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TCEA Announces Dynamic Instruction with Project-Based Learning (PBL)

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Creating authentic learning experiences for students through project-based learning can be tough to plan and implement! TCEA provides access to a high-quality, self-paced course to help: Dynamic Instruction with PBL. Start the course anytime and access its content for up to one year after your enrollment date. What’s more, complete course content at your own speed throughout, watch videos, get suggestions, and gather resources to guide your construction of PBL lessons. And earn a digital badge, a digital certificate, and 12 CPE hours upon course completion– for $39.

TCEA's PBL certified educator badge

Become an Authentic, Engaging PBL Designer

The primary course developer is Dawn Drisdale, and her work on this course has been fantastic. She creates engaging learning experiences in the PBL course modules through the combination of several elements, like:

  • Storytelling
  • Disruptive instructional practices
  • Integrating innovative technology into rigorous curricula

PBL Course Modules

Explore a model and framework for PBL lessons. Then, proceed further to design rigorous, authentic learning lessons! You’ll continue on in the course to establish a clear plan for what and how students will learn content. This course puts building inquiry, empowering students, and assessment at its core.

The course includes five modules:

  1. Principles of Project-Based Learning
  2. Designing High-Quality Project-Based Learning
  3. Planning for Project-Based Learning
  4. Building Inquiry and Empowering Students
  5. Assessments in Project-Based Learning
TCEA's PBL course modules and descriptions

The purpose of this course is to expand your comfort zone and broaden your knowledge of high-quality project-based learning. The strategies and skills explored in this course will enable you to equip students; and as a result, students will be successful in their educational journey. There is no need to have any previous experience with PBL in order to complete this course!

How To Sign Up

Individuals can enroll in the course for just $39, and groups of 10 or more can register for $34 per person. Contact me, Miguel Guhlin (mguhlin@tcea.org), for quotes for 10 or more people. Large groups can also pay via TCEA Credit Card Authorization Form.

Enroll: Get Started with PBL!
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This Works! Screenshot by author.
STEM/STEAM

PBL and Transversal Competence: A Free Curriculum

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

First graders engaged in engineering? Is that possible? Of course it is. It’s never too early to teach students the Engineering Design Process. Before I share a brand new resource with you and your first graders, let’s take a moment to revisit some key ideas.

Introducing This Works!

Okay, so I couldn’t wait, I had to share this exciting new development with you. This Works! offers free materials for educators. They point out the following:

Technology Industries of Finland wants to engage and activate students. It enables them to create and engineer their own machines from recycled materials. At the same time, they will also examine the world through a mathematical framework. The students can gain insights into what they could be when they grow up. What’s more, they explore how technology can change the world.

Technology Industries of Finland is offering the This works! concept – complete with materials – to all first graders free of charge.

That’s right, free of charge. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what does this involve?

Transversal Competence

Intended for first graders to use over a seven-week period of time, the materials focus on two aspects: technology skills and tranversal competence. Since the latter is a term I was unfamiliar with, I looked it up. As you might suspect, it is a term specific to different parts of the world, including Finland. Transversal competence is another way to describe 21st century skills. Here’s a short description:

In the new national curriculum, transversal competences play an important role. They integrate into all subjects and all school activities. These skills or competences are much more generic than typical content objectives.

They all refer to the behavior and activities needed in society today and in the future (source).

transversal competency
Source: Lähdemäki, Jenna. (2019). Case Study: The Finnish National Curriculum 2016—A Co-created National Education Policy. 10.1007/978-3-319-78580-6_13.

What is included in transversal competence? Let’s take a closer look:

  • Cultural competence, interaction, and expression.
  • Managing daily life, taking care of oneself and others
  • Multi-literacy or students’ capacity to interpret, produce, and make value judgements. This capacity focuses on different texts and perceiving cultural diversity.
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills and competence. This focuses on practical competence, responsibility, information management, and more.
  • Working life and entrepreneurial competence.
  • Participation, influence, and building a sustainable future.

The goal of transversal competence? Fostering student development as a human being and citizen. That is true, regardless of country. The way that some approach teaching transversal competencies is through project-based learning.

Project-based learning is a student-centered pedagogy. It involves a dynamic classroom approach. Students get a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. (source)

Let’s take a look at This Works! materials.

transversal competence

Screenshot by author. Fun Academy Characters  (see video below to learn more about Fun Academy or read their blog)

This Works! Materials

transversal competence Screenshot by author.
Screenshot by author.

The free materials available under Creative Commons copyright have several modules. You can see each component linked to the teachers’ guide below:

Each component, including the modules, is replete with activities. Everything is in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), so easy to access.  The teachers’ guides provide suggestions on how to use the materials and the characters from Fun Academy make an appearance throughout.

You can read the entire story for This Works! online to get a head start. Of course, your first graders will experience it as a series of projects.

What Makes This Works! Effective

Wondering what makes this project-based learning approach work? The story content is engaging, featuring the four Fun Academy characters. What’s more, your students will find themselves navigating various games and tasks. They will also construct simple, moving machines in a team environment.

A Few Reflections

Do you love project-based learning? Can you see the value of developing your students’ transversal competencies? Then you will find this project worthwhile to work through with your students. Although I wish they had some sample student creations in video format and some rubrics, the content is solid. The projects orient themselves on Finnish curriculum, but you can make some adjustments and adapt it for TEKS or Common Core.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author.

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Podcasting
Good TeachingGoogle Tips and TricksPodcasts

A Simple Process and Template for Student Podcasting

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis
microphone & headphone

Maybe you’ve heard the saying that whoever is talking is the person learning. Or, the teacher should do less talking in the classroom than the students. Both of those sayings have truth to them. With that in mind, let’s see if there are benefits to student-generated podcasts.

How Does Podcasting Benefit Students?

Through discussion, discourse, and debate, students can gain a deeper understanding of content and language and grammar skills. Research indicates that students who create podcasts show improved language, speaking, and grammar knowledge. They are also more confident in using academic vocabulary in context. The podcast creation process incorporates high student engagement, which increases the likelihood that it may also positively impact student achievement. And using student-generated podcasts can be a strategy for learning in early elementary up through college. Be sure to check out this Research for Student-Created Podcasts Wakelet collection for specific and deeper study.

A Simple Podcasting Process

That all may sound good. But many teachers feel that having students create podcasts will have a high learning curve; it could end up more like herding cats. No worries! We’ve got you taken care of with a template for you to use and a drop-dead simple process. Let’s take all the technical mumbo jumbo out of it! To make it easy to go through, we’ll share the who, what, when, where, and how you and your students can take learning to the next level with podcasting.

Podcasting

Step 1: Establish Criteria and Define Roles

Remember the KISS – Keep It Super Simple (or something like that). Keep the process as simple as possible– at least initially. As the students become more comfortable and skilled, then you can add more expectations. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is no “one right process” to go by for a great podcast. I recommend checking out the following rubrics for ideas on defining the roles and teamwork necessary for each group. Having the rubrics will also help your students self assess (and peer assess) between group meeting times with you. A few rubrics to check out for ideas include:

podcasting rubric
  • University of Wisconsin – Stout Podcast Rubric – A very robust rubric. You may need to scale it back initially, but this rubric highlights important parts of the process.
  • University of Missouri Podcast Rubric – This is a slightly older rubric; however, you will find that many of the sections are still very relevant and usable.
  • ReadWriteThink Podcast Rubric – This rubric is most relevant for a high school English or science class as it refers to a podcast addressing a thesis argument.
  • Pacific Lutheran University Podcast Rubric – This one is nice in that it fits on one page, but addresses pretty much everything. Depending on the age of your students, you may want to tweak some of the wording.
  • University of Northern Iowa Podcast Rubric – Though unclear as to the author, this rubric does an excellent job of identifying the different details and criteria for creating a podcast. Consider using this one when identifying roles and steps in the process. Older students will do well with this, but it’s too complicated for younger learners.
  • Kathy Schrock’s Podcast Rubrics – Kathy has compiled six different rubrics for you to consider. Click on the link given and then scroll to the Multimedia and Apps Rubrics section. ​

Step 2: Explore and Choose Tools for Podcasting

podcasting tools icons
Screenshot by author

If your students have cell phones, then they all can record audio. But they may need to check to see that their apps can save and share the files in an MP3 format. Or you may be using school-issued devices such as Chromebooks or iPads. Below are a few of the tools and apps you might consider during your planning and producing stages.

Step 3: Determine the Pacing and Process

Having students create podcasts is a great learning strategy, but it is best implemented once you understand your students and how they work. Decide on how many class sessions they will have to produce the podcast. You will also need to determine if the students are to work on the podcast outside of class or if they will record during class time. Initially, review the rubric that you will be using with your students, go over the process for recording, and outline the pacing of the project.

TIP: Podcast Recording Environment

singer holding microphone

It might be that students can only work on the podcast while in your class. If this is the case, it might be necessary to allow students to step out into the halls to record or to visit the library to record briefly. You may have the benefit of being in a larger room so that groups can spread out. If your school encourages “bring your own device” (BYOD), students may find that they can easily record on their phones outside of class and use class time to piece it together and post it.

Unless you are trying to compete in a student podcast competition (such as the Annual New York Times Student Podcast Competition or NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge), realize that perfection may be nice, but is not realistic. It’s okay if there is background noise, as long as the student speakers can still be heard. Make the learning fun. Be creative with where students can record and with your expectations of what is acceptable.

Step 4: Practice Podcasting as a Class

While some tasks work well for individuals, podcasting is definitely not one of them. With project-based learning, students are more successful when they have clearly defined roles, working together to accomplish the task.

You may want to initially have just one large group, the whole class, as you create the first podcast or two. This will allow everyone to get familiar with the process and expectations. It will also allow students to explore the different roles, how they interact, and understand how each role is critical for the project’s success. Yes, initially, it will be teacher-assigned, but you are working towards having students take ownership of the grouping and even the roles over time.

Step 5: Group Students for the Podcasting Project

group of students talking in office

Once the process is understood, at least in theory, break students into groups, assign roles, and, initially have them all work on the same podcast. Consider grouping students as you would for other assignments in which each group has a good mix of academic levels. There should be the same roles within groups, and it will be important to scaffold the grouping process over time.

Steps 6 and 7: Assign Podcast Topics and Start Recording

Initially, you may consider having students work on the same topic as they learn the process. Yes, that means that if you have six groups, you will have six podcasts on the same information. Each group may address it in their way, but they will all be using the same information. For example, they may podcast about chapter three of their textbook or chapter five of the class novel. Having the students listen to the other groups’ final projections will spark some ideas on how they can enhance their next podcast.

Once student groups have a podcast or two under their belt, start varying the topic or perhaps have student groups each record an episode related to a subtopic of a broader topic. This allows students to become experts on sections of information. These podcasts can end up replacing your lecture or enhancing it, giving students ownership in their learning. Though each group will be creating a podcast for a particular portion of the content, they are all accountable for all the information. This means they should both understand it and be able to apply it in different situations. (This is similar to the Jigsaw approach in teaching.)

Step 8: Check in Regularly

Just like you attend regularly-scheduled staff and faculty meetings, it will be helpful to schedule regular, though short, meetings with each group. This will give students the opportunity to report on their progress, challenges, solutions, and next steps in their process. As such, you will be mentoring them on how to manage themselves and other group members. The goal is for students to be successful and accountable for their learning. As you have students add to the podcasts, you can begin using them as a review for quizzes and exams. This will hold students accountable to make sure they have all the needed information in their episode(s).

Step 9: Publish the Podcasts with a Template

For simplicity’s sake, here is a Google Slide template to use for publishing your podcasts. Google Slides isn’t considered the typical method of publishing/hosting podcasts. But it does offer a bit more security over who has access to the podcasts. Once a student group has completed their podcast, have them upload it as an MP3 file into their Google Drive and share it. They should then copy the link to the file and add it to the appropriate slide in the template along with the title, episode number (if used), description, and show notes.

TIP: Publishing the Google Slide Deck

podcasting tools
Screenshot of template

If the podcast’s content is intended for a real audience outside the classroom, consider publishing the slide deck. This will make it much easier for everyone to access it in presentation mode and listen. To publish the slide deck, click on FILE –> Publish To The Web. Leave the defaults so that the slide deck does NOT advance on its own; this will allow your listeners to click on the appropriate links to go to the intended slides. View the published template here so you can see how a published podcast slide deck appears. If your podcasts are only to be accessed from within your school’s domain, be sure to click on the Published Content and Settings link and then tick the box for your school’s domain.

Step 10: Review and Revise the Process

After your podcasting project, take time to review and reflect with your students. Assess the number of class sessions used for the project. Was it enough time, too much, too little? What about the tools used? Did they work well? How could the process be improved moving forward?

Pass the Mic

So, I’m now passing the mic to you. How will you do podcasting in your classroom? What are some ideas you have for implementing student-generated podcasts? If you’ve already had students create podcasts, what is one tip you would share with others who are thinking about doing the same? Leave your comment below so you can be heard loud and clear! You can also take a look at other posts on podcasting here.

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Content AreasDigital Literacy

Advancing Student Voice with Oral History Projects

by Soundtrap by Spotify
written by Soundtrap by Spotify

This post is sponsored by Soundtrap by Spotify. It was originally published here.

San Francisco Unified is taking Ethnic Studies to a whole different level, incorporating podcasting to help lift student voices and develop the skills necessary to become agents of change as they are engaged in oral history projects. Two highly effective voices in this powerful cadre of educators, Bruna Lee and Nikhil Laud, are helping lead the way.

Bruna Lee is a teacher at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA), the district’s arts magnet school. Because it is an arts magnet, students are always looking for opportunities to bring their art and creativity into their academic classes, especially in humanities, English, and social studies.

Project-Based Content with Purpose

“When I first started at SOTA, and I asked the students, ‘What do you like in a teacher, what are the kinds of projects that have worked for you,’ and nearly all of them said, ‘You know, if there’s a way that we can incorporate our art into our academics, that would really engage us and make us feel like this assignment matters,'” said Lee. “Last year, I was offered the position to teach an Ethnic Studies elective for juniors and seniors. Because it’s an elective, I took that opportunity to be able to make the class as project-based as possible and think of opportunities where students can use their creativity as well as their life experience to display their mastery of the content.”

Lee’s Ethnic Studies students participated in an oral history project through which they interviewed an elder in their community about a topic of their choice. Students turned the interviews into podcasts using Soundtrap. The project, titled Humanizing Oral Histories, features podcasts about immigration, interracial relationships, queerness, feminism, activism, and more. All podcasts have one goal: to provide a humanizing, nuanced account of a person’s life.

Creative Approaches to Student Storytelling

Nikhil Laud is one of the Ethnic Studies co-coordinators that helps support the program at San Francisco Unified School District. According to Laud, “Currently, [SFUSD has] an Ethnic Studies course being taught at every comprehensive high school in the district and in almost every alternative high school as well. Over the years, the program has really grown. Roughly 1,500 students are enrolled in these classes, but that’s not nearly where we want it to be. What Bruna has done, particularly during her time, is a testament to some of our potential of really creative approaches to youth storytelling —and that’s where we entered the picture.” 

In the Ethnic Studies program, students are taught to be change agents. The ability of students to hone their storytelling skills makes this possible.

“Central to developing people’s capacity for being agents of change is developing their storytelling abilities,” said Laud. “We try to have youth-centered narratives embedded throughout our curriculum. Our curriculum begins with concepts explored like identity and narrative and culminates in writing student autoethnography and sharing them with peers.”

As Laud further explained, “Storytelling progresses beyond a critical look at the self into zooming out to see connections to community and the stories that matter to them most. We go from that to students doing action research or directly positioning them as social researchers and ethnographers. That’s what sets Ethnic Studies apart from many other academic disciplines; our pedagogy centers on youth experiences and realities, and we use that as our textbook. In doing so, we want to enhance our young people’s ability to reflect on the life they’re living, to see connections with others, and to ultimately be advocates and allies for those who are most vulnerable.”

Making Community Connections with Oral History Projects

Sharing the project with their communities was key to the success of the students. “One of the most powerful outcomes of this project was the fact that often in the classroom, students are completing work so that it can be presented to the teacher and maybe other students in the class,” said Lee. “But what this project allowed us as an ethnic studies community to do is to bring this project to a wider audience, which brings a lot of relevance to the project.”

Both Lee and Laud have helped their students understand this work, a piece of oral history that they can take to share with their families, communities, and the person they interviewed. It allows for a certain level of authenticity to the project.

“These are stories that need to be uplifted, that have meaning for themselves as well as their communities and families,” said Laud. The stories represent potent examples highlighting the interesting podcasting that came out of Lee’s class at SOTA.

To learn more about the Ethnic Studies program in San Francisco schools, visit the following:

Stanford study suggests academic benefits to ethnic studies courses

 About Bruna Lee and Nikhil Laud

Bruna Lee is an English and Ethnic Studies teacher at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (SOTA). She creates classroom experiences that uplift student voice and allow young people to see themselves as agents of change. See what her classroom is up to here (Ethnic Studies) and here (English).

Nikhil Laud has been an Ethnic Studies educator for 16 years and is currently coordinator of SFUSD’s Ethnic Studies program centering the principles of knowledge and love of self, solidarity and self-determination.

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hands in the center, together
Good Teaching

Make It Relevant: The Collaborator ISTE Standard

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

In classrooms today, the goal remains learning how to solve problems together. Authentic learning often involves learners in joint problem solving. We work together towards a goal, each of us knowing what part we play to resolve the issue(s). How do you do set educators up for success in this endeavor? In this blog entry, we’ll explore several approaches. Before we do that, let’s step back and ask ourselves, What is authentic learning?

ISTE Standards for Educators: Collaborator

To better understand what authentic learning is, let’s take a look at it through the lens of the ISTE Standards, a way to do three things:

  • Improve practice
  • Discover and share resources and ideas
  • Solve problems

When you look at the four indicators, you realize that the last action is quite important to the standard. Here are the four indicators:

4a: Dedicate planning time to collaborate with colleagues to create authentic learning experiences that leverage technology.

4b: Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital resources and diagnose and troubleshoot technology issues.

4c: Use collaborative tools to expand students’ authentic, real-world learning experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams and students, locally and globally.

4d: Demonstrate cultural competency when communicating with students, parents and colleagues and interact with them as co-collaborators in student learning.

As you can see, two of the indicators refer to “authentic learning experiences.” Each enjoys the benefit of real-world problem-solving. When you unpack the vocabulary, you see that each indicator expands on the other:

  • Authentic learning (4a): Activities based on student’s real world experiences or current issues. These use real data and seek to solve real-life problems.
  • Authentic, real-world learning experiences (4c). This involves solving local and global real world problems. It could involve design thinking as well.

This presents tremendous opportunities for situating student learning in real-world problem-solving scenarios. How do you do that? Let’s review the steps that lead to authentic learning experiences with technology.

Step #1: Engage with a Real-World Problem

“Fall in love with the problem, not the solution,” says Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, X. Many of us know that real-world problems, a la 5E Model’s Engage stage, help to focus learners. The problem engages students when it is relevant to them. Let’s review what a real-world problem should look like:

The PBL challenge is one that captures students’ attention. It stimulates their thinking, and assists them in accessing prior knowledge.  (Source: 5E Model + Technology)

Note the importance of prior knowledge. (We’ll explore prior knowledge in Step #2 due to its importance.) In crafting a real-world problem, I would be quick to rely on relevant life issues and challenges.

A real-world problem must engage students in the inquiry process. You can present news or troubling information from a primary source. Students can derive a problem from that information. Or you as the teacher can craft a problem narrative/engagement scenario. You can show a video, or resource, that engages students. The next step is critical because it engages students in identifying what they don’t know. One way to do this is to rely on a concept map about the following areas:

  • What do I know?
  • What do I need to know?
  • What questions do I have about what I know or don’t know?

This assists students in seeing the bigger picture. It’s not enough to depend on this. You, as the teacher, as well as experts on the problem, must step in.

Step #2: Build Background Knowledge

A fascinating tidbit about problem-based learning (PBL): When you allow students to do all the work of knowledge gathering, it’s not very effective. In fact, Dr. John Hattie reports it has an effect size of 0.35. This is less than the 0.40 hinge point for a normal year’s growth in a classroom. This makes all the work for PBL, “Meh, not worth it.” But wait; before you give up, keep reading.

Note how Quadrant D learning is focused on real-world, unpredictable situations. That is where problem-solving teaching must take students. But they can only go AFTER they have learned content and skills needed to solve it.

You can use several strategies to speed up student growth in a particular area. That is, to build prior knowledge, you can use strategies proven to work. When you do this, and then introduce students, PBL’s effect size increases. I like to think of PBL introduced at surface learning stage as a beginning Pokemon. Use it too soon, students fail. Use it after evolving, you get powerful results.

Image Source: YA Web Design

If you spend some time building knowledge capacity in your students, PBL evolves. It evolves from PBL to a more effective, transfer learning strategy. The evolved PBL strategy is problem-solving teaching. This strategy enjoys a respectable 0.68 effect size.

This evolved PBL appears after you have introduced content (a.k.a. surface learning). It appears after deep learning, when students have gone beyond knowledge conceptualization. It’s only when students are ready to engage in transfer learning that PBL works.

The Visible Learning Meta X database defines it in this way:

Problem-solving involves learning to solve a problem that one does not already know how to solve. It can also involve teaching specific, subject-area focused strategies for attempting to solve such problems.

As you can see, this is like ISTE’s expectation in the Collaboration standard. The focus is on real-world problems, authentic learning, and skill-building.

Mapping Learning Growth via Reflection

You must give students the opportunity to build up background knowledge. How do you do that? Support your students in making their own concept map. They can begin with questions, then track their growing understanding. This means that their concept map will change over time. It’s not a “make one and then forget it” situation.

You might ask students, “What would you add to or how would you change your map?” Ask them to revise their concept map as part of their reflection time. To build background knowledge, rely on one of the surface learning strategies. Need some ideas of how to get started? Check this list.

Step #3: Present the Problem

The key concept behind the problem-solving teaching strategy is that of novelty, presenting students with a problem they have not encountered before. It is novel, requiring them to apply their newfound knowledge and skills. In a skill-building scenario, it could be to use design thinking process. Or encouraging students to apply their knowledge of an engineering design process. Students can begin to explore the problem from various stakeholder roles. One way to focus them on solution development is to ask, “What will success look like?” Have them put the criteria they use for success into a rubric.

As you embark on a PBL unit, align it to the ISTE Standards for Educators’ Collaborator aspect. It will focus your work on authentic learning and real-world problem-solving. What’s more, make sure that you use surface learning strategies first. These will build students’ background knowledge. Then, they can apply their knowledge to a new problem. In this way, you can accelerate student growth.

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jigsaw
Good TeachingProfessional Learning

Napkin PD: PBL Your Jigsaw

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

What happens when you combine two instructional strategies like PBL and jigsaw? That’s exactly what I did when developing a new workshop for the TCEA 2020 Convention & Exposition called Coaching for Strategic Technology Integration. My initial results? Positive. In this edition of napkin-PD, I share the results of the new structure of my experimentation.

Session Description: Ready to set your students and teachers up for learning success? You will need be strategic. In this session, learn how to blend four components into one. You will adopt high effect size instructional strategies. Then, use a process for blending technology into learning experience. Finally, reflect on a pupil-focused results coaching tool.

Essential Elements

In each of my napkin-PD sessions, I focus on organizing the entire workshop into three chunks. Those three chunks may vary a bit in title, but generally fall into these areas:

  • Explore. This is where participants learn something new. They are developing background knowledge on a subject.
  • Adapt/Create. This is where they make connections between new information and old.
  • Share. They create something tangible.

For the 50-minute session of this 90-120 minute learning event, I had to truncate some of the activities or drop them altogether. Let’s take a deeper look.

pbl your jigsaw

Revisiting the Objectives

In my session, I wanted to achieve the following objectives. You’ll note that I have attempted to word them as “teacher clarity goals.” The reason why is that the teacher clarity strategy is a high-effect size strategy with an effect size of .76. Here’s a little background on teacher clarity if you are not familiar with it:

Teacher clarity relates to organization, explanation, examples and guided practice, and assessment of student learning. It can involve clearly communicating the intentions of the lessons and the success criteria.

Clear learning intentions describe the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values that the student needs to learn

There are a lot of ways to use technology to support teacher clarity. In this case, I decided to be up front with adult learners and so told them what my goals were at the start of the session:

  • Today we will examine, explore, and reflect how to achieve academic standards. We will do this through the combination of several components. Those components include high-effect size instructional strategies, strategic technology, and pupil-centric coaching efforts.
  • So we can construct learning experiences for students and staff that will lead to accelerated learning and growth.
  • We will know we have it when we reflect on our use of action steps via educational frameworks that provide insight into our work.

To organize this learning adventure, I divided it into three big pieces.

Did You Know?

Sign up for one of our Google Certified Educator certifications. You’ll learn about more than Google Meet, as well as earn 12 CPE hours per course. Use these courses to get Google Educator certified. Find out more online.

Chunking Learning into Modules

pbl your jigsawCreating bite-sized chunks can be a lifesaver for learners. It makes the learning manageable, memorable, and improves comprehension (source). For adult learning participants, it gives them autonomy within each chunk. That is, they can explore content as they choose. It also enabled me as the lesson designer to take complex content and make it easier to process in the short time available.

The main pieces, which I further chunked into smaller bites, included:

  • Meet the Problem. “There’s a big school board meeting coming up. Your superintendent needs you at Central Office right away. Drop what you’re working on and head on over there.”
  • Crafting Your Solution. Now’s the time to put your heads together to craft the best presentation you can that combines the four key elements.
  • Reflect. Take a moment to reflect on the process. Explore the gap between where your organization is now and the ideal and then reflect the ideal in your team’s presentation with steps to get there.

Each section involved more work.

pbl your jigsaw

Smaller Bite-Sized Chunks

To get people moving in the right direction, I introduced a problem via role play. This involved casting some audience members (I recruited them as they arrived). The unlucky folks stepped into the role outlined in the problem below. Here’s the call to action, although you can read the whole scene online:

“Our school board president and I have spoken. Our scores say we are treading water, maintaining the status quo. For some districts, that would be enough. But here in our district, we must have a focus on accelerating student growth more than one year.”

“We have agreed that we’re going to put together a plan for moving forward, a plan that accelerates growth for ALL students. For too long, we’ve been working in silos with several initiatives. We will put those together. We will be successful, we will ensure accelerated student growth is our TOP priority.”

“I’m going to ask you to divide up into several teams to deepen your knowledge. You will become an expert in your area, then share it back with your team. Afterwards, you’ll make a first effort at putting together a board meeting presentation.”

“I want you to know that I’m counting on you. The future of our district is in your hands. Ready to begin? If so, I’m going to turn it over to Miguel to get this started.”

If you’re familiar with PBL, you know this is an ill-structured, messy problem. My goal with this problem was to set up (and this is what’s different from other napkin PD) a jigsaw activity.

Revisiting the Jigsaw Method

Wait, wait, why am I using a jigsaw? The goal of this workshop was to introduce participants to some amazing ideas. This made it a surface learning activity, that is, an activity focused on introducing new concepts to students. Why use a jigsaw? The jigsaw method enjoys an effect size of 1.20, which is very high, and is a cooperative approach to learning. You can learn more about it through other blog entries, but here is a quick overview:

Following this method, a teacher introduces a main topic and several subtopics. Jigsaw students divide into “home groups,” and each member of the home group chooses a subtopic.

Then, students form expert groups to study their assigned subtopic. They do this through research and discussion.

After delving into the subtopic, they return to their home group to report on their findings.

At the conclusion, each home group member has learned about each subtopic. They have learned from their own investigation or a member of the relevant expert group.

The other strategy in use is problem-solving teaching (.68 effect size). I regret that in a 50-minute session, there wasn’t time. We couldn’t get to the part that had participants solve a new problem.

pbl your jigsaw

Turning a PBL into a Jigsaw Activity

This is the part I was most excited about. Could I embed a jigsaw activity inside of a PBL? The answer is, “Yes, you can.” Each of the four member teams would join their expert group. Expert groups worked alone at first, then together to explore the project stations. I provided paper copies of a digital organizer. Of course, some chose to use the digital version on their devices.

pbl your jigsaw

Project Stations

pbl your jigsawThe project stations focused on four key areas. Those areas included:

Putting these components together was not obvious to me. In fact, I outlined everything ahead of time because outlining made it a lot easier for me. You can see my first draft outline, although it had a few more revisions. In the end, the organization of each station followed a pattern.

Project Station Organization

  • Picture and overview
  • Contained three parts, in no particular order:
    1. Watch the video. This included a video and a short summary of the content.
    2. More material to explore
    3. Explore
  • An expert discussion question

When I revise each of the project stations in the future, I will be more deliberate about structuring them. That is, I will make each part focus on media type and action desired. For example, here’s a revised outline:

  • Overview with picture
    • 1: Watch the video
    • 2: Explore source material
    • 3: See examples
  • An expert discussion question

Now, if you are familiar with the jigsaw method, you may see that I included an extra piece. That extra piece is the expert group discussion question. I wanted to focus experts’ discussion given the time constraint. This had the desired effect.

pbl your jigsaw

Listening in on Participant Conversations

One of the most rewarding aspects of the jigsaw method is listening to expert groups dig deep. But having them report back to their home groups can be a joy as well. After the time was up, I invited insight sharing from the whole group. What amazed me was the depth of insight. Participants reflected the information provided in the project stations. In a way most curious, they owned the information as they shared it. This was fantastic and I couldn’t have been more delighted with their work.

pbl your jigsaw

Reflection

As time elapsed, I realized that we had spent the entire time on the jigsaw. To have executed this workshop, an entire 90-120 minutes would have been desirable. I am still pleased with the first module work, especially as participants expressed how happy they were with the  juxtaposition of these ideas.

Want to schedule TCEA professional development that focuses on project-based learning? Fill out a TCEA logistics form. We can help you turn your napkin professional development plans into a reality. And be sure to check out other“napkin PD” blogs here.

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ela
English Language Arts

Using Tech for ELA Differentiation and Assessment

by Nicholas Provenzano, Guest Author
written by Nicholas Provenzano, Guest Author

When I taught high school English Language Arts (ELA), one of the ways I utilized technology was to engage my students in different types of reading and writing. While the apps I used over the years have changed and evolved, the reasons behind them always stayed the same. Those reasons are sometimes tough ones for teachers to “sell” to administrators when it comes to using new tools in the classroom.

I remember a time I had to beg to have YouTube unblocked for my class so I could allow students to create and share videos. Sadly, there are still some schools where YouTube and other applications are blocked. Sometimes it just takes the right reason to convince an administrator. Here are a couple of reasons to utilize digital tools to support reading and writing. 

Differentiation in ELA

One of the hardest parts of being a teacher is the need to differentiate all of our lessons to support the wide variety of learner profiles we encounter in a classroom. The days of just standing in the front of the class and talking for 45 minutes in the hopes that everyone writes it all down and memorizes it later should be long behind us. Students and teachers have access to amazing applications that can change the way that they engage with reading and writing.

When it comes to differentiation in the classroom, there are many valuable applications that can dramatically increase student engagement in the reading and writing process. Whenever students asked me how to become better readers and writers, I told them doing more of both is the best way to get better. With more and more tools out there that allow students to engage with the text they read and write, more students will feel comfortable doing the reading. When more students read and write in differentiated situations, everybody wins. 

Differentiation Tools

For students that need support with reading, a teacher can use Newsela to vary the reading level of the same article. This allows the students to read the article at their reading level and still be part of the overall conversation. Nobody has to feel left out of the reading process and the overall learning process.

Snap and Read is another great tool that is a Google Chrome extension that can help students by reading text to the students that need a little more support. Like Newsela, there is a feature that will allow readers to highlight text and adjust the reading level to meet their needs. 

Variety of Assessment

One of the things that stood out to me as an ELA teacher was how students would choose to engage in the reading based on the assessment that was going to wrap up the unit. In my first few years, my assessments were the standard multiple choice test. The high achievers would be engaged, but students who struggled with those types of assessments would not be as involved.

Why would they put in the time when they would fail the test whether they read or not? If the final assessment was a formal essay or impromptu writing piece, the students who excelled at writing were engaged in the reading, but those who struggled in that area would check out until the next unit. By looking at the data, I noticed a trend, and I needed to do something about it to increase engagement in all my students. 

The PBL Puzzle

One of the biggest changes in my classroom was the move to Project-Based Learning (PBL). Instead of having me run a class discussion and then students take a test or write an essay, students would dive into the texts themselves, identify theme, symbols, motifs, etc., and then come up with a way to demonstrate their understanding of the text to share with the class. What this did was give all students an opportunity to engage in the text and then engage in the assessment in a meaningful way.

Some students would create movies using iMovie and share on YouTube; some students would create comic books using Pixton; some would create photo portfolios using Google Photos; and the list goes on and on. Students were fully engaged in the reading because they could use the digital tools that they were comfortable with to share what they learned. The more I made the end game clearer to students, the easier it was for them to engage in the reading in the present and plan for their project at the end. 

The variety of assessments added Project-Based Learning and still had places for traditional ELA writing. When students knew they were going to be able to approach texts for essays the same way they approached their projects, I saw an improvement in many of the writing scores. The variety of assessments allowed students to engage in the reading in a personal way because they would be able to use digital tools they knew would help them best explain what they understand. 

Increasing Engagement in ELA

When it comes to increasing engagement in reading and writing, teachers need to start moving beyond traditional instructional methods and embrace the wide variety of technology-based tools that can support students with a wide variety of learning profiles. The more students can connect with the text, the more likely they are to keep reading, work on their writing, and push through obstacles.

Taking the time and implementing different digital tools is worth the extra effort because of the long-lasting impact it can have on students who struggle in English Language Arts classes. At the end of the day, helping these students is what is important. 

You can view a presentation related to this topic here.

unsplash-logoPhoto: Aaron Burden
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jigsaw puzzle pieces
Good TeachingProfessional Learning

Reflections: The Jigsaw Method in My Workshop

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“I was using jigsaw with my students before,” said the science teacher at a private school. “Now that I know its effect size, I’m going to be using it even more.” The insight about the jigsaw strategy popped up after discussing John Hattie’s meta-analysis. If you’re not familiar with it, he analyzed a lot of research. His meta-analyses identified the effect size of instructional strategies used in schools today. Let’s take a moment to see how jigsaw works and in the context of educational technology.

The Jigsaw Method

“The Jigsaw Method is a teaching strategy. It is useful for organizing student group work,” says Jordan Catapano. “It helps students collaborate and rely on one another.” John Hattie found the jigsaw method to have an effect size of 1.2. What does that mean? Consider that the average growth any student experiences over an academic year is .40. This means that using jigsaw in a consistent manner can accelerate student growth. Students in your classroom will see greater than one year’s growth with the jigsaw.

As I was working on my PBL with Minecraft: Education Edition session, I realized I had a lot of resources to share. I asked myself, “Would the jigsaw method work well enough to get the job done?” Before I share how that worked out, it might be worth reviewing how the jigsaw method works.

Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey suggest there are three types of jigsaw methods. After reviewing their list, I realize that they are right.

Approach #1: Jigsaw as Divide and Conquer (One-Step Jigsaw)

This was my first introduction to the term “jigsaw.” This ineffective application of the label serves as a way to divide a long article into pieces. Each group member takes a piece, then summarizes it for the small group (or large group).

Fisher and Frey share their opinion about this:

This “one-step” approach isn’t a jigsaw; it’s a divide-and-conquer approach to text. When teachers experience “jigsaw” in this way, they’re likely to replicate it incorrectly in their classrooms. Harm may be done as less effective readers share misinformation with the group and everyone’s understanding is compromised.

This approach may not be the best one to replicate.

Approach #2: Home and Expert Groups (Two-Step Jigsaw)

Only this summer did I attempt the home and expert groups approach to jigsaw. The process involved grouping students into “home” groups. Then, students chose one resource of the available list. Once students decided on their resource, they formed up into “expert” groups. The expert groups worked to plumb the depths of the same article. Then they discussed their takeaways with each other in their respective home groups. Here’s a link to the organizer my students used in Google Docs format.

jigsaw

This approach falls short as well, although not as much as the first approach. Frey and Fisher point out the following:

In this type of activity, learners still don’t have the opportunity to discuss how their assigned part fits within the whole text; groups just report on the particular section they read. And the critical thinking that’s accomplished through analysis and synthesis doesn’t happen.

How do you get students to do more than report on the particular section they have read? More important, how do you make analysis and synthesis to happen?

Approach #3: True Jigsaw (Three-Step Jigsaw)

The critical third step of the three-step jigsaw involves students returning to their expert groups. Once back in expert groups, they discuss how their part fits into the whole. Fisher and Frey describe it in this way:

In the third phase of the jigsaw, students return to their expert groups and discuss how their passage fits into the whole text, based on their discussions with their home group. The point of this third phase is to have students engage in a part-to-whole conversation in which they arrive at a deeper understanding about the text and its implications.

Students think about their thinking (metacognition) and synthesize and analyze ideas contained within the complete text. This process requires that students listen carefully to their peers and analyze the ways in which each part contributes to the entire text.

As you can see, step three of the this jigsaw approach involves heavy lifting. As such, I see the phases of movement as follows now:

  1. Divide students into home groups to split up portions of text or resources.
  2. Set up a way for students to group according to expert groups to explore their specific area.
  3. Regroup into home groups to discuss findings.
  4. Split into expert groups to consider the whole in light of specific area.

This constant movement of students from one group to another can be awkward. But let’s not forget how important movement is to the human brain and learning efforts. Without this heavy lifting, the jigsaw method in use may not be as effective. As you reflect on how you are using jigsaw in your classroom, which approach have you taken?

jigsaw

Reflections: The Jigsaw Method in My Workshop

In my face-to-face workshop, I relied on the two-step jigsaw. Rather than use a single resource split up into passages, I shared resources relevant to a theme. The theme? PBL in the Minecraft: Education Edition classroom. As I implemented it, students did not achieve the critical third level, but the activity did achieve my intended goal. Some of the participants were quite forceful in sharing their perspectives. You can see how this activity appears in my session materials. Visit Activity #1 – Exploring Possibilities to see it in action.

Some revisions I would make now that I know about the three-step jigsaw include:

  1. Include a quiz or performance task at the end of the two-step version of the jigsaw. This would fall into step right after phase three movement.
  2. Use some kind of metacognitive aid or scaffold (concept map?) to capture student discussion in the phase four movement. That’s the third step of the three-step jigsaw. In this phase, students move back into expert groups to discuss their learning in context of the whole.

What are your thoughts on the jigsaw approach and its use for professional learning or in your classroom?

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classroom design
Educational TrendsFuture

Designing Classrooms That Engage Students

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Classroom design can be a burden. It can feel like starting from scratch. A blank slate, or a blinking cursor, can be paralyzing. But with a little inspiration, you can apply thoughtful design that catalyzes learning in common spaces, libraries, and media centers, as well as in classrooms. Much of this stems from the notion of today’s always-connected students and the need to adapt learning spaces “designed with the assumption that students will have constant access to connectivity.”

Design thinking is a crucial skill, not only for students, but for educators as well. For teachers, administrators, and staff who love technology, this kind of thinking often shapes how we assess and use new tech. Is the user interface well-designed? Is this system intuitive? Does it reinforce learning goals? Does it work with other devices or software? Motivated educators use this kind of thinking, meant to encourage thoughtful consideration, planning, and use, to help their students achieve. But do we often apply this thinking to the physical world? To the non-digital space in which we engage students?

That thinking can be applied to physical learning spaces, too. Creative, flexible classrooms can encourage project-based learning and makerspaces. Consider how you want help students learn, and shape your space to those goals. Here’s some help getting started.

Get Active

Research suggests that simple ideas like flexible seating and classrooms that require students to move around can result in positive learning outcomes. While the links between good nutrition, exercise, and learning outcomes have been documented, it’s important to consider how to include this understanding in all aspects of education, including during classroom time.

In 2006, researchers at East Carolina University found that “classroom-based physical activity program was effective for increasing daily in-school physical activity and improving on-task behavior during academic instruction.” That physical activity doesn’t have to be limited to the playground or in P.E. The researchers also point out that “children who participate in short bouts of physical activity within the classroom have more on-task behavior, with the best improvement seen in students who are least on-task initially.”

Consider Accessibility

As an educator, you know that each student has unique needs and not everyone has the same physical needs. Understanding diverse needs can help create inclusive classrooms.

Technology can help improve access to learning, but it comes with challenges, notably in the availability of resources for schools and districts. Making each learning space open, modern, and accessible—both physically and mentally—can help improve that.

When it comes to tech, a checklist can help map out accessibility needs. Physical needs must comply with regulations and should also be evaluated carefully for each student’s needs. In eSchool News, teacher Danise Olague outlines three questions to consider when thinking about access:

  1. Is it easy to operate?
  2. Is the content understandable?
  3. Can the content be interpreted by assistive technologies?

These ideas can be applied to your classroom, too. Can students more around easily? Do they understand how the room is laid out, and how they can use it? How could the flow be improved?

Curriculum and lesson planning is also important to consider. American University has an extensive guide that highlights the connection between “universal design,” a notion initially applied only to physical spaces, and learning.

Integrate Space and Learning

Dr. Jennifer Jones is the head of New York’s Green Ivy Schools. She focuses on comfortable, engaging, and aesthetic learning space. She also focuses on integrating the space with the curriculum; having the space reflect and enforce the school’s learning goals. Here’s how a profile of Jones from EmergingEdTech.com describes it:

The classrooms are outfitted with wall to wall white boards for ‘surround sound learning,’ and the walls between classrooms are designed to fold away, to bring two class groups together to combine ideas. There are no desks, not even at the middle school level; only large tables for communal learning. Through her careful curating of the entire academic experience, Ms. Jones is closing the gap between what parents’ ideas of traditional teaching and education are and a new world of integrated education that includes real-world, hands-on applications and an atmosphere full of bright, beautiful colors.

Furthermore, thoughtfully designed classrooms can offer digital-native students the ability to not only use technology, but use it holistically in learning—that is, learning with tech and about it. In a 2015 TED Talk called “Reimagining Classrooms: Teachers as Learners and Students as Leaders,” Kayla Delzer notes the imperative to use classrooms as hotbeds for technology learning. “As educators,” she said, “it is now our job to be champions of digital citizenship.”

Helping students act responsibly in digital spaces, however, requires physical spaces that allow that learning and reflect the omnipresence of technology in our lives. It can be a daunting task. But coordination between stakeholders can help manage those changes.

Understanding District-Level Needs

Administrators and decision-makers have a large role in guiding how teachers, instructional coaches, media specialists, and librarians arrange and use spaces. Some districts are investing in making their learning spaces future ready one room at a time, while others are laying out district-level plans, securing grants, and organizing across campuses. Whatever their capability, districts should consider broad planning initiatives when it comes to interactive learning spaces, just the way they consider general facilities management.

Here’s how Ed Tech describes this movement toward modern learning environments:

In a modern learning environment, flexible classroom spaces organically integrate technology, helping teachers to better engage students and facilitate the mix of independent, small-group and whole-class learning that is now viewed as essential to student success.

In practice, this means space that facilitates the use of handheld devices, computers, and other technology in flexible, comfortable ways. Notably for administrators, this process includes understanding students needs, as well as working with stakeholders: “Whatever the project’s size, it’s important to include all relevant stakeholders during the design process, including the IT and facilities departments, school administrators, faculty and students, experts say.”

Classroom Design Resources

Photo: Daniel McCullough

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ed tech news
Educational Trends

Ed Tech News Roundup: Back-to-School Updates and PBL

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Howdy, folks! Welcome to another in a series of biweekly ed tech news roundups. We hope you enjoy — and if you have a story you’d like to see included, let us know.

Making a Plan

As the new school year beckons, a few folks are thinking big when it comes to learning. The Maker movement is marching past isolated building activities into a framework for learning, and immersive learning is offering new paths to engage students.

  • Digital Promise, an ed tech nonprofit, has revamped their Maker Learning Leadership Framework, designed to grow maker learning in education. [Digital Promise, STEAM Universe]
  • Immersive learning often refers to learning facilitated by multi-sensory digital environments. The underlying notion of using space to enhance learning can refer to physical spaces, too, and spaces where the physical and digital overlap. [School Planning and Management]

Kids These Days

The students funneling into classrooms across the country represent Generation Z and Generation Alpha (the children of Millennials), digital natives whose behaviors and preferences, always crucial to educators, are starting to gain the attention of the wider world.

  • NBC News jumps into the world of Gen Z looking for insights on the generation’s tech and social media use, which includes some interesting results (they don’t, for example, watch much TV). [NBC News]
  • One seemingly unstoppable trend among younger generations is a huge — and lucrative — fascination with esports. Take a peek into the first Fortnite World Cup with 12 year-old gamer “H1ghSky1.” [Vulture / New York Magazine]

Project Management

Engaging students with project-based learning can help them understand material in hands-on, real-world ways. But using PBL in the classroom can be a challenge. Luckily, lots of smart educators are sharing a wealth of experience.

  • Going deep into in-the-field experiences with PBL can help teachers solve some of their most common issues. [THE Journal]
  • For those putting together PBL lesson plans, reviewing a few do’s and don’ts can help avoid issues, too. [Ed Tech]

…And Finally

Ed tech innovations often reach students through a screen. But could new ways of delivering education through technology actually reduce screen time? This startup says it can.

Photo: Peter Gonzalez

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