PBL Launch!

My teaching partner and I have launched our first PBL!  I am happy to report our launch was a success!

We started with team building activities we learned from our PBL training at Think Forward.  Students had a blast, and we had really great conversations about what teamwork means and looks like.  Students then broke into groups of four, and we began to review, create, and sign group contracts.  That took an entire day, but it was time well spent.  We have since reviewed the contract as groups which I think will become a Monday morning 5 minute activity since this process is so new to everyone.

Launch
For those of you new to PBL, launch simply means we began by giving our students three items over two days:  Entry Event Video, Entry Event Document, and PBL Rubric.

Although there were some things I did not do as well as I had hoped, such as my delivery of some items, I do now feel a lot more comfortable with the process.

The Entry Event Video and Document analysis went well, and the students were just as confused as they were supposed to be! LOL!  Because of that confusion, they began to ask some great questions about how they were going to complete the project.  This lead us to the Knows / Need to Knows part of the PBL process.

Students began to make lists of all the things they already knew in order to complete the PBL and all the things they didn't know but need to in order to complete the PBL.

What a great learning experience for all of us!  They came up with some questions I had not thought of, and it was wonderful to see them ACTUALLY THINKING!  What a concept... I LOVE IT!

Thank you PBL!!!

On Friday, we analyzed the rubric for the project and students added to their Knows/Need to Knows list.  I left on Friday believing my students really understood what I was asking of them.  They may not know exactly how they are going to get there, but they know where they are supposed to end up.

Let's just say I'm exhausted, the students are exhausted, and we all learned what a student led classroom looks like where students are seriously considering their work.

I couldn't have asked for a better start to our PBL.

Maas Out!

Classroom Website:
https://sites.google.com/site/maasclassroom/

New Semester, New Way of Teaching

Hello All!

I am a 7th grade English teacher at South Belton Middle School.  We have 1:1 iPad technology for all teachers and students on our campus.  Can I just say I LOVE my job!

This semester (Spring 2013) I will be teaching through Project Based Learning or PBL.  I can't even begin to describe my excitement about this semester!

At the end of my Fall 2012 semester, I asked students to reflect upon all we had accomplished thus far and the way we had worked through each unit.  Almost every student said they wished they could work more in groups and learn from each other rather than just me, the teacher.  I listened and was thankfully trained on how to make this happen effectively! (Training:  Think Forward Institute - Project Based Learning)

Since this is new to me, I have decided to blog about my experience transitioning from a traditional classroom teacher (meaning using various traditional styles of teaching) to a PBL teacher.  I know things won't be perfect at first, but I also know this is going to be a great adventure that will lead to some inspiring learning.

Instead of just writing in my journal for my own growth throughout this process, I thought I would share it with everyone in case you want to learn from my mistakes or just want to know more about PBL in a real classroom environment.

Here we go!

April Maas
7th ELA

More information on PBL:
Video: Project Based Learning Explained

My Classroom Website: MaasClassroom