PBL

As I began reading the PBL articles, I thought of BOOST, the new initiative in which GACS third through fifth grade students participate. According to Brad Schultz, the program was "designed to help our young Spartans generate new ideas and ways of accomplishing tasks, adapt that to different situations, collaborate with their classmates, and solve problems together in unique ways."  The Launching a PBL Project article geared the PBL project for third through twelfth grade levels.   It indicates that students rise to the challenge of solving problems.   Children who may be having difficulty in a certain area, may rise to the occasion when they are given opportunities to create a product or artifact.  This reminds me of a student in my class last year.  He had difficulty with reading; however, when he had an opportunity to role play or create a LEGO Robot and program it on the computer, he was engaged and working to solve the problems that arose. 

The article also mentioned that students should have an opportunity to share their artifacts with a non-classroom audience.  In the past, I have invited students from another classroom to a special showcase of students original poems and the USA  Cookie Project.  My goal this year will be to invite school personnel (President, Media Specialist, Junior High, and High School personnel) to come in an view the students' work.  Also, since we have the video production room, I would like to have the students video their classmates projects and then allow them to create a movie in which they may share their artifacts via video with a non-classroom audience.  Last week, my student teacher provided an opportunity for students to work collaboratively during math class.  They had to work collaboratively to create a number story, provide an illustration, and report their results to the class.  Each student had a job.  Three of the four groups were able to work collaboratively. 


As I reflect on some of the things that I plan for my class, I realize that I do some PBL projects (e.g., TechnoGram).  However, my challenge has been assisting the students in working together collaboratively. It is important to discuss the rules of collaborative work before starting and encourage the groups to discuss their problems. Sometimes, you want to give up and return to whole group activities when problems arise.  However,  I must remember that "one of the main purposes of doing PBL is to engage students in inquiry, analysis, synthesis, and other cognitive processes that lead to deep understanding."  They need to be shown how to analyze the problem that arises and develop a solution.  Also, I need to allow the students to explore topics of their interest and develop questions they want answered about the topic.  Reading these articles has me excited about PBL.  Since I have a student teacher this semester, I believe that we can work collaboratively to incorporate more PBL projects.  As our assistant principal says, PBL "brings the curriculum to life!" Off to explore more about PBL...