BACK TO PROJECT BASED LEARNING BLOGS

By: Joe Steele, High School PBL Facilitator

Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School

Columbus, IN

Like so many complex occupations that require practice to improve, it truly does take you leading a PBL classroom over and over again to grow your abilities. By showing up everyday and doing the work, until when you least expect it, you gain another insight that inches you towards being a better practitioner. Malcolm Gladwell told us we need over 10,000 hours hacking away at something until we can achieve mastery. That got me thinking, “How many more hours do I need until I’m good at this PBL stuff? Well, I work 180 days a year, with say 6 hours each day dedicated to the practice is = 1080 hours a school year. Ok, so with a hair over ten years in a wall to wall PBL classroom, it hit me, uh oh: I’m well into 10,000 hours, and I ain’t no expert!”

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

I am still slowly improving and finding blind spots I’ve missed the entire time, I still need advice from mentors, and Michael McDowell humbles me with each read. I was stricken, for a while, with renewed self-doubt. And being at this crossroads of sufficient experience and timidity, I realized just how true another concept can be: the Dunning-Kruger Effect. I searched the concept, found the above graphic, and began recounting and mentally charting my journey along its path.

Stage One: The Child’s Hill

Using the chart as our guide, I spent the first few years of my PBL journey on my “Child’s Hill,” screaming the gospel of PBL, confident I was facilitating well and it was the teaching style that would save education. I was adamant that since I had a community partner, a real-world application, and excited students, I was killing the game, truly equipping my students for success. Never mind it took me all of my training to cobble together my first project, and another semester to build the next one. Entering my second year, I added a couple more projects, but it was taking every moment of my life thinking, planning, coordinating partners, resources, and locations. Kids were working and applying knowledge, but the fear started to creep in: This project is authentic, but learning and rigorous work was in process. And even when the project was amazing, once over, fear and worry were usually present instead of pride, as I was expected to have another ready to launch. The work took every moment; gaps were still happening.

Stage Two: Questioning Whether You Actually Know that Much

Then, once I had a few experiences, and reflected back on a project, student, course, or that full year, I realized I was missing all that detailed data on their reading levels and writing progress I used to obtain in my traditional classroom. Furthermore, not every project truly and deeply addressed each of the required standards, having glossed over some when certain projects bloated over. I realized rigor was evaporating as fast as the kids were gaining bad study habits. I let days just be “work days” with little instruction. I became doubtful in myself, the PBL style, and felt I had to sacrifice certain characteristics to cover all of my content and prepare students for standardized tests. All of the early, great, low-hanging-fruit ideas for projects were done, the problem solved, and I was in a serious rut, or rather, an insecure canyon.

Stages Three and Four: The Insecure Canyon

I entered my “Insecure Canyon" at the same time my PBL mentors were leaving our program, retiring or moving up in the PBL world. As I was feeling like a third-year red-shirt freshman, I was viewed as a veteran to the newest hires. I switched to survival mode, allowing for stretches of traditional teaching between less frequent projects, and the projects I did facilitate often lacked an essential element, like an actual community partner, authenticity, or an actual real-world application. I remember getting jealous hearing a traditional teacher at a dinner party discuss the ease of the latest textbook, with its packets, quizzes and answer keys. “You just make the copies, read the script, and that is about it.” There were moments, I almost hung up the PBL hiking boots, ready to retreat to a teaching style that took half the work, got standardized test results, and kept kids quiet. My spark was dimming.

Stage Five: Realizing How Little You Know

But the light did not snuff out; and I trudged on. I made note of how quickly Connections fell apart when I didn’t demand a circle and to allow for the timer to go into silence. I decided to stop being coy and loaded an entry letter with breadcrumbs in sentences pulled directly from my state standards, reacting to my own lack of sewn in rigor. I noted how powerful that Know/Need to Know list was when it was robust and kept front and center during the duration of the project, certain to not let it be taken lightly again. I began creating anticipated Need to Know lists that started with standards-based workshops I had to teach, and not just focus on the design elements of the project need to knows. I improved on approaching, coaching, and honoring community partners, which in turn led to networking even more community partners. Students seemed to find more voice and choice, while I still focused on standards-based workshops. My sleight of hand and acting improved; students began almost telepathically anticipating the workshops from project launches. Workshops were becoming my personal focus for addressing their personal needs, while I acted shocked as the puzzle pieces of their needs and my resources magically presented themselves to students of all ability levels. The rigor in my courses rose, and the transition time between projects shortened. When peers discussed their journey, I had experiences that I could call upon to improve their work, and my own. I returned to being a PBL resource, now without untested catchphrases and naive advice, but a stack of varied rubrics, different entry event examples, and enough protocols to have my favorites. Thinking I had barely crawled a couple switchbacks, I caught glimpses and held informed views that showed me I was on the rise, a hiker, no longer easily winded, nor in a dimly lit valley.

Stage Six: Climbing Higher and Higher

I no longer wonder if I am near any peak, I am simply an avid climber, still striving to have superb, wildly varied projects that cover every standard and inspire everyone at some point in the year. I take pride in the fact that it takes so much sustained effort, for merit-less pay, because through PBL, I get to see students create amazing real-world products that show them their greatest potential. If I were a traditional teacher, I would not be able to be my authentic self. I would have to fake authority. PBL multiplies the outcomes we can achieve in our students in the time we have with them, so every moment I put into this work is truly valued and used efficiently. I work as much as I ever have on my PBL curriculum, but just like my running habit, the energy I put into the work is multiplied in me and I am energized by it. Educating kids takes a huge hill of knowledge, and trying to do it through PBL is mountainous, both in the work and the reward. It’s powerful and humbling, to be able to create a space for every student outcome I could ever hope for, yet requires every bit of my skill, leadership, and endurance to make the moments. It’s now this “Grown-Up Mountain” to climb as our knowledge now matches our experience, and our convictions have a foundation to stand upon.

No matter where you are in this PBL journey, whether you are a confident novice, a self-doubting new hiker, or somewhere on your way up the highest peaks, just know there are other climbers, and sharing our experiences can really get us all on better trails. Know that those ahead still recognize and praise the joys of the backbreaking climb for the amazing vistas, breathtaking moments, and the outcomes it produces in our students. Know that there is nothing lost from a mistake as long as you acknowledge it, learn from it, and continue to try to address your weaknesses. Your experiences are only wasted if you do not continue climbing. Know that PBL works and allows you to multiply the value of every moment students experience in your class. Even with well over 10,000 hours dedicated to this craft, I am improving everyday and constantly checking my equipment. Trust the process, be true to the steps, and apply the protocols with fidelity; they lead you to the view that is worth it every time.

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE OUR PROJECT BASED LEARNING BLOGS & RESOURCES!