I had a good understanding of both Problem and Project based learning, but it was interesting to explore more around Challenge Based Learning. To me it seems even more relevant, generating questions that move students to a concrete and actionable challenge. And learners document their experience as they move through gathering evidence and reflecting upon possible solves. In Resilience it was a timely challenge for students with the New Zealand Natural Disaster, and their results were relevant and moving. My struggle with a focus on CBL, similar to PBL, is how to lay out an effective project that has standards embedded, with measures to make sure students are learning those standards. It is hard to begin with a challenge in mind, then craft questions to get there and then include standards.
Daniel Pink's Motivation video was very enlighting to me, to flip things and see them in a different way, learn in a different way. CBL is similar to this, but as I mentioned above, I struggle with planning how best to PLAN something like we saw in the Resilience film. All the content we have reviewed in this class has provided so much background knowledge as to the WHY we need to make a shift in teaching, and that it is obvious we need to make learning more relevant to the world around us, and the world these students will live in, work in, and lead in. The Flipped classroom idea is so enticing, especially after experience it myself as a student in this class. I was at a IB school a few years ago, and learned so much about how to craft and plan in an inquiry based learning evironment, As long as there are planners where teachers lay out the intentions and guide the learning of the information, then I think it is a totally viable model, and one that needs to be implemented with more consistency in our classrooms. To begin that process sometimes seems daunting. There is so much passion behind PBL (both problem and project) and CBL, and the more we as educator can collaborate in the digtial age the better off we will be. With PLCs and the trust we have built through those, teaching has become much more collaborative, and needs to be! Nussbaum-Beach's work around The Connected Educator that I read last class really enforced the need for us to be more innovative in how we work with each other. Someone out there is doing the same work as you, maybe a classroom, a school, a district, or even a state away. Breaking down some of those walls and sharing what we plan will be key to making PBL/CBL effective. I am not currently in the classroom, but spending a lot of time working with teacher leaders. We have worked hard to try and shift the traditional model of "Spray and Pray" and "Sit and Get", and provide less content and more process and application time. So the idea of a flipped classroom is what we are trying to do with our Blended Learning Enviornment, Edivate in NVUSD. We will have one of our sessions for Elementary ELA/ELD Leads within the Edivate courses, and much of the collaboration is starting to happen there. This will be key to us truly operating as an effective District PLC, sharing ideas across classrooms and school sites.
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I have enjoyed this class a lot, as it really gave me a chance to bring it all together. It provided the content needed for me to think differently about how I am teaching, and also provided a place for me to explore new aspects of technology within the classroom.
In the beginning of this class I had a more narrow vision of Project Based Learning, one that began with BIE (Buck Institute of Education) and then New Tech Network. Throughout this class, processing through the content, as well as collaborating with my cohort, my view has broadened. The shift that is happening with PBL, CBL, etc...is so spot on for what we need in education. Crafting the background with Linda Darling-Hammond's book, the Creativity and Brain-based research we looked at provided the support and examples that help me better understand the goal of this learning. There is a fundamental change that needs to happen in teaching, and even though we are over 5 years in at NVUSD, we are still recognizing what that is and what we need to effectively implement it. As teachers understanding the WHY behind things is key for us to truly be invested in a shift in our teaching. This class provided that WHY, and with my work as a District Academic Specialist, I intend on sharing this WHY more throughout the work I am doing with Elementary ELA/ELD Leads. It can't feel like one more thing, we have to highight the needs, and begin slowly with things we know will engage the students. Just the shift away from teacher as distiller of knowledge, and to a facilitator of knowledge is a start. Providing some questions for the students to grapple with, and then have them guide where they want to go with certain learning. I look forward to delving deeper in 702 into better understanding how we can move our current model forward. |
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