PBL

When I first heard the initialism PBL, I had no idea what it was, what it meant or the journey it would take my students and I on. It gives learning meaning and authenticity and the enthusiasm and engagement of students is evident.

My "Ah-ha" moment for PBL came last year when watching a clip or reading an article, I can't remember what, that described the similarities between PBL and how adults run their lives. As adults, we tend to departmentalize our lives into mini 'projects.' In the past, when I have undertaken renovations, for example, I have had a clear goal in sight and have undertaken many steps along the way to reach the end goal. And this is essentially what PBL is - rich, authentic, student centered learning opportunities that allow students to work together and personalise their learning. Seeing PBL as practical 'projects' with authentic learning opportunities that teach our students 21st Century Skills and the link between how most people run their lives when they leave school, is what made me realise what a valuable teaching 'tool' PBL is.

What has made me post about PBL to day, is that earlier today, the students in my home-base began their first PBL lesson for this term. We are using our PBL to fully immerse the children and prepare them for their performance at the end of the term. Here is our focus for the term...

The Driving Questions is:

How can we use the elements of the The Arts to successfully communicate and present a traditional Maori myth?

Uni Description/Challenge

We are going to prepare the children for the up and coming performance at the end of the term. This will be done through teaching them the elements of dance and drama through the context of Myths and Legends.

I am so excited about the learning that will be happening and cannot wait to see where their performance goes. Yes, we have had a lot of teacher input, due to the age of the students, but it is exciting to know that they will each bring their own experiences and flair to their performance and characters that they portray.

However, what really got me excited was the engagement of the students and the way that they all worked together so well. They were focused, on task, talking, communicating, negotiating, taking turns, listening, talking, creating, thinking and having fun! In all my years of teaching, I have never seen students ALL work together so well. And I have PBL to thank.

Yes, we have explicitly taught the children about collaboration, communication, co-operation, creativity and critical thinking but it is so exciting to see them transfer and use this knowledge so well and so naturally. I am just so proud of them all!

Today, the children were introduced to "In the Beginning" the Maori Myth about Rangi and Papa and how the world began. First, they had to sequence the myth correctly and then use this to help them present a puppet show with puppets that they had been given.

They will present their puppet shows tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to get some videos of these to upload.