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In order to prepare students to apply rigorous learning to new and real-world situations, educators must provide opportunities that foster critical and creative thinking, communication and collaboration. Importance of Global Collaborations Common Core State Standards demand students to collaborate with diverse partners , thereby expanding students' global awareness . Some of the benefits of collaboration might include: Developing interpersonal skills of working together as a team. Fostering critical thinking skills while working towards a collaborative goal. Increasing comprehension while partaking in conversations and exploring ideas from different perspectives. "Collaborative learning promotes communication among students; it is particularly beneficial for English Learners (ELs) because peer interaction contributes to the development of language," ( CA ELA ELD Framework, Chapter 2 ). New 2016 ISTE Standards for Students I recently attended th...

What had the most impact on me this past week, and what memories will be most prominent from this week? What new goals will I set as a result of this week? Here they are, not in any particular order. Linda Yollis & Kathleen Morris 1. Educational Blogging: Flattening Classroom Walls by Linda Yollis and Kathleen Morris I am always inspired and in awe of these two women. They have made such an impact on me, so to see them present together live was absolutely incredible, especially since this week was the first time they had met face to face! Their stellar session was filled with powerful tips, incredible resources , while providing powerful examples of what can evolve out of blogging. To highlight a few tips: Linda , Kath , Sue Wyatt , Sue Waters , me , Ronnie , Julie , Anne , John Start small. Blogging is a journey. Use your content objectives to focus your posts. This way blogging doesn't become an add-on to try to fit in, but rather part of your literacy bloc...

Yesterday I had the privilege of facilitating a Common Core and Project Based Learning professional development class for 7th-12th grade teachers. Prior to my training, they had two days of ELA Common Core and one day of deconstructing performance assessments for ELA Common Core. Meeting their needs through professional development While I had a rather large group (over 40 and had to turn people away to go to another class since all of the computers and chairs were taken), over half of them had taken a PBL class with me before and were implementing it in their classrooms, yet only one had ever tried service learning . I knew that what I had prepared for them would not meet their needs since I had created it as an introduction to PBL. Service learning was the direction I took them in because it addressed their needs the best, we'd get great cross-curricular discussions, and time to reflect and process the past three days of Common Core training . Build background knowl...

Just a few weeks ago, I was asked by our Governing Board if some students and teachers could share about Project Based Learning at the next Board Meeting, and it was easy to say yes because PBL has found a home at AJUSD.   Solar exploration in Mrs. Hamman's 5th grade class This STEM project was student driven. They researched problems and solutions on their own, and concluded that solar energy could help solve problems with purifying drinking water and eliminating the health hazards and environmental damage of cooking fires. Here's an overview of their project, created by the students: Listen to this insightful student reflection (also inside the Popplet above): I loved how their reflection captured the authenticity of the learning driven by their interests, the rigor of the project, the relevance to them and others, their responsibility and commitment to their learning, and the insight gained from this PBL. Water quality in Mrs. Go...

Our district focuses on creating 21st century , student-centered classrooms. We want classrooms filled with student collaboration and discussion about their learning, connecting to the world around them. Some rights reserved by tgbarrett Blended learning Students learn in different ways, and at different paces. To address these needs, we've been piloting blended learning in two high school classrooms. AJUSD's definition of blended learning is: Blended learning combines the best features of in-class learning with the best features of online learning. Online delivery allows student control over the time, place, path, and/or pace of their learning. In-class learning provides student-teacher interaction as well as opportunities for students to collaborate on challenging, project-based work.  By having content online, students have more time on task. They can pause the content, go back to revisit lectures/lessons, and have control over the pacing of their ...

One of the lessons I've learned is a strong leader is someone who can start the momentum and will continue to carry it through. You see, just having the vision and getting it rolling is a step in the right direction, but to continue to nurture it and finish what you've started is what counts. Professional Development and Project Based Learning Project based learning  (PBL) and professional development (PD) require some effort to complete. I'm realizing that implementing successful PD is very much like facilitating PBL. Background courtesy of DragonArtz Designs , gears created on Clker , text created in Pages Each of the gears is a step in the process, and they rely on each other to be successful and complete. If you miss one of the gears, you are missing one of the essential elements in implementing PBL or PD. Furthermore, you're never really "done" with the cycle because it keeps going and keeps evolving into something better. When the gears get j...

Several mentioned that even though they knew Bloom's Taxonomy , they hadn't put a Bloom's microscope to their lessons until designing PBL. Once they designed a PBL, they realized a rigor boost in Bloom's Taxonomy was needed. Some rights reserved by Mantid Man Bloom's Taxonomy and a Praying Mantis About ten years ago, I had a third grade student bring a praying mantis to our class, and we placed it in a terrarium. The students were fascinated with it. To capitalize on their interest, I introduced Bloom's Taxonomy for writing research questions about our praying mantis. I gave a simple explanation, then they worked together in small groups to write questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy . They also had some great insight about each level: Knowledge : These are facts that we could just look up and memorize. They used the least amount of "brain-power" on Bloom's Taxonomy.   What is a praying mantis? What does a praying mantis look...

In my last post, I reflected on a conversation that clarified PBL . When we crafted the Driving Question or Essential Question , the teachers became comfortable with their PBL. What is an Essential Question? The purpose of an essential question is to connect relevance of the main concept or big idea back to the learner. It focuses the learner on what's important. Essential questions are: Thought-provoking, higher level thinking questions, and complicated with more than one answer. Open-ended, interesting, engaging, and focused on the key concepts. What are Driving Questions? I view them as essential questions that drive the PBL, containing the purpose for learning it and the project in one question. I honestly use "Essential Question" as a synonym for " Driving Question " depending on my audience. To set driving questions aside from essential questions, I ask: What real audience could benefit from the solution or answer to the question? How ca...

I had the privilege of working with five different groups of educators on PBL this past summer. There were conversations in each of the trainings that I cherished. One of those conversation occurred with our elementary teachers. As small groups were brainstorming their PBL topic, I heard a conversation about focusing on counting money. As the conversation progressed, several key questions came up. How do you convert a theme to PBL? The teachers started their conversation by choosing a standard that needed time and depth, and couldn't be learned through a one or two day lesson. Then a few of them started talking about learning activities they could do, while others were grappling with converting it into a complex and open-ended driving question. Glogster These conversations helped them realize learning activities were fabulous differentiated instructional activities, but those activities did not make it PBL on its own. What made it PBL? PBL was a meaningful chal...

It's scary to take your first steps into PBL. What if it doesn't work? What if I don't know what to do next? The first steps often are the scariest; however, most of us who try it are sold by the success. Preconceived Scare-Factors about PBL In the past year, I've heard the following three preconceived notions about PBL: I have heard people describe their PBL as having choice boards or menus for student choice; but in actuality, what I hear them describing is differentiated instruction (DI). Sure, DI is in PBL, but that does not make it PBL.   PBL Benefits PBL is good for all learners. When PBL is done correctly, it engages the students in their learning. They are motivated by an authentic purpose that peeks their curiosity. Learning is differentiated through product, process, possibly content, choice, etc. Various learning styles are met, and student strengths are nourished. Teachers can work with small groups, and can meet individual needs. PBL ...

Many people confuse project-based learning with project oriented learning. I like how this High Tech High video explains the difference: <img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; height: 360px; width: 480px; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="flashcontent_4dd3ef069102b" data-original-id="flashcontent_4dd3ef069102b" /> Main Point Doing a project at the end of a unit is project oriented learning , and that is not project-based learning. What is PBL? Project-Based Learning is authentic learning that is focused on answering an essential question (or driving question). <img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; height: 360px; width: 480px; " class="B...

This is the second post in a three part series to highlight some awesomeness, and to ask for others to share or provide more ideas. Coaching Chronicles The following Coaching Chronicles was created by our High School Collaboration Coaches as their reflection on the 2010-2011 school year. Collaboration Coaching at AJHS has allowed us to better use our instructional time and resources to effectively engage and inspire students. Through training sessions and frequent interactions, we have been able to share ideas, receive encouragement, and seek guidance on lesson plans. In looking forward we anticipate creating a stronger support system, increasing student achievement and accountability, and discovering resources to better teach 21st Century skills. Created by Elizabeth Francois, Sandy Rollefstad, and Jerry Paterson. What I appreciated was their understanding for collaborating and building professional learning communities. Prezis spread like wildfires in the classroo...

Principals and Coaches came together to discuss school-wide professional development and community. Staff Development & School-Wide Professional Community on Prezi We started by sharing what's been successful with collaboration coaching. One of my favorite quotes was from Gina Fraher: My triumph in collaboration coaching is twofold.  I have made some valuable relationships and learned some tools to foster new relationships.  The second triumph for me is personal.  I have been given valuable tools, resources, and mentoring in technology that I never would have had if I had not done this coaching program.  I feel that this has been the single most valuable opportunity I have been given in a long time. I loved the discussion that arose when we compared collaboration coaching to a day on the slopes. Some key points brought up were: You can't start off on the black diamond runs, you need to start on the bunny slopes. Some people take longer on the bunny ...

How do we make our rubrics less 20th Century and more 21st Century?  Focus on the evidence of learning and less on the product or the performance. Easily said, difficult to do. In fact, building a powerful 21st Century rubric to assess learning is an art. If made improperly, it could hinder the learner. Benefits of the Rubric Rubrics define expectations, which should be introduced to the students (and parents) before learners start working on their projects. 20th Century Rubric Flaws I will be the first to admit, I didn't know my rubrics were  flawed. Here is an example of one of mine that I used for the "book report project" that was not PBL (if this seems out of context, you may want to visit "Projects are Not PBL" ). Flaw #1 :  Don't record grades as percentages by converting the number correct out of the total number of points.  I'd take this rubric and would habitually convert it straight over to a percentage grade. For example, if...