Anatomy of an Interdisciplinary Project

From http://messiahnetwork.org/2015/04/01/puppet-show-on-sunday-april-19/ 

December 16, 2016. That's the date on this draft post I was thinking about writing. It is another of my 10 "draft" posts I have on my blog. I'm about to shift this blog over to Wordpress and away from Blogger. I have 276 blog posts altogether. Most were written over a 4 year period when I was actively writing (2011 through 2015). 

There are many things to consider if you are thinking about doing an interdisciplinary project. The following project was created for 7th grade students at a K-12 charter school in Round Rock Texas. The project included the subjects of Theater Arts, Language (French and Spanish), and IB Design.

The most obvious thing to say about the project design process, with multiple subjects, is that there has to be an initial conversation between 2 or 3 (or more) teachers who want to work together. At this school that conversation happened between the theater teacher and the design teacher a few months prior to project launch.

The theater teacher wanted to do a puppet show "towards the end of the year." That initial discussion concentrated on how the design students would be involved. Could they build scenery, or props, or puppets for the show?  The decision was made to have the design students build the puppets. During this discussion came the idea that, maybe, the language classes could be involved. All of the 7th grade students, at this school, take either French or Spanish (and it is nearly a 50/50 split). The language teachers were approached with the project idea and they were excited to be a part of it.

In one day the theater and design teachers had gone from a simple conversation to a commitment by 5 teachers. The next step was to create a rough calendar. To properly do backward design the teachers had to start with the furthest item out. Scheduling the puppet show would drive the other dates. The puppet show date led to establishing when the puppets would have to be completed. Since the students would be reading stories in their language classes and the stories, in turn, would become the basis for a script, when to start reading the stories had to be entered into the equation.

Those first steps were items that each teacher had to negotiate so that the overall project was successful. Individually, the teachers had to plan their classes so that their part of the process was completed on time with success. For example, the Design teacher wanted time to build empathy and time to start the inquiry process. It was decided that the project entry event would happen in the design class. The design teacher created a problem statement and specific product do-dates for the building of the puppets.

The theater and design teachers decided that the students would all create the same type of puppet so that they could help each other. An interesting and common (for interdisciplinary projects) issue came to light at this stage: The students who were together in design were not all together in their theater classes. And, the language classes were different from design or theater. This was important because the groups in theater class, who were presenting a specific story, all took the same language. But that didn't mean they were in the same language class period. And when it came time for building puppets none of them might be in the same design class period. It must be said that this was not a deal killer - a minor headache? Yes A stop the presses moment? Definitely not.

So, how do you drive a project that kicks off in a design class; forces students to ask their language teachers for story or poem suggestions that they can read; and ends up with scripts being written in theater so that a puppet show can happen? The answer is actually pretty simple. Once teachers have due dates on the calendar you can let the students dictate the course of the project.

In this project students arrived in their design class and were given the task of building puppets for a puppet show in their theater class. In theater class they were told that they were going to be having a puppet show where they would be writing scripts based upon either French or Spanish children's stories that they would read in their language classes. And, finally, the students were told by their language teachers that they would be selecting children's stories to read that would be used for a puppet show in theater. The time it took for all students to get an understanding of the overall scheme of the project took less than a week.

As far as deep understanding this project worked well for sustainable inquiry. Many of the students were with a group of students creating a puppet show in their theater class, but never were in class with their group members again during the day. But puppets representing each character had to be built. Scripts had to be written based upon a story that each group member was reading and, since they weren't in the same language class, they had to trust that their group members were all at a point where they understood the story well enough to have input for the script they were writing.

Students rose to the occasion. They learned about puppetry from areas all over the globe. They read for understanding in their language classes and discussed the nuances of the characters in their stories. They wrote scripts and made puppets that truly reflected the character they were in their story. And, in the end, had a fun time performing puppet shows. 

Creating a Culture of Wonder

Photo by Samet Kurtkus on Unsplash

"SCHOOLS SHOULD BE BUILT AROUND STREAMS OF WONDER. THESE STREAMS OF WONDER SHOULD CONSTANTLY BE IN MOTION ALLOWING YOU TO DIP INTO THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN. " - Chris Fancher, Educator and Author

January 26, 2014. That's the date on the draft post I was thinking about writing. It is one of about 10 "draft" posts I have on my blog. I'm about to shift this blog over to Wordpress and away from Blogger. I have 276 blog posts altogether. Most were written over a 4 year period when I was actively writing (2011 through 2015).

So today I am cleaning up the pile of posts and I will start finishing some of the draft posts - starting with this one.

The idea for this post was brought about after attending an Educon conference. Educon conferences are one of the best conferences an educator can attend. I would recommend that you all put that on your educator bucket list.

I attended a session on "Wonder, By Design." The beauty of an Educon is that the room creates what the attendees get out of the session. In this case we were instructed to come up with a table manifesto.

I know from my notes that all of the people at my table I knew from Twitter. And, most of them I am still in contact with via Twitter 6 years later.

"Wonder By Design." 
I loved the initial brainstorming around that statement:
     Learning is an opportunity -- not a location.
     Curiosity builds on curiosity and questions lead to questions.
     Wonder and curiosity go hand in hand -- one builds on the other.
     Wonder evokes open-endedness.
     There is no limit to imagination.
     Schools should be built around wonder.
     Schools should be built around wonder and ideas of everyone.
     Wonder invites joy.
     No one has the right to steal someone else's wonder.
     Wonder is essential to learning.

You can see that we were ready to take the concepts of wonder, imagination, and curiosity and find a way to create a manifesto that could be applied to all of education. So what the heck is a manifesto? Well, it just happens to be "a written statement that describes the policies, goals, and opinions of a person or group." Therefore, we needed to take these statements and put them together for our manifesto.

What we found as we started working with these statements was that we were heading down a path that led to the idea of wonder flowing through a school. This moved us into various water analogies. Fountains of wonder. Waterfalls of wonder. Streams of wonder. Someone even brought up Herodotus and a quote of his about water (I told you these were some pretty smart educators at this conference).

And so our first group of ideas became: 
(1) We believe that wonder and curiosity work together -- you cannot have one without the other and each spurs new ideas, new possibilities, and new creativity.
(2) Wonder is essential to learning and can be reflected in our spaces, our practices, our mindset.

These were great on their own but we felt that they weren't manifesto-y enough. So that led to these two statements:
(1) Schools should be built around wonder.
and, (2) Schools must be streams of wonder that are constantlly in motion - carving new paths - which you can dip into again and again.

My take on these two give you the following as my education manifesto:

SCHOOLS SHOULD BE BUILT AROUND STREAMS OF WONDER. THESE STREAMS OF WONDER SHOULD CONSTANTLY BE IN MOTION ALLOWING YOU TO DIP INTO THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN.

How can you build streams of wonder in your school? How do you allow students to dip into their creativity and imagination as a matter of routine? We all need to pause and consider those questions for our own classroom, building, or district.

NOTE: If you like this post feel free to look through the archives (on the right side of the page). Most are about PBL and/or Math. And, stay tuned for the shift over to ChrisFancher.com. The webpage is already there but the posts need to be shifted over. Coming Spring/Summer 2020.

5 Things to Jumpstart PBL in the New Year [Math Version]

@amyshamblen

   You've enjoyed the holidays and you have a few more days until school starts back up so you've been catching up on your reading. Several of your friends have gone to trainings during 2018 where they have learned about Project Based Learning and you are intrigued. But everything you have read gives you a headache because you couldn't possibly add anything to your full curriculum pacing guide. 

   This post is for you. And it's for anyone who wants to "just kick the ball down the PBL road." Where do you begin? How do you get started? Well, in my opinion, it should start with inquiry. 

    (1) Start every (yes, every) day with an opportunity for your students to ask questions of you and of each other around the topic of math. It does NOT have to be about the current thing you are doing in your math unit. As a matter of fact those who espouse spiraling in topics throughout the year would argue that you should choose things that are not in your current unit. And, it is ok to give a problem that you haven't covered yet. Let your students struggle with figuring out the answer and then let them know that they will be seeing many more problems like that in a few weeks. 

  Want a question to start it off? Look at the image at the top of the page.  Ask you students to estimate the number of total balls that were in the glass. Then ask them to estimate the volume of the glass. And, finally, have them estimate the volume taken up by the balls when they are all in the glass. An "extra credit" might be how many more balls could you add to the glass until it is full?  Notice there weren't any numbers given. There weren't any formulas given. Just tell them that there isn't a correct answer but there are an infinite amount of incorrect answers - those that came without sound reasoning. 

    (2) Encourage your students to reflect on what they already know and what they will need to know to be successful in the next unit. Start by going to the Extended Questions or Gifted and Talented Questions at the end of the chapter you are about to begin. Find a question that you can bring to life and assign it on the first day of the chapter. If you don't have something like that then explore online resources for questions about the topic you are about to cover and select a rich question. Make sure the question can not be solved on the first day by the majority of your students. Once you have shown the question to the class, ask them to come up with what information they need to know to be able to solve it. List these on the board. Check those items that the students have not yet covered. Explain to the students that these checked items will be what you will be teaching them in this unit. 

    (3) Give your students opportunities to discuss how to solve problems in groups. Give them problems that might have multiple ways of solving. Allow time for everyone to attempt the problems. Then have them form groups and take turns explaining how to solve the problems. Encourage multiple ways of solving by asking them to come up, as a group, with more than one way to get to the solution. Teach the students how to give constructive feedback for problems that are incorrectly solved. 

    (4) Find ways to have students present their ideas to the rest of the class. (a) Start safely by using a fishbowl where a group discusses solutions in their group while the rest of the class observes and takes notes on the discussion. Just make sure the observers are held responsible for giving constructive feedback to the group in the fishbowl. (b) Have students paired up (Pilot/Co-Pilot) with the understanding that each day will change whether it is the pilot or the co-pilot who is responsible for explaining solutions. When working with your lower groups you can have it that either can answer but the selected position must tell the other person if he or she isn't going to be directly answering. 

(c) Have a presentation day where students write their solutions on poster paper or on a white board. Then have a gallery walk where students give constructive criticism to their peers. 

   (5) Put it all together. (a)Give an assignment over a topic that has not been covered. (b) Create a knows and need-to-knows list that students generate about the assignment. (c) Give students opportunities to work in groups to find solutions to the the assignment. (d) Have opportunities for students to share what they know with others in the classroom. Include an end of chapter/unit day when the solutions are "officially" presented. 

    What I have just shown you (paragraph 5 above) is the basic structure of project based learning.  If you committed, today, to doing this for each of the units/chapters you have left for this school year then you and your students would benefit from the deeper learning that would occur. 

    Then, next Summer (after an incredible Spring), you would want to commit to continuing this process in the Fall semester. When you planned for the Fall you would look for a math topic that is related to a news item or other item of interest in your local community. You would, then, find a way to connect with someone involved with the community issue. Then you would figure an angle for your students to do some math to help solve the problem (or, as a minimum, have them find several possible solutions to the problem). Finally, you would make sure you have a presentation day that your students would be tasked with presenting their solutions to the community. That one problem would demonstrate what true PBL is all about. It would have a "real world problem," it would have inquiry, it would have collaborative work and discussion, it would have reflection and analysis, and there would be a public audience. 

     It is my belief that students need three things to help them go deeper in their learning: Something that makes them wonder; time to discuss what it is that they are wondering about; and a non-negotiable deadline where they have to tell someone, they don't know, all about this thing that they have been wondering about. 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

     Following these steps will help your Spring semester be the best you've ever had. Isn't that what all teachers should wish for on this New Year's Eve?  Happy New Year and best of luck in the coming semester. 

Some books to help you on this journey: 

Jo Boaler's Mathematical Mindsets is just plain good reading. 

Geoff Krall's Necessary Conditions is about great math teaching.

My book, Project Based Learning in the Math Classroom, (co-authored with Telannia Norfar) will help you go deeper with what I have written in this post. This book is now available for pre-sale and will be out in April 2019. 

The Learning Process Must Include Inquiry

http://bit.ly/2pPDPQh

Today I worked with a teacher planning a unit and I realized that the idea that we need to kick start the inquiry process on Day 1 of a unit isn't obvious to every teacher. The following post wrote itself as I walked her through the process of making inquiry the foundation of all that she does moving forward.

Whether you are a veteran teacher who has taught each of your units multiple times, or you are a novice teacher wanting your students to be more involved in their learning, adding inquiry processes to your teaching habits will help your students go deeper with their learning.

Michael McDowell (@mmcdowell13 on Twitter) in his book Rigorous PBL by Design emphasizes that inquiry not only helps on a daily basis with student knowledge but can help identify student performance. He recommends that teachers continually find answers, from their students, on these 4 questions: (1) Where am I going in my learning? (2) Where am I now in my learning? (3) What next steps am I going to take in my learning? And, (4) How do I improve my learning and that of others?

As I became a  New Tech Network (NTN) teacher, 10 years ago, I was instructed to gather a similar list of information using the structure "Knows and Need To Knows"(KNTK List). The list was displayed in a two column table with all of the things the students already knew that could help them learn on the left, and all of the things the students needed to learn to be successful, on the right. Since McDowell was intimately involved in the NTN for years it makes sense that his four questions have a range similar to the extremes of "Knows" on one end (Where am I now in my learning) to "Need to knows" (What next steps...and...How do I improve...).

For the last 6 years I have been a National Faculty (NF) member with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org). BIE and the NTN were intertwined for years and their philosophies were very much the same. And so, as I began with BIE, we trained teachers to use the Knows and Need to Knows (KNTK List) format for helping students see where they were in their learning and where they would be going in the learning process.

As I worked on perfecting my own inquiry practice I ran across a book that would, forever, change how I approached inquiry. It is called Make Just One Change  by the Right Question Institute (@rightquestion on Twitter). This book teaches you the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). In this technique students are asked to brainstorm a list of their personal questions about a topic that is being introduced. They then get together in groups and refine their questions creating a list of 3 questions that are their most important questions as a group. Finally the class creates a list of questions based upon the 3 questions from each group. This list is now the Class List of pertinent questions.

Ironically, within a few months of reading the book, BIE announced that the NF would be replacing the KNTK List with the QFT process in the PBL 101 trainings. Needless to say I was ecstatic with this change.

The three processes mentioned are at three levels of comfort for the teacher in the inquiry process, in my opinion. If you are new to an emphasis on inquiry then start simple and start creating a KNTK List. On the first day of a unit give the class an overview of what needs to be completed in the unit or give them a challenge or some product that must be completed by the end of the unit. Then have them generate a list of all of the things they already know how to do and that they will need in the unit to be successful. This is their "Knows." Then have them brainstorm things that they will need to know to be successful. This list will complete the KNTK List.

If you are more comfortable with your teaching then it is worth your while to get a copy of the QFT book so that you can see the QFT explained in its entirety. As in the paragraph above, you start with something that stimulates the inquiry process. The students, individually, write a list of questions that come to mind from this prompt. After a set time, the students get together in groups and share their questions. The groups select three questions that represent the group as a whole and, finally, the groups share out the questions making a Class List of questions.

The Four Questions, described by McDowell, is the next level and requires you to assess the students on the questions each day so that you are able to enhance the overall learning in the classroom. This is the where I am heading with my own inquiry process in my classroom. It takes some work but with the guidance in his book, you can make the changes necessary to help yourself become a more effective teacher and to help your students make better connections with their learning.

There is still one key element to successfully having an inquiry based classroom. No matter which process you use it is imperative that you make time each day to explore the KNTK List, Class List of Questions, or the documentation for each student through McDowell's approach. Every day you need to make this a part of your classroom routine. Most successful teachers I know use the last 5 to 10 minutes to interact with the lists so that the students can do one (or both) of two things: Line through or check items that have been addressed satisfactorily AND add items not already on the list that have come up in discussion during class. These lists are fluid and give the class a visual of their learning.

It isn't too early to become a better teacher and improving questioning and inquiry will help you improve and will increase the depth of knowledge attained by your students.

Understanding Life in 1800 When You are 12

https://www.pinterest.com/Lugsail/merchant-ship-1750-1800/

This week I am wrapping up a project with my 7th graders that is about traveling to Texas in the year 1800. All of my design students take either French or Spanish and I have them in corresponding "delegations" with a student governor. Within the delegations are groups of students (3 to 6 in a group) who are working together as a sort of travel company.

Their task is to create a diorama of a settlement for a certain number of people that will be going on a trip from a country, of their choosing, to somewhere in Texas. They also are creating a presentation where they are to "sell" this trip to the rest of their classmates.

Tasks they must perform include figuring out how many people they will take (including their skills) and the number of ships that they will need to transport these people to the New World. They have researched where the ship will land in the New World and how long it will take to get to the place they plan on settling from the ship landing.

Throughout this task I have been bringing it back to the importance of building empathy. The latest paper I had them write me was to tell me about a young person who is planning on taking their trip. As this person, they have to describe their home that they are leaving; how long it will take to get to the ship; what it will be like on the ship (including what they plan on doing to keep from getting bored); and what it will be like when they first get to Texas. I want their character to be about their own age.

My students didn't have much of a problem doing basic research and calculating things like speed and distance. They had a harder time with calculations of scale for their buildings in their dioramas. But when they had to write that empathy paper there were some fun thoughts shared with me by these young folks.

While the majority of students told me of one room, broken-down, huts that they were leaving, several told me about these huge multi-room mansions that they were leaving. And one student told me all about the apartments he would be moving into when he got to Texas.

When it came to getting to the shipyard most walked or rode on a wagon but several said they would take a taxi - (what, no Uber or Lyft?).

The ship ride for most students was cramped with not much to eat. But many of my students planned on having 3 meals a day provided by the captain. And a few had very nice accommodations - "Better than the bed they had at home!"

It is interesting to see students struggle with understanding of what life was like prior to 1980 - never mind what life was like in the year 1800!  I'm only hoping that this process will help them with their Texas History class that they are taking at the same time.

Using An Old Challenge to Teach Project Management

http://goo.gl/AK0vs

When I talk with teachers about getting started with PBL I often tell them to think of something they have seen done before and take the idea and make it their own. But I also caution them to think of their content first - what are the verbs and nouns in their standards? Unless they are incredibly comfortable with their standards it really doesn't make much sense to start with an idea and try to fit the standards.

Now that I'm teaching Design this frees me up to be more creative and experimental with where I ask my students to go with their learning. Unfortunately I have 7th graders who have been living, for at least a few years, in the world of "Learn the Content -then-Do a Project." In addition to teaching them about the Design process I have to teach them the the PBL process.

I'm attempting to create a classroom of asking questions, taking chances, making guesses, trying new things, and thinking about the client. Through the first semester my students have worked on projects that were centered on content standards for their science and Texas history classes. In science they needed to understand forces for the Rube Goldberg Machines they built. In Texas history they needed to understand French and Spanish settlers/settlements in the 17th and 18th centuries in what is now Texas to build models.

The content might have been for other classes but the creation and building were accomplished in my classroom. Now, with this next project, my students will be working for me (and for themselves). We are embarking on my version of the Cardboard Chair Challenge.

You might have guessed from the title of the project, that the main idea is to build a chair out of recycled cardboard and glue. But there is SO much more I want them to learn about managing a project. This, in reality, is a project management project.

To keep them focused on creating the chair and to make things interesting I have created an opportunity to have the students present to parents. There's nothing like an authentic audience to up the ante. To be honest, I don't really care whether they successfully build a chair in the short time period I have given them (but don't tell them that, shhhh.)

Things I am focusing on:
(1) Roles. In this project everyone has an individual role and everyone is responsible for making sure the final products are completed. There are 6 students in just about every group and I have 6 roles in each group. The roles are Group Leader, Work Leader, Group Liaison, Web Site Designer, Artistic Leader, and Promotions Leader.  For the first two weeks I'll be meeting with each of these role players every day to ensure they are on top of what needs to be done to be successful.
 (2) Leadership. Related to their roles, everyone in the group is responsible for something that they will need help with. Will they step up and be a leader to make sure the group is successful. One role I will be working very closely with is the Work Leader. I expect the Work Leader to create a Team Accountability Form and use it every day. The Work Leader needs to be on top of what every member of the group is doing and where they are on their individual time line.
(3) Working on both individual and group work. Can they work together on their product (the chair) while also working on their individual assignments based upon their roles?

I want my students to understand that their is a lot more involved in successfully completing a project besides the final product. My students are competing to create the "best" chair possible using just cardboard and glue. But they are also learning how to work together as a team.  And with that, I can truthfully say: I want them all to be winners.

I Go From Project Idea to Project Launch (PBL with a DT Feel)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/

I've just completed a pretty darn nice 2 weeks off for the holidays. Tomorrow I head back to 2 days of PD before the students come back to me on Wednesday. I've been spending the last couple of hours fine tuning my first design project of the year.

This is my first year of teaching MYP Design at Meridian World School. And so I've been creating as I go, as far as what I cover next with my students. Things that work this year will be tweaked and recycled for next year. Things that didn't go so well will be revamped or scrapped for next year. It's all part of the DT mindset and, either way, I learn a ton along the way.

Back in August (2015) I decided that I wanted to do a Cardboard Chair project this year. There are several versions out there but I chose to follow this one. I modified it, as necessary, to meet the level of my 7th graders and the time I wanted to spend on this project. The beauty of this is that I am working with something that has worked in the past.

I took the major parts of the project as written ( Research, Design Sketches, Drawings, and Model) and I added a beginning (Admin) and an end (Build and Presentations). Then I went through each of these and wrote out some sub-parts. For example I listed time for building and presenting the prototypes for feedback prior to their final build.

Next steps were to figure out how many days and weeks it would take and to look at the school calendar and see what things might impact these times. In doing this I noticed that our Diploma Program (DP) students will be doing their Group 4 Projects at about the same time I wanted to finish my project. I had my Authentic Audience - DP Parents can help pick the design champions.

As I worked backwards on the calendar I started filling in the key steps and, before I knew it,  I was back to early January and I could start finalizing my plans for these first two weeks of the semester.

Let me go through my checklist:  I have a project launch day where we will assign groups, write group contracts, and do the Question Formulation Technique (QFT);  I have a presentation day and an authentic audience;  I have days for research on key components for my subject area (Form, Function, Resources);  Students will explore empathy through their design plans; and, Students will do research, create sketches, and will build prototypes to get feedback prior to their final build.

I have been able to marry most of the Gold Standard PBL elements with most of the Design Thinking elements.  This will be a five week project from launch to final presentations. It will encompass the majority of the first six weeks of the grading period. I'll need to add assessments and plan for materials but, in the end, I am all set for the first 6-weeks of the semester. In a couple of weeks I'll be ready to start finalizing my next project. I've already approached a gym teacher to design some exercise mats. I'll write about that one soon.

Exploring Design Thinking as a PBL Guy

Via Eric White

This week I will be meeting with other BIE National Faculty (NF) members at our annual Spring Summit.

For the summit we have broken into Professional Learning Communities (PLC's) and I am with the Design Thinking (dt) group.

We will be sharing with the other NF and we are looking at how dt compares with pbl and what can and should be included in future editions of the BIE PBL 101 or other training services.

I have been thinking a lot about the dt world and I have both watched from afar and interacted directly in the Twitter chat on dt - #dtk12chat. I have sat through a number of presentations from key people in the dt world including Ewan McIntosh. I also have a masters in engineering science so I've taken a few courses in design.

But I still haven't totally been able to marry dt and pbl. As I talk with more and more people who subscribe to dt I am noticing that many of them will do projects using the standard pbl process and then do another project that is based upon the dt process. I am assuming that I'm not the only one with this struggle.

During my years teaching with Project Lead the Way I used the 12-step design process with my students. Since I was at a New Tech Network (NTN) school I was able to marry the pbl process with this process and I worked my projects with the marriage of these two processes.

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Image

Overlapping the DT image at the top of this post with this design process I came to the following list of steps for a pbl project with an undercurrent of dt:

1.     Initial Problem or Idea                    
2.   Brainstorm and Build Empathy  
3.     Consider Criteria and Constraints
4.    Create an Initial Concept (IC)       
5.    Gather Feedback on the IC            
6.    Create an Initial Prototype (IP)    
7.   Gather Feedback on the IP           
8.   Create/Build/Write/Make           
9.    Mid-Creation Feedback                 
10.  Present Final Product (FP)         
11.  Gather Feedback on FP               
12. Reflect                                            

This is a 12-step process that starts with a problem or idea, overtly asks teachers to think about inquiry and empathy, gives opportunities for feedback, has a presentation, and ensures reflection.  

Looking at another interpretation of the phases of the design thinking process we see that within this 12-step process there is empathy; there is a chance to define and ideate; there is an opportunity to create a prototype; and there is a chance to test the prototype and get feedback.  

As we at BIE attempt to create the essential elements of "Gold Standard PBL," we are looking at these elements:

http://www.bloomboard.com/

The 12-step process I presented can, and should, contain all of the elements in this diagram. As with all learning we must make sure there are key knowledge and skills at the heart of whatever process we are using. 

If we can ensure students are involved in their learning, are thinking of others, and are reflective in their quest for understanding, then our students will be the kind of adults that make a difference in our world.

 

It's Time For a Project

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/

It's that time of year again for many (most?) of us in the K-12 world of the United States to deal with standardized testing.

And there are many teachers who have been waiting until "that test is over" to start a pbl project.

There are some of you who can't see past the test that is approaching. I understand. But post-test can be the perfect time to knock out a project. And, therefore, now is the perfect time to start planning for that project that will put you and your students on the WOW end of the spectrum. You can do it and there are many of us out here willing to help you on your path forward.

So where do you start with the planning? Content, content, content. What things did you want your students to learn this year? Is there something that you know your students didn't learn at the requisite level? Maybe there's something that they were supposed to learn that you or the students really enjoyed and the topic is perfect for going deeper in their learning? Maybe there is something that they will need to know for the next school year and you might want them to explore it now?

If you are looking for project ideas I have two places you can go, right now, to see projects that might spark you imagination.

First place, of course I'm a little biased, is the BIE website. Look under the Resources Tab and you will see this:

In the Project Search area you can find hundreds of projects that teachers have uploaded. Although I tell teachers to NEVER use a project exactly as written, there is nothing wrong in looking over a project to whet your appetite. While you are in the Resources Tab, go to the Project Planner and do all of your planning in one place.

If you need more ideas for projects I always recommend High Tech High . Their list of projects (under the Project Tab, of course) is quite extensive.

Project planning can be a chore and, if you are new to pbl, it can be somewhat daunting. Don't do it alone. Enlist your fellow content teachers or a friend to help with brainstorming project ideas. And, even better, ask your district or school literacy coaches, instructional coaches, or curriculum specialists to help.

To be successful, you MUST take the time, up front, to get every day mapped out. Only then will you be able to feel comfortable and confident with the daily flow within you classroom. And, only then, will you have the time to work closely with individual groups of students.

When your students present what they have accomplished to a group of professionals and they are answering questions and engaging in conversations with these professionals, that time you spent up front will seem like nothing. But you will be everything to your students.

Another Take on Problem Based Learning for Math

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I have been wrestling with the marriage of Project Based Learning (PBL) and Math for nearly 8 years now.  A few years ago I moved towards Problem Based Learning (PrBL) instead of Project Based for math. It just seemed to make more sense.

With PrBL there are shorter time periods to complete a problem which, to a math teacher, frees up more time for "Math Skills." Of course a veteran math teacher, using inquiry-based teaching (PBL or PrBL fall into this niche), will find opportunities for practicing math skills.

Once a teacher decides to pursue PrBL, he or she will need to figure out which math units fit best. Or at least that is what I used to think. Now, after years of working with this, I realize that instead of figuring out which units and then what specific problems to work with, there is a better way.  Teachers need to start the planning process with great "Open-Ended Questions."

Now I use the term "open-ended" loosely because many of the problems I found with that label were actually closed problems.  The open-ended problems I am looking for may have multiple solutions but they may just have multiple paths that can be taken to get to an appropriate solution.

So here's a problem I found for middle school students (taken from the Math Forum):

I can see this being used as an introduction to area. During the first day's questioning I would hope there would be obvious questions about how to calculate area. But I would also hope to hear questions about whether the "whole number dimensions" have to be in feet. Could they be in "whole" inches? How about a question about whether "rectangular" means it has to be four sided - could it be a composite figure of rectangles? There might be a question that comes up that I would never think of.

The beauty of this is that the students can explore their specific questions to solve the problem going down a path of their choosing. At the end of the week the real question is: "Can the students solve a 4-sided, rectangular figure, with a length of L and a width of W?"

My big AHA! then was this - what if I found 20 or 30 or 50 great open-ended questions that represent content I want my students to learn during a school year?  I could then lay these questions alongside my district Year at a Glance or Pacing Guide to see where the questions would make sense on the calendar.

Now as a teacher gets to each unit they will already have 2 or 3 (or 5) open-ended questions that have been vetted. These will be the problems used in class to foster inquiry.  These problems will take 3 or 4 days from start to finish. There will be opportunities for questioning and brainstorming; creating drawings or other models; presentations; and reflections.

For example, the questioning and brainstorming might be completed on the first day. The modeling (along with the requisite critical thinking) might be on day two. On the third day there would be an opportunity for an informal presentation of how the groups solved their problems, followed by a reflection. On the last day of this PrBL there might be an assessment on the learning that was completed.

This all started from having a sound, content specific, question that fueled inquiry, questioning, and thinking. Using an open-ended question allowed students to go in different directions in pursuit of answers. Successful students ask questions, think critically, and defend their ideas. That is where deeper learning happens and that is how we help our students develop perseverance.

What is Essential For Successful PBL?

   

http://earthmosaic.org/index.html

This year the Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org), of which I am on the National Faculty, is re-examining the "Essential Elements" for PBL.

As I was thinking about it I remembered that I have posted about these elements a few times, over the years, and I came across this post from July of 2013.

So, in the essence of recycling, please read it again, or read it for the first time, so that you too can begin thinking about what the Gold Standard should be for PBL:


THE NINTH ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF PBL(7/7/13) -  I am about to work in my last co-facilitation with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE.org) doing what they call a PBL 101. A basic, 3-day, course in the planning, managing and assessing of a PBL project.

Within a project most people can agree that there are certain items that make it successful and BIE has narrowed the list down to 8 items that they call the 8 Essential Elements of PBL (see the diagram to the left).

Anyone who has truly done PBL knows that there must some sort of significant content, there must have been a way to establish a desire for inquiry (in this case by having a driving question and by overtly discussing what it is the students will need to know), and there must be a public audience so students feel an added desire to do their best.

Through group work, research, and the inquiry process students end up having to do, what most people call, 21st century skills.  These skills include, but are not limited to, collaboration, critical thinking, communication (orally and in writing), and creativity. Finally, there must be a chance for students to have their work assessed. At that point, they must be allowed to revise their work and reflect on their assessment. This ensures the final product is something the students are proud of and the product demonstrates the knowledge that the students have gained during the project.

As I said, most people can agree that these 8 elements are key components of a classroom or school that uses PBL as the primary mode of instruction. But these elements are not as connected as the diagram might suggest. The glue that holds these 8 elements together is the classroom, school, or even district culture. Culture is the 9th Essential Element. Without a proper culture students might not be allowed to have voice and choice in the products they work on. Without a proper culture students might not be willing to do revisions of their work or they may not feel a need to reflect on their learning.

Even the 21st century skills can be restricted when there is not a culture of collaboration; students aren't encouraged to think critically; student communication is not allowed or shown as unimportant; or when students have no outlet to show their creative side. Each of these issues with students comes directly from the way teachers and administrators interact.  If the teachers don't collaborate, communicate, or get a chance to try creative things in the classroom then there is a shadow upon the entire school culture that can't be ignored.

So, teachers, as you finish your PBL 101,  your New Teacher training with the New Tech Network, or some other PBL training this summer, remember to work hard and stay positive. You can do this. But get your fellow teachers and administrators involved in what you are doing. Get the PTA or other parent organization involved too. It is time to work on the entire educational system so that you and, more importantly, your students can be successful pursuers of inquiry.

Which Came First PBL or Small Group Instruction?

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Ye Olde Chicken-Egg story. Why am I wrestling with this? Because many consider me pretty smart about Project Based Learning(PBL). And, our school which calls itself a PBL school, is pushing small group instruction.

So, is PBL just a version of small group instruction? Not sure. And when you infuse a very structured form of small group instruction will teachers feel that they can't do PBL any more? Yes, unfortunately.

True confession. The title doesn't really align with what you are about to read but, hey, it got you to click on the link and start reading this, didn't it?

Right now our school is in its third year of using PBL as its primary mode of instruction. Now, primary is a funny word. Two years ago we started with our 6th grade teachers and many of them struggled to understand how to do a project. Many, however, excelled and became known for their expertise.

Last year we pushed PBL out in all three grades and also insisted upon having small group instruction. The same 6th grade teachers, who had success in the first year, continued to do well and incorporated a rotation to a teacher table into their daily process. A few additional 6th grade teachers took on "a project" during each semester. And, many teachers created projects during each semester. Almost all of the ELA teachers and most of the Social Studies teachers created classrooms with good to great small group rotations.

So, at the end of year two we had a large group of teachers doing good small group instruction. And, we had a large group of teachers who had run at least two projects during the year with varying levels of success. The best news was that we had teachers in both sets: a win-win situation! We decided to minimize change for year three and the word we used was "enhance." As in we will enhance our instruction.

Then we discovered Glenna Tabor and her Tabor Rotations process for small group instruction. If you get nothing else out of this post, go look at Glenna Tabor's stuff and, better yet, figure out how to get ALL of your math teachers to one of her trainings (or get her to come to your district). A day with her was one of the best PD's I have ever attended (if not the best ever).

Tabor Rotations is a VERY structured plan for small group instruction. And, that is its biggest strength. I held a half day training with math and math-inclusion teachers yesterday for our school district. We will be sending nearly 40 people to a Tabor Rotation training day in Dallas next month and I wanted to pre-teach some of the concepts and give them an overall view of the process. Our inclusion teachers summed it up best - "With Tabor Rotations you get all of the best practices for SPED and ELL students rolled into one package."

So, here's the dilemma - Tabor Rotations is very structured and many of our best PBL teachers are in the math department. Why is that a problem? Several felt that the structure doesn't work with what they do. With Tabor Rotations we have 4 heterogeneous groups for part of the week and 4 homogeneous groups the remainder of the week and these teachers are used to project groups of 3 to 4 students in each group. When you have a class of 30 students that means 7 to 10 groups for projects. Do we have 8 groups of students who are working on a project; a different set of 8 students working in their Tabor Rotation groups for a couple of days; and, a third set of 8 students working in their Tabor Rotation groups for the other days of the week?

And how do we do Tabor Rotations with research days and presentation days?

All of these questions are now fully engulfing my brain. Our teachers will be going to the training in two weeks and then I'll have other brains to help me figure this out. Because we will figure this out. PBL will work in every environment. PBL will help your students go deeper with their learning. Tabor Rotations will help your students go deeper with their learning too. The marriage of the two will be a truly magnificent thing. Just give us time to perfect it - because our teachers can, and will, figure this out.

Yes There IS a Right Way to "Do PBL"

http://goo.gl/C3gteK

It started when I was contacted by some friends who were attending the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) conference this past February.  "What is your principal saying about PBL here - do you REALLY do this at your campus?" What they were talking about was someone who was filling our spot because we had to cancel at the last minute. And, what that person was saying was, "We do PBL at our campus and here's the issues we have had..."

"Doing PBL." I really, really hate that expression. You do NOT "do PBL." That's like saying you do teaching, or you do coaching, or you do directing music. If you are using PBL as a method of instruction then what you are doing is - wait for it.... - teaching. You are a teacher and you teach. I know, crazy, right?

When you teach do you use various forms of assessment? Do you randomize selecting students? Do you have warm-ups or do-nows? Do you pull students into small groups? Do you flip your class? I could go on and on. These are things that you "DO" in your classroom to be a better teacher and each of these things that you do are things that you feel comfortable doing and you feel that (or, even better, KNOW that) your students are getting a better education because of these processes.

Project Based Learning (PBL) incorporates any and all of the things I have just mentioned. That's because PBL wants us all to use best teaching practices. So, if you are a teacher using PBL in your classroom, then you DO great teaching. And, based upon who you are and who your students are, each PBL classroom might look very different.

If I go into a PBL classroom I will see students working collectively. Even if the teacher is doing a whole group lecture or all of the students are engaged with electronic devices, I can see that they are grouped.  Collaboration is a key element and I want to see the students working together towards a common goal.

If I spend time in a PBL classroom I should hear academic discussions and questioning.  I should see students doing some sort of reflection on their learning. I should see students assessing their personal and group progress and assigning future tasks. Like a good company, their groups should be working towards a common goal.

If I spend time in a PBL school I should hear and see everything I just stated in every classroom. And, because of the varying time requirements for projects, I should be able to see every stage of a project happening in the classrooms. I should see projects starting with entry events. I should see lectures and group work. I should see students preparing for their presentations. And, I should see presentations.

If you think you want to "do PBL," then the first thing you need "to do" is your homework. You are probably a beginner and you need to get a deeper understanding of how the PBL process works. Google "PBL" and you'll see hundreds (thousands?) of possibilities. On the first page of these you will see BIE.org and Edutopia.org. Both are incredible places to get knowledgeable about what PBL is and how to do it.

If you want to go deeper you can attend PBLU (a BIE product) remotely or you could get BIE to come to your school or district and train a group of you by attending a PBL 101. A PBL 101 is three days of helping you design one project while learning about how to plan projects and manage the process.

Once you have been trained; you have done a dozen or so projects; and you have been frustrated by not feeling like you are doing it right for the first 4 or so of those projects, then, and only then will you be allowed to say "I do PBL." I'll still think you're a rube for saying that but I won't correct you because you will now be beyond the beginner stage of practicing the PBL process.  So if you want to be incorrect go ahead - you've earned it.

This Summer Put Something Into Your Sea Bag

http://www.zazzle.com/american_sailor_ww2_poster-228992068234634646

Early on in my 20 year Navy career I got great advice from a veteran sailor. He said to remember to put something into your sea bag whenever you have a unique experience. If that experience was bad, remember how it happened so you won't repeat it. If that experience was great, remember how it happened so you can replicate it or, at least, replicate the feeling you had when it occurred.


This Summer many (it should be most - don't get me started) of the teachers I know are busy attending trainings and conferences.  Ones I wish I were attending include ISTE, PBL World, and NTAC. There are also many great professional developments hosted by school districts and regional education centers.  In Manor, for example, there are some great hands-on tech trainings and trainings in backward design.

So what is your plan for taking away great nuggets of information and using these nuggets in your own professional growth? Don't have a plan? Then, other than great memories and, maybe, some great meals and networking, how will your teaching or leading change this coming school year?

Here are three ideas:

     1.  Use a recording device such as Livescribe, Notability or SoundNote. Then (the important step) listen to the recording and make notes on how these things will impact your classroom instruction.
     2.  Use twitter to tweet out important information using the appropriate hashtag. Then compile all of the tweets under that hashtag using something like Chirpstory or Hashtracking . Then (did I mention the important step?) make notes on how these things will impact your classroom instruction.
     3.  Write a blog post about the experience as soon as possible (same day) and explain how these things will impact your classroom instruction.

The common thread here is revisiting what you experienced and then reflecting on what you will use in your school and/or classroom.  It reminds me of what we tell our AVID students - you can have the best Cornell Notes, but if you don't do the final step of reviewing them each night then what good are they?

I hope you are one of those teachers who is out there experiencing all of the incredible opportunities that there are in the education world. I hope you are doing this with some old friends and, maybe, meeting many new friends. And, I hope, what you experience is going to be transferred to your students or staff.

So what have I done this Summer that I want to share? Well, for starters, I was able to facilitate 3 PBL 101's for BIE.org in Columbia, MS, in Glen Rose TX, and in Milpitas CA. I learned that there are some hungry teachers out there who are ready to improve their teaching strategies. They want to try an inquiry approach to instruction.

And I learned how I want to approach my own teachers this coming school year. I know my teachers are good at what they do but I also know they can even be better and that we need to raise the expectations of what we want them to do in the classroom.  We don't have to add anything new to what our teachers are doing. I need to help them plan better for PBL units; I need to spend more time in the classroom with them; and I need to model more lessons for them. Pretty simple really...

Gone are the days when teachers sat by the pool eating Bon Bons all summer long. Instead, those of us who are edumecated only sit by the pool for most of the summer. The rest of the time we're filling our brains (and not just our mouths).

Teachers Using PBL Need to Model Critical Elements of the Process

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There may only be 20 or so regular readers of this blog but because anybody can read it I'll need to keep this as generic as possible.  The reason is because of some trials and tribulations I've had this semester with helping teachers reach their full potential.

To start with, our school is extremely fortunate to have some really awesome teachers. And I'm being totally sincere and I'm not writing that just so I can build them up before I chop them down. I'd put our teachers up against any other middle school in Texas. It wouldn't even be a contest.

Now, are there better teachers at other schools? And do I know dozens of teachers who are better than teachers at our school? Absolutely. But most schools I know have to deal with some major issues with teachers who are dead wood.  They're collecting a paycheck but that's about it. We don't have that problem. And it's pretty nice.

So, what's the problem? Well, we're trying to create a school that is using PBL as its primary mode of instruction. And only a handful of our teachers are where they need to be. Ironically, that's not the issue! The issue is with a few teachers who are doing great things, individually, and are teaching with PBL. But they bristle whenever we push them to up their game.

PBL is all about collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. There are other 21st century skills that people throw in all of the time like work ethic and agency and digital citizenship. But the first three I mentioned are incredibly important for TEACHERS to demonstrate by their interactions with other teachers and administrators.

Collaboration takes on many hats. Teachers have to collaborate with the other teachers in their subject area and grade level. They have to collaborate with administrators and with instructional coaches. And, they have to collaborate with others, outside of the school, who might come on campus to visit. These visitors may be regulars, like district curriculum, or they may come from other institutions.

Critical thinking may not be as obvious as collaboration. But teachers have to think critically about how they will create a project idea and how they will incorporate real world authenticity into the project. They need to think about group dynamics. They need to think about scaffolding content and they must anticipate questions students will ask.

And, most importantly, teachers have to be able to communicate their ideas and plans. They need to create written plans and they must find ways to communicate project ideas to their students. They need to communicate issues or concerns to their administrators, the parents of their students, and to instructional help such as coaches at the school level or the district level.

Beyond these obvious three, there is something that is often overlooked as an important skill - reflection. People who are reflective in their practice are usually better at what they do. I don't have a scientific study to point you to that proves the point, but I'm sure it would be easy to find one. As a teacher in a PBL classroom we want our students to be reflective in all that they do. They critique their own work and the work of other students throughout the project. And, when it ends, students will critique the project as a whole. This gives the teacher valuable feedback on how things went and allows for corrections, should the teacher want to run a similar project in the future.

Similarly, in a PBL school we want our teachers to be reflective in all that they do. One of the elements of project ideation that is a focus with both the New Tech Network and with BIE is the Critical Friends Protocol. This protocol allows teachers to be reflective in a safe environment. In this protocol the presenter (in this case the teacher creating the project) presents the project idea and any supporting documents such as rubrics or a project calendar. The presenter then removes themselves from the conversation.

The audience discusses what they have heard. They first discuss things they like about what they heard. Then they discuss things they are wondering about. This is not the time to interject improvements. Instead it should be something like, "I wonder if they have considered the prerequisite skills needed for student success?" Finally the audience provides next steps that might be considered. These might be critical things that the presenter should do immediately or it might be something that is more of a suggestion that the presenter takes into consideration.

Critical Friends is not happening at our campus. There just isn't a system in place for that to take place. When I visited a New Tech middle school outside of Napa California last year I got to see a school that has a routine in place where teachers meet and are ready to listen to presentations and then give feedback via critical friends. It was awesome. I had critical friend envy. I truly expected that our teachers would be doing things just like that this year. They're not, and this falls squarely on my shoulders to fix.

Without something as structured as critical friends, I fear that there is little to no reflection going on within our teacher ranks. But when I start to bring this up it's either fended off as "one more thing for us to do" or it is seen as touchy-feely. These awesome teachers that I mentioned earlier in the post need to do more collaborative reflection. They need to hear constructive criticism. They need to start thinking about authenticity in their projects. They need to take their craft to a higher level. That, in turn, would bring up the level of the teachers around them.

If that happened, it wouldn't be long before all of our teachers would be running projects and we would have a regularly scheduled critical friends time. And we would have a more collaborative and reflective mindset in our school. We have really pushed our teachers this year and they have responded with everything we have asked of them. They are in the November slump and I know it. But when January comes around we'll need to re look at where we are and where we want to go. This needs to happen with each teacher, with each content area, with each grade level and with the entire campus.

Our teachers need to be collaborative, communicative, critical thinkers who are reflective in their practice. It's not like we're asking a lot of them. Well, actually, it is. We are asking a lot of them because they're that good. Our students deserve the best and it is my job to show our teachers their full potential. Ah, the life of an instructional coach. Wish us luck.

Am I Really Going To Do An Edcamp Again?

I'm thinking about doing the whole edcamp thing again.  There, I said it.  After my last foray into running an Edcamp (Edcamp Manor) two years ago, I vowed I'd just attend them and never try putting one on again.

I wrote about creating the edcamp in an early blog post. Then, I wrote about my frustrations with how awful it went here. So, after re-reading those posts now, I really am amazed that I can say that I'm thinking about doing it again.

Maybe it was attending Edcamp Waller.  Maybe it was having to miss Edcamp San Antonio and Edcamp Dallas.  Maybe it's looking forward to Edcamp Austin (next week).  All I know is there are about 20 educators who attended most (if not all) of these edcamps and these folks really represent the best educators here in the United States. OK, so that's a bold statement. But I happen to know, or have talked with, some really awesome educators over the last 5 years. And these Texas edu-pros are the real deal.

So, if I ran another edcamp what would it look like?  First, it would be PBL themed. I would want presenters to lead discussions on all phases of a PBL unit.  There would be cool ways to do an entry event. There would be teachers who have connected with their community to create opportunities for authentic learning. There would be teachers who have found creative ways to use technology for scaffolding. And there would be students actually presenting their projects.

But will a themed edcamp still be an edcamp?  Here's what they say in the wiki page and at the Edcamp.org webpage about that. "Educational technology is a common topic area for edcamps, as are pedagogy, practical examples in instructional use of modern tools, and solving the problems technology can introduce in the classroom environment." And, "Anyone who attends an Edcamp is able to be a presenter. All teachers and educational stakeholders are viewed as professionals worthy of sharing their expertise in a collaborative setting."

So, as long as I allow attendees to be presenters and as long as they are including technology or pedagogy (or both), then it can be an edcamp!  I can do it! And...I can do it.  This time there will be some differences though.

I'll get my district experts involved early in the planning.  I'll hit my twitter experts and pbl network early to encourage people to come to it. And I'll ask them to bring ideas and/or presentations. Most importantly, I'll ask students to come and be a part of the process. 

The students coming is the part that worries me when it comes to being faithful to the edcamp process. Session sign up should be first come, first served to really meet the mark. Then again, if the edcamp sessions were set up like that, I could have student sessions going all day that would be open to anyone who wants to come and watch.

There are a lot of details to work out but my goal is to complete the planning by the time the school year ends and to have the edcamp during the fall of 2014.  Have a date in mind? Leave it in the comments. Remember we have to work around the University of Texas football schedule. 

This is exciting and scary.  That's what I like about it. Care to help a guy out? Let me know - I'll put you to work.