I really had no idea that there could be that many videos and articles out there about writing driving questions.
As I was watching the BIE webinar there was an example that was a project with a similar topic to ours and the driving question they used as an example stuck out to me. I quickly typed a version of what I was thinking onto the Google Doc Karen and I are using to collaborate and sent her a message telling her that I thought I had it! It was exciting! After a little feedback from Dr. Rice we changed our question slightly. Once we had that question, everything else just started to fall into place. I tend to be a backwards by design type person. Show me an assessment and I will be able to create a unit that perfectly prepares students for that assessment. This PBL process is HARD, because that is not exactly how the process works. I posted in my discussion last week that I was overwhelmed and not really clear, but that I was willing to trust the process and continue to work through it as directed. I can see now that there is a method and it will work. Karen and I have been excitedly collaborating on all aspects of the project. One thing I appreciate about the way things are set up is that even though we are creating and submitting items as we go along it is still understood to be a work in progress and is expected to be refined as the weeks go on. I am feeling pretty good about where we are at currently.
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This was an interesting week. Karen and I began to explore the idea of a project based on sustainability a little more, but were really struggling with what the students would do, what would they produce, etc. Both of us were really hung up on what kind of driving question we could ask for that topic.
Then, Karen was given an opportunity to implement a grant that was given to a teacher in her school who has since decided to leave. The grant focused on using technology to explore statistics/math through the use of sports. The grant will still be implemented as planned, but we decided to base our PBL off of this idea. Sports and math. We are both really excited about it. We set up our Weebly page. I talked her into using it over Google because I don't think Sites look "pretty" enough. Karen seems like she is going to be a great partner. I have never worked on a project this big with someone so far away, but thankful for the collaborative tools found in Google and Weebly both. Onto the driving question next week. Again, this week I was overwhelmed by the vast amount of resources to explore. There were many, many PBL projects out these to review and evaluate. Some were great and met all of the criteria of the essential elements checklist and some were not so great. I am feeling a little intimidated by the entire scope of the project at this point.
I am planning to partner with a fellow classmate on the project, Karen Trivino. We have "chatted" via Google a little and think that it will be a good partnership. We teach similar grades and are interested in similar things. We are thinking of doing a project based around sustainability, but are not really sure where to start. INFORMATION OVERLOAD!
But in a good way. One of the things that surprised me the most this week was the incredible wealth of information available to understand, create, and support Project Based Learning. I enjoyed exploring the BIE website and gaining a much better understanding of the differences between Project Based Learning and Problem Based Learning. In teaching math in my classroom, I almost always try to incorporate exploration into at least the introductions to a topic. I believe that students truly learn best when they are given the opportunity to solve a problem, persevere, and construct their own meaning. All along, I thought I was doing a sort of mini project based learning, but it was really more problem based learning. I am looking forward to exploring others projects in week 2 and at this point have NO IDEA what I am going to do for my project! |
AuthorI am a mom, wife, student, teacher, and lover of learning. This blog is a record of my learning successes and struggles in EDTECH 542. Archives
August 2017
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