Inquiry-Based Learning

PBL Problems: My Students Aren’t Getting Along #RealPBL

Before the summer hits, Erin Murphy and I will be releasing our new book on project based learning, Project Based Learning. Real Questions. Real Answers. – Unpacking PBL and Inquiry. To say we’re excited about this release is an understatement. And, more information to come! #RealPBL

In the meantime…Over the next month or so, I’m releasing a five-post miniseries, PBL Problems, which addresses some of the problems I had when implementing project based learning, as well as some of the problems other educators have had and/or continue to have.

Here’s a look at the five posts/problems, all of which will contain excerpts from the new book.

All of my students are creating the same exact product.
My students aren’t getting along.
I don’t know what to do while the kids are working.
My students aren’t learning what I needed them to learn.
Project based learning is so different from all my other teaching.

My Students Aren’t Getting Along

Student collaboration is a cornerstone of any thriving classroom culture, but collaboration can break down when students have differing ideas or opinions. At this point, students typically decide to “divide and conquer.” But collaboration is not defined by slicing up a workload and then smashing together independent pieces into a final product. Collaboration, not to be confused with group work, is an interdependent give and take, where the collective progress of the group improves the overall body of work.

The Job Outlook 2020 survey lists “ability to work in a team” as the second most sought-after attribute in prospective employees. Accordingly, this is a skill we should be teaching our students, both proactively (before projects, and before disagreements occur amongst students) and reactively (during projects, when issues arise).

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PBL Problems: All of My Students Are Creating the Same Exact Product #RealPBL

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Here’s a look at the five posts/problems, all of which will contain excerpts from the new book.

All of my students are creating the same exact product.
My students aren’t getting along.
I don’t know what to do while the kids are working.
My students aren’t learning what I needed them to learn.
Project based learning is so different from all my other teaching.

All of My Students Are Creating the Same Exact Product

While formulating our ideas during the planning of a PBL unit, we can rely on the three tracks of project based learning, which range from most restrictive to least restrictive. We can think of these tracks as a gradual release of responsibility, starting with Problem 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 this is done so students can exercise their creativity to own the process.
Problem Track – The project starts with a problem (usually, real world) that is either given to students or found by students. This approach is often referred to as problem based learning or challenge based learning.
Open-Ended Track – Students are presented with the project’s High Impact Takeaways (also called enduring understandings), learning targets, and possibly an Umbrella Question (also called essential questions or driving questions), and told they can demonstrate their knowledge however they’d like (with maybe a bit more direction provided).

One track isn’t necessarily “better” than the other. For any given project, the track we choose to use can depend on our specific context. For example, even when we (and our students) are comfortable with the open-ended track, depending on what we want to accomplish, it can still be appropriate to use the product track. And yes, more than one track could be tackled during a PBL unit – students debating an issue (product track) in the midst of solving a problem (problem track) – but one track tends to predominantly drive the unit as a whole.

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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.

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Project Based Learning: Six Hours of Professional Development (a free mini-course)

By Ross Cooper Leave a Comment

Last spring, as part of a professional development series organized by Tom Marshall (an Elementary Principal in Paramus, New Jersey), I facilitated three two-hour sessions on project based learning (PBL).

Below is an outline of the five activities that were spread out across the three sessions. In six hours total, the goal was to start with an introduction to PBL and then finish with participants feeling at least somewhat comfortable in designing their own projects. (Yes, we packed in a lot.)

There’s enough here for individuals or groups to work through these activities (or versions of them) on their own, as if it’s a self-paced PBL mini-course. Also, keep in mind, about 10-15 educators took part in the professional development. So, if you plan on using these activities to facilitate learning in your own school or district, some adaptations could be necessary.

———

Session 1 of 3: What Is Project Based Learning?

Activity 1: What’s the difference between projects and project based learning?

Directions

In small groups, claim a column on this spreadsheet (which you’ll need to copy in order to use) and ask as many questions as you can related to the above graphic and the differences between projects and PBL. Your questions should be recorded in the blue. (10 minutes)
Transfer your three most important questions from your blue to your red. (5 minutes)
Group discussion based on everyone’s red questions

Resources

Activity 2: What are the essential elements of project based learning?

Directions

Read, Buck Institute’s Gold Standard PBL: Essential Design Elements.
In different small groups, using this spreadsheet (which you’ll need to copy in order to use), rank the seven essential design elements from most important to least important (column B). For each ranking, provide justification (column C).
Group discussion based on everyone’s rankings

Resources

What are your next steps?

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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.

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How Do We Assess (And Possibly, Grade) Project Based Learning? #HackingPBL

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Last week, Erin Murphy and I facilitated a two-day project based learning (PBL) workshop for an inspiring group of educators from Madison City Schools, Alabama. As part of the workshop, we spent some time focusing on what assessment (and possibly, grading) can look like within the context of PBL.

When discussing this topic, it’s first and foremost important to keep in mind there is a difference between assessment and grading. Whereas the goal of assessment is to improve student learning, grading (or a grade) is generally used to evaluate current level of performance.

Should Projects Be Graded?

In short, the answer is a resounding “No!”

Project based learning experiences should call for a great deal of student critical thinking and creativity. And, research tells us that “carroting and sticking” these types of skills isn’t just ineffective, but detrimental.

Pause for a second and watch this Daniel Pink TED Talk, The Puzzle of Motivation, which is based on his book, Drive. Or, if you are in a rush, just watch from 1 minute 30 seconds to about the 7-minute mark. And, if you really don’t want to watch the video, here is the take-home point for this segment:

If-then rewards work really well for those sorts of tasks, where there is a simple set of rules and a clear destination to go to. Rewards, by their very nature, narrow our focus, concentrate the mind; that's why they work in so many cases…But for the real candle problem [a problem that requires creative problem solving], you don't want to be looking like this [tunnel vision]. The solution is on the periphery. You want to be looking around. That reward actually narrows our focus and restricts our possibility.

Pink also makes it clear this experiment is not the exception to the rule: “What's interesting about this experiment is that it's not an aberration. This has been replicated over and over again for nearly 40 years.”

Looking back on my work as a fourth grade teacher, I can draw a straight line from Pink’s work to my use (or misuse) of grades as the carrot and the stick. The more I engaged my students in project based learning, the more I realized that grading the actual project was not only unnecessary, but potentially harmful.

If Not Grades, Then What?

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Flexible Learning Spaces: The Start of Our Journey

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Over the past few weeks, my teachers and I have been exploring flexible learning spaces. And our goal is to hit the ground running with implementation at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. (Of course, we can experiment when our supplies arrive before then.)

Here’s the email (slightly modified) that officially began this movement. It was sent out about three weeks ago.

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Hacking Project Based Learning – Free Online Course! #HackingPBL

By Ross Cooper 8 Comments

This post was written by Erin Murphy and was originally published on her blog.

Ross: What do you think about writing a book on PBL?

Me: I think you’re crazy.

Ross: Just think about it.

If I’m being honest, I tried not to think about it. Unfortunately, the idea got stuck in my head. At first I fixated mostly on my failures: terrible rubrics, lengthy directions, displays of content rather than displays of learning, and the list could go on. Eventually, my stream of consciousness turned to the solutions I created (often times through a conversation with Ross), and then my wheels really started spinning. The true tipping point, however, came later in the week, when I bumped into a former student. She approached my family and me, while we were waiting to be seated at a restaurant, and said, “I was JUST telling my parents about the time you let us save those plants in the school garden from that fungus!”

Nine years.

This learner was in my class nine years prior.

Well, that really got me thinking. If experiences in my classroom held up to the test of time, maybe I did have something to write about after all.

Writing Hacking Project Based Learning: 10 Easy Steps to PBL and Inquiry in the Classroom was just as much about the failures as it was the triumphs (in fact, the failures probably had a greater impact). Mostly, though, it was about the kids. For us, this book is about sharing a clear framework for implementing PBL, with the ultimate goal of creating more educational experiences worthy of conversation after nine years.

This last year has been a whirlwind. Ross and I could not have predicted the positive acclaim that has surrounded our first book. Our work has connected us with opportunities, adventures, and people for which we are endlessly grateful. We continue to learn and grow with each moment, each interaction, and to show our appreciation, we want to offer you a Hacking PBL Birthday Gift!

We have compiled our favorite resources into an interactive online course, and we are giving it to you FOR FREE.

Thank you for joining us on this journey and for adding to the PBL conversation around the world!

We appreciate you.

Here's what's included…

Over 65 additional resources, organized by hack/chapter, to help you take off with project based learning – plus an introductory video for each hack
eBook Add-On – Contains 10 blog posts, each an extension of one of the 10 hacks/chapters from Hacking Project Based Learning
eBook: Sweet Spot Directions – Tips and authentic examples for how to deliver your project based learning directions in style
Project Planning Template – The easiest way to make project based learning a reality for you and your students
Hacking PBL 101 Slide Deck – An outline of the book, in slide format, that is ideal for project based learning professional development
Theory to Practice Book Study Guide – 3 professional learning options for facilitating a Hacking Project Based Learning book study
Question Cards – 36 questions to get you started with your discussions – 3 per hack/chapter, plus the introduction & conclusion
Posters – 8 posters featuring some of our favorite quotes from Hacking Project Based Learning
And more!

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Professional Development: Focusing on Student Choice

By Ross Cooper 2 Comments

Under the leadership of our Middle School Principal, Ken Parliman, we’re in the process of rethinking some of our middle level electives to provide students with more personalized learning experiences.

In preparation for these shifts, not too long ago I led the facilitation of an all-day professional learning session for our middle level specialists (those who teach the electives). I planned for this day alongside Ken and my Assistant Superintendent, Lynn Fuini-Hetten.

The theme for the day was student choice, and everything was encompassed by the essential question:

What decisions am I making for students that they could make for themselves?

What decisions am I making for students that they could make for themselves? via @spencerideas & @ajjuliani #EmpowerBook Click To Tweet

This question is from Empower, by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani. This a book I can highly recommend, and Spencer’s work served as the basis for what we accomplished.

The Agenda

Here’s the agenda for the professional learning:

The essential question was revealed and briefly discussed.
We watched and then discussed the YouTube video, 10 Ways to Empower Students With Choice, by John Spencer.

Each participating teacher chose a project he or she had already facilitated. With their projects in mind, each teacher filled out a T-Chart (in Google docs). The left-side contained the teacher choices that took place during the project, and the right-side contained the student choices.
With the following prompts in mind, participants analyzed and discussed each other’s T-Charts and projects:
- Looking at everyone’s examples of student choice, are there any possible ways you could group them into categories? What commonalities exist?
- How could you provide more student choice within your project?
- What are your reservations for providing more student choice?
With the following prompts in mind, participants read and then discussed the eBook, Getting Started with Student Choice, by John Spencer:
- Where is the author full of crap? (if at all)
- Where does the author hit the nail on the head?
- What practical tips are provided?

The Culminating Activity

Directions

Think of a project/activity you already use. Create ways to embed more student choice into it, based on “moving up” the diagram (p. 32 in the eBook, above) on your journey to the FroYo model. As you’re designing your project/activity, consider the following questions:
- Will students be designing a product? Solving a problem? Open-ended? Something else?
- As a result of the project/activity, what do you want students to understand?
- How will students be assessed and possibly, graded?
- For the lessons that take place within the context of your project/activity, (1) what content will need to be addressed, and (2) how will it be addressed?
After, share out the following:
- What was your “before” project? What is your “after” project? How do they contrast?
- What new opportunities are there for student choice? How do you think these opportunities will benefit your students?
Peer feedback.

In the End

Shortly after the session, I posted the following on Facebook:

Today I worked with my Middle School Principal to facilitate an all-day session on student choice during project design. Great stuff! Feeling inspired! (Sometimes if we remove the buzzwords and drill down to what matters, moving forward is that much easier.)

Through professional learning, there are countless ways to tackle such practices/topics as: inquiry-based learning, project based learning, personalized learning, learner agency, etc. However, often times, when we lead with these terms, we can easily intimidate and possibly “turn off” participants (especially when a district doesn’t have a common definition/understanding of what these terms involve). So, in this particular instance, we chose student choice as our entry point. By the end of the day we ended up exploring all of the above and a whole lot more. And, in the process, I do believe we comfortably “met participants where they were” without being disrespectful of the work they had already done.

Finally, as usual, I look forward to improving upon this professional learning for when we decide to roll it out again!

How do you encourage student choice?

Connect with Ross on Twitter.

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Yes, Learning Targets Can Make Our Lives Easier

By Ross Cooper 11 Comments

My first few years in the classroom I wasn’t a big fan of learning targets or posting learning targets prior to each lesson for students to see. These feelings were mostly driven by my experiences as a student teacher, during which I had to write the standard on the board prior to each lesson. (I mistakenly thought standards were the same as learning targets. But, in reality, posting the actual standard was even worse.) I also thought the learning target approach to revealing content was both generic and lame.

However, I can say now that I started to “get” learning targets when I began to give my students more choices in regards to how they expressed their learning. In short, I was making the transition from, “Learn this in this way!” to, “This is what we’re learning, and you can demonstrate your understandings however you’d like!”

This shift was most evident when examining the rubrics my students and I used during our project based learning experiences. Initially, these rubrics looked like project directions regurgitated in another format, which promoted compliance, not creative learning. Many of my students were able to “play the game of school” and earn an A by simply following what had been outlined for them in their rubric/directions: appropriately title your work, include three photographs related to your topic, include at least ten adjectives, cite five sources, etc. Furthermore, in the end, all finished products usually looked quite similar.

Then, after a few years of this productive struggle, it was nothing short of groundbreaking for my students and me when I decided to start populating each rubric’s left-hand column with learning targets (as opposed to tasks). As students made their way through these projects, I gave them feedback in relation to where they were on the continuum of hitting each target (instead of telling them what hoop to jump through next in order to earn an A). Increasingly, feedback and assessment focused on what students were supposed to learn, not what I wanted them to do. And, because feedback wasn’t task-specific, students were able to naturally own how they learned and displayed their knowledge.

The Graphic

As I continue to wrap my head around learning targets, I’ve created the graphic (above), which illustrates the various degrees to which learning targets can impact learning. From top to bottom, choices range from most restrictive to least restrictive. For example, after choosing one from each column (as the graphic indicates), we can end up with, “Teacher chooses target(s). Hit the target(s) this way, by this date, at this time.” Here, we’re one-size-fits-all without student choice. The other extreme is, “Learner creates target(s). Hit the target(s) however you want, at your own pace.” This path resembles personalized learning. And, with all the buzz about personalized learning (and student choice, student agency, learner-centered spaces, etc.), I have found that these abstract (and sometimes, intimidating) approaches are much more concrete (and far less scary) when considered through the lens of learning targets.

Two more ideas related to learning targets…

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