Resource List: Managing a Project

Effectively managing a PBL unit doesn’t have to be sticky! Below are several resources curated for practitioners with the goal of providing direct, specific support in the various areas of project management.  This resource list will help teachers enhance their skills in managing a project. 

Resources: 

• Project Planner 
• Rubrics
• Student Handouts 
• Planning Tools 
• Beautiful Work  
• 21st Century Skills Culture  
• Twenty Tips to Managing Project Based Learning  
• Start the Year with a Project... or Wait?
•  27 Tips for Managing the Messy Middle of a Project. 
• 6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in Project-Based Learning 
• Project Based Teaching: Manage Activities
• Using a Project Wall to Support Gold Standard Project Based Teaching
• The Ultimate Team Work Management Tool: Kanban Boards
• PBLWorks Strategy Guides, especially the following ones:
  • Work Time - This guide provides an overview of strategies and approaches you can leverage during work time in order to make sure that it is purposeful and centered on student learning. 
  • Creating and Using Norms to Build Effective Culture- Norms are the agreed-upon rules that build a productive, self-driven, and respectful culture. This guide helps provides strategies for co-creating and using norms in service of students’ positive interdependence. 
  • Learning Log - A learning log is a tool that students use during the project to keep track of their questions and learning generated through their research. Learn how to utilize this tool in service of students’ independence during a PBL unit. 
  • Creating & Using Team Contracts - This strategy guide introduces practices for guiding students to generate and revisit team contracts. Learn how to utilize this tool in service of students’ effective collaboration and accountability during project work. 
  • Forming Project Teams - This resource provides guidance and specific strategies for forming effective teams in an effort to increase efficiency and productive teams. 
  • Using Roles in Teams - Effective teams require us to think carefully about the kind of work students will be doing throughout the project. What outcomes are most important? How can we utilize teams so students effectively reach those outcomes?