Project Based Learning

Happy December!

As 2013 draws to a close, I've been thinking about my main goals for the Learning Commons for the rest of the school year. I don't want to call them "resolutions" because I'm terrible at seeing those through. I prefer calling them "goals" or "focus areas".

To be honest, I've felt a bit lost the last few weeks- mainly in terms of what to do next with the Learning Commons and what needs to happen next. The TV for the literacy station has been ordered and I am eager to see that installed in January. The rest of the layout changes will also take place in January with the assistance of two District Learning Commons liaisons. I'm excited for the layout change and I think the rest of my goals will come together once the space better reflects Learning Commons principles.

I've felt lost because I have put some good plans into place for changing the physical space, but what needs to happen IN this space? Hmm..

I attended a great PRO-D opportunity last Friday about Project Based Learning. As a new teacher, it was great for me to see the importance of PRO-D opportunities and how they can truly re-inspire you and refocus your goals. This workshop took place at PGSS and we had the opportunity to SKYPE chat with Dr. Phil Butterfield (the Assistant Principal at the Calgary School of Science). The Calgary School of Science has been teaching using Project Based Learning for over 10 years. They discussed many of their initiatives to ensure that PBL is a central component for their programs.

We also had the opportunity to learn about a PBL project done by Cole Webber, a grade 9 student from Red Deer. His project was called "School for the Future", which he has presented to the Premier of Alberta and several provincial cabinet ministers. Cole discussed the benefits of PBL and how teachers can act as facilitators for this type of learning. For this project, he created a model of a school that he feels would do a better job of meeting the needs of all students. This project was very detailed in terms of the budget he would need, the architecture needed, and how the different components of his building would be used and for what purpose. This was an example of a project completed by an extremely gifted student. The Premier of Alberta is even considering building his school! While this example is a quite extreme example of Project Based Learning, I was able to learn more about what Project Based Learning looks like, what the teacher's role in PBL is, and how the physical space needs to reflect the needs of PBL learning. It was also important for me to hear from someone much younger than me to see how he views the education system and what he feels could be improved. One of the points that resonated with me (and was quite sophisticated for a grade 9 student to identify) is that we need to spend less time telling students information and more time giving them the skills to learn and find information that is useful and relevant to students. He made important connections to technology and how it has drastically changed how we consume and view information. This also made me think about how the Learning Commons can be a place to learn skills- as opposed to content. Webber mentioned, "I don't really need teachers to tell me facts. I can look those up on my iPad. I need them to show me what sources are credible and which are not and why." So true!

After these Skype sessions we were given time to engage in an ED camp with the other participants. We discussed what PBL is, how it differs from just doing a project, hurdles we might face when trying to engage in PBL, and some ideas for PBL projects we could do with our students. I chose to work with the other elementary educators to make sure that our school's needs were heard. I also specifically asked for guidance with regards to what PBL looks for primary students, as I know this has been a concern in our school. I understand that our students need much more guidance than those at the high school level might need and that our PBL initiatives might not look like some of things going on at PGSS and the Calgary School of Science. However, it was great to see what is happening at the higher level to see the end goal and what we might need to do to make sure our students can reach that goal.

One of the main things that teachers identified as a hurdle is assessing PBL projects. One of the teachers from PGSS who teachers PBL shared the assessment rubric she uses. This was helpful to have a better sense of the end goal of PBL. This can be adapted for use in the elementary classroom. I will make copies of this rubric for staff if you are interested. Here is a link to this rubric. http://galileo.org/rubric.pdf

As I was sitting at this workshop, I was thinking "hmm. Ok. I think I know what PBL is and why it is great. Now how do I start?"

During the Calgary School of Science presentation, Dr. Butterfield mentioned that PBL cannot happen without collaboration. He mentioned that establishing where your school's staff is at in terms of their level of collaboration is the first step towards starting PBL at your school. I see excellent collaboration at Southridge regularly, but I think it is important to reflect on what collaboration is and how well we are collaborating. Dr. Butterfield's staff self-assess their collaboration skills by placing themselves on a collaboration continuum. The first level meaning that the person's skills are competitive in nature, the second meaning the person demonstrates compliant behaviour, the third being that the person is a cooperative person and the fourth level being true collaboration. Dr. Butterfield mentioned that most people fall into "cooperative".

Competition      

      Compliance

           Cooperation

                Collaboration

When I think about the times I've collaborated with others, I would rate that I am cooperative and sometimes demonstrate true collaboration. As a new teacher, I haven't had many collaboration opportunities to reflect on. I like the idea of reflecting on collaboration and self-assessing whether we are doing if effectively or if it could be improved. Change is often difficult and is not possible without working together effectively. I ask that you take the time to read the rubric about collaboration and think about where you fall on the continuum.  Nothing is ever black and white. I think I fall into different places on the continuum for different projects I'm involved with and that's ok. I think this fits nicely with the discussions we've had as a staff related to our adult learning needs. Below are some statements you can think about to help you assess whether overall you are competitive, compliant, cooperative or collaborative. This rubric helps us to evaluate if our collaboration is effective by assessing our relationships, our ability to make decisions, our ability to evaluate the things that we put into place and the actions that we take when we collaborate.

I'm interested in starting some PBL in the Learning Commons, but let's take that first step and assess where we are at with our collaboration skills.

Cheers!

Nicole