Kaycee Junior High School, Kaycee WY
Attend Project Based Learning World in Napa, CA, to then implement learning that encourage 6-12th grade students to explore the world around them through the use of project/problem-based learning using a cross curricular approach.
This photo was taken at Alcatraz, and it sparked several project questions for me, particularly in regard to equity.
Here is our team at PBL World. It was by far the best PD I've every been to.
Every child is a genius....which confirmed everything I believe about education.
My team is truly inspirational and aspirational to me.
This quote at the conference site beautifully summarized the conference.
The entire region is beautiful and inspiring.
The entire PBL World Conference was fantastic, and I can honestly say it's the best PD I've ever done. To me, the most powerful experience was the opening ceremony. It was awe inspiring to be around over 1,000 educators who are as passionate as our team is about student growth and authentic learning. Goldie Mohommed was incredible, the PBL staff was incredible, and it set the tone for the entire conference.
Professionally, I learned a great deal regarding how to structure a PBL unit. I had a lot of questions about pacing, grading, etc., and all of them were answered, PLUS I was able to create two units that I am currently engaging students in now. Personally, it was even more powerful. I had a rough school year, and I was disheartened by a number of factors. After this conference, I felt that I really was headed in the right direction and that education is where I need to stay.
I don't know that anything was necessarily different than we planned; however, it was immensely more powerful and exciting than I thought it would be. I believe so much more in PBL now than before we attended, and I didn't expect that. I also have a network of educators from across the country that I'm in touch with, and I didn't have that before, either.
Currently, I have students working these problems: 1. How can we plan a vacation for someone else within a certain budget? 2. How can I design spaces that are appropriate for middle school students? 3. How can I create a business plan that will improve our community? 4. How can we tell untold stories within our community? I have plans for many more, but these are in the works right now!
In planning the projects listed above, I made sure that there was an active community engagement component to all of them. For example, in the story telling unit, we are working with a local museum to design an exhibit. In the design of spaces, students are actually writing and presenting a grant. It puts students in charge of their own learning, and they are loving it.
As stated above, we are working closely with community entities to complete projects. Students are calling local people for interviews, some have contacted city government, we are presenting projects to groups of community entrepreneurs, etc. All of these activities are also teaching my students "soft" sklls such as customer service, talking on the phone (which is actually a skill they don't have), and many others. They have also commented that they love doing "real" work.