Have you ever wanted a little more pizazz in your life? Has teaching gotten so systematic that you hardly think about it? Sometimes I wonder whether this is what makes us complacent. Project Based Learning, PBL, has changed that for me. By implementing PBL, students have seen success and some the reality of failure. Both are good lessons to learn. It is not the success or failure that defines them, but the reflection on how they can improve the next time. This is Project Based Learning.
One of the main factors that I like PBL so much is the authenticity of the projects. From the moment the driving question is asked, students are searching and collaborating. Our first quarter PBL project was about the perfect society. Our driving question was, “What would it take to have a perfect society?” Students were given the opportunity to delve into what their perfect world would be like. They were also given the opportunity to meet with the mayor of Nevada and ask some questions that they felt would help with the designing of their own community. They also had Barb Weigel, from Travel and Transport, come to explain the different areas of travel and how to meet the needs of travelers.
Students explored the intricacies of how our government works, problems of society, and how to meet the needs of others. They designed a community that individuals would want to visit, and then hopefully decide to place down their roots. This community needed to fit into a ecosystem of their group’s choice, and meet the needs of all age levels, gender, cultures, etc… Judges judged them on creativity, attention to detail, persuasiveness, and effectiveness on making this as close to a utopian society as they can.
PBL is not just taking fun activities and designing this after a unit. Teachers must look at their essential standards and decide how they can best meet the needs of the students through these standards. The standards below were the standards that were seen as essential.
Teaching Standards Addressed
W7.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.
W7.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
R7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
R7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development
over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one–on–one, in groups, and teacher–led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.7.4 Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.
SL.7.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.
Outcomes
Some of the outcomes that came out of this process were various literary analysis assignments, interview questions and responses, analysis of results, website design, brochures, 3D models, 1-minute elevator speech, along with different marketing tools that students were able to acquire and utilize.
Not only were there specific language arts outcomes, but also Nevada Community Developed Learner Outcomes. These outcomes are creativity, collaborators, critical thinkers, complex communicators, flexible and adaptability and empathetic and compassionate individuals.
Some examples of this were expressed in various ways. The creativity that was shown in their expos were unbelievable. Students went above and beyond in the designing of their booths. You also saw those that were the strongest collaborators thrive. Lessons were learned as they discussed the ins and out of our government. Students were wanting equality of all individuals and were arriving at their conclusions in different ways.
So, if you are wanting to change up your teaching, PBL might be for you. You will see that students will become more independent learners while becoming world changers.
(Arlyce Kroese teaches seventh grade language arts at Nevada Middle School.)
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