Teaching With PBL Is Like Cooking Mac And Cheese

In order to successfully intertwine project and challenge based learning into the student experience, we have to be aware of the nuances that can make or break your projects.

"Embrace the suck."
"Failure is our greatest teacher."
"It's not the destination. It's the journey."

Yep we get all of that, but kids don't arrive on the big yellow buses with much ability to handle that. The best way I can describe the success I have found managing projects from a teacher's role is that is like cooking macaroni and cheese.

You've gotta regulate the heat or these kids will boil allover the stove.

Circulate and pay close attention to the group dynamics. Look for both frustration with the task and frustration with one another. In both cases, get kids to articulate exactly what the root of the frustration is. This is not only good for them but it helps you dissect where the sticking point is and if the frustration is with a classmate, have them tell the classmate exactly what the sticking point is. Simply telling them to figure it out is just lazy.

As you are watching all of this unfold, constantly re-evaluate your plans and whether the kids are ever going to make it to the goal. Give hints when necessary and pump the brakes when a full stop is needed. We want them to adapt as they work on the project; sometimes we need to adapt as they work on the project.

To avoid kids being overwhelmed, help them take that big task and chunk it into do-able bites. Add a little seasoning sometimes to make those bites more appealing. Finally, watch that burner and turn down the heat when you need to or the whole thing will just boil over into a big mess and not much to show for the effort in the end.

Take your kids into the Shark Tank

Shark Tank isn't just a TV show for entrepreneurs to get their big break. The same format of pitching to a panel of experts can be a great culminating event for any project.

Last week Ted Malefyt and Nate Alkire, teachers of the integrated math and science STREAM School class at Hamilton Middle School, took their students into the shark tank.

To add a level of awesome to the experience classes made the short trip to the world headquarters of Haworth Inc., an office furniture manufacturer in Holland, Michigan.

Students had to pitch their solutions to the driving question "How might we minimize the impact school groups have on the high school wetland?". A diverse panel of sharks assembled and asked poignant questions of all thirteen  groups. Not only did the kids deliver a number of well researched and practical solutions, they also had an intelligent answer for anything thrown at them by the sharks.

This was a true display of deep learning and not just the recitation of facts from a study guide. Make your kids dig deeper, take them into their own shark tank experience.

Below are nine-and-a-half minutes that capture just a taste of the hard work and stellar presentations on display last Thursday.

Elementary Market Day: A great 'maker' experience

Two  of the really cool events that happen at the elementary school where I teach and the elementary school where my daughter attends are the student-led market days.  The two schools put their own spin on market day, but the premise is the same.

It is a mini maker faire, DIY entrepreneurial experience where students develop, market, and then sell handmade wares to classmates. My daughter used unwanted upholstery samples to create microfiber computer/smart phone screen cleaners and cloth book marks. Other projects kids made included root beer floats, pvc pipe marshmallow shooters, and laser cut metal letters painted in popular university colors glued on a magnet. I have even seen a massage booth and a miniature golf hole complete with volcano.

What an amazing outpouring of creativity was on display in those gymnasiums!

Products have to be pre-approved by staff but created primarily by the students themselves. Each school has students advertise during the days leading up to the big sales day either via poster or promotional spots they deliver live during morning announcements.

At Douglas Elementary, Market Day works as a fundraiser where proceeds go toward the end of the year 5th grade celebration at a local fun spot. Raising money this way gives the kids a stake in the efforts and builds a sense of giving and working toward a shared cause. Items are sold to other kids and nobody ends up with ugly wrapping paper and overpriced cheese logs like the average fund raiser.

At Blue Star Elementary, teachers use Market Day to build meaning around economic concepts like operating costs and profit. Students have to use their own money or seek a loan from family members. All costs have to be detailed and recorded. These students get to keep all of the money from their sales but must re-pay any loans immediately.

Talk about authentic assessment when it comes to whether kids developed and marketed a successful product.

The thing I like most about the Market Day concept is that it lets each kid develop something they enjoy from their own interests and background. These are just a couple of ways to hold Market Day. I am sure with a little more creativity, there are lots of other ways too.

Teach the Path to Innovation

We want  our kids to be creative and innovative. What do we do beyond hope and roll the dice that activities we give them generate creativity and innovation?

In a true serendipitous moment I discovered  this great Edheads.org activity: Design a Cellphone. I was at Edheads looking for an activity that a substitute teacher could lead to keep students engaged. I thought that a cellphone link would be a good place to start. What I learned is that the activity has a much big picture it helps teach.

Students learn that in order to be a successful designer, engineer, or a challenge-based learning problem solver  they need to

1)Research
2)Design
3)Test
4)Evaluate their results

The effects of the lesson really translate to future teaching and learning as it provides a great reference point to different stages of projects and challenges.