Project-Based Learning for District Schools

goo.gl/n1OLOD

Trevor Mattea | September 18, 2016trevormattea.com

@tsmattea

Tentative Agenda and Learning Targets

Tentative Agenda

● Introductions and Framing (5 min.)● Shifting Principles (10 min.)● Case Study: Pamphlet Power (15 min.)● Case Study: Enormous Ears (15 min.)● Case Study: Hungry for Change (15 min. alternative)● Exhibitions and Publishing with CreateSpace (10 min.)● Takeaways, Final Questions, and Raffle (5 min.)

Learning Targets

● I can define project-based learning.● I can identify shifting principles underlying project-based learning.● I can identify ways to integrate project-based learning with classroom

instruction.● I can identify next steps for hosting exhibitions and publishing with

CreateSpace.

Project-Based Learning for District Schools

● View Slides: goo.gl/n1OLOD● Watch Video: goo.gl/JHdP7d● Connect with Workshop Participants: goo.gl/B4zmLp ⬅ To Enter the Workshop Raffle● Take Pre-Workshop Survey: goo.gl/MC7T9H● Give Feedback: goo.gl/Xm7eUr● Access Materials from Other Workshops: goo.gl/amgbB6

● Digital Portfolio: trevormattea.com● Email: info@trevormattea.com● Twitter: @tsmattea● Receive Monthly Newsletter: eepurl.com/bc45zP● Student Writing Books on Amazon: amzn.com/w/1W0CCF7DD0SK8● Student Photography Book on Blurb: goo.gl/2DqOVH

#cue | #deeperlearning | #edtech | #futureready | #gafesummit | #pbl

Defining Project-Based LearningProject-based learning, sometimes called P.B.L., is learning through the process of collaborating with others to accomplish a complex task over an extended period of time that is founded in an open-ended question. This work is thoughtfully designed to resemble the work done by professionals. In my experience, P.B.L. incorporates several principles, including passion, inquiry, subject matter integration, authentic work, critique, revision, and public exhibition. Each of these principles can improve student learning, even when used separately.

I believe it serves teachers well to have an understanding of each of these components so that they can appreciate what they are already doing and begin to utilize new strategies gradually.

Shifting Principles● Guided by Curriculums

○ Inspired by Passions● Developed for Schools

○ Grounded in Reality● Taught in Isolation

○ Revealed through Integration● Beginning with Objectives

○ Emerging from Questions and Debate● Completed in a Single Sitting

○ Revised over Time● Concerned about Grades

○ Hungry for Critique ● Seen by the Parents

○ Shared with the Community

Inspired by Passions● Why?

○ Engagement for Teachers and Students● Assignments We Want to Do

○ What did you study in college?○ What are your hobbies and interests?○ What gets you or your students excited?

Grounded in RealityHow can kids be trusted with such important work?, someone asks. Let me tell you, I say. Sometimes I need to be a tyrant for accuracy and quality in my classroom. Not this time. The students were scared to death. Scared that any possible error in their math would jeopardize the safety of a real family in town. Scared that their page of the report might have a grammatical or statistical error. Scared that the school would be in legal trouble if real estate values changed or if families moved based on mistakes in their data. These students checked their math, their spelling, their language, and their reasoning twenty times over before they rested easy. They begged me to check their work over again. This was not an exercise: It was real, important work that mattered to the world. Anything short of excellence would be intolerable.

-- Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence (2003)

Grounded in Reality● Why?

○ Value for Students● Assignments We Will Remember

○ How do experts spend their time?○ How do professionals share their knowledge and skills?○ How do citizens participate in their communities?

Revealed through Integration● Why?

○ Time and Enrichment for Teachers and Students● Assignments We Can Combine

○ Could your students write about what they are reading?○ Could your students read fiction related to social studies?○ Could your students produce artwork related to math?

Emerging from Questions and Debate● Why?

○ Inclusion and Reflection for Students● Assignments We Must Contemplate

○ Are questions more accessible?○ Do questions encourage critical thinking?○ Would a questioning transfer to the real world better?

Revised over TimeWhen I was a student in public school I turned in final draft work every hour, every day. Work was generally done in one draft, and we kept cranking it out and passing it in. One of the first things a school or classroom can do to improve the quality of student work is to get off this treadmill. This doesn’t mean an end to deadlines but rather a clear distinction between rough research, rough drafts, and finished, polished final draft work. It means final drafts may take days or weeks to complete. It means a different type of pressure: not just pressure to turn in enough work but pressure to produce something of real value.

-- Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence (2003)

Revised over Time● Why?

○ Excellence for Students● Assignments We Will Value

○ What assignments are the most necessary?○ What assignments can produce the most learning?

Hungry for CritiqueBeing the only teacher in the classroom, there is no way I can find the time to edit every line of writing in every draft and critique every idea. I need to build a class full of editors, architects, scientists, writers, and mathematicians who don’t hesitate to continually critique each other’s work.

-- Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence (2003)

Hungry for Critique● Why?

○ Independence for Students● Assignments We Can Transfer

○ How can assignments encourage empathy?○ How can assignments encourage precision?○ How can assignments encourage accountability?

Shared with the CommunityEvery final draft my students complete is done for an outside audience. It may be for a small audience of Kindergarten children or a national audience on educational television. Either way, my role as teacher is not as the sole judge of their work but rather similar to that of a sports coach or a play director: I am helping them to get their work ready for the public eye. There is a reason to do the work well, and it’s not just because the teacher wants it that way.

-- Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence (2003)

Shared with the Community● Why?

○ Purpose for Students● Assignments We Can Present

○ What assignments are interesting?○ What assignments can teach others?○ What assignments can make an original contribution?

Shifting Principles● Replace Specialized Knowledge with Essential Skills ● Look Towards the Future● Make Connections and Save Time● Provide Access and Promote Curiosity● Spend More Time on What Really Matters● Foster a Disposition for Excellence● Give Back to the Community

Case Study: Pamphlet Power

Case Study: Pamphlet Power● Teacher Passion -- Political Science● How Can We Influence the Outcome of an Election?● Art, Reading, Social Studies, and Writing● Voter Registration, GOTV Campaign, Informational and

Endorsement Pamphlets● Interviews with Candidates● Critique with Elected Official● October-December 2014● Fall Exhibition

Case Study: Enormous Ears

Case Study: Hungry for Change● Student Passion -- Roald Dahl● How Can We Write Stories Inspired by Roald Dahl?● Art, Reading, and Writing● Book Published on Amazon● Analysis of Children’s Books ● Critique with Illustrator● January-March 2015● Spring Exhibition

Case Study: Hungry for Change

Case Study: Hungry for Change● Student Passion -- Food● How Can We Eat Better at School?● Digital Media, Social Studies, Reading, and Writing● Recommendations to the High Tech High RFP Evaluation

Committee● Interviews with Experts ● Critique with Stakeholders● January-March 2016● Spring Exhibition

Exhibitions● Museum of Learning

○ Greeters with Programs and Classroom Maps○ Theater○ Listening Center○ Talk to an Expert○ Project Activities○ Project Work○ Digital Portfolios○ Gift Shop○ Guest Book

CreateSpace● Publishing Process

○ Transfer Student Work to Project Google Doc○ Convert Google Doc to .pdf○ Select .jpg for Cover○ Create a CreateSpace Account○ Start a New Book with ISBN○ Write a Title and Description○ Select Size, Paper, and Ink○ Upload .pdf as Interior○ Select Cover Style and Template○ Upload .jpg as Cover○ Design Cover Details○ Proof Book○ Publish on Amazon

Example Projects

● Buck Institute for Education PBL● EL Education PBL● Envision Learning Partners PBL● High Tech High PBL● Teach 21 PBL

Project Planning Tools

● High Tech High PBL Planning Document● High Tech Elementary Chula Vista PBL

Planning Document● Stevenson PACT Elementary School PBL

Planning Document

Takeaways and Final Questions● How do you now intend to use project-based learning or its

principles in your own practice?● What questions do you still have?

● Whenever you are ready, please complete the anonymous Google Form to give me feedback (goo.gl/Xm7eUr).

Recommended Reading● Berger, Ron. An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of

Craftmanship with Students. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 2003. Print.

● Hallerman, Sara, John Larmer, and John R. Mergendoller. PBL in the Elementary Grades. Novato: Buck Institute for Education. 2011. Print.

● Patton, Alec. Work That Matters: The Teacher's Guide to Project-Based Learning. London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation. 2012. Online. 23 May 2013.

● Vander Ark, Tom and Carri Schneider. Deeper Learning: For Every Student Every Day. Getting Smart. 2014. Online. 22 Jan 2015.