May 1-5, 2017

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

Here’s what we liked this week:

How to Prepare for an Automated Future
The New York Times
To prepare students for the future, this article asserts, “Schools will need to teach traits that machines can’t yet easily replicate, like creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, adaptability and collaboration.” (It doesn't mention PBL, but it should.)

Getting Critical About Critical Thinking
Edutopia
Teacher-blogger Heather Wolpert-Gawron offers some very practical advice for promoting critical thinking in the classroom—one of which is “Adopt a PBL Philosophy.”

A Principal in the Classroom: Utilizing Innovative Student-Centered Learning Practices
Center for Collaborative Education
Arthur Baraf, principal of the Met School in Providence, Rhode Island, a Big Picture Learning school, emphasizes the importance of not losing touch with students and classroom practice. He used BIE’s Gold Standard PBL model to help plan a unit in which students critically examined zero tolerance discipline policies in schools.

Personalization Is More Than a Slogan: It Requires a Vision and New Structures
Larry Cuban blog
This is a repost of a very thoughtful article by the late Ted Sizer, founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, about how true personalization means knowing each student well—which requires us to rethink the impersonal structure of large middle and high schools.

How to Scale Up Deeper Learning
EdWeek
Posted after attending the Deeper Learning conference in April at High Tech High and co-presenting a session with Ron Berger, Libby Woodfin of EL Education gives some great advice for “going bigger by starting smaller.”

Practicing PBL with a Small Town Community Vibe
Remarkable Chatter
This is a podcast with Ginger Lewman and a middle school teacher who’s been using PBL for six years and has lots of stories to tell of “trip-ups and triumphs.”

Learning’s Lousy Adoption Curve
Modern Learners
The always-provocative Will Richardson makes a great point: schools are set up for “schooling” but not deep, powerful learning. Consequently, it’s relatively easy to adopt new features that don’t require substantial change, such as maker spaces or genius hours, but practices like PBL take much more effort.

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