It’s back to school time again, so I thought I might share one of the frequently asked questions I get in many of my workshops. The question usually goes something like this:

My incoming students don’t know about PBL or working in that type of environment. They come to me with poor work habits and they’re certainly not self-directed learners. How do we get them to understand how this environment works? Surely you don’t just throw them into a big project? Surely you teach them some basic skills first. How should we start?

Love it! This is one of my favorite questions to answer. There are several facets to the question, with the two main components being skills development and first-days projects. I’ll try to address both.

Incidentally, this advice can be utilized at any time during the school year. Say you’re starting to move toward PBL in October or February? No problem. Many of the same suggestions can still apply at those times as well.

PBL Skills Development  
The truth is most of our kids come to us not necessarily knowing how to be good learners. And the older they are, the more likely it is they’ll come to us with a good deal of “institutional damage,” meaning they’re really good at sliding by, not caring, or simply perfecting strategic compliance. So how do we get them to develop the skills of an active, engaged learner as soon as possible? While each class and each group is different, the answer is usually the same: they learn these skills by using them in a context that’s meaningful to them.

• Do I pre-teach them how to work in groups? Nope.
• Do I pre-teach them how to research? Nope.
• Do I pre-teach them how to communicate their needs with clarity? Nope.
• Do I pre-teach them organizational skills? Nope.
• Do I pre-teach them the tech tools they’ll be using? Nope.
• Do I pre-teach them …? Nope.

They come to us knowing little to nothing, if we’re lucky, but usually with deeply ingrained bad habits (most likely). To do a “lesson” on developing any sort of skill is to give them more “school.” I want to spend a good deal of time helping them unlearn the previous routines of school by experiencing fun engagement and “accidental” good learning, which isn’t accidental at all. It’s carefully designed to walk them though various situations where we begin to develop trust in one another, teacher : student and student : student.

I want them to have to develop those vital skills because they want to. Because they see a need to. Because they recognize that their lack of those skills are currently holding them back from building what they want to build and from what they want to be.

So that being said, let’s move into…

First-Days-Of-School activities and other beginner projects
I’ve dropped these activities here in a sort of order that I might use them, but you are absolutely welcome to change them up, skip some, and even add your own. I’m very interested in how your mileage varies on this, so please do drop me a line.

Creating Class Norms/Rules, Branding, etc
There’s a good deal of time kids need to spend unlearning bad habits and learning how the community operates. Likewise, this is a great time for teachers to get to learn their kids. Therefore, I believe the first few days ought to be spent not on heavy content (gasp!), but instead on fun ways to create our community.

Who do we want to be? How do we want others to interact with us? How do we as a class and as individuals want to be thought about? talked about? When we connect with people outside of this school, what impression do we want to leave them with? Do we need a logo? A mascot? A song? A mission? A creed? Really? Do we need these? Maybe.

Are the kids ready to be those people they’re envisioning? Of course not. It’s a series of goals. Something to shoot for. So now, dear teacher, how are you going to use their goals as anchoring lessons throughout the year?

Creating Class Spaces
We might ask kids to create some of their own learning spaces. Are you someone who creates a beautiful space before the kids arrive? How do they get to see themselves in that space? All they see is you and your vision. Where will they ever see themselves in your space? When will they get a chance to make their own decisions?

Perhaps we might intentionally leave some of the classroom space undefined, undesigned, and let the kids decide what they’d like to have there. How will they decide this? Brainstorming, communicating, deciding what they need vs what they want? And you’ll be spending a good deal of time guiding, but not leading, these discussions. You help kids ensure that all voices are heard. Will some talk over classmates? Good! You now have a teachable moment! I wrote about creating teachable moments here, if you’re interested in reading more about designing and capitalizing on those situations. Creating class spaces at the first few days of the year is not laziness. It’s an intentional activity that allows kids to learn how to think about and share their opinions — and that those opinions matter. And most of all, that we do things differently in this space. So get ready for what’s to come! ;)

Dispel the Myth!
I love this project because it’s a lead in to the community and wider global connections that students will be engaging in later in the school year. Students consider their own local community and what they think people think of it; not only locals, but those farther away. If you have younger kids and they have no idea what others stereotypically think of who they might be based on where they live, you might consider doing some Mystery Skypes. Or have them poll older students/people to get their points of view.

So what are those myths that people think of? Who are these people? Are they in our own community? Are they on the other side of the country? the globe? Why might they think these things? How do we collect accurate information and package it to help people know who we really are? Help the students find their own answers to these questions and develop how to tackle the completion process, including developing a flexible working timeline. Help them figure out how to know if the final products are actually convincing enough to create a broader awareness.

This beginning project helps kids to see themselves through others’ eyes, a skill that most people under age 25 are really bad at unless they’ve had practice thinking outside of themselves. And they can work in groups to tackle separate myths. And you can include the wider community as much as you want — and by you, I mean your students, with your guidance, of course. They’ll be learning how to talk to people and ask questions, all while building confidence in how to talk to adults as near-equals. Timelines, task management, and group work are all introduced, especially if we have a hard deadline with a broader audience. This project might take as few as 3-4 total hours. Or it could take an entire year. But as a beginner project, I’d err more toward 3-4 hours of work for a quick in/out project so they don’t get topic or group fatigue.

Find ways to “accidentally on purpose” create wins for them in these first few days because the process of unlearning bad habits is tough enough.

PSA’s: Public Service Announcements
This is another quick in/out type of project that introduces some of the skills kids will need to use all throughout the rest of the class their lives. It doesn’t really matter what the PSA is about, as long as the kids care deeply about it:

• healthy lunches
• bullying
• hallway or playground safety issues
• gender issues
• pretty much anything is fair game as long as the kid cares about the topic and it’s not breaking rules.

For a beginner-level project, regardless of the students’ ages, I’d offer a few topics to the class to pick from and have kids group themselves in 3-4 kids per group that I approve, based on ability-levels and their interest in the topic (see my passionate posts about grouping here, here, and here, and in that order). Once the kids have more experience with being PBL learners, they can pick their own topics and their own groups. They’re just not quite ready for that now. After all, you’re helping them unlearn bad habits and heal their previous institutional damage from poor grouping experiences.

And again, this is at maximum, a 5 hour project. Of course it can be a year-long project, but with PBL beginners, we shoot for quick in/out experiences for sure-wins.

 A sum-up
At the risk of writing too-long of a post, I’ll close it with these thoughts. I don’t like to pre-teach anything because kids simply don’t know (trust?) they need the info until they have a need to know it. My job is to intentionally create the need to know…then, if the project challenge, question, or problem is tasty enough, they’ll lap those lessons right up and put them immediately into play. And that’s a win every day.

Will kids truly remember the lessons forever? Will they simply experience the desired skills and be automagically transformed into lifelong learners for always? No. Not all kids. Not all lessons. Remember it takes time to break bad habits, and some kids have had years of practice developing bad habits.

So what skills do they being to learn in these first-days projects?

• how to work in groups
• how to research
• how to plan and conduct interviews
• how to communicate their needs both verbally and in writing with clarity and professionalism
• how to get organized and manage their time
• how to use some the tech tools at our disposal

Remember our role as PBL teachers/facilitators is to walk them into independence. Right now, too many kids are lost too deep in the weeds. Each kid will travel at her own pace, along her own path eventually.

Help her find it. Help her see it. Help her construct it.

And we’ll all be better for it.

Many of you know I’m a former Social Studies teacher so I like to tell stories. Well, today’s post is full of stories about how to get kids to ask for the lessons they usually despise.

Story 1:
Once, during a summer camp I was hosting, I had a group of kids rush into a room and take all the donuts before even 3/4 of the group had a chance to even know there were donuts. I saw it was happening and, contrary to all my teacher-training about fair play, I let them do it.

Once the donuts were eaten and we were back in our workspace (another room), I asked if everyone liked the donuts … and I was shocked when I “found out” that not all kids got donuts. What?!

I quickly feigned gentle empathy for those who’d grabbed more than their share, saying, “I’m so sorry that no one told you to consider other people in a group.” I was sure to never point to anyone during the quick lesson…the kids already knew who’d had 4-5 donuts. I was careful to take on an honest, understanding, and confidant-type of demeanor, asking kids to not let themselves be “that guy.”

“It’s ok; mistakes happen. We just won’t be ‘that guy’ again, right?”

It was a gentle teachable moment where we began to move away from the school-flavored imposed stick-and-carrot external motivators to more of an intrinsic motivation to do the right thing. Kids were asked to consider the needs and desires of everyone before helping ourselves to our own selfish needs first. After that 3-5 minute intentional interaction, the group had plenty of all snacks throughout the rest of the week, with extras left over for the adults too!

You see, I knew that if I’d hollered at them to SHARE (which I’m assuming they’d heard at high volume many times before–after all, they were middle schoolers) my words would have forced their compliance, but would have had no overall change to want to always do the right thing. By letting the kids make the mistake and then intentionally asking them consider how it affected others, all the while staying gentle and supportive of the community and future behavior, we were able to actually affect true behavioral change.

So how do we intentionally create or at least capitalize on other situations that relate to behavior?
What about teachable moments that relate to academic learning? Because that’s a huge part of creating a truly democratic form of schooling.

Story 2:
I like to let kids work hard creating something where they have broken copyright like they were stealing the Hope Diamond! They are working hard, doing their research, trying their best, but no where do I talk to them about copyright. Some might know better. Some might not. It’s ok. It’s a mistake.

Once they’re finished with the work, there are huge congratulations all around. The kids have worked their butts off and we’re all proud.

Then I ask them about their bibliographies.

<<pin drop>>

<<crickets chirping>>

I feign an Oscar-worthy combo of fear and nervousness. Where did they get that awesome picture? That map? That information? We MUST have the bibliographies or we’re gonna get in huge trouble (because we’ve published the work). It’s something like a $10,000 fine for each violation, I lie to them.

They start to panic.

I tell them we have to delete the work and start all over again.

Some start to truly freak out.

In a soothing voice, I immediately calm them and say that we’ll leave it this time, but only if they promise to learn about copyright, copyleft, creative commons, and fair use for next time.

They all eagerly agree.

;)

I win.

You think they would have been as eager to learn all about that stuff before the teachable moment? Of course not.

Yes, we can create opportunities for teachable moments everywhere. I want kids to ask me for the information and lessons they usually dodge. How do I create an opportunity for them to need to know about fractions? About how to use proper grammar?

Because when they ask for those lessons, you win. And so do they.

I’m so proud of the teachers who are learning and honing the skills it takes to run a PBL classroom full-time. Much of PBL antithetical to most of what we’re taught in our pre-service programs to do with students in the classroom. It’s not easy to unlearn so much of what we’ve been taught to do, even if we know it’s probably not  working as well as we hoped it would.

Do you remember your first few swimming lessons? Remember letting go of the side of the pool and thrashing around like a madman? It was hard. It was scary. But it was essential to learning how to swim. And like me, you may have gotten a snoot full of water more than once! But we kept at it and now every time we get near the water, it’s no longer a life-threatening venture.

It is indeed very scary to let go of the safety rope of “what we’ve always done,” and reach out to the unknown. It takes guts to open our minds toward PBL; it takes grit to forge our first units; and it takes true passion to hone the new, unfamiliar skills into something we just do.

After having run my own PBL classroom, learning the ropes pretty much alone, then figuring out how to teach co-teachers to shift toward PBL, and now, having the opportunity to travel across the nation and to other countries helping more educators shift to learning by doing in their classroom, I’m more energetic than ever!

And to those of you just starting to independently work on your kicks, your strokes, your breathing, I applaud you. It’s not easy. So to help you along the process, I share the following list of 9 questions that every PBL’er asks him/herself along each school year’s journey to stay in top-performance shape.

The list is something to refer to at nearly any point in the PBL process. It can be reviewed in the middle of planning a unit. Or while reflecting after final presentations and post-project wrap-up regarding how the unit went. Or it can be used as a great way to push yourself harder mid-stroke. But the magic of the list is not in the questions. It’s in the answers and solutions you create!

But caution: just as a beginning swimmer needs to concentrate on fundamentals, the beginning PBL’er can’t perfect everything at once. In fact, I wonder if we can ever consider ourselves perfect! This is a continuous-reminder self-check list to help keep you on the path. If the list seems overwhelming, it’s ok. Pick one question, one topic to improve during the next unit. You have time.

You’ll be fine. Just don’t ever stop learning. Keep moving toward improvement. And I hope these questions will help you create answers that propel you and your learners forward!

1. Is this truly PBL or are we just “doing projects?” Here’s a post to help you figure that out.
2. How can I do less planning, directing, and teaching? How can I help my kids take more charge over their own learning design?
3. How can we get away from technology as a “wow!” factor and use it more as just what we do?
4. How can I get better with capturing the deeper and broader (side-dish) learning beyond just the main project goals?
5. How can I get kids into the community more?
6. How can I get the community, including the media, into our school more?
7. How can I connect our next project with older or younger kids? Kids outside of the state? Kids in other countries?
8. How can I  connect our next project with more targeted content in my own field, as well as others?
9. How can I get my kids to start creating their own questions? their own projects? their own passions?

Why only 9 questions? Because these questions are designed with the beginner PBL’er in mind. If I’ve missed anything, please do add your suggestions in the comments. I love for my community to share!

Anyone who has done something different from the crowd can tell you that doing something different is hard. Really hard. It’s no wonder salmon die after swimming upstream for so long (nevermind the science of their natural life cycle…jeeze just watch the .gif and go with the imagery here, ok?)















Oh yes, did I mention the bears along the hard-fought route?
There always seem to be bears.

Suffice it to say that when educators decide to try something different than what’s been done before, different from what the rest of their community expects, that’s not easy going, either.

And we have such high expectations for our innovation for two reasons:

• we’ve recognized that how we’ve been doing it just won’t cut it any more and
• we have seen positive evidence of another strategy getting others to where we want to go.

There’s just no other option, right?

So we find ourselves, like the salmon, swimming, swimming. Sometimes the leap takes us up and over the waterfall and sometimes we’re the ones falling back, trying to muster the energy and courage to take the leap again (avoiding the bears). And eventually, it can just seem to be too much.

O you mighty salmon-ish educators working hard. Just for a moment take a pause. Take just a brief moment and consider the lives of the perennials in the garden:

The first year they sleep;
The second year they creep;
The third year they leap!

I picked up this “herbaceous” piece of advice many years ago from a gardening TV show and have since realized that it fits just about any new endeavor I’ve ever had to work through. Sure, that first year when I tried something new, the students and parents were happy, but I was dissatisfied. I knew there was so much more; several things so much better that could have been done. So I kept working. And the hits could have been enough to discourage me. I could have (should have?) gone belly-up and become bear food. But I remembered the advice of the perennials. And the second year, it got better. The third year? It was astounding. At the end of that third year, I finally felt comfortable enough that I started a new cycle of innovation, adding on and beginning my first year of “sleep” again.

And it always seems to go that way.

This is the advice I gave all my new teachers and I still give to anyone who is trying out something new, whether it’s in education, fitness, or anywhere else. Give yourself permission to “sleep” the first year. You’re going to be working hard — really hard — but the innovation is just chilling. You’ll get better.

Just pause and take a moment before you try to leap that waterfall again, o mighty salmon, and please, have patience with yourself.

From time to time, I receive questions about Project/Problem Based Learning implementation as teachers take their first tentative steps into a project, or even as this teacher has, gone full-time PBL in all of her classes! Kudos to this bold educator!

Question:
Is there an advantage or is it appropriate in PBL for me to research and share info?  One of the students and I were talking about the Olympic flame and whether it “never goes out.”  Neither of us had the definite answer but it was a topic that I wanted answered for myself but the answer was not vital to the project.  My inclination is that I should research and share – to model enthusiasm for learning.  Or is that something I should just have encouraged her to research and keep the info to myself? I’m not sure that I’m understanding PBL as well as I thought.


Answer: There are many flavors to PBL, so I always default to enthusiasm and Learning. So if you feel that you need to dig in and work alongside a kid, do it! I have. A lot. Doing so role models curiosity and, as you said, enthusiasm. Tell her you don’t know and that you’re going to look stuff up, too, and you’re looking forward to hearing what she has found. . If, once you get your heads back together, she has brought info back from your independent searches, you can feel confident to share the info you found freely, comparing notes, and giving TONS of high-fives and love. Such an awesome scenario!Be sure to have her share her info before you share yours. This will give you some options in case she hasn’t brought any research back. If she has found nothing and you’re guessing it was perhaps due to a lack of effort, then you can tell her that you’ve buried a lie or untruth in your information and she needs to find that lie or risk putting out some bad info.  Plan the lie in advance in case you might need it.Or instead of a lie, or if you think that she has put effort in and simply wasn’t able to find the right places to look, drop her some good links to look at–ones that you know have the answers. Or hand her a book with a few encouraging words.In this way, she can still have success through her own effort and you’re still  providing high-quality, student-centered learning by scaffolding and role modeling growth!

A mantra of mine comes from Dr. Sylvia Rimm: The surest path to high self-esteem is to be successful at something one perceived would be difficult. Each time we steal a student’s struggle, we rob them of an opportunity to build higher self-esteem. Students must experience success with difficult tasks to feel capable and competent.

The takeaway:
Kids who aren’t experienced being learners sometimes need a little extra love and support figuring out how to shift away from the role of Student (being told what-to, when-to, how-to) to the role of Learner (knowing how to suss out answers). And some kids who are great learners, but who have hit a sticking point in their work, might just need a little help getting unstuck.

Knowing how to balance it all is the (he)art of teaching.

Gonna say it now. This post isn’t for everyone. It’s a rough-thought process. Some will be confused by even what the heck I’m talking about. If you find yourself confused, move on. I’m just telling you now, we’re creeping out on an educational limb here. Rough thoughts, looking into the fog, whatever you want to call it.

I want my kids to be creating all sorts of things. Things that are new…but not only that. I want  something more for them. The inventor/tinkerer-mindset is important, but once we have shifted from traditional lessons to differentiated instruction, to inquiry based learning, to project based learning, to problem based learning to inventing/tinkering, then what? Maybe instead of “what,” we might ask why? Why are we making those shifts to differentiated instruction? To PBL? To tinkering?

I think it’s because we’re looking to create independent thinkers, learners, and doers. And that is great! It’s what I’ve devoted the last decade+ of my life to. But I wonder…Can we also consider an entrepreneurial-mindset? What if we did? Seems to me that we have a couple entry gates here: 1) Those who’ll be motivated to create by the idea of making money? By creating to be able to choose their work, their way to spend their lives — basically by having autonomy in their lives. Right? That’s why they’ll make stuff? But not all are motivated that way.

We have 2) those who’ll love to create and tinker for the fun of it. But they only tinker and play in their spare time because they never saw a need to DO something different to make that a main focus of their life’s work. They’re working their day jobs, but LOVE their tinkering. So they might need a little encouragement to consider what can be done to better the world with their play/work… To develop an entrepreneurial-mindset to be motivated to do something.

You see, I think — and again, this is rough thinking in draft form based a LOT on my conversations with Kevin Honeycutt — although it might also include starting businesses, an entrepreneurial-mindset is actually something more: It requires a “nextpert” type of visioning to be able see what’s coming. Helping people to see “a piece of something in my mind/hand, when combined with something in your mind/hand makes something spectacular!” A nextpert is always on the lookout for what’s next in their quest for making that thing they’re doing, better! It’s more than just playing and tinkering, although those are great places to start. Gotta breakout somewhere.

But why? Why tinker? Because it creates conditions to develop people who can DO things differently in the world.

This is about 3-4 leaps ahead of the traditional-classroom approach. I’m still working up a visual in my mind to convey the point more clearly. I want to consider all forms, all versions, all studios of “make” to include making dance. Making music. Making food. Making clothes. Making furniture. Making robots. Making code. Making people think differently. Doing differently. Making a difference with your stuff. Making…making…making…Making a living.

What’s your take? Where am I missing a point? An idea? What do you have in your hand, that when combined with what I have in my hand, makes us each better at what we do?

I’m just sharing my thought process. Sometime soon I’ll come up with a smart model to try out with kids and other learners.