PERSONALIZED PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN THE AP CLASSROOM

Kelly Blake Karstrand

Alan B. Shepard High School

District 218

October 26, 2018

“LEARNING IS CREATION,NOT CONSUMPTION.KNOWLEDGE IS NOT

SOMETHING A LEARNERABSORBS, BUT SOMETHINGA LEARNER CREATES.”(THE CENTER FOR ACCELERATED

LEARNING)

“FACTS AND KNOWLEDGEFROM MY MOUTH TO YOURBRAIN END UP SOMEWHEREON THE FLOOR IN BETWEEN

US”(LAURA TERRILL—KIND OFPARAPHRASING HERE)

THE BRAIN GETS ENERGIZED BY…Social Learning:

The brain is a social organInquiry Learning:When our curiosity is

sparked, our engagement isheightened.

Rationale:

■ Pursue the topics (within the AP framework)that interest them■ Take ownership of their learning■ Be creative in the demonstration of theirlearning

We believed we would increasestudent learning by creatingopportunities for students to:

We also wanted students to:

■ Share their learning with their peers■ Learn from their peers as they listened andcollaborated in groups■ Use a variety of technologies■ Contribute to the creation of success criteria forproject check points and final■ Think critically as they researched and read avariety of sources■ Think creatively as they developed an answer totheir driving question

“In PBL, students are pulled through the curriculum by ameaningful question to explore, an engaging real-world problem tosolve, or a challenge to design or create something. They askquestions about the topic and develop their own answers. Todemonstrate what they learn, students create products and maketheir work public to people beyond the classroom.”

(PBL Starter Kit)

GOLDSTANDARD PBLBUCK INSTITUTE FOR

EDUCATION

All of the materials on this project can be found onmy webpage:

www.msmadame.comunder the Documents tab at the top of the page

■ Thinking maps

■ Menti■ The Final Word Discussion■ Round Robin■ Fishbowl■ Decision Making■ Book Creator■ Google Forms

1. Weekly research (50 minutes IN class; 50minutes OUTSIDE of class)

2. Weekly share & feedback

Students makesome decisionsabout the project,including howthey work andwhat they willcreate.

1. INTERESTSURVEY:Students are asked totake a Google Surveyasking which of therecommended contextswithin the AP theme of« Global Challenges »they were interested inlearning more about.

The projectfeatures real-world context- orspeaks to thestudents’personalconcerns,interests andissues in theirlives.

2. Brainstorming topics to researchUsing the results of the Google survey, students weregrouped with other students who were interested instudying the same contexts. Groups are given butcherpaper and asked to brainstorm topics within the context.Students are given a choice of Thinking Maps tobrainstorm (Circle Map, Bubble Map). They have adiagram and explanation of Thinking Maps from which tochoose.

Students engagein a rigorous,extended processof askingquestions, findingresources andapplyinginformation.

3. LRC Research4. Intro to LearningLogAs a class, students meet inthe LRC with the LRC staff.They are instructed on howto use the ABS database andusing only reputable,educational sources forresearch.

Learning Logs (done inNumbers)will be checked inweekly

The project isframed by ameaningfulproblem to solveor a question toanswer, at theappropriate levelof challenge.

5. Formulating adriving questionTo introduce students to the idea ofa good driving question, they willbe given a random list of soliddriving questions and non-drivingquestions. They will be asked todetermine which are solid andwhich are not and back uptheir responses.Using this list, theywill formulate a definition of whatmakes a good, solid, drivingquestion.

I will share my list of Six EssentialDefining Characteristics of EssentialQuestions to make sure all of thecharacteristics are listed.Finally, students will begin a draft oftheir own driving question.

Students andteachers reflecton theeffectiveness oftheir inquiry andproject activities,the quality ofstudent work,obstacles andhow to overcomethem.

6. The Final Word DiscussionThe purpose of this discussionformat is to give each student in thegroup an opportunity to havehis/her ideas, understandings andperspective enhanced by hearingfrom others.Choose one quote/sentence from anarticle that you consider to be themost significant from your researchthus far. It should be aquote/sentence that stands out toyou as being very important to yourresearch or very meaningful ingeneral. You should be able to talkabout your quote for about 2-3minutes.

Students give,receive and usefeedback toimprove theirprocess andproducts.

7. Driving QuestionRefinementIt is absolutely necessary to have astrong driving question in order tocomplete the project successfully.Some students struggled with thisconcept so we decided to focus theweekly sharing/reflection on refiningthe driving question.

Round Robin Brainstorming

ROUND 1: What ideas/concerns come to mind in thinking about your peers’ driving question? What questions do you have?

ROUND 2: What ideas/concerns come to mind in thinking about your peers’ driving question? What questions do you have?

ROUND 3: What ideas/concerns come to mind in thinking about your peers’ driving question? What questions do you have?

8. Learning LogFeedback:Fishbowl You are going to present what you have

accomplished in your research thus far

Required elements to include in yourpresentation:

■ Driving Question

■ Key Research

■ Please include at least 5 different piecesof textual evidence that are significant toyour learning.

■ Analysis/New Connections

■ Includes a speaking component

9: Project Checkin: iBook Creator

1. In thinking about your learning in itsentirety with this project, what aspectsof your research should your peers knowabout?

2. Why might this topic or question matterto you?

3. Why might it matter to people aroundyou (family, friends, city, nation)?

4. Why might it matter to the world?Questions to Consider when deciding onyour final product:■ What is one or more possible solutions to

the problem you researched?■ How can you display your ability to

problem solve and/or innovate?What should be the criteria for success?

10. BrainstormFinal Project

Students maketheir project workpublic bydisplaying and/orpresenting it topeople beyondthe classroom.

References:■ “Nine Things Educators Need to Know About the Brain” In an excerpt from his new book, psychologist Louis

Cozolino applies the lessons of social neuroscience to the classroom. MARCH 19, 2013

■ Ed Leadership – Getting Personalization Right

■ “Inviting Uncertaintly into the Classroom” Ronald A. Beghetto

■ “The Genius of Design” John Spencer

■ “Student Engagement: Key to Personalized Learning” Larry Ferlazzo

■ “Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning” John Larmer, John, Mergendoller, Suzie Boss

■ “BPL Starter Kit” Buck Institute for Education

■ “Making Thinking Visable” Ron Pitchhart, Mark Church, Karin Morrison

■ “Questioning for Classroom Discussion” Jackei Acree Walsh, Beth Dankert Sattes

■ “Differentiated Instruction: A Guide for World Language Teachers” Deborah Blaz

■ “The Keys to Planning for Learning” Donna Clementi and Laura Terrill

■ “Educating for Global Competence: Preparing our Youth to Engage the World” Anthony Boix Mansilla and AnthonyJackson- Asia Society

■ ISTE – “Turn Your Classroom into a Personalized Learning Environment”

■ Google training summer 2017 – Learning Logs in Numbers App

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENTTO EVALUATE THE

SESSIONKelly Blake Karstrandwww.msmadame.com