Week 5 - Refocusing

I went down a path these past few weeks. It's a path that I'm excited about, and it's also a path that doesn't fully fit with the idea of Project Based Learning. Podcasting is definitely something I'm excited about exploring with my class next year; if I'm being true to the spirit of PBL though, I want to also think about ways of allowing more student choice. 

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in a professional development session all about Project Based Learning. As the theme of the session was how to integrate PBL into the classroom, I went back to thinking about my original idea of exploring ways to do more of that style of learning in Healthy Living. The session gave some examples of ways to structure PBL following the "5 Es":
Engage

Explore

Explain

Elaborate

Evaluate

Part of our session involved going through the process of identifying essential questions, coming up with a challenge and a solution, and thinking about possible ways of sharing our learning. It was interesting to hear the different points of view that teachers were bringing to the table, and gave us the chance to think about what some of the difficulties would be in our own classrooms with this kind of learning. In addition to difficulties, I spent a lot of time thinking about how the culture of a classroom can make or break these types of experiences.

Coming back to Healthy Living, I went through the curriculum guide and my yearly plan and pulled out the six BIG IDEAS. These are the areas in which I can foresee students doing some PBL next year :

- Relationships (Bullying)

- Substance Abuse and Addiction

- Mental Health

- Sexual Health and Pregnancy

- Healthy Bodies

- Media & Internet

When I introduce these BIG IDEAS to my students next year, I am considering whether or not to also present them with the curriculum outcomes that go along with them. Do I do that before or after they generate their long lists of essential questions? Does doing so skew their questions? Maybe it would be best to have them make their long lists, and then narrow them down to short lists in consultation with the curriculum for grade 8... Lots to consider! I'm feeling good about my renewed focus on Project Based Learning, and also committed to exploring the possibilities of podcasting as well. Getting sidetracked is not an inherently negative things when it comes to pursuing a passion!

Week 4 - Deep Dive into Podcasting

I listen to a lot of podcasts while driving. Some are informative, some narrative, some just for fun. One of the things I love about this medium is its portability - you can listen to a podcast just about anywhere! In contrast to print media, or video, podcasts require only the ears of the audience to be effective.

Because of this portability, I am envisioning some opportunities for movement while introducing my students to the world of podcasting. We could take a walk in the park while listening to a short episode, and then discuss it when we get back to class. Exercise AND learning - what a great combination! The Walking Classroom is one program that exists specifically to provide content to teachers for walking and podcast-listening, which is part of my inspiration. Rather than using a provided curriculum, however, I would like to draw from a variety of podcasts (chosen by myself, or suggested by students) in order to explore many styles and themes.

Project Audio, which I had linked to in a previous post, has a lot of helpful information. Included in the article are suggestions for implementing podcasting in the classroom. I spent today reading through the article and making notes for future reference.

Something that really resonated with me was the importance of making the link between story-telling techniques and podcasts. I'm still debating what style of podcast to produce, and reading this article has me considering creating more than one podcast, in order to separate students who would prefer to create a narrative from those who are more interested in an interview style of podcasting. I will be weighing the pros and cons of those options over the next little while, in order to make a decision that will be sustainable for next year and beyond.

I've downloaded the Anchor app, but haven't yet had much of a chance to play around with it. I'm planning to record an introductory episode in the near future, to make sure I understand how the technology works. I'd like to have three or four episodes recorded by September, so that I have something for students to listen to before they start creating their own episodes. I often tell students that I don't ask them to do things I'm not willing to try myself, and this is no exception.

To stay organized, I've started a Google Doc with a list of resources and ideas for podcasting in the classroom. I'll keep adding to this document, in order to have all of my resources in one location. I'm feeling very inspired and excited about the possibilities for using podcasting as part of Project Based Learning in my classroom.

Week 3 - Zealous for Podcasting

I've become fascinated with this idea of podcasting in the classroom. There are so many avenues that it could open up for students, and I am eager to start exploring what those might be! I got so inspired today, I created an account on anchor and got to work on the settings for next year's podcast. You can view the public website here, although there are no episodes just yet.



One of the things I love about Passion Projects is that they can evolve over time, as new ideas come to the forefront and replace an initial thought. Although I began this Passion Project as a way to explore PBL in Healthy Living, I am very pleased with this shift to podcasting as my main focus. Students, if you're reading this, it is SUPER if your general Passion Project idea evolves into something more specific and inspiring to you. Please don't ever feel like you have to stick with what you said on the first week, just because that's what you said you would do. The greatest ideas grow out of thinking, pondering, wondering, thinking some more, experimenting, trying... your first idea does not have to be your last!

Notes for myself :

- find some podcasts appropriate for students to listen to, and schedule time to do so at the start of the year (go for a walk!)
- develop a structure/schedule that is consistent and sustainable
- record an introductory episode
- ask grade 7 students for input before the end of the year
- Which subjects do I want to link this to - Healthy Living / Français / ELA? Others?
- What format am I looking at? Informative? Story telling? A combination?
- What about students who are anxious about sharing their voice?

Week 2 - Podcasting as PBL

I've been mulling ideas over in my head for the past while, thinking about what needs improvement in the way I already do Project Based Learning in my class. One of the phases of PBL that I need more work on is having students share their results with an authentic audience. So often, the audience for student work is contained to the school, or even to the smaller population of the individual classroom, and this can result in students' having the impression that their work "doesn't matter" in the grand scheme of things. As a teacher, I want to provide more opportunities for reaching a wider audience.



One way I am doing that with this years batch of Passion Projects is to have students create blogs that are published and available online for anyone to view. Students can view the blogs of others in the class, but there is also the potential for them to share their blogs on the own social media, with their parents, or with anyone who happens across their blog. This means I will spend time giving explicit guidelines for what should or should not appear on a blog of this sort (i.e. a school-based blog), how to comment appropriately and effectively on others' blogs, and how to format a blog so that it is as appealing as possible to the audience.

Students have created their blogs already, and will be updating them periodically over the next 8 weeks (and beyond, if their project continues after the "deadline") Students, if you would like to put a different title please send an email to let me know!

Tanisha - Makeup
Alex - Flamethrower
Kate - Fixing/Rebuilding a Bike
Ryland - Potato Launcher
Cole - Lego
Makayla - Getting in Shape
Emily - Learning songs on the Guitar
Emma - Nature Photography
Aidan - Free Throws
Maddy - Learning to play Violin
Monica - Cooking
Kalan - Building a little house
Skye - Learning Italian
Carmen - Composing music
Milo - Learning Norwegian
Adrianna - Protecting Sea Turtles
Julian - Cardboard Projectiles
Nash - Creating a Painting
Luc - Smoke Bomb
Adam - Creating a Rap/Hip-Hop Song
Amelia - Learning German 
Stuart - Food Delivery Robot
Ryan - Homemade Go-Kart 

However, this week 2 blog post was not intended to be about blogging, but about another way of sharing out to a wider audience : podcasting! (Funny how you can get off-topic and still be accomplishing your goal - students, take note!)



Next year, I would like to work on using PBL consistently in Healthy Living. Many of the topics in the curriculum lend themselves well to discussions, opinions, advice, and fact sharing. A podcast can be used for all of those things, and more. I have some more thinking about how to structure this, but my initial thoughts are that students could work in small groups to create a podcast episode about a topic of their choice in the curriculum. They could interview experts, invite special guests, share their thoughts and opinions, and then publish using an app such as Anchor or something similar. I would host the podcast, so that all student work would be gathered in one place. I would also love to do some mini-episodes myself on the weeks when students are not responsible for a contribution. 

Lots to think about, and I want to do some research into how this could work, starting with the article Project Audio : Teaching Students How to Produce Their Own Podcasts.

Week 1 - "Coming Soon" to a Classroom Near You!

Project Based Learning (or PBL) has been a growing trend in education for many years. It comes in and out of favour, and has changed its form and function many times. There are challenges and benefits to using this style of teaching and learning; it is important to recognize how to navigate the challenges and build upon the benefits in ways that are best for students and teachers alike. 

Let's start by defining what "Project Based Learning" will mean in the context of my Passion Project (which is, itself, a type of PBL - as you will see!) According to the Buck Institute for Education :

What this means is, "Students work on a project over an extended period of time – from a week up to a semester – that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge and skills by developing a public product or presentation for a real audience. As a result, students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills in the context of doing an authentic, meaningful project." 

I don't think it is a leap to go from that definition, to saying that Passion Projects definitely qualify as Project Based Learning (and not just because the word "project" is in the title!) 

My Passion Project for 2019 will be developing some Project Based Learning resources and ideas for Healthy Living 8. PBL can be integrated into any course, but I have chosen to focus primarily on Healthy Living 8 as I think it lends itself really well to the type of complex questions that are the foundation of Project Based Learning. I am certain that, through this work, I will also discover ways of bringing other disciplines together.

Over the next ten weeks, I will extend my research on PBL and begin to develop some ideas for integrating this technique in Healthy Living. This will involve looking at the Healthy Living 8 curriculum, and determining which outcomes could be combined in an advantageous manner.

I plan to start off with deepening my research into this topic. A few of the resources I plan to access are :

1. Two books by A.J. Juliani & John Spencer

 


2. The Buck Institute for Education website "PBL Works"

3. Twitter(#pbl)

4. AJ Juliani's blog

• Linking PBL with curriculum outcomes
• How to turn any unit into PBL - video
• How to turn any unit into PBL - article

5. Resources like the PBL Guidebook from the Human Restoration Project

6. Tools such as :

• Project Pals
• Classcraft Quests

7. Podcasts : 

• The PBL Playbook Podcast