Join us in Janesville, WI July 21-22, 2009 for the first annual 'How to better leverage Project Foundry' conference. Network with innovative schools from Maine to California and everywhere in between. Excited to have Peter Pappas keynote the conference and just as excited that Suzie Boss (co-author of 'Reinventing PBL') will be attending.
http://www.projectfoundry.org/news/summerWorkshop2009.html
Project-based Learning management done right.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Upcoming PBL Institutes
Now is the time many folks are starting to think about their summer professional development plans. Since not everyone in the trenches always has the time to research some of the better project-based learning summer institutes, I'd thought I'd inventory them here.
April 14 -16, 2009
"Big Picture Learning’s Schools, Innovation, and Influence Conference"
http://www.bigpicture.org/2008/10/bp-schools-innovation-influence-conf/
June 15 - 17, 2009
Project-based Learning Dissemination Workshop
April 14 -16, 2009
"Big Picture Learning’s Schools, Innovation, and Influence Conference"
http://www.bigpicture.org/2008/10/bp-schools-innovation-influence-conf/
June 15 - 17, 2009
Project-based Learning Dissemination Workshop
July 21- 22, 2009
'How to Better Leverage' Project Foundry Conference
'How to Better Leverage' Project Foundry Conference
July 27 - 30, 2009
EdVisions Summer Institute
August 3 - 6, 2009
Big Picture Big Bang
http://www.bigpicture.org/2008/10/big-bang-viii/All Summer Long
Of course, I would tell you once you have the theory and confidence in the pedagogy, remember to figure out project management, how you'll manage individual learning plans and if standards-based reporting will suffice for your summative transcript. Despite living in a standards-based world, the traditional institutions still don't get it unless you provide a course-based conduit.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Buck Institute for Education PBL Handbook
Anyone who wants to knows anything about the actual 'how to' of project-based learning needs to have the Buck Institute for Education PBL Handbook (http://www.bie.org).
I appreciate the handbook's practical framing and real examples. In addition, the handbook articulates the requirement that doing PBL demands a paradigm shift, not just an adjustment to a classroom. As scary as this may sound, the handbook provides guidance and concrete ideas on how to frame, scaffold and model such a change.
Too often I see people with the best intentions try to create better learning environments by keeping the same structure and people. It's not only education, but any organization systemically making a fundamental change requires a certain level of autonomy and distance from the existing system. Otherwise, the new system will have to conform to the old incrementally undermining the hopes and discernment of the new system. Ultimately, this is how many project-based schools are undermined... "We want something different, but wait it needs to look the same."
The Buck Institute of Education Handbook is one of those transformational resources that can take the theory and make it real.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Eye Opening Videos
The rationale for utilizing project-based learning as the primary means of instruction is a movement that's rooted in much more than simply doing something different for sake of doing things differently.
The information we know as humans doubles every few years. The economy more and more values people who ask the how and why questions over the what and where questions. Tools like Project Foundry make tracking individualized learning plans possible and a variety of learning experiences manageable.
The following two videos offer a more compelling and profound way of articulating these reasons.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Embracing the Disruption
On the surface, engaging students in real experiences contextualized to their learning style seems like a very benevolent, common sense approach to teaching and learning. So why then is this paradigm so slow in being adopted in traditional education?
In his recent book, “Disrupting Class” author Clayton Christianson argues one of the larger reasons the existing stand and deliver approach has lasted so long is due to its management efficiencies… the economies of scale provided by herding students together, the nice numbers that come from Carnegie units and the sense of autonomy that comes with subjects in silos. Such efficiencies are more elusive and contrarian in constructivist learning environments, causing this otherwise common sense approach to be stunted in its adoption. That’s the perception anyway.
In realty, constructivist-minded schools can leverage tools such as Project Foundry® to both facilitate better teaching and learning as well as provide those certain management efficiencies seen in more traditional models. Project Foundry® is an online management tool used by students and teachers to streamline the project process, report learning standard completion and manage individual learning plans. The inquiry-based features integrated within Project Foundry® provide teachers opportunities to listen to student voice and provide feedback during the process rather than at the end. Likewise, the flexible nature of how projects, seminars and other learning activities are created and then managed allows the tool to support a learning model rather than dictate it. This all happening on top of individualized student learning plans that when cross-referenced provide a transparent, efficient way to ensure and manage student outcomes.
Learn more and sign up for a free trial of Project Foundry® at www.projectfoundry.org and look for “Disrupting Class” at amazon.com
In his recent book, “Disrupting Class” author Clayton Christianson argues one of the larger reasons the existing stand and deliver approach has lasted so long is due to its management efficiencies… the economies of scale provided by herding students together, the nice numbers that come from Carnegie units and the sense of autonomy that comes with subjects in silos. Such efficiencies are more elusive and contrarian in constructivist learning environments, causing this otherwise common sense approach to be stunted in its adoption. That’s the perception anyway.
In realty, constructivist-minded schools can leverage tools such as Project Foundry® to both facilitate better teaching and learning as well as provide those certain management efficiencies seen in more traditional models. Project Foundry® is an online management tool used by students and teachers to streamline the project process, report learning standard completion and manage individual learning plans. The inquiry-based features integrated within Project Foundry® provide teachers opportunities to listen to student voice and provide feedback during the process rather than at the end. Likewise, the flexible nature of how projects, seminars and other learning activities are created and then managed allows the tool to support a learning model rather than dictate it. This all happening on top of individualized student learning plans that when cross-referenced provide a transparent, efficient way to ensure and manage student outcomes.
Learn more and sign up for a free trial of Project Foundry® at www.projectfoundry.org and look for “Disrupting Class” at amazon.com
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Managing Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning (PBL) brings relevance to mundane facts and figures. PBL provides real life experiences that refine life skills. Here are four keys to successful PBL:
- Make advisory time more than homeroom. Time needs to be allowed to build the relationships needed for engagement.
- Start with small scope projects. Demonstrate the process from proposal to presentation to model the skills needed for PBL.
- Streamline the paperwork. Find ways to simplify docume-ntation by using innovative tools such as Project Foundry®.
- Build in short feedback loops. Don’t fool yourself into thinking more traditional class projects means PBL. Mentor, model and get out of the way.
The funny thing is there is a lot of chatter and embrace on the theory and purpose behind more hands on approaches learning, but in practice, too many are stuck with the legacy of how they've been taught. Peeling back the layers and getting to where the muscle meets the bone, one will find the management of the model far outweighs the pile of books a school can collect and distribute to the innovative teachers doing true project-based learning.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Short Feedback Loops in Project-Based Learning
Student-centered project-based learning (PBL) is a powerful instructional method many educators appreciate, but often struggle with the implementation. As a former practitioner and current teacher trainer, I often see long or non existent feedback loops quickly kill the momentum of PBL in a school.
When this happens, students go back to drones doing the minimum required amount of work.Teachers throw up there hands and question the benefit of the model, while parents get ancy due to the the lack of tangible things to measure progress.
Usually classroom projects are what I say enable amateur habits, since the teacher assigns it, the studentswork on it without feedback... hand it in... present... get a grade and that’s it. Learning is in the feedback and it happens when there is ample time to reapply.
When this happens, students go back to drones doing the minimum required amount of work.Teachers throw up there hands and question the benefit of the model, while parents get ancy due to the the lack of tangible things to measure progress.
Usually classroom projects are what I say enable amateur habits, since the teacher assigns it, the studentswork on it without feedback... hand it in... present... get a grade and that’s it. Learning is in the feedback and it happens when there is ample time to reapply.
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