurl.com/c2tbh9n.

Using DPs allows learners to chart their progress over time.  One of the key concepts that came out of the great article we picked apart at the workshop (linked to our DB under “3 Exploring Some Info”) was assessment of learning vs. assessment for learning.  Thanks to Brad Wilson (@dreambition on Twitter) for tipping me of to the article and a bunch of the other great resources listed on the wiki space linked above (see “Resource Links” in the menu on the left).  Traditionally, learning is assessed at the “end.”  DBs allow teachers and students to think critically about the learning before they engage in it, at all stages of development, and as they deal with outcomes.  They are also great for engaging parents and other critical learning partners in the process as well.

ONE REALLY COOL APPLICATION:  Laurie Cooper and Patty Solomon, two of the incredible teachers I collaborate with sent home QR code refrigerator magnets that link directly to each student’s DB.  Parents can scan the code at their convenience.  It allows them to view their student’s developmental artifacts at they’re posted.  It has parents asking their students about that development at home.  It encourages families to play active roles in the curriculum.  It gives them an invitation into their child’s daily life at school and opens pathways to enhanced learning.  Visit the site, check out our session and the resources, and let me know if you have questions, further input and examples, or want to collaborate on some DB developmental work…it’s something I’m excited to continue exploring!

Interest & Inquiry Foster Engagement

Instructional Strategies to Consider

[Digital Age ideas that I’m seeing, reading about, &/or trying…and how I’m processing them]

Learners Choice:  

Having Options Helps Students Get Excited About Learning

I recently experienced some great Digital Age instruction in which students were given lots of input as to how they were going to proceed in achieving various learning goals.  I noticed incredibly high levels of engagement.  It’s no secret that interest & choice are great motivators.  I was thrilled to see those forces at work so effectively in this classroom!

I have the privilege of regularly spending time with this first/second grade multiage group.  They are currently wrapped up in anawesome inquiry project.  From the beginning, the wonderful Ms. Prindle and her teammates, Ms. Czarnopys and Mrs. Heaton, gave each student plenty of room to decide what he/she wanted to study.  They modeled ways in which scientists work, they explored and highlighted key features of informational text, and they drove home the notion of critical thinking and adaptability in exploration.  These kids are six and seven years old.  The dedication that they’re showing to this course of study is unbelievable – but it’s true!  To the right you can see a couple of researchers working on constructing a presentation that will represent their learning.  You can see that one student is diligently making notes on an organizational guide and the other is busy cutting out a graphic to attach to his piece.  They are each equally engaged in their work and barely had the time to give me a brief up-date when I stopped them to ask, “How’s it going?”  I thought that was pretty cool.

These students weren’t in a rush to finish, they simply wanted to be sure that there would be enough time before lunch to compete the tasks they were working on in the ways that they envisioned them.  It was important work!  These students are doing the work of scientists, focused on interest driven topics, learning and practicing critical research and writing skills, with guidance, support, AND autonomy.  Below are some pictures of more engaged first and second graders getting ready to create a scientific museum so that they can share their work, just like real scientists do!

 

 

So Cool: QR – An Engaging Learning & Communication Tool

Something Cool I Saw Today

[Examples of Effective 21st Century Teaching & Learning Perpetuated by my Incredible Colleagues]

QR Codes For Engagement & Communication

QR ‘People of Character’ Museum

Yesterday I saw the result of a project that I’ve been hearing about for while.  QR codes have tons of potential for engaging students in learning.  Specifically they’re excellent tools for perpetuating exploration, collaboration, and communication.  The incredible Learning Buddy team of John Kernan’s 4th grade class & Andrea Papadopoulos’ 1st grade class recently completed this great QR scaffolded project focused on being a community of character.  The students chose ‘People of Character’ to learn about, talk about, think about, and write about.  To communicate the resulting insights they created the museum in which each person’s picture hangs along with four QR codes that link audiences to some of the information the students collected in various forms.  The thing I really appreciate about this learning is that the students were collaborating with one another from across grade levels and reaching across the curriculum.  They were dealing with character education, language arts, and digital literacy.  They were thinking critically and they communicated content and energy with passion and authenticity.  Well Done – So Cool!

Check out Kaywa QR Generator at http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ to integrate this wonderful tool into your instructional strategy.  The possibilities are limitless!

So Cool: Tech Tools Drive Cultural Exploration

Something Cool I Saw Today

[Using Tech Tools to Explore Folklore Through a Lens of Cultural Connections]

My favorite part:  This group of second graders is totally engaged and owning their learning…So Cool!

These students are working with the wonderful Mrs. Stayer to explore folklore. They began by looking at communities around the world with some virtual travel via GOOGLE EARTH. As they traveled they made connections by learning that each of the places they visited has some folklore associate with it.  They read and discussed the folklore.  In these pictures they’re using CUTUREGRAM to explore further. According to Mrs. Stayer CULTUREGRAM is INCREDIBLE!  It’s a database that you can get to through the Michigan e-library (http://mel.org/) in which you will find all kinds of incredible information and artifacts about the world that you and your students live in.  You can view flags, hear national anthems, find out about natural resources and commerce, check out pop culture, and much more.  Mrs. Stayer thinks that any teacher who goes to the database will immediately think of 10 great ideas for incorporating it into his/her instructional plan.  If you’d like to discuss it further you can always contact Mrs. Stayer at es11bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us – she loves to collaborate!

Again, the thing that I really appreciated about the learning that I saw taking place today is that the students were totally engaged.  As you can see in the pictures above, some students were at the computers engaged in ongoing explorations and others were working on various components of the project around the media center.  Mrs. Stayer is an incredibly intentional planner.  Her front-loading with information, tools, activities, and expectations really goes a long way to get her students authentically excited and engaged.  This example is a testament to the fact that 21st century teaching and learning is not simply the integration of new technologies but the purposeful planning of lessons, activities, projects, and outcomes that include relevant and connected content, strategies, and tools.  Way to go Mrs. Stayer – So Cool!

 

 

 

Cross Curricular Canoe Trip – So Cool!

Something Cool I Saw Today

Mrs. Ables 3rd grade class is using literature to enhance their Social Studies learning.

They’re reading the book Paddle to the Sea in which the character “Paddle” is doing just that.  They did some research on the the great lakes and made the amazingly cool map that you see below.  They marked the map off with lots of great information about Michigan and it’s waterways.  Now, as they read about Paddle’s journey, they’re literally following him in their own canoe – passing and thinking critically about Michigan’s landmarks as they go.

Making connections, working together, being creative, having fun, learning…Super Cool!

THE AMAZINGLY COOL MAP

PARTS OF THE AMAZINGLY COOL MAP (note the class in the canoe)

Are you doing something similar?

How could you adapt this activity to fit your content?

What would you do to follow up?

Leave a comment or contact me if you have any ideas or input:)

365 Lessons: #11 Everyday Failures Are Opportunities For Success

365 Lessons

(Critical Thinking About What The World Is Teaching Me Every Day)

#11 Everyday Failures Are Opportunities For Success

 

[Lesson Break Down] 

Failure is often seen as the antithesis of success.  In fact, it’s not.  Failure, processed effectively, is the ultimate catalyst for success – which is a continuum, not an end.  Accepting failure as one step along the path of success delivers daily opportunities.

 _______________________________________________________

What a day!  Yesterday was filled with opportunities.  I must have been knocked down half a dozen times before noon.  How wonderful – right?  It sure didn’t feel that way as it was happening.  I know that Edison and his team couldn’t get their glass globes to light up hundreds of times before they could.  I know that many of them wanted to give up.  And I know that Edison celebrated every failed attempt as another way not to make a light bulb.  The more of those he compiled the closer he came to exhausting them in favor of one way to make a light bulb.  I know that Dr. Seuss submitted many manuscripts before having one accepted and that Jackson Pollock couldn’t sell a painting for years before he could sell any painting he produced.

Two days ago a attended a great presentation about raising boys in America.  I’ve got two sons so the content was particularly meaningful.  One of the areas of focus was that boys in our society are traditionally engrained with the notion that failure is not masculine.  As a result they have difficulty managing it, which is a shame because it’s such an incredible tool (as illustrated by anyone who has every been successful).  Our paths are paved with repeated setbacks.   I worked hard yesterday hold off the prideful frustration of momentary letdowns and keep the critical learning in mind.  Some days it’s more difficult than others.  I’m getting better at it.  It feels good.  I plan to continue succeeding with failure as one of my most effective tools.

Cool School Tool: Wikis For DIgital Backpacks

The following video comes from the incredible instructional design of Barbie Sansone who is building Digital Backpacks on her class wiki so that she, her students, and her student’s parent’s can think critically about their development over time. Please let me know if you have questions about wikis or digital backpacks and join me on twitter @bergseyeview to share more collaborative learning.  Have a great week!

365 Lessons: #8 Critical Thinking with Edcanvas

365Lessons

#8 Explore New Ideas, Tools, and Possibilities Whenever You Have a Chance

[Lesson Breakdown]

Sometimes it’s twitter, sometimes it’s live action, sometimes it’s blog or a workshop.  Educators are constantly surrounded by new tools, technologies, and strategies.  We should be exploring as many as we can.  You never know when you’ll come across something that you can use to enhance your instruction, your students’ learning experience, and everyones ability to achieve.  For those of you who are not in education, explore anyway…you never know what you’re going to find!

Watch the following Cool School Tool video (2 minutes short), check out Edcanvas at http://www.edcanvas.com/login, sign up for an account, and explore.  You might find a way to make it work for you, your colleagues, and your students.