Tag Archive For "project based learning"
in Education
The Four Horsemen of the Learning Apocalypse
Outlined against a blue-gray fluorescent sky, the Four Horsemen ride again. In dramatic lore they’re known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Inauthenticity, Complexity, Comfort, and Sterility. They form the crest of the apocalypse, before which another classroom is swept over the precipice. Inauthenticity The teenage nose …
Chaos or Community: Student Contribution to Racial Justice
Inspire by the resources created and curated by BlackLivesMatteratSchool.com to help teachers engage students in action and work related to racial justice, what follows is an explication of a powerful interdisciplinary student project focused on race relations and police brutality, offered with the hope that it will empower some teachers to design projects related to …
Priorities for Flexible Learning
With students geographically dispersed, school schedules disrupted, and standardized tests delayed or cancelled, teachers have opportunities to explore creative paths for designing meaningful student learning experiences. With limited emotional and material resources, what ought they prioritize during this time?* Here are three teaching and learning priorities to consider: Building community Integrating student interests into the …
Why Teachers Should Consider Their Classes “Gatherings”
Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering, a book that, as the subtitle suggests, takes up the subject of how we meet and why it matters, provides key insights into at least three crucial aspects of excellent teaching: establishing purpose, cultivating generous authority, and ending well. Parker’s book’s written for a general reader; anyone who has …
Writing the Hero’s Journey
The outlines are in! After studying the phases of the hero’s journey and analyzing exemplars, tenth graders brainstormed the details of their own stories. In groups of four, each student shares their work to receive initial feedback. The teacher, crouching, listens to one group and then another, taking notes on the discussion and, on occasion, …
The Design Trap in Large-Scale Projects
Be wary, PBL teachers who embrace the opportunity to tackle global problems such as climate change, poverty, deforestation, and etc. It’s true: most students immediately grasp the authenticity and importance of these problems. Furthermore, mountains of freely available, high quality resources are just an internet search away. And on top of resource availability and the …
Helping Teachers Decide What Products Students Should Create
A common challenge for teachers entrusted to design engaging projects for students is deciding on final products.
More Student Choice Does Not Necessary Lead to Equity
Explained, but not proven, in one graph:
Treating Classes Like Gatherings, Part Three: Ending Well(If you haven’t read part one, on establishing purpose, or part two, on facilitating well, I’d [keep reading...]
Treating Classes Like Gatherings, Part Two: Teaching With Generous Authority(If you haven’t read part one, about establishing purpose, consider starting there.) After [keep reading...]
Why Teachers Should Consider Their Classes “Gatherings”Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering, a book that, as the subtitle suggests, takes up the subject of [keep reading...]