 Okay, so thank you everybody for joining us. We're going to have a short conversation about PBO which is known as project-based learning and several of us from the service unit have attended a seminar or a training session on project-based learning this summer and we want to share with you some of the thoughts and ideas that we got from the conference and I don't know about any of you guys but it really re-energized some of my thinking and I was really excited about the prospects of this in in the classroom. So the first thing I think is what we should talk about is maybe just the definition. What is PBO? What is project-based learning? You want to share their thoughts on that? I'll go ahead and start out. I kind of had a different experience than the four of you. You four the four others besides me did it with the Department of Education and Lincoln and I actually had the opportunity to go with a school out to PBL World out in Napa California with the Buck Institute and the biggest thing that I get out of project-based learning and one of the things that they were pushing on a lot there with it is this is not the dessert project. So this isn't a project that you do at the at the end of the unit as kind of a wrap-up or a dessert piece. It is that piece that it is the meat and potatoes of the entire lesson. This is this is your lesson. This is your unit that's going to last two, three, four weeks depending on the complexity of it and how much you want. And it's where they're learning and it's bringing in more than just your content standard. So say you're a math teacher doing it, you're going to bring in English. You're going to bring in probably some technology and some digital citizenship. You'll have the math but only doing about three or four total standards. So it's more than just that content you're dealing with. It's a whole lot more in a project where they're learning. They have a question that's driving them forward and those projects come back to you in multiple different ways and it doesn't always have to be work as a group. It could be some individual work time as well. And that's kind of what I got out of kind of what the whole project-based learning drive I guess and components are. Like that too. And that was also one of my larger takeaways was that it's not just at the project doesn't happen after the instruction but rather the project contextualizes what we're learning about. We start with that driving question and there's some there is some direct instruction around your content area standards and some processing time but throughout that entire process throughout the project process we are building toward a final product that answers that driving question. And to answer the driving question you have to be able to accomplish or demonstrate your ability to do those content area skills. And I like Otis's point that we like to see these projects as being cross content area in terms of standards that we're addressing. And I just want to add to that those are great great outlines of it and I think one of the power pieces of that too was the idea that the teacher directed the students to pull out those content pieces to pull out that okay what are we going to need to know to accomplish this task. And so it was very student driven in the fact that they kind of had to allude to the information that they would need to know to solve this problem and the teacher definitely had a hand in in the guidance of that getting them to that point but it was definitely like our experience was definitely a student driven student directed form of that of that acquisition of knowledge. I like that point Tina and I think it needs to be said too that this isn't developing pvl or project based learning blended learning which really go hand in hand too I see. This isn't replacing the teacher the teacher's still there a part of it becoming as I kind of like to say more of that meddler in the middle helping guide the students it is student driven but the teacher's there to kind of maybe not give them the answer but kind of coming and say well tell me more about that. Well I don't quite know where can we go and find that information where you know and bring some of those things out and getting to those higher cognition really get that cognitively complex as Marzano would say that was cognitively complex tasks getting them to that higher level of cognition. Yes absolutely and I think that's that's one of the most important parts of it and that again as you stated it ludes itself very well to blended and we're going to talk a little bit more about that later but one of the and those of you who were in my Lincoln session with me heard me say this term many times but I it just resonated with me that the problems and the ideas and the thoughts were all very authentic it was very how does this relate to the real world how does this this relate to your lives and what what can we do to make things different and to actually have a purpose and a cause for this and I think to me that was one of the other power pieces of pbl is the authenticity of the entire project from start to finish. I totally agree with what you're saying I think that as we develop our curricular units and you attach a problem base or a project base learning to your curricular units I think the key takeaway for me in Lincoln was that it is about the curriculum it is not about the problem first I mean sure kids are going to be aware of what's out there but the teacher is facilitating that learning around the curriculum that needs to be learned and assessed not just about willy-nilly hey I want to learn about this water project right now it's how can I connect real-world application to what kids are learning in the classroom but it's curriculum first. Our presenter talked about two different ways to start and one was more of that let's think about the problem first but Eileen I agree with you that think about start with your standards and what what do we need to address and we can find real-world application that's present a driving question around a real-world application of your curricular standards I like that too Eileen. Yeah yeah great anybody else want to include to what PBL is okay the next thing is that I kind of wanted to discuss is is basically what PBL is not what are some of the misconceptions and I know I had some as I was going into this training myself but what are some of the misconceptions of project-based learning? So Tina I do think that so many teachers say well I'm I'm using project-based learning because we do a three-week project at the end of you know three or whatever and and really that is not project-based learning so as we described earlier a true PBL is taking your content and identifying you know your curriculum identifying what needs to be you know learned and what do we need to master all within that that process of a project-based learning opportunity so it's not an added on a project that takes three weeks that the students are just doing that project it's within the content and within the course or the curriculum that is happening that is being delivered. So the projects or the problem contextualizes the learning and we we go through that learning process some direct instructions with some with some practice associated with those content area skills but that so the context of this practice of this direct instruction is wrapped around a real-world application and I think that really helps us then think about why is learning this whatever this may be why is this important. Right and I kind of this is the same kind of idea and I I went into it with a misconception a little bit of it being the end project producing the knowledge of what you have learned through this unit right and and that's not at all what it is it's actually the project-based the project or the design question and all of that is is encompassed throughout the whole unit that is the unit is it's the project and I think that that may be a misconception of many years and I also think and Otis alluded to this earlier about the idea that the teacher doesn't just it's not a hands-off it's very teacher directed it's very the teacher just goes about the the learning process in a whole different way but they are still the lead they're still the guide they're still the you know they still need to stick to those contents and those standards and making sure the understanding is there throughout the project. Otis what do you mean by meddler in the middle? Well that's just learning right along with the kids is really what that is you know it's it's like we've said a hundred times and I know you guys have heard me say this you know it's the sage on the stage that's the way it used to be 30 years ago the teacher was the smurfs person in the classroom then it became that guide on the side you know on the side watching the kids do it now teachers getting in and learning with the kids it's a teacher doesn't know or the teacher may know but can play play the part of not knowing and learn right along with the kids to kind of push them rather than those kids that have you know I hate to say this learn to play the game of school and jump through the hoops to get that a well what how do I get an a I don't know and I think the assessment piece of this is is something there's a misconception about assessment and group work I think in pbl as well you know you can still do those formative and summative assessments you're still going to be doing formative and summative assessments as you're going on it may look more rubric-ish or have rubrics to it rather than here's what you need to do to get a hundred and grading it that way but also there's I think there's a little misconception that everything has to be done as a group I don't think that's the case either because there are going to be some parts that need to be done individually as well and mixing those things up and finding the strengths of those students in the classes and mixing up other strengths to kind of help with some of those group work pieces as well I think what you're saying too Otis by using your common assessments your formative assessments throughout those are your grades that you're collecting and so so many teachers say I can't do a group project because how do I grade this and so by still maintaining or continuing to assess the the level of knowledge you know acquisition for your students those are the grades that you're collecting and then and I was actually able to when Otis went to Napa Valley to the pbl world I did a visit not during the same time but I was at Napa Valley and visited a school that New Tech High School in Napa Valley that complete pbl throughout the whole school district or the whole building I guess I should say but their group work or you know group project was kind of a little bit of self assessment as well as a you know a group partner assessment now it didn't have them the that's not the main grade of that student but we were able to also kind of evaluate each other and ourselves in our efforts of what we did to to work togetherly and collaboratively in that project and I think that's very powerful in in our society today to start to build those you know skills about okay I'm part of this group now it's this is my responsibility and I need to you know I need to make sure that I'm doing my part in this particular project or we had a conversation oh I was working for Marsha Kish and one of the classroom teachers we were talking about group work and teamwork and so forth and she said in the business world if you are working by yourself that means you're on your way out all business businesses today are working in teams and if for some reason you're pulled out of that team and you start to work by yourself guess what you'll will not be employed by that organization for very much longer because that's route number one of out the door so very interesting thoughts about you know how we work in teams and how we you know collectively maybe maybe evaluate each other well and I think Otis there's an article that you shared on the education updates called God Save the Routine and and the article alludes to that information exactly as it stated it talks about you know the idea that collaboration and group work is important it's not the end all in PBO it's not something just as Otis stated it's there is individual time but in reality especially somebody starting a project-based learning component is they're going to have to actually teach collaboration kids don't come in knowing how to collaborate knowing how to work together knowing how to be a team that's actually a skill that has to be built has to be taught and has to be learned and you can do that in the context of project-based learning but the skill has to still be taught it can't be something where you just jump in and and go about it and it's supposed to work so so what are some structures that help students become acquainted with that collaborative work I think some of the things that we did during our project-based learning experiences when we partnered up and we had to draw our partner hi Marcy how are you we got to draw each other it was great and you know when you were expected to meet with anyone in your group and be able to have a conversation with just about anybody our facilitator set us up in different structures to allow for us to learn from each other structured protocols right very much structured protocols I mean we did a sketch a partner we did um what was that one that we did where we we did the superhero thing that was yep and I I honestly think that that in our training was treated somewhat as a standard because like you said Eleni it was it was taught um in many different ways and it was kind of super imposed into the learning that we were doing but it was it's I still felt like that piece was an important piece like it could have been something that we were evaluated on even right the charrette part protocol that he led us through that was one of the on more intriguing opportunities for me during that week whereas I'm I mean I'm an introvert I know that people don't think that I am an introvert but I like my circle I like that those people around me that I know but I had to get out of my shell and go be very very social to other people and do that present and the framing and the feedback and the open discussion where he set that up for us and I felt as a student I I was walking in that student's shoes of somebody that I had to leave my safe foe group and I had to go and find other people to be foes at that point well and and I liked one of the ways they group that my instructor grouped us for our pbl 101 piece was you know was by where is your strength are you a relationship builder are you a higher level thinker so and then there was one of each of those groups in a group to kind of do that so somebody I was one of those that I like to please everybody as hard as that may seem and so I'm one of those that's making sure everybody's voice is heard you know and and making sure that those pieces come together and and I really like the charrette charrette however I'm I don't speak French very well but that protocol is very good as well and I know that when we were going through 101 there were two in my group because I was with mostly teachers I was one of two out of about 30 people that were PD and of course the two PD people we kind of gravitated towards each other and and found out a working relationship right there to kind of toss PD ideas off of and you're going to have those natural kind of groups help sharing type things those are going to form too when they realize maybe those students that don't speak up a whole lot oh they have some good ideas I'm going to go to them so that they can help me and but making sure that it's a safe place in the classroom and no and and this is one thing that really stuck with me too when you're doing that charrette or whether any type of critiquing that you're doing you're critiquing the product not the person making sure that that that is a safe place that hey I'm coming to the product and not to as an example Eileen has come to me I'm looking at Eileen's product not Eileen as a person and the way she treated me the class period before which was great thank you very much and honestly that's something that has to be taught too and it has it's an atmosphere um relationship so yeah it goes back to routines and procedures you know what are those routines and procedures you're setting up and and having those norms or those promises and commitments um that that is very very good and very set up that's determined by the group not just by the teacher but by the group as to what's going to happen that way there's buy-in and commitment there and we're able to hold each other accountable for that and I like Otis that you alluded to the idea of the different personalities when it within the group I think I think that's a different uh a thing something that teachers should be aware of too as they you know try to help formulate groups and knowing that perspective I go back to high school when we took those surveys and I can't remember what the survey was called but it definitely it was a um what's that was it Myers-Briggs that sounds right but basically it told you you know what your personality was are you are you an inclusive somebody who needs to be included are you an extrovert those types of things and I think maybe knowing that about your students might be very beneficial in a pbl setting uh but yeah very true okay so in respective time I a couple more questions that I have is why would you guys suggest pbl to a teacher what what sets pbl or project-based learning apart from from other initiatives and other plans I I think this is one thing that's key you don't have to turn your entire class to pbl from day one to day 180 it the I don't know that it can it can be done uh but to be done well if you're first starting out don't try and do that uh the one thing that I think is key to this is you're able to differentiate for all learners very easily um and you're able to reach all types of learning styles very easily as well you can get those kids that like to get in and get their hands dirty um they can do that however that may be you know those kids that like that kinesthetic hands-on they're able to do that and up and move in a way the classroom may look like chaos but it's organized chaos because they know exactly what they're doing it gives kids that experience like we had said to be able to collaborate and learn those collaboration skills before they get out into the real world business and industry is saying we want people that can collaborate well we need to get those kids to learn how to do that as well and this is the ability to do that and the ability to hit multiple standards uh in one in a two-week period where as normally coming out of the book you may only hit one or two in those in that two three-week period but also that cross-curricular so not only hitting your standards but you're hitting other standards as well in building some of those things can you repeat your question please yeah I my question was why why pbo um what's what's the point in doing a project-based learning or why would you suggest this to your teachers so kind of to piggyback off of what Otis said but maybe to even extend it a little bit more if a teacher said they have to know this deeply they have to be able to um live this standard they have to be able to know this or they can't move on to the next level I think chemistry or I think um some basic science things that they have to have oh maybe even if it's something about hypothesizing um but if they have to know it deeply and be able to engage with it I would do a project-based learning I most teachers would probably say okay well I'm going to give an assessment at the end and to make sure that they learned what I taught them but if if it needs to be that deep I think it warrants utilizing project-based learning on this one um I would second what Otis said about you don't have to change your classroom 100 you do have to take on a little bit of a different role um in this project-based learning you cannot be the only expouser of knowledge um kids will learn from other places and then from yourself but um yeah I would I would say those essential learnings that you've identified as things that have to be taught or have to be learned before they leave thank you yes I would piggyback a little bit off of since we're piggybacking now off of um what what Eileen said when you know when we think about teachers pulling out um the most essential learnings that their students need to do and we have a number of teachers who have then prioritizing their standards especially in our Marzano school because they're doing some uh learning scales they're looking at doing tracking learning and those are the ones that they say that these are the these are the standards that we are going to spend the most time on when we're looking at our MTSS model and we're saying so if I have a student who is showing a deficiency in this that's what I'm going to intervene on I'm not going to intervene on Roman numerals they're nice super bowls but I'm not going to intervene on on Roman numerals I'm going to intervene on these these essential standards that that's where you're going to spend your time and your effort because that's the vehicle you use to deliver other material then uh you know I agree with with Eileen that that would be a place to start to say how can I deepen this and a project would be definitely a way to not just have that surface the okay one level of knowledge if yes I can retrieve it that actually be able to do something with it and make connections so and I think it's important to remember that our instructional model propones that we get to that knowledge application segment of that unit right I mean that is a goal is that we get kids to those deeper levels of knowledge and so how can we do that but but yet not feel overwhelmed with that idea who project based learning it sounds like something so new and different it but what we're trying to communicate is that it's not so yes we start with that that context that driving question of why is what what is the application what why is this important but you still go through and use those formative in this and summative assessments that that you are to use in your district you go through some direct instruction there is some time for knowledge deepening or practice and so coming back to Otis that idea of differentiation and maybe potentially incorporating some of those blended learning instructional strategies for how are we structuring that direct instruction and that knowledge deepening that practice segment but we are contextualizing what i love about it most is is that you too often you hear the question in the classroom why do i need to know this why is this important and and i feel pbl so why would i and why would i recommend this to one of my kids i i hear pbl it would would provide that context i would say tina to wrap it all up that it's about engagement so how do we engage our learners to you know either go deeper kind of take control of their learning and and you know make sure that all of our students are learning at the level um that they're able to so in my opinion engagement is is what i would wrap all of that up around yeah and that and that's kind of exactly what i was thinking you know the power of this for me is the way in which the students are the guiding factor are the the power in changing the process of education and and the forefront is the students guiding the learning but the teacher still you know still there is the major guide and making sure things are followed and assessed and and ideas are learned and but to me the the students complete and total engagement into the authentic processes of the way the world works now and the the way education is is slowly moving towards so yeah absolutely um okay so the next thing that i have on here we we've talked about a couple times and project-based learning lends itself very well to our blended processes and in the way that we think about blend ed so i don't know nick do you want to kind of highlight some of those details for us we had i'd love to do that let's see here so when when i think about blended learning and project-based learning i certainly see some overlaps and so the model or framework that we are using inside of the blended learning pilot across the state of Nebraska for understanding best practices in blended learning it incorporates those three marzano unit segments of direct instruction knowledge deepening knowledge application but also we're trying to promote that that idea of empowering learners and this comes that that word comes from the ISTI international society for technology and education standards for students but in a in a brief overview when we think about direct instruction blended learning our goal is that we differentiate that instruction and so thinking about what are where are kids currently and of course to differentiate to to make that decision we we need to know where where they are we think differentiation in terms of both what are we what are kids ready for but then also we think about modalities of learning and Otis talked about that a little bit as well that idea that maybe some kids need to get up more kinesthetic learners or others learn different ways but thinking about that that different models and blended learning instructional models for providing or facilitating that differentiation you think about things like a whole group rotation with everybody moving around and through these different activities together or maybe you have different stations happening with with different maybe it's a teacher led station where I can dive deeper with an individual student or maybe kids are working together on a component of that project or maybe an individual is working by themselves we talked about that need to assess both that group work but also to hold individual students accountable for those essential learnings or maybe this is a flex model of blended learning where kids have some some can-dos identified but also some must-dos you must do these different things and so real briefly when we think blended learning we also want to address that marzano unit component of knowledge deepening when we talk blended learning our goal is to engage kids with some meaningful choices around how they practice new content and there are plenty there's a ton of different tools that we can pull into that process when we saw when we think choices in blended learning often we hear the word choice board but you might incorporate some supplemental input that might be a Khan Academy video or maybe a new Zella news article some guided practice where kids can get in then to those independent learning platforms like also Khan Academy but then the no red ink or study island or I excel something that your district's paying for so knowledge deepening getting kids to practice where both and we think about this in terms of what are those content area standards that this project or this unit is addressing but also potentially what are those kids ready for ensuring that we we have mastered those those curricular standards when we think knowledge application this is also a goal of blended learning that we get kids we talk about voice and choice choice I think more of about in terms of that knowledge deepening choice over how I'm practicing but voice over how am I demonstrating my ability to accomplish these content area skills but also in a way that promotes these digital age skills and I think project-based learning there's direct overlap within those contexts within those ideas but lastly then empowering learners engaging them in self-assessment goal setting and and also some direct instruction on learning strategies the real goal is that kids can connect the dots between their self-assessment of ability both in so maybe we're thinking pre-assessment at the beginning of the unit well people will do a quick pre-assessment how comfortable are you with doing these different content areas skills we'll also do a post assessment with with the real goal the kids connect those dots growth mindset connect the dots between effortful use of effective learning strategies and the outcomes both on that project but then also on those formative and and summative assessments throughout the learning process those are some overlaps I see we got thank you and I want to say something in that voice and choice and and if you're just starting out and then the article that Tina alluded to kind of said this too whether it's pbo or blended voice or choice you know limited down to one instead of voice they get both voice and choice maybe that choice they're limited to three things that they can create their presentation in that way you're not having to go as a teacher if you have five groups in the class you're not going five different places maybe you're only going one or two so kind of teacher still has a little bit of control at the beginning and when you're out there and looking once again the article and I think it is there Buck Institute who puts on the pbo world and who did this and pbo 101 and everything they kind of came out with you know what is high quality pbo hq pbo and then they have that gold standard just starting out you might not be at the gold standard and that's okay but it's adapting it as you go through some of those things as well and making sure that you adapt as you go forward and knowing that you're not going to start out and everything you're going to see is that gold standard that high quality and you're going to think oh I'm not even close to that chuck it and I'm going to go back to the way it is you got to work at it you got to work at it to get it better and you're it's just like teaching you're going to find some things you know as a as maybe somebody who has three sections of the same thing you may start in the first section of the day realize oh I need to change that for the second section you adapt it for the second section and then once again you have to adapt it for the third because it didn't work out quite so well it's the same thing with this I like that start slow in the number one rule of blended learning that I share with people across the state is don't burn yourself out I think it also applies to project-based learning this is a change don't get overwhelmed don't expect yourself to be at that gold level that high quality every single day don't expect to be able to change everything you do into pbl overnight yeah and I think everything that I've read everything that I've learned about this and and it's anything in education that's you know some of this is just a different way of thinking in a different way of teaching and you got to take it slow so you don't burn yourself out and you don't things are going to go wrong but your kids are learning with you and they know you're learning and it's okay it's okay and and let yourself grow with the kids and grow with the project I think it's important and get feedback from them after it yeah what worked what didn't and then if it worked or what could be better if this work how could it be made better get feedback from them too to improve it so can you have to speed about a tlt special project I think that's what you had on your your screen Nick can you can you tell me what that yep Tina do you want to wrap this up first yeah so at the end of this video too we alluded to quite a few different resources and so I'll make sure I post those resources in our contacts if you have any other questions in regards to some of this information but just to kind of wrap this video up this is kind of a surprise so hopefully I don't make you too nervous here but if you could to give one word to explain pbl or one word that comes to mind when you think about pbl what would that be empowering okay anybody else authentic okay great and collaborative hyphenated real world Marcy do you have one to share well let me think uh you know I think I would agree with Eileen when she says authentic I would say I'm sorry I was saying gauge okay engaged yeah um well I saved me to last because but you guys took all mine but actually I was thinking too one of the things is the very first thing Otis talked about really is the idea that it's all inclusive of different standards and so I guess to me inclusive would be would be the word and I think that's a powerful piece but thank you all for for highlighting some of these details with us and and again I will share some resources and in the end of the video and some context so if you have any other questions