What is PBL? To help teachers do PBL well, we created a comprehensive, research-based model for PBL — a "gold standard" to help teachers, schools, and organizations to measure, calibrate, and improve their practice. In Gold Standard PBL, projects are focused on student learning goals and include Essential Project Design Elements: Epic Guide To Game Based Learning Games are fun. We can use them to teach. It isn’t that hard. Game based learning excites learning in my classroom. It can ignite your classroom too. In this post, I’ll share what I’m doing in my classroom. This post is sponsored by Samsung. Game Based Learning in My Classroom Three houses are at war in my keyboarding classroom. And despite what some may think, the game is not required to motivate great behavior because I don’t even try to reward everything. What are serious games? Welcome to serious games. Not only do we want our students to be excited about learning but we also want them to be intrinsically motivated. Interestingly, as can be evidenced by the kids running to my keyboarding classroom each day, effective game-based learning does release dopamine (which activates the pleasure centers of the brain.) Therefore, we educators need to educate ourselves on game based learning. Blog Posts and Current Resources School-Wide Game Based Learning Interviews with Experts Websites Books
Teaching above the test: PBL When I started teaching STEM science using PBL, I found out that, although there are millions of resources for "dessert projects" for middle school, there was not much in terms of the invitations to learn that I was looking for at this level. I started modifying or adapting what I found, and came up with several entry documents that I am now using in my practice. All of these have a "teacher corner" where you will find enduring understandings, essential questions and NGSS and CCSS alignment. All of them are intended for middle school, but they could easily be used across grade levels depending on the need to knows of your students. Hope you find them useful. If you are ready to branch out on your own, I invite you to read my PBL toolkit post. If you would like to have these resources sorted by NGSS standard, visit my LiveBinder. Life Science PBL, by mrsgarciaserrato Earth Science PBL, by mrsgarciaserrato Physical Science PBL, by mrsgarciaserrato STEM Competitions, by mrsgarciaserrato
What is STEAM Education? | The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM As more schools are shifting to include a STEAM approach, there’s a general question that many start to ask: Who are the STEAM teachers? Then, of course, we start to explore follow up questions like: When does STEAM occur? Is it a class or is it throughout the day? Once you head down this path, you start to see all of the forks in the road. Who teaches STEAM? The answer to this is one is easy: everyone. This can seem oversimplified, but honestly, it’s an inherent quality of this approach. By limiting or labeling someone as the “STEAM Teacher”, you’re cutting out the very heart of this idea. This goes back to the idea of “it’s not my job to teach that”. “It’s not my job to teach those kindergarteners to tie their shoes.” “It’s not my job to explain basic math functions to these kids.” “It’s not my job to show my students how to hold a paintbrush”. Guess what? With that in mind, if the opportunity is there to teach a STEAM lesson, take it! When does STEAM occur? Are there STEAM credentials?
(Rethinking) Makerspaces Kids have always made in my library. We encouraged digital and visual and dramatic and rhetorical creativity before, during, and after school. But for a while, I’ve questioned the value of using already heavily used real estate to randomly carve out space for a 3D printer, electronics stations and sewing machines. I had my doubts about the makerspace movement in school libraries. A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to chat with Amos Blanton, project manager of the Scratch online community, and a member of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT Media Lab. On his profile Amos notes: I design and sustain creative learning environments for people with agency. Amos makes the case for makerspaces as powerful, authentic, relevant learning experiences, and for when and why library may be the very right space to create a makerspace. Here’s the video of our chat and a few of key points to consider before adopting a maker culture for libraries Amos’ key points:
Pros & Cons of Social Media in Classrooms 6 Pros & Cons Of Social Media In The Classroom contributed by Aimee Hosler Like it or not, American youth are decidedly online. According to a 2013 report by Pew Research, 78 percent of teens have cell phones, and almost half of those are smartphones — which means they can log onto the Internet virtually anywhere, any time. You can bet many of those students are also using social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat — maybe to excess. These statistics might make educators a little uncomfortable. In fact, with a little planning, social media can be a powerful teaching tool. Social media in the classroom isn’t necessarily good or bad; it depends on how it’s used. The Case For Social Media In The Classroom 1. Delmatoff told Mashable that at one point, students were nervous their blogging assignments might get them into trouble–because they were so fun! 2. 3. Part of the reason social media can teach these important life lessons is that it’s ‘real’ to many students. 1. 2. 3.
Teaching above the test: PBL Toolkit What do you do when your administrator asks you to show your colleagues how to develop and run PBL projects? Once the meltdown is over, and you have had time to mull things over, you compile a list what you consider your best tools. Here goes: Project Ideas: This is really the hardest part, especially when you are just starting out. Standards: Yes, of course you will have to think about your standards. The Driving Question: This is the root of your project, and BIE has graciously shared a handy tool to help with that. Now that you have your project idea, your standards and your driving question, it is time to develop your project. Entry event: Nothing beats a video to catch the student's attention. Need to knows: These can be collected by the students on Google docs (or in their notebooks). Workshops and activities: Project page: This is where you communicate expectations, as well as host all of the materials your students will need, including the rubrics. Managing a project run: Reflection:
Battelle for Kids P21’s Frameworks for 21st Century Learning were developed with input from teachers, education experts, and business leaders to define and illustrate the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in work and life, as well as the support systems necessary for 21st century learning outcomes. They have been used by thousands of educators and hundreds of schools in the U.S. and abroad to put 21st century skills at the center of learning. Battelle for Kids looks forward to engaging yet again with educators and other experts to update the Frameworks. We encourage personal use of these Frameworks by all who can benefit: Permission for Use Permission for commercial use and/or distribution of these resources or other information produced must be made in writing to Battelle for Kids with a clearly defined request and description of how the material will be used. In addition, please note that:
How to Start a Makerspace When You're Broke Everyone’s Favorite Excuse I’ve had the honor and privilege of sharing with hundreds of librarians and educators about our makerspace. Unfortunately, I see many educators hold back on starting a makerspace because of funds. I’m always hearing excuses like: “I’d love to do (insert cool Maker activity) at my school, but we don’t have a budget for that.”“We can’t really afford a 3D printer right now.” What many people don’t realize is that the idea that you need a lot of money to start a Makerspace is a myth. Share Your Vision with ALL THE PEOPLE You want to start a makerspace. Recycled materials can make for awesome projects Seek out Donations Never discount the value of donated materials. Consider putting out a bin for donations of recycled materials. We first started our makerspace with bins of K’nex found in a storage room Work with What You’ve Got Since you’ve started sharing your vision, you might have found out that your school already has some maker supplies lying around. Go Make Stuff :)
22 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Classroom Let’s face it, social media is going to be around for a long time. So instead of complaining about your student’s preoccupation with it, why not leverage it as a pedagogical tool? In this piece, I will list 22 ways that you can use social media. Twitter Keep up with trends Teachers and administrators talk on twitter. Communicate with students and parents Almost everyone is on Twitter now, so it’s the perfect way to stay in touch with students and parents. Get feedback from students Ask students to tweet you their questions, comments, and more. Show off your classroom Live tweeting what’s going on is a fun way to keep parents in the loop. Get students summarizing Asking them to summarize what they’ve learned is a great way to see what students remember. Connect with other classes Join your classroom with another via Twitter. Make Twitter the homework Instead of a boring worksheet, have students tweet about assigned readings. Tweet as a historic figure Write a Twitter haiku Edit tweets Facebook Skype
The Best Service Learning Is Like the Best PBL Both of these pedagogies, at their very best (think Gold Standard PBL, and Shelley Billig’s high quality service learning), have a lot in common. They both invite students to explore their own interests; ask relevant and meaningful questions; engage in prolonged inquiry, research and reflection, assessment and feedback; and ask students to create something that is of service to the world and share it with an authentic audience. There are many intersections between service and project based learning. In Burke, Vermont, the middle level team is embarking on an ambitious project based learning plan for eighth graders using the United Nation’s Global Goals. In Cabot, Vermont, middle school students are spread out in different buildings. In Proctor, Vermont, students launched their project based learning unit on extreme weather by visiting WCAX, a state-wide news station. Katy Farber, Ed.D, is a professional development coordinator, educator, and writer from Vermont.