Top 5 PBL News Stories

 

May 2 – 6, 2016

 

Each Friday we post a list of our favorite articles, blog posts, and other resources we’ve run across that relate to Project Based Learning.

Here’s what we liked this week:

Why Teachers With “Savior Complexes” Are Getting It All Wrong
Slate.com
Some thought-provoking ideas about educational equity in this post about an interview with Chris Emdin of Columbia University, author of the new book For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education. He recommends “actually trying to understand the kids you’re teaching, engaging them on their own terms, and letting them take the lead.” He describes some projects that do just that, such as writing raps about science and fixing up a community playground.

Five Tips for Integrating Project-Based and Social-Emotional Learning
Education Week Teacher
Kathleen Melville makes an excellent point: “Trying to teach tolerance or teamwork in the absence of an authentic purpose is frustrating if not futile… If we want SEL to be meaningful, we can’t separate it from the real work of the world” – which means PBL is a great way to build students’ social-emotional skills.

National Teacher of the Year
Council of Chief State School Officers
Jahana Hayes teaches history at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Connecticut and was recently honored by President Obama at the White House. She uses service-learning projects to “send students into the world not just academically prepared but as conscientious and productive members of society.”

Why Aren’t Students Allowed to Blog?
Education Week
Another good one from Peter DeWitt, who explains six reasons why teachers should “mix up writing assignments with blogging.” Blogging is a great way to make student work public, which is one of the Essential Project Design Elements in Gold Standard PBL.

Try: A Little Word Becomes a Big Gift
Edutopia
Karine Veldhoen suggests teachers take risks and try something new, such as a new pedagogy (e.g., PBL), connecting in new ways with parents, and personalizing learning.

 

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