Power of PBL outside of school

 As I sit here on a Saturday morning I am starting to think about the upcoming school year and I am getting excited. Yes excited. I  know there will be some new wrinkles to deal with such as mask vs no mask, social distancing, etc. but I can see a little bit of normal coming back. That is not what is getting me excited. What is exciting me is a chance to re-engage kids with creating something from scratch, doing something using the skills they have as well as empowering them to learn new ones as well as honing my PBL skills.

I tested this out this summer after reading the book "What School Could Be" by Ted Dintersmith. I gave my two daughters a project to complete for me. After seeing them earlier in the year work on taking canvas shoes and painting designs on them I asked that they create something for me. One daughter I asked how much she would charge me to do a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All Starts and the other I just asked to do it. The results were as I expected but really helped me see the power of doing PBL in the classroom. 

How I approached this project is similar to how I could in my classroom and/or how I would approach an artist to do a work for me. I asked if they were interested and what they needed to get started. I worked out a draft design of what I wanted and gave it to both "artists". I then gave them the parameters (specs for you in an engineering class) of my project. They asked a few questions and then got going on the project. I did not give a timeline for the project and stressed I wanted it be something that was fun and enjoyable. I also told them that if they needed something (tool, skill, etc) to let me know so I could help.

The one who I told I would pay her for is dragging her feet and I can only think she is seeing it as a chore more than a project. However she is also starting her sophomore year in high school and other stresses of being 15 years old coming out of a pandemic. This is a good opportunity to try out some intrinsic motivation strategies as well as see how I can work with her on this project. Some may count this as a failure or an example of why PBL is not a good idea in the classroom. I see it vastly differently; I see it as an example of how grades can demotivate students.  

The other one I didn't say I would pay her just that I wanted her to do a design on a pair of Van's Checkered Skate shoes. The main difference with her was I didn't tell her I would pay her for her services. What was interesting was as soon as I got the shoes in her hands she wanted to jump on creating them. She went through several mock-ups of designs as well as testing out paint colors for me. Once we agreed on the design and color she got to work. Watching her use painter's tape to block out the individual squares she was painting and marking end points etc. was fascinating to watch. All in all it took her less than a week to complete the project and the smile on her face when I first walked out the door with them on was all evidence I needed to know this was a success. And yes I did pay her for her services. For those interested here are photos of the completed shoes:

Yes these are University of Washington themed shoes. Go Dawgs!

What I have learned through this simple application of PBL at home are:

1. It is a great way to reinforce intrinsic motivation
2. You don't need to have every part of the project mapped out ahead
3. It is ok if you are not an expert on what kids are doing
4. Failure is not always a bad thing
5. Kids love to create things
6. Due dates to mean on time delivery

I can't wait to try this out in a larger scale in my classroom this year and apply the lessons learned. My goal is to give each of the 3 classes I teach a theme. One will be designing a physical game with a theme and has both a physical and graphic component. The kids will decide most of the components that make it up as well as the rules etc. Another will be based off of the FIRST FTC them of Freight Frenzy. Student's will need to identify a problem with distributing goods and/or access services and then come up with, test, and present a solution to their problem. My last class will be a little more scripted that true PBL as I need to teach them both how to build and program a robot using Java. They will have the ability to design their own robot and write their own code to complete the tasks for the class but there will be more teaching of concepts since most kids taking the class have only minor background knowledge.

I will check back on this blog and podcast as to how it is going in the classroom. I also welcome you thoughts and suggestions.

As always "Go Forth & Do Great Things!"

Link to podcast version

Being Social: Tapping into the social student brain

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This is the second part of my 2 part blog post on the book Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect by Matthew D. Lieberman. I have been reading this book as part of a book study for a group called HDIL (How Do I Learn) which has been examining and helping teachers learn to apply the latest in brain research/science to education. I forgot to mention that in my earlier post. Working with the group of Health Educators, Instructional coaches, fellow teachers, and Neuroscience researchers  has been exciting and rewarding both on a personal and professional level. It has expanded my thoughts on improving how I educate our young learners and that is the focus on this post is how I feel we can improve schools to leverage the power of our social brains.

The research that the author presents and has done is pretty clear that humans are social creatures and our brains have developed to leverage being social to help us survive and grow. He has shown that our social nature can have both positive and negative affects on our brain and on us as well. When we act in a way that is socially acceptable or are given positive social attention from our peers there is activity in the parts of our brain that allow us to experience pleasure and dopamine release. When we act ina way that is not socially acceptable or are given negative social attention from our peers the converse is also true, we experience pain and those regions of the brain associated with feeling pain light up. That is as technical as I want to get as the importance is more on how to leverage the social brain to improve education an student learning.

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Students start out their educational career as one class and move through the early years as part of a class/tribe/family if you will. They get to know their teachers, and peers and learn their habits and quirks. Then in Middle school/Junior high we thrust them into a situation where they are in a new building, multiple classes, new school, many more peers, & HORMONES!

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All of this leads to a sense of no longer belonging when in actuality their brains are craving to just belong. We need to change the way we educate to better take advantage of this craving so we are not fighting it.

As we explore the future of schools and work to change them to meet the needs of the future; we need to accept the fact that just giving students knowledge to remember for later on is no longer acceptable. We need to look at how to teach students how to use that knowledge as well as how to interact with one another. As a CTE (Career and Technical Education) teacher I get to meet with industry professionals to learn more about what I can be doing to prep kids for the "real world" (as I like to call it). The number one thing they mention to me is to help kids develop "soft skills"; those skills like reading people, working together, showing up on time, etc. These are not skills we have necessarily focused in schools but should do more of as we move into the future. Some may say that isn't the job of education but it is all of our jobs. One these "soft skills" is self control.

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Self control is a skill that is important to have not only to help keep us safe but also to help us be more productive in our careers. I see kids in my class that I wish had more self control or patience. I have wondered why they don't have any and hope they get it later. However I now realize it is part of our job to help teach them self control what it looks like and how it works. Along with that we need to give them opportunities to practice using it and not fault them when they fall down or don't use it. I don't know what this looks like quite but I can see it coming into play during project work, and maybe as a part of grading. This leads to another thought we can as educators need to focus on which is helping kids belong.

Another way I feel we can help students belong is to look at ways to co-mingle the curriculum at the middle level. I am not saying need need to go to a more elementary model of 1 teacher who teaches all subjects but more of a co-teaching approach bringing teachers together (having teachers move from class to class rather than students). Where students are exposed to all subjects by multiple teachers in the same class. This I feel will help them see how knowledge is not a singular subject but is interwoven and social. Also it helps give the context of why they need to know this stuff in order to apply it.

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One of the things talked about in the education chapter is that we crave the"why" of knowledge not necessarily the what or how. I know I have seen and see the power of this in my class all the time. I teacher a number of elective classes from robotics to programming to engineering and most kids excel on concepts they struggle with in other classes. One example I am proud of and use all the time is teaching cross multiplication as a function of calculation turns. Our math department struggled with teaching this concept to students especially some of our Special education students. They wondered why I never struggled with it or why kids in my class "got it" I told them I put it into context. They needed to know ratios and cross multiplication to figure out the arc length (which couldn't be "measured" easily) to get their robot to turn a specific angle. Yes they did struggle with it for awhile but once they had the why they needed it OMG! they took off and had it down pat. We need to look for more opportunities to give students a chance to learn and apply the why they are learning things and we will be amazed at how much they will gain in the end.

Lastly I would like to talk about how students show those gains teachers favorite TESTING!

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I know there are numerous thoughts and feelings about testing from high stakes to quizzes. I have my own personal thoughts which I won't get into other than to say we need to rethink how we empower kids to share their knowledge and understanding. I am a PBL (project based learning) teacher and there by most of my "tests" are projects rooted in real life applications. However I recognize that at times there has be be a test given for various reasons. I know the stress of giving tests from having administered several tests over my career, both kids and teacher stress. I wonder though if we made one simple change if it might alleviate some of that stress. That one change is to let kids talk during the test. I know this goes against all the "rules" and "norms" of testing but why? When asked that question I am told so they don't cheat. I accepted that answer early in my career but as I got more into reading books on PBL education, talking to employers, and stressing out while giving tests I rethought that reason. If we are social creatures we need to communicate in some way shape or form. To ask us to be silent for any great length of time goes against our nature. Also where in our jobs, other than teaching, do we need to "test" to get paid? Yes I know we need to test to get various certificates/qualifications for a job but not once we get the job. We get paid by doing our job and being productive. Often times we have to work with others to get the job done. So why not start teaching that during school. Why can't we allow students to talk while testing? I know most will say but how will students show what they know. Well they will show it by the questions they ask others and the explanations they give to others. Also sharing of info is part of what is needed in the workforce; know when and what info to share. Also if we train them to share info correctly (not just giving the answer) they cheating won't be an issue.

These are my thoughts on how to apply the concepts and ideas posed in the book. I welcome your thoughts and ideas as well as encourage you to read the book.

As always Go Forth & Do Great Things!

Being social: Increasing productivity

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As I wrap up my reading of the book Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect by Matthew D. Lieberman. I want to write 2 posts in relation to work in schools and how we can help students and teachers tap into our social nature. The first of these 2 posts focuses on the work environment especially in schools. 

I was struck by how in this country we equate job satisfaction with more income as pointed out in the book. I myself am guilty of this way of thinking. However after reading the chapter entitled "The business of social brains" I am inclined to rethink this a bit. We hear phrases like "Money is the route of all evil." or "The best things in life are free" or many others. It turns out these phrases are to a certain extent true as pointed out by numerous studies on economics and job satisfaction and on productivity in the work place. My goal here is not to talk about all these studies an what they show but to focus on my thoughts on how to improve productivity in schools through social endeavors. 

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In the book they cite research that shows as income increases the feeling of social well being stays the same. They also cite research that shows the most effective ways to increase productivity is not to give out more money (it actually decreases it in some cases) but to bring in a social aspect. Help your employees make a real life connection to the work they are doing. As an example they talked about the job of students calling Alumni for donations. What they found was when they brought in a student who was or did benefit directly through Alumni provided scholarships the callers were more productive and motivated to work their callers for money and actually brought in more donations. 

In teaching we get to see this day and and day out with our students. However I believe we can do better. I believe it would be helpful to be able to see how our work impacts families and communities. Some of us get to see that but I think we could do better by attending community events and working with our community leaders to see what events/meetings/ etc. we can attend as teachers. Also I know that we as teachers are feeling overworked and underpaid and don't feel we can sit on another committee or meeting beyond our contract. However there is meaning in accepting that request to sit on a volunteer committee. I have served on a few committee's for my children's school district. While I don't work in the district it has reminded me of the importance of doing so as well as the intrinsic reward/value by doing so. I am not a overly outgoing person and prefer to the the social butterfly on the wall watching others have good time. However the more I have started to include myself I am able to take more satisfaction from the work I do and share the knowledge I have. I think we as teachers and administrators need to focus both on giving teachers opportunities to sit on community boards as well as support that interaction. Also it is important for admin to provide those opportunities and encourage teachers to take advantage of those opportunities not out of requirement but out of helping to fulfill that social need. 

Lastly as schools we need to look at ways of making the work we do during the school day more social. Whether that be time to work together on a cross-curricular project, time to talk with colleagues about what ever comes to mind, time for students to talk while working (possibly more on this in a later post 😃), and time to "break bread" together. The last one is the hardest for me as for reasons I stated above. However, I think the past emphasis on high stakes testing forced us back into silo teaching based on subject areas. You would see math, science, and language arts teachers huddle together in teams to talk about their practice which was OK for their curriculum but not for the overall child. Children need to see how curriculum is social in that it all works together to make one successful.What I am thinking/proposing is taking a page out of the elementary playbook but instead of having 1 teacher teach all subjects you have 4 teachers teach all subjects together in a team teaching concept. I know this may have been or is being tried and I welcome your thoughts/comments on how it is going/working.

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this brings me to my final thought, the importance of communication. I think this is the essence of being social. We often times feel that social media is bane of our existence and ruining our ability to be social. I have found myself totally agreeing this statement until I read this book. I still have my reservations but when you see how we are wired to be social and also put social media in the context of being a tool, it opens up some possibilities. For example 5 years ago I would never have thought of using a tool like email to communicate with my students. It was a barrier that I felt shouldn't be crossed. Along with that I wouldn't imagine being a "friend" on Facebook with my students or tweet with them no matter how much they begged me (again barriers). However now I use email and google classroom (what I call social media for the classroom) to communicate with my students and dare I say it is working out for the positive. With proper instruction on how to both use the tool and respect boundaries social media can be and is a powerful educational tool. 

As always thanks for reading and commenting and remember:

Go Forth and Do Great Things!