I, like so many other teachers, have often assigned a project at the end of a unit. My projects were assigned after the class had taken the assessment. I used projects as an additional element. This is not Project Based Learning. True PBL will allow the students to find their own path with the process being the important part, not how pretty the project turned out. When students graduate and become a part of the American workforce, employers want workers who can problem solve and think outside the box. PBL units encourage students to practice this process under the guidance of a teacher. Hopefully, the teacher will be there to show them the necessary information on how to research and find the answers.
The unit should begin with a challenging problem or question. If the students don’t buy into the problem then it will be a long unit for the teacher and student. Teachers should be teaching the students to question things in the inquiry stage, question, question, and question some more. There must be an element of authenticity. Students know when you give them busy work. Now the students need to have some power within this process. As a teacher, I teach better when I am interested in what I am teaching. Students learn better and more when they too find elements they are interested in and focus their energy on that. As the students is working on the challenging problem or question, they need to reflect on the process. I have learned by blogging about my teaching and really reflecting on my actions, I am adjusting things in my classroom and making improvements. Some of my greatest gains come when my principal, Mr. Meier, comes into my class and evaluates me. An outside expert point of view helps me look at things in a different light. If I put my emotions aside and take honest criticism, I then can reflect and adjust to improve my teaching method. This same process is important for the students. Listen to others, using active listening may allow for the “I got it!” moment to occur. Then my student’s project doesn’t just stay in my classroom but is allowed to venture out into the real world. Someone on the outside must see it. (BIE) Now my students graduate and their boss gives them a project to complete. After completing PBL units in high school, our student will say, “Hey team, I have done a similar project before and we can handle this.” Work Cited Gold Standard PBL: Project Based Teaching Practices (by BIE) | Project Based Learning | BIE. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://www.bie.org/object/document/gold_standard_pbl_project_based_teaching_practices1
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AuthorMy name is Lisa and I teach English Language Arts at Forsyth, MO. Archives
May 2017
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