Inquiry-Based Learning

Project Based Learning: 3 Types of Direct Instruction #RealPBL

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

Direct instruction, however, has developed negative connotations, especially among fans of project based learning and inquiry. Yet, in Visible Learning for Teachers, John Hattie tells us, “One of the more successful methods for maximizing the impact of teaching and enabling teachers to talk to each other about teaching is direct instruction…often incorrectly confused with transmission or didactic teaching (which it is not).” In reality, didactic teaching relates to slow-paced lectures, and we need a broader definition of direct instruction. Even in a learner-centered classroom, the teacher fills the critical role of content infuser, providing students with new information to ponder, question, challenge, and learn.

When we made the jump to project based learning, we embraced it a bit too much, and for some time, we looked down on direct instruction. Now, thanks to more experience, we know that our students benefit when we strategically leverage direct instruction throughout our PBL units. More specifically, during project based learning, we have found that direct instruction emerges in three distinct ways: proactive, reactive, and learning detours.

Proactive Direct Instruction

Generally done with the whole class, this instruction can involve:

Content the majority of students will need as background knowledge to engage in the project
Content related to common misconceptions
Content students need to learn, but might not uncover on their own as they work through their projects
Specific jobs, skills, or tools the majority of students will want to execute or use, but will require assistance

In all instances, ask yourself: “Will the majority of my students be better off if I simply ‘feed them’ this information ahead of time, or should I make them work for it?” If you think you’re going to end up with a struggle that makes students unnecessarily anxious rather than a productive struggle that leads to deep learning, proactively teach the content.

To inform that decision-making, consider what you know about your students (pre-assessments can help), what you know about the content, what you know about the project, and how much time you’re willing to dedicate to it. Once you decide content is worth teaching, address it close to the time when students are going to need it: before or toward the beginning of the project, or during the project prior to students bumping into it. This is called just-in-time learning.

Reactive Direct Instruction

This is the crux of differentiated instruction, when you are in the middle of a project and recognize that students need additional support. This instruction, which generally comes in three forms, directly relates to the conferring we discussed in the previous chapter:

One-on-one conferring helps you meet a student’s unique needs.
Group instruction helps you meet a group’s unique needs during a group project, or during an individual project when several students are demonstrating the same need.
Whole-class instruction can take place when the majority of students are demonstrating the same need.

Most of the time, content will relate to the project’s learning targets. However, it may also relate to:

Specific jobs, skills, or tools the majority of students will want to execute or use, but will require assistance
Group remediation when students struggle to collaborate
Project directions, especially if you were accidentally unclear as to what you wanted students to accomplish

Learning Detours

If students know what they have to accomplish, they are more likely to take ownership of their learning. Of course, on their way to their goals, they’ll probably take their work in directions that include their passions and interests, which may not be encompassed by academic standards. Or students may stumble upon an unanticipated phenomenon or idea. If that happens, you can react in one of two ways. You stifle student curiosity if you reply with, “That’s not what we’re learning!” but you nurture students’ inquiring minds when you allow for them to investigate their questions.

Nurturing students’ curiosities supersedes covering the curriculum. #RealPBL Click To Tweet

Nurturing students’ curiosities supersedes covering the curriculum. As much as possible, allow for these learning detours either during the project or outside of project time during something like Genius Hour. There will be times when a detour is too long or when you feel the learning won’t be beneficial. In these cases, it is helpful to have a parking lot for students to store, share, and possibly collaborate over their findings. When students post their thoughts publicly, it validates their thinking while also creating a platform to inspire the ideas of others.

Getting Started with Project Based Learning #RealPBL

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

When planning a PBL unit, there are five potential starting points, none of which are mutually exclusive.

Students: Find out what’s relevant to the students and use this as the basis for the project.
Cool idea: Start with a cool idea that gets your students and/or you excited.
A process: Build your project around a process, such as design thinking or the engineering cycle.
The end in mind: Establish what you want your students’ main takeaways (what we refer to as High Impact Takeaways) [enduring understandings] to be, and plan backward from there.
Academic standards: Flip through your academic standards, looking for inspiration, which can come from standards that promote learning that is hands-on, minds-on, and interdisciplinary.

No matter where we begin, our project should connect to the standards, unless students are engaged in something like Genius Hour (detailed in Chapter 8), or our organization isn’t held accountable for the standards.

While formulating ideas, you can also rely on the three tracks of project based learning, which range from most restrictive to least restrictive. Think of these tracks as a gradual release of responsibility, starting with Product Track and ending with Open-Ended Track.

Product Track: All students create a product(s) or contribute to an event, but there’s flexibility regarding how they do it so students can exercise their creativity to own the process.
Problem Track: The project starts with a problem (usually a real-world problem) that either the teacher gives to students or students find on their own. This approach is often referred to as problem-based learning or challenge-based learning.
Open-Ended Track: Present students with the project’s High Impact Takeaways [enduring understandings], learning targets, and possibly an Umbrella Question [essential question], and ask them to demonstrate their knowledge however they’d like, with only a little more direction.

One track isn’t necessarily better than another. For any given project, choose the track that fits best with your specific context. For example, even when you and/or your students are comfortable with the Open-Ended Track, it might be more appropriate to use the Product Track, depending on what you want to accomplish. And yes, you might use more than one track during a PBL unit – students debating an issue (Product Track) in the midst of solving a problem (Problem Track) – but one track tends to drive the unit as a whole.

[Read more…]

How Do I Lead Project Based Learning? – Evaluate Professional Learning #RealPBL (part 4 of 4)

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

The following is the fourth of four excerpts from the eBook, How Do I Lead Project Based Learning?, which provides a concrete framework for leading the implementation of project based learning. Although this eBook was written through the lens of project based learning, everything can be applied to all professional learning and instructional shifts, no matter the content. Originally, the eBook’s content was the final chapter of the book, Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

The four drivers of instructional shifts serve as the basis for the eBook: establish relationships and trust, begin with the end in mind, model best practice, evaluate professional learning.

Evaluate Professional Learning

As an Elementary School Principal, my team and I implemented a new multisensory phonics program in kindergarten through second grade. During its first year of implementation, I can recall an eye-opening conversation I had with one of the kindergarten teachers. The majority of the conversation focused on how happy teachers were with the program, and on the ways in which students were excelling at its various strategies: naming sight words, tapping out words on their desks, writing letters in sand, etc.

Then the conversation shifted to the actual goals of the program and how we could find if these goals were being met. Was the goal to get better at the program, or was the goal for students to get better at reading and spelling? And, because the goal was the latter, how could we determine the extent to which the program was moving students in this direction?

In short, we turned their attention to the question we should always ask ourselves whenever we implement a new program or instructional shift: How do we know what we’re doing is working?

In Evaluating Professional Development (2000), Tom Guskey features five increasing levels of sophistication for evaluating professional learning, from lowest to highest: participants’ reaction to professional development, how much participants learned, evaluating organizational support and change, how participants use their new knowledge and skills, improvements in student learning.

Guskey explains:

The levels in this model for evaluating professional development are hierarchically arranged from simple to more complex. With each succeeding level, the process of gathering information is likely to require increased time and resources. More importantly, each higher level builds on the ones that come before. In other words, success at one level is necessary for success at the levels that follow. (p. 78)

Regarding PBL professional learning (or any other professional learning) the endgame is the impact we have on student learning, which is preceded by changes in teaching. So, we should be able to specify the different forms of evidence that will be used, both quantitative and qualitative, to determine if teaching and learning is improving or has improved as a result of project based learning. Some of these indicators may include: an analysis of Progress Assessment Tools (during projects and after the fact), formative assessments, summative assessments, final products, student reflections, student participation, student observations, classroom walkthroughs, and teacher observations.

To address Guskey’s lower levels, we turn to three forms of assessment.

In keeping with the theme of adult learning mimicking student learning, student learning involves three forms of assessment and therefore the same applies to adults:

Assessment of learning – This is summative assessment in which learners are assessed after the learning has taken place. Example: Students take an end-of-unit test, with no opportunities for redos, retakes, and do-overs. All grades are final.

Assessment for learning – These assessments are formative in nature (non-graded), and their results are used to drive instruction. Example: At the end of a lesson, the teacher gauges students’ progress with an exit ticket. Results are used to differentiate the next day’s instruction.

Assessment as learning – These are self-assessments, in which learners determine where they are and then what they need to do to meet their goals. Example: During independent work, students refer to their learning targets and success criteria to determine where they are in relation to where they need to be. They then adjust their work accordingly.

[Read more…]

How Do I Lead Project Based Learning? – Model Best Practice #RealPBL (part 3 of 4)

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

The following is the third of four excerpts from the eBook, How Do I Lead Project Based Learning?, which provides a concrete framework for leading the implementation of project based learning. Although this eBook was written through the lens of project based learning, everything can be applied to all professional learning and instructional shifts, no matter the content. Originally, the eBook’s content was the final chapter of the book, Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

The four drivers of instructional shifts serve as the basis for the eBook: establish relationships and trust, begin with the end in mind, model best practice, evaluate professional learning.

Model Best Practice

Professional learning is always an opportunity to model the types of learning we want to see taking place in classrooms. Whenever we lead professional learning, as a starting point we think about how we’d theoretically teach the information to our students. Because time is limited, we can’t exactly simulate an entire project based learning experience. But we can model best practice by leveraging inquiry, which serves as the basis for project based learning.

Professional learning is always an opportunity to model the types of learning we want to see taking place in classrooms. #RealPBL Click To Tweet

Zooming out a bit, it’s critical for us to be aware of the differences between professional learning (or professional development), professional training, and professional discussions.

Professional learning is the process of building capacity in participants, while professional training generally follows more of a rigid approach with several rights and wrongs (think, using a program with fidelity). Overall, we believe both have a place in education as long as more of an emphasis is placed on the learning.

While the line between professional learning and professional training is quite clear, there is a third category, which can be triggered when we mistakenly believe we are providing deep professional learning, but in actuality we are barely scratching the surface with not much more than conversations and examples related to a specific topic. This third category, which falls somewhere in between the other two on the “autonomy spectrum,” is professional discussion.

Since the line between professional discussion and professional learning can easily be blurred, let’s take a look at how each of these categories applies to educators being introduced to Umbrella Questions, a vital component of project based learning.

Professional Discussion on Umbrella Questions

Participants watch a short video on the significance of Umbrella Questions.
The facilitator spends a few minutes talking about what an Umbrella Question is and isn’t, how they can be used to drive project based learning and/or higher-order thinking, and how she has seen them used in classrooms.
Everyone discusses how they already may be using Umbrella Questions, or how they may aspire to use them in the future.
The facilitator directs participants to a few resources on Umbrella Questions, and they have time to look through them while discussing their favorites.

While the discussion may look good on paper, and I have been guilty of leading these types of sessions, I can now say with confidence they generally don’t produce sustainable results. In reality, participants are engaging in a bloated conversation (disguised as professional learning), and then they leave with a vague idea of how what they have learned could be applied to their particular classrooms and contexts.

Two questions to think about: Do these steps model the type of instruction we want to be seeing in classrooms? If we want participants to embrace a new practice, should they be told why it’s meaningful, or should they uncover why it’s meaningful?

[Read more…]

How Do I Lead Project Based Learning? – Begin with the End in Mind #RealPBL (part 2 of 4)

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

The following is the second of four excerpts from the eBook, How Do I Lead Project Based Learning?, which provides a concrete framework for leading the implementation of project based learning. Although this eBook was written through the lens of project based learning, everything can be applied to all professional learning and instructional shifts, no matter the content. Originally, the eBook’s content was the final chapter of the book, Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

The four drivers of instructional shifts serve as the basis for the eBook: establish relationships and trust, begin with the end in mind, model best practice, evaluate professional learning.

Begin with the End in Mind

For instructional shifts, beginning with the end in mind can be broken down into four distinct categories.

Start with Why

When we lead an instructional shift, chances are we’ve spent countless hours pouring over its content, deciding how it should be rolled out, thinking about how it will impact teachers, staff, students, etc. Of course, all of this planning is necessary if we want the instructional shift to be successful. At the same time we have to remember, everything we learn doesn’t reach our people unless we actually communicate the learning. For example, if two educators have almost no knowledge of project based learning, but then one of them decides to read Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers. and attend a three-day workshop on the topic, the other educator’s knowledge of project based learning is not affected; she still knows next to nothing. While this conclusion may sound like a given, it’s easy to start to believe something should be common sense to others simply because we have taken the time to educate ourselves. We can never over-communicate why we’re doing what we’re doing (and how we’re going to make it happen), even though it may be common sense to us.

Also, according to John Kotter (2010), one of the biggest mistakes we can make when attempting to achieve buy-in “is to communicate with all ‘head’ and no ‘heart’” (p. 186). In other words, the odds are not in favor of teachers saying, “If [insert researcher] says this is what’s best, then we should all be doing it in our classrooms!” While research certainly has its place, we can first appeal to others by having dialogue (not monologue) in which we discuss in practical terms how our students will benefit from the instructional shift, while also discussing how teachers and staff will be supported.

Establish Learning Goals

As explained in the Introduction of Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers., when we focus on a topic (e.g., three branches of government) as opposed to what we want students to know, understand, and be able to do, we end up with surface-level learning that lacks direction. Not so surprisingly, the same can be said for adult learning. Yes, we can start with an instructional approach (such as project based learning), but at some point we need to drill down to (1) what educators should know, understand, and be able to do as a result of their professional learning and (2) how students should be impacted by the instructional shift.

When we start to plan professional learning, we determine all of the learning targets participants will have to tackle in order to be successful, while keeping in mind these targets should correlate with our desired shifts in student learning. Then, we arrange these targets in the order in which they should be learned. Next, while maintaining their order, we divide up the learning targets according to the total number of professional learning sessions. They may not be divided up evenly, but rather according to how much can be accomplished; not all learning targets require the same amount of attention. Finally, we brand each session with an Umbrella Question that encompasses all of its learning targets.

When facilitating professional learning, the current session’s Umbrella Question and learning targets should be communicated to participants toward the beginning of the session and then possibly again at the end to bring closure to the learning. To demonstrate where the current session falls within the context of the entire instructional shift, we also review the Umbrella Question and learning targets from the previous session, if one exists.

[Read more…]

How Do I Lead Project Based Learning? – Establish Relationships and Trust #RealPBL (part 1 of 4)

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

The following is the first of four excerpts from the eBook, How Do I Lead Project Based Learning?, which provides a concrete framework for leading the implementation of project based learning. Although this eBook was written through the lens of project based learning, everything can be applied to all professional learning and instructional shifts, no matter the content. Originally, the eBook’s content was the final chapter of the book, Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

The four drivers of instructional shifts serve as the basis for the eBook: establish relationships and trust, begin with the end in mind, model best practice, evaluate professional learning.

Establish Relationships and Trust

For curriculum nerds, such as myself, it could be tempting to approach instructional shifts and professional learning in isolation – solely tackling change through the lens of someone doing curriculum work. However, our curriculum work will be hindered and potentially carry negative connotations if we treat it as a hobby, interest, or obsession, while ignoring the fact that people (yes, real people) are impacted by what we do.

I send this message because at one point or another I have been guilty of prioritizing the work over the people. At the same time, I know what it feels like when others in our organization act like they’re the curriculum experts who are here to fix things (or us) because they somehow have the answers to all of our problems, which may or may not exist. Of course, when we take this approach, we disrespect the work that came before us while likely ignoring others’ strengths.

As curriculum nerds, when an instructional shift isn’t successful it’s easy to blame logistics: poor professional learning, not enough resources, lack of time, etc. While factors such as these could undoubtedly influence our results, we must also consider how our connections (or lack thereof) with people hurt our progress. Based on the relationships we establish (or don’t establish), the fate of many of our instructional shifts will be determined long before anyone knows what they are. If we only say and do the right things when we need others to get on board with our ideas, we shouldn’t be surprised when we’re the only ones who are excited about what we’re bringing to the table.

It’s easy to talk about relationships; more importantly, we must know how to actualize this work. Here are four explicit strategies we can use to establish relationships with others.

Approach Every Interaction with Intentionality

In many schools and districts we use gifts, food, and events in attempts to boost morale: spirit shirts for new teachers, coffee in the faculty room the morning after parent-teacher conferences, a staff volleyball game in lieu of a faculty meeting, etc. While these have a place in our schools, and they can be signs of healthy school culture, we’re on a slippery slope if we’re thinking all of this is just as important or more important than daily face-to-face interactions. As an administrator, one question I’m always asking myself is, “How might others feel as a result of interacting with me?” Overall, if the answer to this question is not favorable, all of the coffee in the world isn’t going to help my cause.

There is a definitive difference between showing up to impress and showing up to support. While our insecurities may tell us we need to constantly prove ourselves, we know true leaders are always encouraging others. As Joe Sanfelippo (Superintendent) tells us, “Every single time you connect with someone in your school community, you are building or killing culture.” Being intentional about each and every interaction is not easy, especially for administrators who seemingly live under microscopes, but it is a challenge we must accept before we can engage in any other work.

Seek to Understand

At one point or another, we’ve all probably been a part of a meeting in which we felt like the facilitator didn’t consider our input simply because it conflicted with his line of thinking or what he wanted to accomplish. As a result, our support for the facilitator may have diminished. When we have opportunities to lead, we can either do to others what has been done to us, or we can be strong and give everyone a voice. Bottom line: Our words and actions must communicate that the thoughts and ideas of others can make a difference. Otherwise we have no right to get upset when apathy becomes the norm.

Our words and actions must communicate that the thoughts and ideas of others can make a difference. #RealPBL Click To Tweet

We can empower others by not just listening to them, but by what Stephen Covey calls “seeking to understand” their perspectives. Others have to feel they can respectfully share their input without repercussion, and, ideally, we should be able to disagree, argue, and debate (sometimes behind closed doors) to collaboratively problem solve in the absence of animosity. Finally, when appropriate, we need to be willing to get behind others’ ideas. Countless compliments and promises won’t mean anything if we’ve conditioned others to believe we habitually engage in lipservice.

[Read more…]

Project Based Learning Helps Us Overcome Technology Addiction #RealPBL

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

The following is an excerpt from the eBook, #RealPBL Deleted Scenes, which contains excerpts that didn’t make it into the final draft of the book, Project Based Learning: Real Questions. Real Answers.

Background Information: Here’s the final section from the Introduction that didn’t make the cut. Whereas the previous section stuck around for awhile, this one was written and then deleted shortly thereafter. While we believe the problem posed by this section – tech addiction – is worth addressing, it is covered throughout the book, in one way or another.

PBL Helps Us Overcome Tech Addiction

Toward the beginning of both of our teaching careers, we admittedly participated in what we now call “the technology pissing contest.” In short, we were always on the lookout for “cool tools,” and we wanted to be the first ones to use them at our school, even if we had to construct overly contrived activities.

Take, for example, these directions from an iPad project:

Using iMovie, shoot a silent scene of two actors portraying characters from a novel. Save the video to your Camera Roll. Open the Tellagami app, and use a solid green image as your background. Have the avatar in Tellagami explain what is going on in the silent movie scene. Finally, use DoInk Green Screen to combine the video created with iMovie with the Tellagami commentary. Save the finished product to the Camera Roll.

When we teach in this way, and we just have to use certain technologies with our students, we plan by “beginning with the technology in mind,” as opposed to planning that begins by considering what we want students to learn. And, we know our teaching is in the wrong place when students first and foremost believe their goal is to learn all about [insert technology].

This overemphasis on technology isn’t just a problem that exists at the classroom level. Based on our experiences, countless schools and districts are heavily investing in devices, sometimes as if it’s the answer. Then, to make sure money isn’t wasted, teachers are required to use these tools, and technology walkthroughs are implemented on a wide scale.

While we fully appreciate schools and districts moving toward technology integration, it has become increasingly obvious to us that technology amplifies (for better or worse) what’s already taking place. If we have a dynamic teacher and meaningful learning, technology can help to elevate these conditions. If we have a lackluster teacher and insignificant learning, not only will technology not help, but its entity could potentially mask what’s truly transpiring.

In addition, technology can be defined as something that was invented in our lifetime. For most of our students, these technologies aren’t a novelty but rather a way of life. We need to do what we can to ensure student access, but then we don’t need to take the use of these tools and hold it up on a pedestal. Also, the majority of the time, our students know more about these tools than we do, but we don’t ask them for help. As a result, our students miss out on valuable opportunities when we’re hesitant to use technology because we haven’t fully “mastered it.”

On a classroom, school, and district level, many of our technology-related problems (as well as other problems) dissipate when we prioritize pedagogy by integrating technology into meaningful teaching and learning, not the other way around. Or, as Michael Fullan succinctly puts it, “Pedagogy is the driver, technology is the accelerator.” (And in some instances, technology is the roadblock.)

[Read more…]

The Intersection of Project Based Learning and Reading and Writing Workshop #RealPBL #tcrwp

By Ross Cooper 1 Comment

Background Information: The book’s Introduction was probably the most difficult part to write, which is why two of this eBook’s excerpts are from the Introduction. In the Introduction, we wanted to include a few reasons as to why project based learning should be prioritized, but we don’t want to alienate the reader by getting too technical too soon. This section, from the Introduction, is a personal favorite due to its emphasis on Reading and Writing Workshop. However, it was removed because (1) it could be confusing for those who aren’t familiar with workshop, and (2) it could turn away those who aren’t fans of workshop. Ultimately, a portion of this section was used elsewhere in the Introduction.

PBL Provides Context for Student Learning (Much Like the Workshop Framework)

In both of our school districts, Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop are used for the teaching and learning of literacy. Zooming in on the workshop framework, using narrative writing as an example, a typical instructional unit (unit of study) could follow these steps. As you read, even if you don’t use workshop, think about how these steps might parallel your experiences with project based learning or how these steps could transcend literacy:

Through the collective analysis of exemplars, the teacher introduces the unit’s genre, narrative writing, to students. Amongst the discussion, she gives each student a handout containing the unit’s learning targets – what students should be learning and applying as they write.
Over the next 4-6 weeks, the teacher engages students in a series of mini-lessons, lasting about 10-12 minutes each. Each mini-lesson focuses on a very specific aspect of narrative writing: writing a lead, introducing characters, inserting transitions, helping readers to visualize, etc.
After each mini-lesson, students are given about 25 minutes to write in their writers’ notebooks; it doesn’t matter what they write as long as they’re personal narratives and students are working toward the learning targets. During this time, students can use what they’ve learned from mini-lessons to enhance their work. Also during this time, the teacher meets with students, individually and in small groups, to help them to move forward with their writing.
As the teacher meets with students, sometimes she will notice many students are struggling with the same concept. She addresses the misconception by having the entire class stop their writing so she can teach (or reteach) the concept to everyone.
Most lessons conclude with a 5-minute meeting, during which some students read parts of their work so everyone can learn from one another. Oftentimes the teacher will ask specific students to read certain excerpts to demonstrate what particular concepts look like in action.
Over the 4-6 weeks, as students write in their notebooks, some pieces may resonate while others may fall by the wayside. The ones that resonate, about 2-3 for the unit, are taken through the entire writing process: revising, editing, publishing.

We tend to think about instructional approaches in isolation, and even though the workshop framework can be leveraged in powerful ways when teaching literacy, we usually don’t consider how this same framework can be applied to other subject areas. Nonetheless: Proven practices in one subject area can typically be used in others with the same success. For example, project based learning closely resembles the workshop framework – an actuality that is regularly an “AHA moment” amongst educators who are familiar with workshop but not necessarily project based learning. In fact, when designing project based learning experiences, we have heard educators refer to it as “Workshopping [insert subject area].”

Proven practices in one subject area can typically be used in others with the same success. #RealPBL Click To Tweet [Read more…]

4 Keys to Student Self-Assessment

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

At T. Baldwin Demarest Elementary School in Old Tappan, New Jersey, we’re in the middle of a two-year process of implementing Writing Pathways across all grade levels. More or less, Writing Pathways is an assessment system that works hand-in-hand with the Writing Workshop framework, and the system will help us to better align our writing instruction, horizontally and vertically.

In addition, whenever we’re dealing with assessment, student self-assessment should be our endgame for the purpose of students owning the learning as much as possible.

As John Hattie tells us in Visible Learning for Teachers:

…the greatest effects on student learning occur when teachers become learners of their own teaching, and when students become their own teachers. When students become their own teachers, they exhibit the self-regulatory attributes that seem most desirable for learners (self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-assessment, self-teaching). Thus, it is visible teaching and learning by teachers and students that makes the difference.

That being said, taking into consideration Writing Pathways and my work with project based learning, here are what I believe are the four keys to student self-assessment.

111 Shares

Four Reasons to Tackle Flexible Learning Spaces

By Ross Cooper 1 Comment

Since this past January, I’ve been the Elementary Principal of T. Baldwin Demarest Elementary School (TBD) in the Old Tappan School District. And, as I’ve previously detailed in my blog post – Flexible Learning Spaces: The Start of Our Journey – one of our first initiatives involved flexible learning spaces. In short, every teacher was given money to spend on furniture for his/her classroom.

Why Every Teacher?

Yes, every teacher had the option. This idea probably sounds a bit unconventional, as most initiatives begin with a pilot group that paves the way, making it easier for late adopters to follow. However, in this instance, due to certain constraints (timing, budget, etc.), I believe it made more sense to let everyone jump on board, which has its upsides. As Prakash Nair announces in Blueprint for Tomorrow, “Indeed there is evidence that reform efforts focused on improving the capabilities of individual teachers are less effective than those that engage teachers collectively.” There is value in everyone moving in the same direction at the same time while learning from one another and continually refining their work (or learning spaces) as necessary.

Why the Classrooms?

I also played with the idea of taking a look at other parts of the school, such as (1) furniture that would allow for students to more comfortably work in certain sections of the hallways, and (2) rethinking the area right outside the main office, which is what is first encountered when entering into the building. However, it didn’t take long to realize all of these changes would have been too much too soon. And, if we’re going to start anywhere, it makes sense to start with the classrooms, as this is where students and teachers spend the majority of their time. In The Third Teacher, John Stanford, the late superintendent of schools in Seattle, tells us, “The victory is in the classroom.”

Now let’s take a look at four reasons why we prioritized flexible learning spaces.

265 Shares