Project Based Learning: Leap of Faith

Last spring when my principal pulled me aside and asked if my partner and I would be interested in doing project based learning with our class, my first thought was, "WHAT IS project based learning?"

Now, I had heard a bit of buzz about project based learning, but if I were to be perfectly honest, I had no true idea exactly what it entailed. So my first step was to hit the internet and do some research.

There was an overwhelming amount of information out there....often more than I could wrap my head around. 

Of all that I found, this short video from Edutopia gave me the clearest visual of what she was asking us to do, so this became our starting point. 

Real-world Connection

Our first step was to create a real-world connection... because this was our first attempt at project-based learning, we decided to keep it small. After researching project examples, we decided to create a brochure of our school, and our guiding questions to the kiddos became, "What would we need to include in a brochure to tell visitors as much as possible about our school, and how will we create it?" (For future projects, I would approach this as something that is more student driven...allowing students to create their own project.)

Mrs. Hanna came in and introduced the project to some very excited kiddos!

Core to Learning

Mrs. Whitt and I then sat down and discussed which Common Core Standards would be addressed in this project. The most challenging piece of this was to include as many subjects as possible within the project. 

Structured Collaboration

Students first browsed many examples of brochures, noting what the best brochures had in common and what each group felt was most important to include in their own.

 

 

Student Driven

After deciding what was most important to each group, they took off in their research. Here collaborative groups are looking through school scrapbooks dating back to the opening of the school, noting how it is displayed and written.

Students asked Mr. Dalton, the first principal at Southside, to come and share more of its history. Students took notes that they felt would be most important to their groups finished product and then worked with other group members to present it in the best way possible.

Groups had to be responsible to work throughout the building without interrupting the learning of other classes. This group is working together to create the map of the building that would be shared during their presentations. Maps had to include the length of each hallway and the distances from major points of interest within the building. Often you could find other groups interviewing students or taking photographs for their brochures. It became our job to monitor and guide them with questioning to the next step needed to create a finished product.

Multifaceted Assessment

Students had to email specific project requests to me. We would work together to revise and edit all requests to be appropriate and formal, and I would forward them to the appropriate parties.

Although we started the project with a number of forms to help the students maintain accountability and help me assess throughout, it quickly became clear that sharing our documents through Google Docs was a much more appropriate way for Mrs. Whitt and I to measure progress.

 

We assessed groups and individual students throughout the project and within the final presentations and projects. 

A few finished brochures.....

This group interviewed students from each grade level asking, "What do you like about Southside?"

Students learned about and created QR Codes to direct readers to important web pages. 

This group approached me about interviewing the superintendent of our district. My first step was to ask what they wanted to ask, and when they couldn't answer, I sent them back to the drawing board. Later they emailed these questions to me, and I have to admit to being impressed. When I asked them how they came up with these questions, they told me they researched "good interview questions." I was very proud, and they were just as proud when Dr. Thurman responded to their email.

This group spent a considerable amount of time with the formating of the panther in the background and how to line it up with their content. Their focus and determination really drove them and kept them busy for a while. This part of their project took more collaboration/ facilitation from me, but with them guiding me, we reached their goal. You may not be able to see it, but their text is a guide to what your student should know at the end of each grade level. 

When it came time to present, the students decided they wanted to meet their guests in the hallway and shake their hands, welcoming them to the presentation.

Each group worked out how they would present to a room full of elementary administrators AND our school superintendent. We were all nervous, but it was so fun to watch them shine for a job well done. 

 

Our presenters!

Although this was our first experience with Project Based Learning, I found it to be an amazing learning experience for not only the students but for Mrs. Whitt and myself as well. Letting go and allowing students to guide their learning was at times a leap of faith, but like I have said before, I have often found that when I am willing to take that leap, the kiddos are willing to meet the challenge. The students were very proud of their accomplishments and many were more than excited to share their finished projects with the guests at the presentations and later with their families.

Helpful Sites

Edutopia: Project Based Learning

What is PBL?

Learning NC: Project Based Learning

PBL: The Better Way to Learn

Happy Reading, friends!

What I love most about my classroom

I am so excited and nervous to join Caitlin at Journey Through Elementary for her fun linky.

I saw her post this morning and as I thought about it, I could not think of one thing that I love more than anything else or that I haven't ALREADY SHARED in the last two posts.... I know I am driving you guys bonkers with the room posts...

Here, I talked all about my new learning environment, and I could hear the collective groan from here if I mentioned it again so soon.....and here, I went on and on about how excited I was for this year's classroom reveal. 

So there was the rub...what could I share that I had not already shared in the past week that wouldn't be like beating a dead horse.

Then it hit me, and I hope Caitlin can forgive me for taking liberties with this because I know that every single teacher that will link up with her, including her, will feel the same.

What I LOVE MOST about my classroom.... are all the amazing kiddos I share it with each year.

Have you seen those lovely signs all over Pinterest.... What I love most about my classroom is who I share it with! Everytime I see that I think how absolutely perfect and how do I get me one of those!

Those of you that have followed me for a bit, or even just this week haha, know how hard I have worked to make everything about my room inviting and comfortable for us. I know that you realize how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our new setting, and how excited I am to be in it everyday. 

But really.... what matters... what I love... are those sweet kids. I know that loving them, reaching them, is ALL that matters. They are what drive me to be the best teacher I can...they are what drive me to create the best environment I can...and in the grand scheme of it all....they are my most favorite thing about my classroom.

Now there ARE about a million other things I love about my room, and you can read the last two posts to get a feel for them if you haven't already.... I thought I would spare my faithful followers the broken record. ;) 

Just be sure to stop by Journey Through Elementary to check out what others are loving about this upcoming year.

Happy Reading, friends!

Why I Tossed my Tables

There was I time I thought I couldn't love my classroom any more than I already did. Yes ~ I am one of those people that obnoxiously loves what I do. I love where I work and the people I work with.  And I LOVED my room.  I often called it one of my most happy places. Walking into my room always made me smile!

As much as I loved my space and the kiddos that I shared it with each and every day, there was a part of me that always thought it could be better. There were small things here and there that just didn't work as well as I thought they could. 

I loved our cooperative learning tables, but they took up so much room. It felt like we were navagating around a sea of tables, and often the journey would be treachorous with jackets or bags in the way. Other times, the kiddos would not even sit at them at all, preferring to sit around the room during our reading and writing workshops. 

The students that could find their comfy spot and begin reading or writing were often the most focused, leaving those that were at the tables to be reminded to get back on track. I knew there had to be a better way to do these things, but I didn't know how.

Last November changed that for me...I attended the annual Arkansas Reading Conference with my friend, Dawn from Teach to Each. During our two days of visiting and learning at the conference, Dawn told me all about her plans to pull the desks/tables from her room. 

Wait! What? We can do that? No tables? No desks?

Where would the kiddos work? What would they write on? We can do that? 

You mean the kiddos can have freedom to move around and get comfy? Learn in a way that is suited for them? READ, READ, READ the way I do at home, all snuggled and comfortable? We can do that?

WHY oh WHY hadn't I thought of that sooner at all? Oh my... I couldn't sleep for all the possiblities dancing in my head!

I must say that I am very blessed to have a principal open to trying new things, so I went to her practically bouncing in my excitment with this new idea about classroom design given to me by Dawn. My principal gave me the go ahead to open up my room, and I couldn't rip those tables out quick enough.


We started in that November with hardly any furniture and kiddos simply sitting on the available bean bags or the floor. Even though I left two tables and brought in a coffee table, most kiddos still chose the floor, and you know what? They LOVED it! I LOVED it! The whole vibe of the room changed, and the kiddos came in pumped and ready to get down to business.


As lucky as I am to have such a supportive principal, I was even luckier to have such supportive and giving parents. You see...when I decided to take out all of my tables and desks, it was not simply to make more room (though that was a huge plus) or have my kiddos sitting on the floor (though that is all they wanted to do) but because I only teach language arts, I could just picture a cozy cafe or a reading nook at Barnes and Noble. I couldn't get that picture out of my head. In February, one of my kiddo's parents donated furniture to our room. Not just any furniture - beautiful furniture! And other parents donated bean bags and pillows. It just grew and became an amazing classroom environment.

Throughout this new journey my kiddos and I began to notice quite a few changes. When I say our environment changed, I mean it didn't feel so much like a classroom but felt more like a home. Dawn talked about it too, here. But the magic of it was that not only did the quality of our space change: the quality of our learning changed AND the quality of our relationships changed.

That one student that had been moved to every table in the room to try and find a place he could focus ~ well he found it on his own. He picked his very own favorite spot and you could more than likely find him there everyday with a thick book in his hand. Most of the kiddos knew it was his spot, and because he was no longer interrupting their learning if he was there, they left him to his own devices. He and I developed a closer relationship when I didn't have to correct him so often, and the book recommendations I could make! He plowed through so many different series, and soon I was pulling him up to find new books on Amazon. He truly became one of my most favorite people because I could see him for who he was and not someone that had to be redirected ALL the time.

Friends that I had never sat together at the tables because I just KNEW they would spend all their time talking began to sit together. And you know what...they did talk. ALL the time, but it was about the things that we were learning about in my classroom. The academically stronger of the friends found ways to mentor and guide their friends in ways that the kiddos would have never let me do. Watching their friendships grow as they helped each other was so inspiring and enlightening to me as their teacher.

Quiet students that had been happy to sit wherever I placed them and follow the lead of others began to stick their necks out and try new things. It was like just having the choice to sit and work with whomever they wanted made them stretch out of their comfort zones, and I could see new leaders coming into their own by the end of the year.

Just the same, the students that often were the strongest and tended to bulldoze their way through conversations and relationships began to see that when people had a choice, they often didn't choose to sit next to someone that didn't value listening as much as speaking. They became better friends when they knew their friends had a choice to sit next to someone else. They became better little people when they could see how their behavior and attitude impacted those around them, especially if they ended up sitting alone because of those behaviors.

Seating in our room was first come first serve, so the tardiness stopped. Before, I couldn't count how many times kiddos wandered in late - DAILY! As the kiddos began to understand that the prime seating would be taken if they didn't make it in early, they began to come in early! As an added bonus, when they did come in, they went directly to their choosen spot and began reading. There was a point in time that although they had the same task, reading at the tables first thing each morning was challenging for them, and often students had to be reminded to stay focused. However, for whatever reason, I found that when kiddos could come in and sit where they wanted, they tended to get where they needed to be and began reading without the unnecessary visiting.

Watching the kiddos as we undertook this new and fun journey taught me as much as it taught them. I could see new friendships and strengths, both socially and academically, that I might not have ever seen. I discovered new strategies to guide their learning, and I gave a lot of the responsibility of student learning back to the kiddos.  The amazing part is the rose to the challange and accepted much of the responsibility, becoming better learners, learning what works for them.

But here is the kicker... through it all, I knew it could be even better. It became my mission this summer to do all I could to create my vision. Over time the vision has changed to become what it is now, but I COULD NOT be happier with the results!

I have tried to include as many different seating options as possible to address as many different learning styles as possible. I have tables for those that still need them and comfy rockers for those that prefer to snuggle in to read. There are soft and cushy pillows for those that want to spread out on the floor and stools that can provide hard writing surfaces for them. As I continue to learn about each new year of kiddos, I will modify and adjust the room to their needs, and each time I hope they come to love it as much as I do. 

Tossing those tables out of my rooom was the very best thing I ever did as a teacher; I only wish I had done it sooner! And YES, YES, YES ~ I love my classroom even more now than before!

Happy Reading, friends!

Currently Classroom Reveal 2015

Well....it is that time of the month again...time to hook up with Farley for another Currently. It has been a while since I have linked up with this amazing linky, and I am super excited to link up with this year's classroom reveal on this post. When you are done here, be sure to check out all of the other amazing blogs at Farley! Oh and don't forget the rule of 3. :)

Those of you that know me well, know that I am not a person that generally does well with change, and don't you just know how much that drives my hubby bonkers! However, this summer has been all about recreating - CHANGING gasp!- my classroom, and I LOVE IT!

While I would love to talk about all that led up to this reveal, I think I will save the why and how for another post. For now...let's just jump right in and take a look. I hope you like it as much as I do. So hold on tight ladies and gents and prepare for an overload of pics....

Welcome to room 506...the BEST fourth grade class ever ;)

The view just as you enter the room.

Still standing at the door, looking back to the library

Looking to the right...my desk

Small bulletin board behind my desk...
look at that collection of butterflies that
kiddos have given me over the years :)
...my place for current newsletters and lunch menus

Walking toward the front of the room... carpet & meeting area

Standing in the front of the room looking toward the student cubbies

Because we do not have desks, each student gets
 a canvas bag to decorate... all personal items
go into the bag and can be carried back and forth
from one class to another ~ This one was decorated
by my sweet friend, Vicki!

Still in the front... looking towards the library

I fell in love with this little book table,

 and it became the perfect place for both our "Who Was" and "I Am" series.

Our largest library... I have worked diligently to add as many titles as possible.

Lots of great pillows and bean bags to use around the room during reading workshop.

Baskets are organized by subject, series, genre, or author.

 

Baskets and books are numbered to help kiddos return them.

Our Caldecott library

This library is full of multiple copy texts and used for teacher recommendations or small groups.

This is an older pic, but I wanted to show you a close up

of the string and clips across the small group library...

this will be used to hang anchor charts throughout

the year...it sure hurts my soul a little every year

to cover such a pretty shelf with anchors but

with limited wall space...you do what you have to LOL 

 

These tables are for the kiddos that still prefer to sit at a table. :)

 

My computer - then turning towards our nonfiction library with another small seating area.

Again...another old pic..but
I wanted to show  you a close up...
when it is time to rotate anchors...
this is perfect for storing my extras or out
of date anchors that I can't bear to throw out

Our graphic novel library. 

 Moving toward our carpetw/hole group area. 

Morning meetings and mini-lessons take place here.

The texts at the bottom of the chart are the mentor texts that have been pulled weekly or as needed.

Our mentor text library... 

here with the pillows in front.

When using the pillows, kiddos must remember the three "B's" - bellies, bottoms, and backs. 

Mentor text library with pillows moved. 

Books are alphabetized by author...
This is an older pic - you can get a glimpse of our old rug.
I can not tell you just how much I love our new rug!

 

These are both gifts from former kiddos... 

they know me so well. :)

 

An area to display student work in the classroom, and another seating area for kiddos. 

Just one more shelf - one more way to bring more books in :)

I added a couple more series baskets and an author basket this summer.

You may have noticed our collection of stools. 

Students may sit on the stools, or use them as a hard writing surface if they are sitting on the floor.

The view from my desk, looking back towards the library.

Standing in the library...first looking towards my desk and then towards the door.

Love this little photo display...some pictures are from my first year. :) I work with an amazing group of ladies! 

On my door I have started displaying the graduation invites that I recieve from former kiddos. I am missing a few, but I excited for current kiddos to see this collection grow. 

This is where book recommendation cards will be displayed.

this board is located just outside of our classroom.

Another area for us to display our awesome work!

Well that is it! I know there is sooooo much more to teaching than what your room looks like, but since the kiddos and I will spend so much time this year in this room, I wanted it to be as comfortable and beautiful as possible. AND I wanted to give the kiddos as many different options as possible. I hope they love it as much as I do!

Be sure to check back.... working on my next post - Why I Tossed my Tables!

Super excited to join Schroeder Shenanigans and Lucky Little Learners for their 2nd annual Classroom Reveal Linky. I already had my reveal post done, so I am just adding this to the list...be sure to stop by and check out all the other classroom reveals out there.

Happy Reading, friends!