PBL... and BAM!

This week in my Dimensions of Learning graduate class, we talked about Project Based Learning (PBL). Project Based Learning can be described as: a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge (www.pblworks.org). How do we incorporate Project Based Learning into our classroom? What does it look like? How do we guide students through this learning experience? These are questions we discussed during class and questions answered in ‘The Flexible ELA Classroom’ by Amber Chandler.

Incorporating PBL into your classroom may seem scary at first… where do you begin? Amber Chandler, author of ‘The Flexible ELA Classroom,’ discusses beginning the year with a simple PBL experience to introduce how learning will take place throughout the year. PBL generally incorporates student choice. What do the guidelines for PBL look like? Chandler explains ‘BAM’ as her guidelines to PBL. ‘BAM’ is an abbreviation for ‘Burning questions, Authentic audiences, and Millennial skills.’ Burning questions includes information students really want to know… what they are DYING to know. Authentic audiences includes sharing their information with the world. And Millennial skills are those that will come easy to students… making a meme, creating a gif, recording a song, etc. Although these guidelines are simple, as teachers, we want to encourage creativity through PBL. If students are in need of more direction, you may provide it, but the goal is for students to navigate through this experience to discover the answer(s) to the question, problem, or challenge.

With PBL will come uncertainty… as mentioned before, students will probably ask for more direction if this is a new learning experience for them. Students are used to rubrics that guide them towards an ‘A.’ Many students who typically get good grades may fear PBL. Where do they start? How do they get an A? As a teacher, it is important to model academic risk taking when introducing PBL. Students should know that it may take multiple tries to find the answers or solutions they are looking for. With time, academic risk taking will become more natural to students. It should also be noted that academic risk taking and failure do not equate to a ‘bad’ grade. Students should be encouraged to try new ways of seeking information and new platforms for sharing that information.

Lastly, it is important for students to immerse themselves into their project. We cannot force them to be excited about PBL, but we can allow students to choose topics they would like to research and investigate. Students should be excited to learn, they should WANT to learn. It is also more likely that students will learn something (or many things) when they are interested. So, as a teacher, give them as much choice as possible through PBL.

Before discussing PBL with my class, I did not know much about it. Not only did our discussions help me to better understand PBL, but it is a teaching method I would like to try in my own classroom one day. I am hoping you are as inspired as I am to try PBL!