B.A. Social Studies
Based on my reflection of the development and implementation of PBL into my classroom last year, I have decided that one of my two key focuses for this year is to improve and implement stronger inquiry based strategies into my curriculum (the other being student blogging--a subject for a future post). The intent of making this change is to allow my students to have better control over their learning and to begin thinking of research as a continuous inquiry process with the end goal of justifying their opinions and supporting them with evidence. Last year as I developed my project/problem based curriculum I began each unit by providing my students with their “essential question” that would drive their learning for the duration. To begin, we broke down the question into many smaller or more detailed ones. In general, students struggled through the process because they did not understand the purpose of it. I explained it as part of the research process and in general, they played along, looking for the specific number of questions that I assigned for them to put together. We created questions as a group, and in general, the students came up with decent ones, but after all of that, I took those questions, and chose which ones met my needs regarding curriculum and content. I found that I was artificially having my students drive inquiry and we never came back to their questions after developing them. After reading Make Just One Change from the Right Question Institute (RightQuestion.org), I found a new method to try to drive this inquiry process and actually provide my students to take more control of their learning by allowing them to drive the research process more completely. In general, the only variation that I made was changing my essential question into a statement that I decided to introduce to my students as a hypothesis for them to prove or disprove. For example, in my government course, my first unit essential question last year was, “What are the most significant principles of American Government and what are their origins?” I changed that to the statement/hypothesis, “The ideas put into the Constitution by the Delegates at the Constitutional Convention were original.” We spent a week on the process of developing our driving questions. In the end, each class now has developed their own research question, from which each group will begin their research. My students were challenged and highly engaged throughout the entirety of the week and I’m excited to see where it takes us. Here is a summary of the first week of the process and implementation specifically. I encourage you to give it a shot! Day 1: Introduce the “Question Focus” and the “Rules for Questioning” from the Right Question Institute. The Right Question Institute (RightQuestion.org) has gone into great depth to develop a Question Formulation Technique (QFT) which is the basis for the development of this portion of our unit in class. I used their rules for developing questions for students to follow which include the following:
Though I didn’t use their QFT to a tee, I did follow the basic direction that they provide and their rules briefly explaining the purpose of the rules in this activity. Next, I introduced the Question Focus to each class. In the government course, it is “The ideas put into the Constitution by the delegates at the Constitutional Convention were original” and in economics it is “The economy is in better shape now than at the beginning of President Obama’s administration.” In the introduction to how each statement should be used in regard to question development, I explained that the students’ job was to prove or disprove the statement using credible research including data for the economics course and primary sources for the government one and that their questions should drive their research. Finally, the students, in groups of two or three, were provided with as much time as needed to develop questions based on the focus statement. It is a process full of ebbs and flows, students struggled getting through the first few questions, but went through highly productive spurts along the way. As I circulated the room in many cases, they were struggling, then when I came back around they had five or ten more questions down. The key to making this process work is to be involved and constantly remind the students of the rules. In general this can be done in a light hearted way and the process is pretty collaborative and enjoyable for the students. Day 2: Prioritize the Questions and Place on Brainstorming Wall To begin the second day, students were asked to prioritize their questions based on the idea that they were developing them to use in their research, reminding them that their goal was to prove or disprove the Question Focus. In order to help them with this process, in their groups, students evaluated each one individually. Upon completion of that step, they were assigned with the task of choosing their top five and writing them on a note card in Sharpie that was eventually taped to the wall (in our hallway due to space restrictions and wanting to offer audience for their work). Students were also asked to evaluate on their process of developing the questions and to write a blog post to share their thoughts. In those blogs, students acknowledged the challenge and the thinking skills that it took to develop those questions. Days 3-4: Creating the Class Research Question: The final phase of class inquiry consisted of two sections, top question selection, then another round of prioritization. To begin the process of narrowing our research focus, each group was offered the opportunity to vote for the three “best research questions” on the brainstorm wall which now included all of the classes’ top questions using a sharpie to dot their votes. Each group also chose the #1 question that they saw on the wall that they thought would be the best to start research. From that point, the top questions that each group decided was the best were written on the board and shared with each class. From there, they evaluated each one, ranking them from most important for beginning research to the least important of the ones on the board. Each group provided their number for each question and the numbers were averaged to come up with the starting question for the class to begin researching. At this point, each class has decided on their own research direction based on their entire class contribution combined with the contributions of the other section of the course. It is interesting to note that each class chose a different question to begin their research.
Day 5: Introduction to Researching the Questions At this point, the students have understood that this course will be made up of sustained inquiry as a part of their project based units. Therefore, they understood that they were not done asking questions. Although we had narrowed our research focus, I still wanted to offer them the opportunity to personalize the question if they did not necessarily agree that it was the “best one.” For this reason, students were asked to evaluate the class question, then break it down into five more detailed research questions. Finally, students divided up those questions among their group members and were set to begin their basic research with the caveat that they were expected not to answer those questions, but to begin creating a database of people, places, things, documents, ideas, etc. that will direct their next set of questions. It’s awesome to see that the students have taken to the process of developing the questions and that they are wanting to dive in and answer them, but I am still working them through the process of developing research by expanding their net before just trying to answer the question. This will be a continuous process, and I’m excited to see how it continues to challenge them and promote higher order thinking. In September, I was fortunate enough to be chosen for and attend “A Residential Weekend at Mount Vernon” for teachers from Missouri and Kentucky. I have participated in many professional development opportunities in the past and this one is at the top of the list. It was only four days, but was well organized, the group of teachers in attendance were top notch and passionate, and the scholars were professional historians AND passionate educators--a unique and integral combination for a program like this. The education team at the Washington Library does a terrific job providing a program that balances content with pedagogy--something that is often neglected at professional development opportunities which usually focus on one or the other. This post will focus on the same and is the basis for a presentation that I will co-present at the Missouri Council for the Social Studies Conference in February. I have also had a student-teacher this semester, but have stayed as busy as ever restructuring my government course using Project/Problem Based pedagogy throughout and working to become a stronger leader in and out of my district through this blog and the creation of this website. Along the way, I was able to go to the eighth grade because of a welcoming colleague to present a lesson on what I learned at Mount Vernon. As a teacher that has only junior and senior level courses this is a little intimidating, but I was excited to get out of my classroom and present the content that I gained from my time my experience. One of the key ideas that I took away from Mount Vernon was that there was more to George Washington than the typical person thinks about. To prove the point, ask yourself the question: “Who was George Washington?” Your answer? First United States president… General… The guy on the dollar bill… Maybe even the president of the Constitutional Convention… Before my experience at Mount Vernon, this was pretty much all that I ever thought of Washington, and I am actually quite ashamed as a historian that I would be so shallow. I asked the eighth graders this same question with predictable results. Here are some of the “faces” of Washington that the average person misses: landowner (THOUSANDS of acres), slave owner (a complex topic), westward expansionist (investor in a company to build a canal connecting the Potomac to the Mississippi), land speculator, technology aficionado (I’m convinced that he would have owned the latest iPhone for the sake of organization and efficiency), mill owner, distillery owner, progressive farmer, and one who valued education. Our eighth grade teacher does a great job teaching students to work through primary sources lending perfectly to what I wanted to do. I researched and found documents that displayed all of the different facets that I wanted to expose those students to and narrowed them down to key excerpts for them to digest. I annotated them with questions with the intent of teaching students the value of jotting notes while reading in order to analyze and understand text (See below or the "Identity of George Washington" tab). I was impressed with the ability of these students to take transcripts of letters from Washington as well as his Last Will and Testament and summarize the information. From that point, students completed a “George Washington was….” statement and had to cite their evidence from the readings as justification. In the end, they were given a coloring page portrait of Washington, and asked to fill in the background in a way that depicted his identity based on their assigned document. Obviously, the students seemed to get into this part and eventually, they presented their information to their classmates as the basis for other discussions about Washington and what the documents could tell us about the United States during his time. Student Examples: "Based on the primary source, George Washington was a/an....."The most impressive part from my perspective was how students were able to have discussions about some interesting topics. Slavery is a key topic that is also difficult to teach and for students to understand. The students that had the “slaveowner” document wrestled with the idea that Washington freed his slaves in his will, but not during his life. Others also saw that he was concerned for their health and education and most understood that his reasons were for the efficiency of Mount Vernon. They concluded that he was “a good slave owner,” “a hypocrite slaveowner,” and “a nice slave owner.” All of these conclusions led to interesting dialogue and class discussion based on the idea that "good" and "slave owner" don't typically fit together. Finally, I think that students really understood Washington’s identity as savvy business person and entrepreneur, a point that I really wanted to get across. When you discuss that he had a mill and distillery so that he could sell finished products along with diverse investments in raw materials and crops as well as progressive farming techniques it really opens students’ eyes to who he was as a private person. In the end, I think the students really grasped the idea that along with being the first president, war hero, and great leader, Washington was also very normal in the fact that he was a business person trying to make a profit and had other “regular” identities. This focus is important when looking at American History as a whole. Consensus historians often neglect many of these facets and and many of the Founding Fathers lose their human qualities. A lesson like this really helps students to understand that the founders of the United States were not gods, but real people with real issues, struggles, successes, and failures and allows them to connect and realize this fact. I think that’s key to getting students to understand and appreciate history as a story of individual experiences that culminate into the big picture. Personifying a figure with the historical stature like George Washington adds to their understanding of history and hopefully adds to student engagement and interest in the field. Hopefully this post will help you implement a little bit of "G.W." into your courses as a man of his time and a complex figure in the history of the United States. Lesson Documents:
After planning for weeks regarding scope and sequence for my government course with the focus on the Project Based Learning (PBL) model, it was time to execute my plan of action. I had the basic course plan in place, but still had to iron out the details for the first unit, “The Principles and Origins of American Government.” I had outlined the essential question and determined that I would put together a panel of local community leaders to provide an authentic audience to evaluate their findings, so the basic layout for the project was there. Now it was time to plan for the most challenging part for me: letting the students go and allowing them to take control of their own learning. I think this the most significant challenge for most teachers who take on the task of creating a student-centered classroom. I would argue that my classes were more student-centered than most in my district coming into this year. I used the flipped classroom model over the previous two years and feel that I was successful implementing that it, but wanted to take a stab at something different to see what it could do for the learning environment in my classroom.
By being open with them from day one that I was trying something new and by outlining the fact that I had high and clear expectations for their work, my students stepped up and learned what was expected plus, in many cases, more content than I would have provided them with in a teacher-centered, traditional classroom. The most significant factor that got students to buy in was providing them with choice in how they showed what they learned through research and a voice for presenting that material to an authentic audience. Pressure was added (for myself and my students) as I began getting RSVP’s from those who were going to participate on the interview panel. The students got nervous, but I think that forced them to step up. The fact that they were being provided with the opportunity to earn their grades from an outside source didn’t give them the option of turning in subpar work to only their teacher. My expectations in turn became my students’ expectations. For my students to be successful, I had to focus on teaching them the process for self-guided learning. On the first day of the unit, students chose their groups for the project and were provided with the essential question. They participated in an exercise (in the Know-Want to Know-Learned or “KWL” format) where they were expected to list what they knew in regard to that question and what they needed to know in order to answer it completely. All questions were put into their group notepad (which they were provided with by myself) and after a designated amount of time, each group presented their questions to the class where they were ALL written down, word for word, for the class to work off of. They were displayed throughout the project on the board for students to reference if they ran into a roadblock in their research while providing them with a voice in the process. I built and created a set of research questions for students to focus on from their list to guide them through their research. The next challenge was providing students with the guidelines and teaching them how to accomplish research and learning over a longer period of time than they are typically accustomed to. In order to answer each research question, students had to relearn the process of using Internet search tools properly while finding resources that helped them to understand the content. Instead of being provided with resources, students could use whatever worked best for them. Over time, I instituted the rule that students could not ask me “Googleable” questions. Instead, they had to provide me with an answer to their question for me to guide them to another one. This created an atmosphere of “sustained inquiry,” one of the key elements in the PBL model (Buck Institute for Education). Students never completely answered their research questions, because each answer they found led to another question that they could use to better understand the content that they were expected to present in their end-product. Collaborative Inquiry--What Do We Need to Know?" Activity Next, students were provided with structure throughout the process with a set of tasks that they had to complete over a designated period of time. Students struggle, as most of us do, with time management and procrastination. The key to teaching students to use the time provided is to provide them with regular deadlines. Throughout each day, I provided time for students to accomplish a task in a given amount of time before having another task added on. Note that I did not grade students based on whether they achieved that task, but added another one at that point. This was done with the purpose of allowing students to pursue content that they may have spent more time researching because they took an interest in it, or found multiple resources that they needed to search through. Because the groups were assigned with each task, members could delegate the work however they pleased, again providing them with freedom in choosing how to accomplish the tasks at the end. The general purpose of the tasks are to provide students with structure that allows them to see how the research process is done. It provides a framework, but not the exact process for accomplishing each task--that was left to the students and their groups to determine on their own, providing another opportunity to incorporate student choice into the process.
Throughout the research phase of the project, I also wanted to be sure to establish and support the fact that the end-goal was for students to learn the material, not simply to create a project for a grade. One of our key battles as teachers is getting students to understand that the purpose of education is to learn the content and skills, not to only attain a certain grade. In general, grades should measure the content and skills that students have learned, not simply whether they can jump through the hoops. In order for students to understand the value of learning and research, I kept the details of the final product and assignment away from them. They knew that they were doing the research in order to create something, but they did not know the direction that they would be expected go with it until they were adequately prepared with the content to be successful. The only grades put in the gradebook at this stage were for simple record keeping tasks and for self-reflection assignments (again, using KWL format). The focus on the process of research and the motivation to learn from that process allowed the projects to meet and exceed the expectations outlined to students in the end. Looking back on my first experience putting Project Based Learning into action, I found a number of challenges listed over the last two blog posts both during the planning and execution phases. Reflecting on the first project, there are very few things that I will do differently next semester, because I feel that my students were successful in learning the material at a higher level than they have in the past. Through this process, students have proven that they can answer the essential questions in essay format and prove depth of knowledge better than they would have been able to in previous semesters. Until this point, I was not confident enough in my students’ learning ability to evaluate them on an essay test, because I don’t think they learned enough through the process to be successful. Project Based Learning has changed this perspective, and my students have performed at a high level on essay tests in general. All in all, my first experience with Project Based Learning has been a positive one where I have encountered major challenges, but my students have risen to the occasion, in most cases exceeding expectations on their evaluations from outside evaluators as well as through traditional objective and subjective assessments. The data that I have gathered has proven that it is successful and I would encourage other teachers to look at PBL as a method to incorporate into our classrooms. It’s not the only way to do it, but is an option in terms of providing a student-centered, individualized learning environment. Be sure to take a look at the data and project examples that I have collected over the coming weeks in future posts and on the “Project Based Learning” page on this website. As always, please comment or question anything here. Any feedback or questions are appreciated. I would enjoy hearing other experiences from teachers who have incorporated Project Based Learning or another student-centered method for their classrooms. What has worked best for you and what challenges have you encountered? The origins of Project Based Learning (PBL) in my classroom is credited to my spouse, an 8th grade science teacher. She was the first to bring the ideas into our home when she shared all of the challenges, successes, and excitement that she had with it. PBL lends itself to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields extremely well, but is more difficult to incorporate into the social studies, especially American History and Government because most of the content and curriculum deals with events that have happened in the past. The curriculum deals with how the United States system of government works, which students need to understand before diving in and solving the problems that we face through the system (though I would love to teach a “Government II” course, where this could be incorporated to build on content knowledge gained in my course). That was the most significant challenge when making the commitment to implementing PBL in my government course: “How do I get all of the awesome stuff that PBL brings, while incorporating the curriculum and content successfully?” Challenges like this that present themselves while making changes in the classroom keep many teachers from pursuing them. There is a fear of failure. “What happens if it doesn’t work?,” “Will I be wasting my time?,” Or the all important (or not), “What will happen to my test scores?” I decided to take the risk and told myself, "JUST DO IT & LET IT GO."
Most of my study came from the Buck Institute for Education, and their model for project based learning. I immediately understood that the key elements that they included in that model made PBL what it is (“Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements:” http://bie.org/blog/gold_standard_pbl_essential_project_design_elements). That model provided a framework for me to follow, but not the details about how to do it. I also understood that it would take a large amount of time and effort to plan and prepare. The more I looked into it, the more I felt that the change would be worth it. Another major focus of my summer reading and learning pertained to the topics of “Growth Mindset,” “Grit,” and “Soft Skills.” As I continue to dive into the topics even closer, I think that this should be the focus for education in general. My school district’s mission statement falls directly in line with these ideas: “Equipping students for their next stage in life.” Implementing these ideas in the hidden curriculum will benefit our students directly in preparation for whatever they do after they leave school. That is the purpose for education after all. In making the change to PBL, I felt that my students would gain these types of skills while providing choice and voice, and a vested interest in their their schoolwork outside of grades. One of the ideas that I have grown more passionate about over the past couple of years is getting students to understand that education is about learning, not ONLY about grades (again, a story for another day). The results that I have had in my class to this point support the research. Though immeasurable, student engagement is at an all time high. A supermajority (there’s a government term for you) of my class is engaged in their assigned tasks and they also seem to really be enjoying their time in government class on a daily basis. Instead of going through the motions, completing assignments for the sake of grades, and simply being there because they have to be, I feel that the students in this course truly enjoy being a part of it. My experiences to this point have been mostly positive, leading me to become an advocate for incorporation of this pedagogy into more classrooms. My goal is to get more teachers to buy into the concept of this student-centered instruction but also want to make the challenges clear. It’s not easy, but it is worth it, if our primary goal is to create the best learning environment for our students. In the process of reflecting on the process of planning and implementing the first project based assignment of my career, the most significant issue that I encountered was the amount of time on the front end planning, and on the back end putting together assessment data. I think it is necessary to reiterate the previous statement: the “work” for the teacher is done before and after, but not during. I mean this in terms of time spent outside of class. Instead of focusing on working my tail off with direct instruction on a daily basis and coming up with separate lessons to hit each curriculum standard, the primary focus in class is providing guidance for students to achieve the best end-results through the inquiry, research, and creation process that covers multiple standards and allowing student to make connections. Instead of concentrating on direct instruction methods, class time is spent guiding students, on a more personal basis, to achieve their goals for their audience while they LEARN the content largely on their own. They know that they have to show understanding of the concepts in order to present the information to their audience successfully, therefore creating an interest in the process instead of focusing on the end result. The most significant challenge in terms of class time is getting students to understand that they have the ability when provided with the proper tools to be successful on their own account. My time during class is spent encouraging and asking the proper questions to prove this to them. This entire learning environment promotes personalized learning. Students aren’t provided with the blueprint for how to achieve the desired outcome, leaving them with the opportunity to learn in the best way for them. Offering students this choice creates a different experience for them. They understand that their success or failure is a direct result of the choices they make along the way--a learning experience for them that will benefit them in the future. If a student struggles because of their choice though, that is an opportunity for them to learn and be redirected toward becoming successful--that is the role of the teacher in the classroom and the focus of my instruction time with my students during this type of assignment. Instead of providing answers for students, my role in the classroom is to provide and guide them toward more questions with the intent of creating an understandable explanation of the big picture idea associated with the essential question that connects the concepts to each other. Perhaps the most important part of project planning is coming up with an essential question that provides a “big picture” end goal that lends itself to the process of creating a project while presenting research and comprehension of the curriculum and content embedded within the assignment. This provides the structure that students crave and the framework that they must follow. I spent hours brainstorming on pages of a notebook to come up with the questions that I have used. The first step in this process is analyzing standards and identifying those that connect multiple ones. When I sat down to create the outline for my government course this semester, I had to alter the sequence that I have used in the past to address my curriculum requirements and make them work well with each other.
As you can see, there was a dramatic shift in the combination and structure of topics that, in my opinion, make the best connections for students. Also, the units overlap so that students can make connections across all parts of the curriculum. The chosen sequence has a drastic impact on the questions. Units should be designed with the content that makes the best connections and lends to essential questions that promote critical thinking and learning. Instead of looking from the beginning to the end, essential questions should help students focus on the end of the story and finding the reasons for why the story ended the way that it did. It turns the process on its head from a “what happened?” question (DOK 1 or 2), to a “why did it happen?” one (DOK 3 or 4). This is the key to creating a successful project based lesson for students, especially when analyzing the past. The essential question should encompass higher level thinking skills and content knowledge, while offering a multitude of options regarding process which is what makes them so challenging to develop.
As we all know, motivation is key for getting students to invest in their education (and anybody for that matter to better themselves). The idea that they have an audience for their work, outside of their teacher(s), provides them with that motivation. The idea that somebody else is taking an interest in their work, leads to a better product that shows student learning at the end. Pride is a powerful intrinsic motivator. Offering students the choice to present their material in their own way along with an appropriate audience that they respect can be the key source that creates “buy in” for students. Finally, intrinsic motivation can and should be created through the use of collaborative learning and group work. It’s up to the teacher to determine the amount of freedom that students have regarding the structure of groups, but this is another opportunity to provide students with a choice in the direction that they will go throughout the creation of their projects. We have all worked in groups and been the one left with doing a majority of the work while others don’t hold up their end. The challenges of collaborating with others are the same in the work environment making this a valuable opportunity for students to learn how to interact and hold each other accountable. Grading group work is a major issue to consider when preparing to implement PBL. It is difficult to assign grades in group work that also provide individual accountability. Also, the grading structure should encourage the intrinsic motivation that students get from having choice and voice as outlined above. If the goal is to teach students that learning is the objective, not grades, the grading system must provide balance between providing an evaluation tool while not squashing intrinsic motivation. After spending hours thinking about and tinkering with how students would be assessed and graded in the end, I decided that they should be measured on how well they completed the assigned tasks throughout the project, how well they worked in their group, how well they presented their content in the end product, and how well prepared they were for their audience. Again, by offering students the opportunity to have a say in the process, they become invested in their groups. Grading should take individual contribution into account, and in my experience, providing peer evaluation of how well group members meet the expectations of their other group members meets this goal. Grades should also include a self-reflection piece and include information regarding how successfully students navigated the research and creation processes.
Clear expectations are integral, and having a neutral, outside audience allows for neutral outside evaluation that matters to students. Finally, the purpose for the unit test piece is to provide students with the responsibility of making sure that all members in their group take on an active role throughout the process. It is a motivating factor for students to both pull up those around them and work to keep from bringing their group down.
The entire purpose of this post is to help teachers and administrators understand that buying into this style of pedagogy has a positive impact on the classroom environment and, I think in the end, can influence the culture of entire schools, districts, and communities. When students take a stake in their learning, they are more likely to attend school and be engaged in it. The biggest issue is that teachers and administrators need to be ready and willing to take the risks and offer the support that come with making this major of a shift in the way that education is done. The availability of technology makes this readily available and is a valuable tool. Project Based Learning provides students with the skills that they need when they leave for the work environment and employers are looking for people with those types of skills. The ability to collaborate, think critically, and have intrinsic motivation have been lost in many cases in part (obviously, there are many other factors) because the education system has not evolved with the workplace. Creating a student-centered learning environment where students have freedom to learn these skills is integral to their success and the success of our communities as a whole, and PBL offers one method of doing so. The benefits--engagement, critical thinking, buy-in--outweigh the costs--time, effort, and risk. This is why I decided to let it go and jump into PBL. My next post will focus on the challenges and successes of executing the plans that I prepared early on. Be sure to come back to see what I have to add over the next couple of weeks! I would love to hear feedback and/or questions from anybody with experience or thinking about implementing Project Based Learning into their classroom. Please contact me or leave a comment below. |
AuthorBrian Anton currently serves the Purdy R-II (Missouri) School District as the 7-12 Principal after working in the PK-12 Assistant Principal and Athletic Director roles for two years. In the 12 years prior to moving into administration, he served as an award-winning high school social studies teacher. Archives
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