6 Essentials Of Project Based Learning

I started reading Hacking Project Based Learning by Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy yesterday. I love PBL and use it, but I feel I need a better framework and more ideas on implementing it in my chemistry classroom. I want to get better at PBL and I think I found the right resource to help.

As the teacher in me always pushes my students to process information in multiple ways to learn it in depth and be able to apply it, the student in me knows that if I want to internalize and apply what I read, I have to process it multiple ways myself. Therefore, I decided to write a series of PBL posts to reflect on the book as I read it. So here we go!

I found the first chapter inspiring and practical, as the authors back rhetoric with relevant classroom examples. In chapter 1, Ross and Erin provide the reader with a template for building a successful PBL classroom. They use a 5 step approach, which i agree with, but when I sat down and summarized chapter 1, I ended up with 6 essentials of Project Based Learning.

Relationships

Use the first week or two to get to know your students and they each other. Skip sucky ice breakers. Instead, have them create a piece about themselves and share it on the classroom blog or wall. Ask student groups to design the learning space based on how they'd like to learn and then have them vote on the best design. Walk around and talk with individual students and get to know them. Be in the space and discuss non school related topics with them throughout the year.

Flexible Learning Environment

Create a physical and psychological environment that promotes comfort and collaboration. Let your students pick their own seats and give them a voice in room organization. Ask them for input on how they'd like to learn. This stimulates metacognition and gives choice. Give choices on assignment types and products students make. Be flexible on how students show evidence of learning.

Resources

Spread those throughout the room. You can strategically place articles, books, and pictures around the room. Students still enjoy "doing it old school" and making paper posters or paper slide shows, so have sheets of colored paper and markers readily available. Lobby your admin for new tech (iPads, Chromebooks etc.). Implement Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) learning. Sure students will get distracted by their phones, but remember that practicing staying focused is part of the learning process.

Student Ownership

Instead of hanging pre-made laminated posters, have your students make them. As I am big on metacognition, I have student teams research and produce infographics on brain based learning strategies. Then, I post them in the room. Have students make 3 D models of subject matter concepts and use them to decorate the room. Take a class picture and print it out on a big sheet you can place on a wall. Let them assess each others'  projects. Start genius hour and allow students to work on passion projects.

Questioning

Model asking questions that elicit critical thinking and creativity. Many students come up with questions they already know the answers to when prompted to write questions, which often defeats the purpose. This is why it is important to teach students to ask questions that lead to deeper thinking and learning. Encourage questions that start with Why, What if, How as they get at more in depth understanding and creative problem solving. Students tend to ask deeper questions if they have background knowledge on the topic or the issue affects them on a personal level. Erin and Ross provide the reader with a couple more strategies to teach questioning.

Risk Taking

There is no failure only feedback. I have no idea who came up with that, but I like it a lot. Such approach promotes taking risks. Teacher response to student failures is big as well. If they mess up the lab procedure or do not follow assignment directions to the dot, you can have a conversation about what happened and what they learned from it, or you can take points off their grade. Then, you can reflect on which approach motivates more to learn from setbacks and try again, and never take the latter route again! Always take the way to progress.

Bringing It All Together

“We don’t have time not to do PBL. Our students deserve deeper learning opportunities.”

— Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy

So what's the blueprint for successful PBL implementation? Build relationships and a flexible resource rich learning environment that gives choice and voice, so that students own their learning, question, problem solve, and take risks.

You have the power to change the world. Use it often.

Sources: Hacking Project Based Learning: 10 Easy Steps to PBL and Inquiry in the Classroom by Ross Cooper and Erin Murphy.

Priming Your Students For Creativity (A Mind Control Infographic)

There is nothing wrong with your screen. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. I am controlling the image. I control the horizontal and I control the vertical. I can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next 10 minutes, sit quietly and I will control all that you see and perceive. You're a subject in my experiment. You're about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits.

Follow the directions below carefully.

1. Imagine you are Picasso, Elizabeth I, Michelangelo, Maya Angelou, Marie Curie, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Jackie Kennedy, Michael Jordan, Serena Williams or whoever that one extraordinary person you aspire most to be like is. Imagine what their life is/was like. How do they look? What clothes are they wearing? Where are they? What world changing thing are they doing right now? Are you inspired?

2. Imagine that you are surrounded by plants and flowers. Stand up and walk toward them. Focus on them. If something has been on your mind today, forget about it. Forget about everything. Let your mind wonder. How do you feel now?

3. Think about a big goal you have. Conjure up images associated with it; the more the better. Think of words that represent it; the more the better. Is there a phrase or two or a quote it brings to mind? If you have not made one before, but are compelled right now, step away and do it. Grab a big sheet of paper, put your goal down in the center, gather the images, write down the words and phrases and quotes, and connect them to the goal. If you've ever created a mind map such as this you know the feeling. It's important to look at it often.

It's also important to control your students' minds without them knowing it.

Alter the environment. Imagine it. Model it. Help students achieve the right mindset first so they will be more creative later. Abracadabra!

You have the power to change the world. Use it often.

How School Kills Creativity And How To Fix It

First, we kill our students creativity. Next, we ask them to be creative and wonder why they have such a hard time.

We always aspire for our students to move away from fact regurgitation and move toward higher level thinking and deeper understanding. When we ask students to brainstorm and generate ideas, provide solutions to problems, or to think and reason critically, we are really asking them to be creative. The sad truth is that by standardizing education we often kill creativity.

The hope lies in the fact that creativity is an acquired skill that can be improved. If we make a conscious decision to change things up in our classrooms, to change the way we educate our students, we can increase their creativity. With increased creativity they can innovate and be more successful.

The human brain is composed of gray matter and white matter. Gray matter stores knowledge and is used when we think. White matter is tissue through which the brain transfers and connects information. Scientific studies show that extraordinarily creative individuals have more white matter than others. This is good, because it proves creativity is something we can get better at.

The mechanism of becoming more creative is simple: Create many connections in the brain by learning new and diverse things and using them in projects we are passionate about.

When we take on creative tasks, we increase the amount of white matter, the number of neural connections in the brain, and as a result we become more creative. To optimize our creativity, we should do things we are motivated by; what we care about, have passion for, and want to do.

Let's fix schools to achieve more of that.

Use Big Events to Teach Cross Curricular Content.

Use current important and controversial events and teach from multiple perspectives. This way, each student can find something relevant to him and can offer his unique perspective on the issues at hand. This caters to his interests and strengths and motivates him to contribute. As a bonus, he becomes primed to learn from his teammates. If Jack likes science and Jill is a social studies freak, they'll help each other understand their perspectives and be able to shine doing it.

Check out my previous post Why We Need To Abandon Subjects And Focus On Big Picture Learning for more.

Implement Genius Hour and Project Based Learning.

This one is huge. HUGE.

In most schools, students are told what to do most of the time. They are given assignments we want them to do. Often, these are irrelevant topics they care little about. They are out of context, and while some students do like them, many are indifferent. They end up getting through math, chemistry, art, history etc. Whatever their Kryptonite, they cram their way through tests unmotivated to learn about it. It's hard to be creative when you just don't give a shit...

I know. I know. We must teach standards. But, make at least 20% of the time highly enjoyable for those two, three, or ten kids who kinda sorta think your class (not you) sucks. Do Genius Hour on Fridays. That's right, let students work on passion projects; ones they come up with and want to do. Trust me, bits and pieces of your curriculum will miraculously end up in them!

Implement more Project Based Learning into your every day instruction. Check out books such as Launch, Innovator's Mindset, and Hacking Project Based Learning to implement it and promote creativity. Use the formula below to level it all up.

Help Your Students Become Idea Machines.

I must confess. I got the Idea Machine concept from James Altucher. His daily practice involves writing down 10 ideas about anything to exercise and develop the idea muscle. Here's my classroom twist.

Before a group project, have your students research for 10-15 minutes on their own. Then, ask them to write down as many ideas as come to mind. Only then do they meet and share these ideas with their group. This way, they will come up with more ideas then they would have if they began in the group. While many ideas will end up as throwaways it's important to practice generating them. Don't forget to prompt your students to write down any new ideas that result from brainstorming.

Students interests are often very different from our own. We can try and fail to be their Kryptonite or we can be their Superheroes. Choose wisely.

You have the power to change the world. Use it often.