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By: Maddie Shepard, Deeper Learning Resource Teacher
Jefferson County Public Schools
Louisville, KY
I used to think that being a teacher meant having all the answers and being ready to bestow them upon my students, who would undoubtedly be ready and willing to receive my brilliance and love of learning. As you probably already guessed, that belief didn’t last long. Like most teachers, my first year was fun and filled with learning, and if I’m being really honest, all about survival. After attending a three-day summer PBL workshop during my second year of teaching, I began implementing Project Based Learning (PBL). It didn’t take long for a new belief to arise; I couldn’t have all the answers. If I was truly going to give learners what I wished I always had—choice, agency, authentic and engaging learning experiences—there was no way I could have all the answers. In fact, if I was going to empower my learners to own their own learning, I shouldn’t have all the answers. Instead, I should ask questions that promote inquiry and self reflection, so learners could truly drive and own the process. Eureka!
I used to think that being the coach meant having the right answers. Teachers encounter all kinds of barriers, hiccups, and unforeseen circumstances every day. I thought my job as a coach was to be ready with a diagnosis and a prescription—a strategy, a structure, or protocol to get the classroom back on track. I coach many teachers across my district in Project Based Learning. Because it is rooted in authenticity and learner ownership, it is infinitely harder for a coach to have all the answers when educators welcome learners into decision making, let alone community partners. I learned very quickly I couldn't possibly have all the answers. Truer still, I shouldn’t.
I learned the same lesson twice.
Coaching (or teaching, for that matter) isn’t about being a holder of answers, but rather, an asker of questions. Just as the most effective teachers empower learners to make decisions about their own learning and productive struggle and reflect on them, so do coaches. My learners are teachers. To empower the learners I am tasked with helping grow, I ask questions. Here are 8 questions I find vital to coaching teacher-learners in PBL.
What standards and skills do we want learners to take away from this learning experience?
This one is listed first on purpose. PBL is about teaching what we know our learners have to know while providing enough room for them to drive. That means intentionally planning and starting with the standards, as well as the skills we know they’ll need, like collaboration and communication.
One of the projects my own students engaged in was around story telling and immigration. First, I identified the standards this PBL would empower my learners to access, apply, and demonstrate throughout the process. Topics and skills in the standards that I identified were around narrative writing, research, point of view, and using technology tools to produce writing. Often times my PBL experiences were interdisciplinary, so we also covered Social Studies standards encompassing the immigration era, and analyzing how and why people immigrate. Many learners felt compelled to research the stories of their own family’s immigration to the U.S., adding to the authenticity of the experience.
What authentic product(s) could learners create that would allow these standards and skills to manifest?
Too often learners are asked to show their learning in a way that doesn’t require application, deep thinking, or lacks authenticity. Designing for demonstrations of learning that are performance-based, rooted in application, and authentic to the real world are key factors in ensuring deep learning. When we design with these tenets in mind, assessments not only assess for learning, but they themselves are learning experiences.
When planning the “Stories of Immigration” PBL, I asked, What products would be authentic to this task, and allow for the standards I identified to manifest in learner’s work? Final products included a historically accurate narrative of an immigrant’s story, and a historically accurate portrait of an immigrant.
What guiding question might we craft to engage learners, encompass our learning goals, and is broad enough to allow for multiple solutions and learner voice?
If we can lead with questions, and invite learners to ask questions, we’ll have opened the door to design lessons and experiences that help learners answer these questions through inquiry and application. Learners demonstrate their answers and solutions in a performance task, or with the development of an authentic product.
The question, “How might we as historians research and tell the stories of Americans?” fueled our research, application, and product development. We begin every PBL experience with a “Need To Know” protocol, in which learners discuss what content and skills they’ll need in order to answer the question and complete the products.
What supporting concepts and questions might we anticipate, so we can scaffold for learners during the “Need To Know” protocol?
As educators, we can anticipate where our lessons and scaffolding might lead. Knowing the general path to learning before learners generate questions to guide their inquiry helps us steer learners where we know they’ll need to go while leaving enough room for learners to forge their own paths to learning along the way.
Facilitating the “Need to Know” protocol at the onset of a PBL allows learners to identify content and skills they’ll need, thusly allowing them to drive their own learning. I often started lessons saying something like, “You identified that we need to know who immigrated here, why, and what the journey was like in order to accurately portray the experience in our narrative. Today we’re going to be learning just that. Then you’ll have time to apply your research to your first draft of your narrative. We’ll have a writing workshop later today to zero in on your draft.”
Where might the standards and skills we’re working towards appear in ‘the real world’? How can we design a learning experience to show this connection?
We design learning experiences around standards and skills our kids need when they leave us. Letting learners into the “Why” for learning by showing them how what we’re learning might be of use in the ‘real world’ illuminates authenticity and sheds light on just how valuable our learning is.
Our PBL launch included watching immigrant stories from the Ellis Island website, and doing some initial research. Learners got to choose to portray an immigrant story from their own family, or a story from the archive on Ellis Island’s website. Many learners chose immigrant stories that reminded them of themselves, or from time periods they were interested in, such as World War II. Other learners chose to interview family members and tell the stories of their own ancestors. One learner even found her grandmother’s entrance records in the Ellis Island archives! Learners regarded their research and process with care, as they were often telling the stories of their own families, or people that reminded them of family or friends. This made the experience personal and authentic.
Who in the community might be interested in this process and/or the products? What role might they play in the learning along the way, and the sharing of learning at the end?
We know better than most it takes a village to help our youngest citizens grow. Engage the village. Ask industry experts to provide industry-specific feedback to learners, empower learners to engage with professionals outside of our school community, and leverage the resources that lie outside of our schools. Inviting stakeholders into the process as well as the exhibition of learning at the end is imperative for learners to develop the relationships and skills we know they’ll need.
Learners reached out to community partners they already knew-their own families and friends. Learners conducted interviews to gain understanding about the immigrant experience. Many learners shared their family stories for others’ to use in their narratives. One learner even worked with cemetery caretaker to locate the grave sites of his ancestors for his research.
How might we plan for benchmarks along the way, so we can support learners in their learning and product development and achieve high-quality products that show deep learning?
Teachers can be perfectionists. (I know I’m guilty sometimes!) If we want learners to be able to develop the products we imagine during the planning process, we need to blend in scaffolds along the way to support learners as they access, engage, and demonstrate new learning. Benchmarks are opportunities for learners to get feedback; the more feedback learners can have along the way, the better.
Early in the planning process, I map out formative assessments and product benchmarks. This helps me map out lessons that support formative assessments. It also allows for learners to submit pieces of their product when they’re ready, so they have access to ‘right on time’ feedback.
What scaffolds might I put in place to ensure research is focused and fruitful?
Research can be a “rabbit hole” adventure. If we want learners to ask rich research questions, learn from reputable sources, and synthesize their research for new learning, we need to help. Question-driven research, organizational tasks and graphic organizers, and building in time to make sense of their research are all great ways to ensure that research is worthwhile.
Beginning with the elements of learning generated during the “Need To Know” protocol can help guide research. I also have learners draft inquiry questions before they begin research so their research is focused and intentional. I often ask learners to synthesize their research in their own words and capture new thinking or questions in order to solidify new learning from research.
PBL is about the learner, whether learners are adults or students. It’s about coaching the learner through a process with them in the driver’s seat. It’s about asking questions that promote reflection and growth. So is coaching. Leading with questions similar to those in this blog empowers the learner to make their own meaning, forge their own path, reflect on the process, and own their learning. That’s what we want for all of our learners—kids and teachers alike.
Maddie Shepard is a Deeper Learning Resource Teacher in Jefferson County Public Schools. Maddie began her PBL journey in 2015 after attending a 3 day workshop over the summer. Maddie has been a proponent of PBL ever since. Maddie helped design one of the first personalized learning programs in Kentucky, incorporating PBL in nearly every learning design. Maddie now works to coach teachers in learner centered pedagogies, and PBL is often a commonly leveraged strategy to empower learners to own and drive their learning. Maddie lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband and 3 dogs.
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