Professional Learning for Busy Educators

Two teachers who guided a project-based learning unit that included travel share how to replicate the deep engagement they saw without going anywhere.

A handful of tips to help teachers ease into PBL without getting overwhelmed.

Many schools are moving to project-based learning as a way to help students make meaning about content in deeper and more lasting ways than a lecture can provide. While those goals are clear to educators, and inspiring examples of schools successfully implementing the pedagogy exist, it can still be a challenging shift for many teachers. It is difficult to design projects that both help students learn required content and that genuinely interest them. Some educators are finding that connecting projects to a global community is a powerful way to make a project feel meaningful to students.

When learning STEM subjects, students are often successful when they apply the concepts that are being taught. The student-centered practice of project-based learning, also known as PBL, requires learners to use the knowledge acquired through study, not simply memorize information to repeat on an exam. Through project-based learning in biology, teachers can allow their class to experience lessons by engaging in activities that bring to life the concepts that are crucial to subject mastery.  Use the following activities to bring a new pedagogy to teaching biology.

So, let me share three ways to do innovative projects in the midst of standards and curriculum. Not because it is cool, or fun, or fancy. Because it is what works with our students, and has worked time and time again for retention.

As a K-5 Instructional Coach, my eyes were open wide the first time I stepped into a 1st Grade Classroom. The teacher was actually teaching the kids HOW to read.

I immediately sent an email to my former high school colleagues saying that I had no idea what it was like in an Elementary school (and we should be lucky of the issues we had to deal with at HS)!

Flash forward 10 years and I’ve spent a ton of time working with Elementary schools, teachers, and students in some way or capacity (administrator, teaching, curriculum design, technology, consulting etc).

I’ve learned so much from Elementary teachers around this country who continue to inspire me, but nothing has made me more focused in on what innovation and project-based learning looks like than my own crew of kids.

Yes, I have four kids, all 9 and under (it is a blast…and a bit crazy at our house!). Two are in school right now, and I love seeing their faces light up when they come home working on a project or feeling excited about the day’s learning activities.

I get to see what Project-Based Learning looks like in an Elementary Classroom and the difference it can make in a student’s learning life.

So, when I got the question a few weeks ago from an Elementary teacher, “What does this ACTUALLY look like in an Elementary classroom?”, I was pumped to put together this article with lots of real examples of PBL K-5.

Higher test scores. Better graduation rates. Increased lifetime earning potential. Incorporating social-emotional learning and character education into K-12 classrooms improves students’ lives—measurably. 

Indeed, recent research indicates there is a direct and undeniable correlation between improved student outcomes and integrating SEL and life skills—like problem-solving, collaboration, and good judgment—into existing curriculum. What's more, teachers value these skills. So do employers. They help changes lives, break the cycle of inequity, and foster economic opportunity.

We can no longer afford to view social-emotional learning and character education as pleasant supplements to the curriculum.
Unfortunately, most teachers simply don't have the time or resources to revamp existing curriculum on their own. If they did, their students wouldn’t be the only ones to benefit; studies show incorporating character education is good for teachers, too. 

In the course of adapting many of our curricular resources to fit teachers’ changing needs, we have distilled a robust collection of skills into lessons we believe will help teachers foster social-emotional learning, and in doing so develop future-ready students.

My first year of teaching with project-based learning provided as much learning for me as it did my students.

Each year when I head back to my classroom in the fall, I have many ideas of new methods, new tools, and some changes that I want to make in my classes. These changes and ideas are the result of attending summer conferences, reading new books, and maybe the most helpful, student feedback that I review over the summer.

The biggest change I wanted to make this year was to have my students really engage in Project-Based Learning.