Project-Based Learning

Hello!

    2nd Grade has taken up a lot of my time but I have been thinking about this blog everyday!  Time to get back into things!
     Project-Based Learning is on the forefront of everyone's mind, especially since our Core Curriculum Content Standards as well as our teacher rubrics during observations focus on this type of learning as being more effective.  This means that we as teachers have to change our style of teaching to one where students are at the center and are problem solving.  This is a very different approach from one where students are used to being passive and were "fed" the information rather than interacting with it.  My district had IDE Corp (Innovative Design for Education) come to our school to teach us how to make a problem-based learning classroom.  My training ended some years ago and now that I have moved grade levels, I have been trying to get back into this type of learning and teaching, especially since I saw that my students were much more engaged in the material and focused on working together to solve a common and relevant problem.

(http://bie.org/)

     A great site that I explored in my graduate class was BIE (Buck Institute of Education)'s website which is completely about problem-based learning.  Not only does it explain the concept, but it gives countless websites and resources for teachers to utilize in their own classrooms.  One of the sites I am looking into now is about communities.  This is a topic we discuss in the second grade.  On the site, it gives me a week by week plan of what the model classroom did, gives examples of books that were used in the unit, and even uploaded the final project of a class magazine.  This is all available for teacher's to use and modify for their own needs.
     Another PBL that I viewed was for the upper grades.  It made an "Amazing Race" type project for students to study different continents and countries around the globe.  Even though the 5th grade does not study this content, they do study the regions of the United States.  Taking a PBL such as the "Amazing Race" idea and modifying it to fit the 5th grade curriculum would be easy to do with all of the materials offered on the site.
     One criticism I have of BIE is that it is not as user-friendly as I would like.  There is so much to offer but the viewer definitely has to take some time to look around and see what works with his/her classroom as well as where certain resources are located.  If you take the time, you will find a wealth of information.

     If you have used the site or are instructing in a problem-based learning classroom, I would love to hear your successes, troubles, advice, and sites that you use to develop your units.
     Enjoy!