For almost a decade I’ve started the school year by asking my urban elementary students to draw a picture of what they think a scientist does at work all day. When I walk around the room, I often see pictures of white-haired men dressed in lab coats […]
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This year marked the first return to normal schooling since the pandemic with most districts back to in-person learning. It continued to be a challenging time for educators, but through those challenges, inspiration, and dedication prevailed.
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Authenticity has long been associated with project-based learning. We often hear about projects that are “real-world” and “applied learning.” Authenticity is one of the six criteria in the Framework for High-Quality PBL. It’s one of the main things […]
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The start of a new year is a great time to think about the progress we have made so far this year and consider trying some different methods and tools in our classrooms. Taking time to reflect on what has worked, what we have not tried, and areas […]
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One of the most prominent features of project-based learning is inquiry. However, I’ve seen that the concept of inquiry and how to manage it is one of the most challenging aspects of PBL for many teachers. This may be because moving to an […]
As educators, we need to be comfortable with taking more risks in our classrooms. Whether we dive in and try new ideas, bring in new digital tools, or shift to more of a facilitator role, it will promote more student-driven, meaningful learning. […]
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As I dive back into my imperfect journey of writing, I will attempt to capture a shift in learning that I hope all of you experience as soon as possible. If you have already experienced it, I encourage you to recreate it or hand your students the […]
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Over the past two school years, educators, students, and their families have experienced learning and living in new ways. There have been many challenges that we have all faced in education. For some educators, it was a necessary push to take risks, […]
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It’s not often that students find themselves unable to move, caught in a state of disbelief at something they’ve just discovered. It’s even rarer that they sprint across the classroom to share their discoveries with their teachers and classmates. […]
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Both experiences can result in meaningful learning—but they aren’t created equal.
The terms “performance tasks” and “projects,” in the context of project-based learning (PBL), are familiar to today’s educators. Like fraternal siblings, they […]