PBL- Project Based Learning

How have you introduced project based learning in your classroom?




I am still trying to figure out how to do project based learning at the end of most of my units but I am finding it harder than I originally thought to include in an English class. The first PBL, worked really great for it's first year out. Does it still need some work. Yes! However I did get better end writing projects for explanatory writing than I ever have before! At the end of this year I would love to do a Bullying project, we do a unit at the end of the year a lit circle novel study, where all the realistic fiction novel choices have the central theme of Bullying. I would love if the tale end of this was the development of an anti-bullying strategy to implement at our school. How do I make this a reality? I am still working it out in my brain but I think it has amazing possibilities.

Any ideas or thoughts you might have would be super helpful here...

Student Created Content/ Tech Guru's

Last year as my students were developing their imaginative narratives I wanted scary music in the background, and everywhere I went and looked I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. Finally a student told me to go to YouTube and play some music from a video game he liked to play. The game is called Amnesia, it was the perfect creepy music, however the sound bytes on YouTube were only 25 seconds or so in length so I had to keep replaying them. That student went home that very night, and on his SOUNDCLOUD account complied a whole bunch of different clips from the game into an 11 minute soundtrack for me to use. This was such a wonderful surprise and I have used it this year as well. This very thing has inspired me to think about how I can utilize the knowledge of my own students.


Here is the SOUNDCLOUD file my student made:

Next year as we move into the digital conversion a colleague and myself have come up with an idea of identifying students that might have a propensity towards technology, by identifying our "tech guru's" (think of the branding of The Geek Squad or the Apple Genius Bar, only more student friendly with less connotation) teachers can begin to have an extra set of hands and minds in the classroom when planning digital lessons. If we identify 20-50 students per grade there is bound to be one or more in each class. If you are a teacher that is overwhelmed or just wants an extra set of hands asking the class, "Who are my tech gurus?" You automatically know you have some students you can rely on in a pinch. Also who is to say you couldn't use their knowledge and say, "This is my plan for our next unit, I want to do this______________. Do you know of a website out there that does that?" These kids know more about what is out there than we can even hope to imagine, why not use them as a resource? And I bet just by asking them this question, if they don't know the answer they will probably go home and look for the answer.

It is my ultimate hope that you start identifying kids that maybe didn't even realize that they had this propensity themselves and it fosters a new career path or idea. Also I think it will help the culture of the school, this idea that you are wanted and needed to help create things within the building. If you need a video made to explain how to use a new program, why not see if there are some "tech guru's" that want to make it? If it is something that would be shown to the whole school through an advisory class, I am sure you would have kids jump on board. It is still in it's development stage but I think this could be something great. I will keep you posted!

Any other ideas you can think of for student "tech guru's," have you tried something similar?

Reader's Response Journal for Next Year

As I am grading my student's reader's response journals this year I realize that this could be the last year they "make" a journal by folding notebook paper in half etc. Because next year we are going full digital conversion with macbook air's. While it is very exciting it also takes some pedegogical shifts! What will these journals be like next year? I have to say that I am sitting here dreaming up possibilities because they will be digital what does that mean?



Options:
1. Do I just have them create a Google doc folder that they will then turn in? While this is probably the first idea, and probably the easiest, I find it rather boring!
2. What about if I have them create a blog, for the whole year and within that blog they have pages for each of the unit's we do, including a page for journaling. They could post their thoughts via, their blog for all the things done in class. I think this could be pretty cool, and would give them a voice in the public domain. I will definitely have to think on this!
3. What about if for this specific document I have them create a live binder, and each "divider section" is a prompt section. Included within this document could be links and pictures. They really could create a working live collection of links and pics from the web that connect with their thoughts and reflections on the book!
Click here for three ring
Click here for live binder

Bottom line, what will next year look like? How will I want my students to create and share their work with me? With the world? Just thoughts to send out into the void, would love feedback on this topic, even if no one is really reading or listening.