My PLN just made my school a better place:

One of the latest project-based challenges we faced in our grade 8 & 9 classroom was designing and constructing a safe and beautiful stage set for our (public) school's (k to 9) younger students holiday concert. Made helpful by both our district and province mandating 'competency focussed learning' and made into reality through developing an effective PLN.

Right:  One of the Grade 8 groups developing prototypes to answer the challenge: "With the area of 5 sheets of plywood, you must create a set that has 4 houses and can safely hold students 'on top of them'"

I jumped at the opportunity when our school's music teacher asked our staff team for some help, I knew it was risky putting students in charge of a project that not only the entire school and staff  would see, countless parents would as well. 

The doubts were many: Would the students fail to take ownership of this? Was the task too advanced for the age group to create something live up to our criteria of: 'safe and beautiful'?

Left: Using Google SketchUp to design models of a set where students could be safely elevated behind the set on the stage

The resources I have amassed, thanks to a ridiculously progressive PLN (Professional Learning Network-informal connections with pro's-designed by me for me, mostly using twitter as a medium), I found ample guidance to avoid these concerns, and in turn made the school a better place, and students delving into deep learning.


Right:  Grade 9's framing a railing around the top of rented metal scaffolding for the younger performers  


 For example:
    I would not have been as confident taking on this challenge if I hadn't pursued a tweet in the summer from Tom Whitby on timeless project-based resources. I couldn't have articulated the provoking quote: "just because it is hands on, doesn't mean it's minds on" without Jackie Gerstein's User Generated Education sharing. I wouldn't have set the tone for students to 'catch fire' without Paul Genge's project examples, nor embraced a vision the of student ownership if I wasn't following Rob Ridley's 'Weekly Challenges' I for sure would not have acted like I knew what I was doing (which could have very well been an issue at times) if I wasn't privy to John Spencer's post on Things I've Learned From Going Project Based

Professional Learning Networks transcend collegial sharing with teachers, they truly do take professional learning to another level. Dane Barner said it best:
The PLN is a mindset, not the outcome of a workshop or the PD offered annually by many school districts. It is not a one-shot fix.
10:41 AM - 10 Dec 13

It's extremely powerful how many new opportunities I am able to see within students learnings (ie: not pass this off as an art project to transition into Christmas break)
Stale projects can become juicy ones that showcase students array of skills from math, language arts, fine arts, geography, science, to graphic design, art, drama, construction, team building ect...

Left: The almost-completed Holiday Concert set, the performance was titled       Up on a Rooftop

In the end, the set was not only able to live up to our criteria, the collaborative nature of the investigation gave the students valuable experience and instilled a greater appreciation for social responsibility within the school. I overheard a grade 7 student say "I wonder what our challenge for the set will be next year" so I guess a tradition has began. (oh, and also would not have posted mindful pictures and quotes as parents were entering the performance without being pointed to habits of public documentation on the process from the grade 8 & 9 students without the the #reggio PLN tweet on the importance of documentation. 

I guess the most impressive takeaway is my school in now a better place due to the folks mentioned above and many others that share the resources that create lifelong habits of learning. Oh yeah, I couldn't have broken down the steps of class projects without Edutopia's start to finish resources on meaningful class projects too...it never ends.


Paul Kelba

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parenting With Steiner/Waldorf in Mind (and questions to ask).

Like so many new parents, I have found myself researching parenting trends and the science of child-rearing. Why not share? During interviews conducted during my graduate studies with experts on experiential learning there was commonly a referral like: "Well if you look at the utopian experience that Steiner/Waldorf Schools advocates create...". The expert would go on painting a description of a learning style striving to develop a complete human being. Where music, movement and theater, writing, literature and nature are not simply subjects to be read about and tested. They are experienced. The skinny: a Steiner/Waldorf ethos demands questioning of an experience or reaction to a behavior. What could be some nuggets that parents could utilize in home life? This post is just some Q and A's whipped together. Is electronic media as bad as research says it is for children? [1] Yes, Steiner/Waldorf training programs argue. Electronic Media affects child development
Read more

Blended Learning, meet Outdoor Education, you're such a wonderful fit...

Image
As buzz words go in education, the 'blended learning' model has been steadily increasing as an accepted delivery within classroom education. Blended learning, a challenge to teacher-centered classrooms, is no more technical than it sounds, basically encompassing a fluid use of face-to-face, on-line and group collaboration of some sort. Outdoor education is a powerful example of experiential learning that is far too often compartmentalized as extra curricular. Praised by many; however, its value localized with wellness and character building.  As ironic as it seems, outdoor and experiential education stands to benefit by the current integration of   technology. Teachers concerned with blending the classroom , as Cailin Tucker recently explained in a recent NPR article: "are using technology to replace elements of in-class instruction, classroom time can be leveraged to deepen learning. [Teachers] can embrace project-based learning and create student-centered class
Read more