PBL

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment was to create a unit of study where students used project-based learning to provide a student- centered learning opportunity through real-world challenges and real-world problem solving strategies.  Children would have more autonomy in their project than typically given, and a lot more opportunity for creativity and collaboration with their teams.  There is no right or wrong answer to problems, but rather reasonable solutions. Solutions that require students to think critically.  

Challenges:  I have never attempted a PBL in my classroom and I felt very confused when trying to plan backwards and guide my students through this experience. The idea I came up with was creative and could really help my students connect to their community in meaningful ways. I also believed my students to have come up with extremely thoughtful and creative problems they wanted to solve in their community.  I had one group want to help the homeless and their depression, by finding stray animals and pairing the two up for therapeutic healing.  I loved the ideas the students came up with, but felt very frustrated and lost when trying to lead students from idea into creation.  I feel that in order for me to successfully launch a PBL unit, I would need to see how it is done from birth to creation, and work with other teachers that have experience with PBLs, before I feel confident enough in doing so with my own students.

How it was used in the classroom: I had my students watch January 9th, 2018 CNN segment on how young students have found ways to reach out and help people in their community. I had students then brainstorm ways they could help their own community. All my students came up with extremely thoughtful and meaningful ideas on how they want to help their community, and the solutions.  It was really refreshing to hear such young kiddos really put thought and love into wanting to make a change for the better.

Reflection and growth: As stated previous in this blog, I found this to be challenging and frustrating after the initial idea and brainstorming was complete. I feel that in order to truly have this be beneficial for myself and my students, would be to learn from someone with more familiarity than I have.  I do not have enough of experience and/or knowledge base to launch a PBL that would prove to be worth it for my students. I definitely more help in the future if I plan to complete a successful PBL.