by Andrew K. Miller | Sep 21, 2011 | ASCD, Blog, Whole Child Blog
This post originally appeared on The Whole Child blog, an ASCD initiative to call on educators, policymakers, business leaders, families, and community members to work together on a whole child approach to education. View Original >
Project-based learning (PBL) is a fantastic way to increase parent and community involvement in your school in a truly authentic way. Instead of finding lots of little strategies to engage parents, PBL provides an opportunity to use one part of your school identity, the curriculum and instruction, as the leverage to have parents present at the physical space. Here are some tips and strategies on how to use PBL to increase parental involvement.
Public Audience
One of the essential elements of effective PBL is a public audience. Every PBL project must have a public audience. This can look like a lot of different things. The public can be judges or audience for the final culminating work or presentation. The public can come in during the middle of project to help coach students on their work as experts in the field. There are a lot of options. All of these could be parents. Every parent has some area of expertise to share, from health care to technology. I recommend creating a roster of parents, their areas of expertise, and how they would be able to volunteer. Parents will want to come to school if their knowledge is leveraged in a legitimate way.
Educating Parents about PBL
Because PBL is nontraditional, it is imperative that parents understand what it looks like, what the grading expectations are, and why the school believes it works. Parents are going to ask the same questions other community stakeholders will ask. “How will this help my child do well on the standardized test?” “Why are you grading 21st century skills?” “How will you help my child who doesn’t like to work in groups?” You will get these questions, so be prepared, and have education available for parents about the components of PBL.
Transparency of Projects
Every time you do a PBL project, it is important to let parents know what work your students are doing, and also to excite them about it. Communication with the home about schoolwork is nothing new, but this provides a focused, timely moment to communicate. In addition, it also provides an opportunity to debunk any misunderstandings about the PBL project that is occurring. If you are doing a project on health and AIDS, you can take the time in the letter home to parents to assure that the project is not sexual education. A quick e-mail or letter home about the PBL project can excite parents, solicit their expertise, and clarify expectations.
Culturally Responsive Projects
Find ways for the products you have students create to be culturally responsive. Find ways to weave student culture into the project so that parents see that it is being valued in the work students are doing. If you are having students do a project on world religions, then have each student reflect on his or her family and personal beliefs. If you are having students investigate hidden histories of the oppressed, have them investigate the cultures of their families and communities. Make it intentional.
Because the public is an integral part of PBL, it is a real way to engage parents in the school and work that students are doing. It is not without challenges, but with these tips, you can make parents partners in an important part of your school identity.
by Andrew K. Miller | Jul 13, 2011 | ASCD, Blog, Whole Child Blog
This post originally appeared on The Whole Child blog, an ASCD initiative to call on educators, policymakers, business leaders, families, and community members to work together on a whole child approach to education. View Original >
Physical structures should match school cultures and learning modalities, not the other way around. Despite what some might say, physical structures communicate a lot about the learning environment and what to expect. Just like we set up seats for the first day of school to set a tone, the building communicates a tone as well. Throughout my visits, I’ve come across many innovative buildings that really set a tone for safe school culture and innovative learning. It’s not about technology and bells and whistles; it’s about the layout and ways that the walls talk.
My first two examples come from Dubiski Career High School in Texas. Where are the traditional lecture seats set up? Outside the classroom. These formal stations are set up throughout the school to allow for presentations, formal lectures, and other similar learning experiences to occur, but not in the official classroom. In fact, it is hard to tell where the learning environment begins and where it ends, hence creating the message that this is a continuous learning environment. This structure also communicates that learning occurs in many different places and in many different ways. Traditional lectures are not the focus but are used when appropriate, and this message comes across quite clear.
Another example: The school embraces different kinds of content presentations, as in the example of its mock trial room. The school creates a variety of spaces to indicate that learning and demonstration occur in different ways, keeping students on their toes and allowing for innovation and creativity. Overall, the physical structures of Dubiski Career High School communicate that learning is innovative, seamless, and appropriate to the objectives.
Dubiski Career High School hallway (Photo credit: Andrew K. Miller)
Dubiski Career High School mock trial room (Photo credit: Andrew K. Miller)
Manor New Technology High School, also in Texas, has physical structures that communicate both in terms of learning but also in terms of school culture. I’m going to focus on school culture examples. Classrooms within the building have large windows that open into the hallway. It communicates transparency of the learning, both for the faculty and for the students. Classrooms are not isolated. On the contrary, classrooms are open and welcoming. In addition, students and teachers share the space.
Student work is prevalent throughout the school, covering parts of windows and walls. Student ownership is the clear message that is being communicated. Yes, faculty share the space, but share is the key word and only a fraction of what students own. In addition, students claim ownership of the school walls in innovative and creative ways, as evident by the photo of the school wall. In this case, student work led to designing a mural that would remain on a school wall. What an excellent example of a high-stakes audience, which we know raises the level of student work. Here students are given the opportunity in the classroom environment to own the school, communicating that this place is first and foremost about the student.
Manor New Technology High School hallway (Photo credit: Manor New Technology High School)
Manor New Technology High School mural (Photo credit: Manor New Technology High School)
It would be great if we had the money to create innovative new structures to mirror rigorous learning and safe school culture. I know that many use this as an excuse not to try. Instead, I would encourage you to find ways, no matter how small, to create structures at your school that communicate a message that school put students first, that school is a safe place, and that innovative learning occurs. Look at everything from the schedule, to the way you set up your furniture in the classroom, to the space on the walls you give to students. You can start now to push for better physical structures at your school.
by Andrew K. Miller | May 23, 2011 | Blog, Whole Child Blog
This post originally appeared on The Whole Child blog, an ASCD initiative to call on educators, policymakers, business leaders, families, and community members to work together on a whole child approach to education. View Original >
Project-based learning (PBL) by nature lends itself to authenticity and real-world relevancy. All well-designed projects connect learning to an authentic task, but some can really run with it. This is where project-based service learning comes in, where PBL is used to not only create authenticity, but fulfill a community service and need.
I have a long term partnership with EagleRidge High School in Klamath Falls, Ore. PBL is becoming one of its core identities as the school moves forward. On a recent visit, teachers were collaborating to build a PBL project for a Community Studies course.
Project Rationale and Summary:
As they were coming to the close of the year, the team of teachers planning the project wanted to do something that would continue to build knowledge, but also give back to the community. Math teachers wanted students to feel confident in the skills they learned, English teachers wanted students to write, and the Community Studies teacher wanted the students out in the community. The school itself had always wanted a tutoring program, but no one had implemented one. The team decided, therefore, that they wanted to students to apply and work in a math tutoring program, in order to provide intervention and support mechanisms for future years. Students needed community service hours to graduate, and this could also fulfill that need, while fulfilling a need for the school community.
Culminating Products:
Although the major component of the project was the actual tutoring program itself, students were also required to create major writing components. All students were required to create a cover letter and resume in order to apply for the tutoring job—yes, all students. The team wanted students to realize that they ALL could be math tutors, reflecting a culture of excellence. The students also created sample lesson plans and teaching philosophies in order to show applicant reviewers that they would have the skills to teach, as well as the heart.
Learning Targets:
Although students were math tutors, they were not going be graded in math. This is because the learning of the math skills by the tutors had already been learned, and would not be driving the instruction. Instead the team decided to grade students on technical writing, as they wanted to improve writing scores. They wanted to focus on conventions and organization, which would be the students’ primary grade and apply to the current English course. In addition, students would be assessed on the 21st century skills articulated below. This grade would be part of the Community Studies course, but could easily fit into any course assessment.
21st Century Skills:
During the planning stages, the team identified aligned CTE standards to 21st century skills normally taught and assessed in other projects. Because they wanted to align this project to CTE standards, they wanted to make sure the connection was there and that they were justified in targeted the 21st century skills of communication and collaboration. The specific state standards are “demonstrate professional behavior and etiquette in all business management and administration teams, work units, departments and organizations in order to enhance the work environment” and “exhibit ethical and professional behavior.” Both are clearly aligned to the 21st century skill of collaboration and communication. During this project, students would have to remain professional as they taught, and collaborate with fellow tutors to meet student needs.
Next Steps:
I’m very excited to see the long term effects of this PBL Project. While the project itself where students are assessed may not occur next year, the teachers and students have built a structure that will last at the school and provide a real need for the community. I could see this spreading like wild-fire to other schools, where they start to see the success of the program as it becomes a part of the ongoing culture at EagleRidge High School. I am inspired by the drive of teachers to create projects that provide community service. I encourage all teachers to explore ways to meet community needs through PBL, no matter how small that impact might be. It builds relevancy for learning and builds a nurturing school culture.
by Andrew K. Miller | Apr 20, 2011 | Blog, Whole Child Blog
This post originally appeared on The Whole Child blog, an ASCD initiative to call on educators, policymakers, business leaders, families, and community members to work together on a whole child approach to education. View Original >
Project-based learning (PBL) is being embraced by schools nationally and across grade levels. Educators know that each grade level comes with its challenges as students are in a variety of developmental levels and abilities. However, through practicing 21st century skills in a PBL environment, students can build their social, emotional, and cognitive capacity.
Because the middle grades are a paradigm shift for most students, middle-grades teachers are presented with an exciting opportunity to engage 21st century learners, but they also need to keep in mind that these students need unique scaffolding.
As someone who taught using PBL at the middle-grades level, I have seen students be very successful, with careful and deliberate scaffolding. Of course, there are unique challenges when working with middle-grades students, not only in terms of their development but also in terms of the level of PBL project they have accomplished previously, if any at all.
Because many students have not done PBL regularly, it is important that the PBL projects are tightly managed and teacher-directed at first. This is because you need to make it safe for students. PBL has students collaborate, present, and think critically. Although these may seem like “skills,” they are crucial to any child developmentally. Just as good teachers scaffold content learning, teachers need to scaffold this learning as well. Middle-grades students can collaborate, present, and critically think, they just require more scaffolding and focused guidance.
Below are the first stages of a PBL development guide created by Angela Dye of the Small Schools Project. I think these are great targets for teachers to use at the middle grades. I believe that if you are using PBL effectively and regularly in the classroom, students can reach stage 3 or higher by the time they leave your classroom for high school. In fact many elementary schools focus on PBL projects that would fit in steps 1 and 2; so if PBL is built into the scope and sequence of the entire life of a student, one can only imagine the amazing things students can do at the middle-grades level, let alone in high school.
Step 1: Project Taskmaster
At this level, students are connecting themselves to the problem-solving process. Here is where they commit to learning the problem by completing specific, subject-matter tasks. They take responsibility for building their knowledge base for the project. They use the computer effectively to collect and display data. They collaborate with others for accuracy of data and information. They learn to view the teacher as an advisor and not the central source for knowledge and learning.
Deliverable
- Report of problem (outlined by facilitator)
Step 2: Project Scholar
At this level, students analyze the global aspects of the problem. They are able to take the data collected and articulate a sound description of the problem. In addition, they use the Internet and other resources (other than the teacher) to add depth to their analysis.
Deliverables
- Report of problem (outlined by facilitator)
- Problem analysis
Step 3: Project Leader
At this level, students are able to use their global awareness of the problem to identify outcomes (needs) of the problem. By connecting these needs to a social institution, they then design a solution that is a concrete object, an event (or activity), or a process. Although the solution is not carried out at this level, the design is valid (researched) and applicable (realistic) and ready for implementation.
Deliverables
- Report of problem (outlined by facilitator)
- Problem analysis
- Project design
PBL is a great way to not only build skills but also foster student growth emotionally, socially, and cognitively. When students collaborate, they become social beings in a context. When students present their work, they build their emotional confidence. When students critically think, their brains are working hard. How thankful your high school will be when your middle-grades students leave you as not only project leaders, but also confident and secure young adults.
by Andrew K. Miller | Mar 16, 2011 | Blog, Whole Child Blog
This post originally appeared on The Whole Child blog, an ASCD initiative to call on educators, policymakers, business leaders, families, and community members to work together on a whole child approach to education. View Original >
Project-based learning (PBL) is rightfully touted as a way not only to create engagement in the classroom, but also to prepare students for their lives once they leave the confines of our classrooms. When given an authentic task to complete that is aligned to standards, students engage in an inquiry process, both as a team and individually, to innovate a solution. The task creates engagement in learning content and also 21st century skills. But let’s cut to the chase and see exactly what about PBL aligns to aspects of being career and college ready.
Public Audience
Every project in which students engage demands a public presentation of their learning. Similar to a board of directors presentation or a sales pitch, students are required to present their products to the public, whether through YouTube, a formal presentation, a podcast, or a portfolio. The audience usually comprises experts in the field. As in the work world, when there is accountability not only to ourselves, but experts, our level of work increases. Students will do the same. If you give them the opportunity to present to an expert, they will rise to the challenge and emulate a real-world experience.
Driving Question and Student Voice and Choice
These two foundations for PBL are closely related in terms of preparing students for college and careers. The driving question creates a feeling of challenge and interest in solving a real and authentic problem. It can be abstract: “How does who we are as teenagers affect who we become as adults?” It can be concrete: “How do we create an ideal outside classroom for our school?” Regardless, students create authentic products for an audience to answer the question, similar to a project in the real world. In addition, the question is open-ended and complex, and allows for student voice and choice in creating a product to answer the question. In college, although requirements are defined, there is often space for students to express their own viewpoint or method. As adults, we have complex and open-ended questions we answer in the career world every day. Students need to be given the opportunity to not “look for one answer” but solve complex, open-ended questions that allow for different ways of knowing in order to prepare for them for that post-secondary experience.
Revision and Reflection
PBL fosters a culture on ongoing feedback and revision. Students learn that it is OK to make mistakes and revise work. This is counter-paradigm. Some traditional teachers might demand a rough draft, but PBL creates multiple opportunities to revise and reflect on work before the actual due date. Like in the workplace, students critique each other, critique themselves, and receive critique from teachers and experts. It helps to prepare students to be independent in their critique and to continually seek feedback from peers and experts, a skill not taught explicitly at the college or career level, but nevertheless is needed and valued.
21st Century Skills
The Buck Institute for Education currently focuses on three major 21st century skills: collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. All are critical to being prepared for college or career. Whether it’s problem solving with teammates, being able to articulate work to a client, or analyzing a solution for effectiveness, all of these skills can be at practice in a PBL project. In fact, they can be taught and assessed. Instead of simply allowing students to experience these 21st century skills, PBL values them as part of the grade and demands teachers not only assess them, but teach them. They are just as important as the content that is being learned in the project.
“Now” Ready
One of the pitfalls to avoid with the idea of being career- and college-ready is just what the term can imply: “This will matter when you go to college.” “This will prepare you for college.” As Chris Lehmann in a recent TED talk espoused, “why can’t what students do matter now?” Why do we as educators default to the response that this material will help you later? For some kids, that idea of college and career is well out of their realm of possibility. The language of being career- and college-ready will not break through to them. However, when done well, PBL frames the content to be learned in a relevant and engaging current problem. With PBL, you can make students “now” ready. You can make the learning and project matter to them now, honoring them as critical to creating and innovating in the current world around them. Use PBL to not only make your students career- and college-ready, but also “now” ready. By making them “now” ready, you will make them college- and career-ready.
by Andrew K. Miller | Dec 22, 2010 | Blog, Whole Child Blog
This post originally appeared on The Whole Child blog, an ASCD initiative to call on educators, policymakers, business leaders, families, and community members to work together on a whole child approach to education. View Original >
Physical education (PE) can be a place where relevant and authentic learning can occur. I think project-based learning (PBL) is one way to not only create this, but to also show others how valuable PE can be. When done well, PBL gives students a relevant and authentic task—a problem or challenge—that they, as a team and as individuals, must explore and solve. Instead of a project that is a curriculum add-on or completed at the end, the standards-based instruction is filtered through this authentic task, which creates a need to know in students. They see why they are learning what they are learning. The students learn and complete the project concurrently, continually revising and producing a product that they will present publicly.
In my visits to classrooms across the country, I have seen some great projects that teachers have created and implemented. I am continually inspired and amazed by what they create. We “steal” from each other and use each other’s ideas in our own classrooms. In this spirit of stealing, here is an example of a PE PBL project filtered through the “Seven Essential Elements of Project-Based Learning,” a framework for inquiry shared by my Buck Institute for Education colleagues John Larner and John R. Mergendoller in a recent Educational Leadership article. Steal this project and use it in your classroom!
1. Need to Know
A group of high school students were presented with a letter from the local middle school principal. The letter asked them to create the best exercise program for the middle school students. They were asked to create sample PE units for the teachers and students and present their ideas to a panel of teachers, administrators, and other experts. They were also required to create, through their own participation and physical activity, data that proved physical exercise was occurring.
What a task to ask of high school students, and they had a lot of questions! What is a good PE unit? What do middle students like to do in PE? What are the goals of PE? These were all questions generated by the students. They had to engage in research, both online and in person, in order to accomplish this authentic task and present it to a real audience.
2. A Driving Question
For this project, students were trying to answer the question, How can we create the best exercise program for middle school students? All the work was geared toward this question. Students were reminded of the question in their daily lessons. It helped them answer the question, Why are you doing this today? when administrators, teachers, and other stakeholders visited the classroom.
3. Student Voice and Choice
Students were allowed a variety of opportunities to choose how they wanted to show their learning, but they were still graded on the same standards and learning objectives. Traditionally, teachers dictate all parts of the assessment, rather than give students power of how they can show their learning. If students are given voice and choice, they are engaged and empowered to perform the task.
For this project, each group was allowed to choose its PE unit, whether it was focused on a racket sport, conditioning, or a combination. However, they had to prove that this unit would meet the needs of physical education, whether the needs were created by the PE teacher or to align with specific standards and learning targets. In addition to the group work, each student was required to create another engaging PE unit for middle school students, but showcase it in a format of each student’s choice (for example, podcasts, videos, flyers, or demonstrations). This ensures accountability of the same learning targets for both the group and the individual.
4. 21st Century Skills
Students were engaged in two 21st century skills: collaboration and presentation. Unlike group work, which is activity based, they would work together to create something over a few weeks. Rather than one day, they would engage in collaboration like professionals in the workforce. These skills are valuable across disciplines and in the postgraduate world. Teachers trained students to do these skills well, whether in a team-building activity in PE class or help from the drama teacher in the art of presentation.
5. Inquiry and Innovation
Because the task is authentic and open-ended, students are constantly engaged in the inquiry process. They are finding and being armed by the teacher with the information they need to accomplish the task. Students are also creating something new. It is not simply a regurgitation of knowledge, but instead using that knowledge and newly created data to design an innovative PE unit.
6. Feedback and Revision
The students had to test-drive each other’s units, which meant they were engaged in a variety of physical activities. However, they were also looking for feedback from their peers, from teachers, and from the middle school students. They learned that continuous improvement is possible, and that revision is a great thing to do.
7. A Publicly Presented Product
Students presented to a high-stakes audience, both for the individual and group products. They shared their data, demonstrated their units, engaged in persuasive rhetoric, and shared the stage with each other. After the presentations, there was a sense of relief as well as a sense of accomplishment. They had successfully completed a project that they would remember for the rest of high school. Not only that, but they came to their own understandings of many PE content standards, as well the importance and need for a physical education program.
I encourage physical educators to think about the possibilities with PBL. The project can be geared toward any standard and any audience. Its focus can be narrow or broad, and it can last anywhere from several days to several months. The payoff is engagement. Students will see the relevance for their learning in PE through the authentic task of a PBL project. You must give up power in order to empower your students; empower them in their physical education.
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