Hi Vivian, thanks for your comments and questions. The teachers take part in monthly professional development sessions throughout the school year during which they plan projects as grade level teams (3-5). The PD facilitators (Kathy Fritz of CreatomBuilder and Chris Thompson from CEISMC at Georgia Tech) have led them through PBL and design-thinking (scaffolding less and less as the project has progressed) in addition to offering support around technology integration and computational thinking. Dr. Kathy Hayden and ISTE (Int’l Soc for Tech in Ed) is providing support in terms of evaluating the new lesson plans/projects for ways in which they are satisfying tech integration standards and computational thinking. One big challenge that we have seen is the tension the teachers experience between standards-based instruction and PBL — and that applies to the integrated content, as well. Our monthly PD/discussions have helped by reiterating the value in how students’ learning in context through the PBL projects is more engaging (the teachers have noticed/noted that) and results in more student-led inquiry (also noted by the teachers).

You write: “One big challenge that we have seen is the tension the teachers experience between standards-based instruction and PBL”

I am interested to hear more about this tension and how teachers tried to cope with it (or not) as it seems representative of crossroads in the larger paradigm of school and formal education. We all seem to agree that PBL motivates learners in ways that are unmatched by the core curriculum.. but we still seem to need and rely on standards to help guide teaching. It is easy to decry standards based instruction but yet we do seem to need them.

Hi Joni, Thanks for your comments. I am Zehra Ozturk, doctoral student, GRA at ICS project. The projects are developed and planned by grade level teachers. During school PD days, they work as a team and develop activities within each project. The each grade level team (4 teacher per each grade) has one full school day each month (from August- through May except December). The typical PD day includes planning their project for the month. Our grant proposal includes introducing computational thinking skills, App making, digital story telling. So teachers integrated those pieces according to their students’ interests and motivation. For instance, one of the third grade projects was “ Market Day” the students advertised and created WeVideo product commercial with the help of their teachers. Additionally, one of the fifth grade projects was “Great Depression”. The students constructed a narrative set during Great depression and using WeVideo.

Thanks, Barbara. I did have some video in there with the kids talking, but had to cut for time purposes. Maybe I’ll edit from their perspective… The teachers, I think, were just using the same key terms for their students’ projects. For the next year, we will try and be more organized about the class projects — so that they are all grouped together.

One of our biggest challenges has been reflecting with the teachers about their feelings that there isn’t enough time for them to do these projects. There sense of accomplishment has improved as they are understanding and becoming more efficient at PBL (and their sense that they are also covering the standards that they need to cover).

Hi Lisa. Thanks for your clarifying questions. I am Zehra Ozturk, doctoral student, GRA at ICS project. From 3rd through 5rd grades, all teachers participated PDs. Yes, we do track teachers numbers and demographics. The impacts on students learning are evaluated by our external evaluator each semester.