“Mr. Mayor and City Council”
“That was nerve racking!”
Giovanni Aguilar, 8th grader
“I thought it was going to be worse than it actually was.”
Daisy Zamacona, 8th grader
“I felt good about it - it was kind of fun.”
Ramiro DeLaTorre Nava, 8th grader
“Being questioned by the city major was a challenge but I felt that I answered it well”
Carla Valdivia, 8th grader
A couple months ago I talked about getting students interested in a new unit of study by doing an entry event. But what about the end of the unit of study and the end of the project?
In Project Based Learning (PBL), an essential element is the ‘public product.’ Public product means that students are making their work public by showing it to others outside of their classroom. This work can be shown to other students on campus, parents, or even shown on the internet - the key being that students must share their work beyond their classroom. Of the 8 Gold Standard Essential Elements, I find that this is the one that keeps the students focused as we move through a project, causes the most stress with students, and yields the best opportunity to teach 21st century skills that help students in high school and beyond.
Last week, I completed the “Walk This Way” project with my 8th graders. This is my only project that is integrated across four subject areas - ELA, SS, Science, and Mathematics. The project focuses on the challenging problem, “Due to the unique design of Euclid Avenue, how can we safely get people across the street without disrupting the flow of commerce?” All 8th grade teachers on our site use this challenging problem as the anchor for their content instruction over the course of the project.
The team of teachers decided that the public product for this project would be a model bridge and a written city proposal for building the bridge. To make the product public, we decided that the 8th graders would be put into groups of four and they would present their final products to our 7th graders.
The team of teachers then decided that it was important to try and make this a community issue so we decided that we should present to the Ontario City Council. And with that simple idea, our students went from presenting to only 7th graders to presenting to the Ontario City Council their final products.
This was an exciting opportunity and so last Tuesday our winning 8th grade group gave a public presentation in front of the Ontario City Council.
City Council Video (thank you Mr. Jose Alvarez):
(Great moments when the students mentioned ‘taxes’ and when the mayor went out of protocol to ask out students some follow-up questions.)
My hope, for all my students, is that by presenting their products they learn some 21st century skills - collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity.
“Mr. Mayor and City Council”
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“That was nerve racking!”
Giovanni Aguilar, 8th grader
“I thought it was going to be worse than it actually was.”
Daisy Zamacona, 8th grader
“I felt good about it - it was kind of fun.”
Ramiro DeLaTorre Nava, 8th grader
“Being questioned by the city major was a challenge but I felt that I answered it well”
Carla Valdivia, 8th grader
| | ||||
A couple months ago I talked about getting students interested in a new unit of study by doing an entry event. But what about the end of the unit of study and the end of the project?
In Project Based Learning (PBL), an essential element is the ‘public product.’ Public product means that students are making their work public by showing it to others outside of their classroom. This work can be shown to other students on campus, parents, or even shown on the internet - the key being that students must share their work beyond their classroom. Of the 8 Gold Standard Essential Elements, I find that this is the one that keeps the students focused as we move through a project, causes the most stress with students, and yields the best opportunity to teach 21st century skills that help students in high school and beyond.
| |||||
Last week, I completed the “Walk This Way” project with my 8th graders. This is my only project that is integrated across four subject areas - ELA, SS, Science, and Mathematics. The project focuses on the challenging problem, “Due to the unique design of Euclid Avenue, how can we safely get people across the street without disrupting the flow of commerce?” All 8th grade teachers on our site use this challenging problem as the anchor for their content instruction over the course of the project.
The team of teachers decided that the public product for this project would be a model bridge and a written city proposal for building the bridge. To make the product public, we decided that the 8th graders would be put into groups of four and they would present their final products to our 7th graders.
The team of teachers then decided that it was important to try and make this a community issue so we decided that we should present to the Ontario City Council. And with that simple idea, our students went from presenting to only 7th graders to presenting to the Ontario City Council their final products.
This was an exciting opportunity and so last Tuesday our winning 8th grade group gave a public presentation in front of the Ontario City Council.
City Council Video (thank you Mr. Jose Alvarez):
(Great moments when the students mentioned ‘taxes’ and when the mayor went out of protocol to ask out students some follow-up questions.)
My hope, for all my students, is that by presenting their products they learn some 21st century skills - collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity.
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”The work becomes food for thought in a learning community” John Larmer
Yes, these four students were very nervous, but they did an outstanding job representing themselves and our school. But more importantly, these four students will forever remember that they conquered their fears and were able to speak publicly about something they created and did in school. I struggle internally having to spend an entire period with so called ‘oral presentations’ but to see every single student get up in front of their peers and publicly speak is a life skill that needs to be developed an encouraged. So, in the end, I find the time spent well worth it because I realize that I am not just teaching a content area but rather setting my students up for success.
Challenge your students to create a final product for a unit of study that is upcoming and have your students talk about what they created. Try it by starting small and seeing what you like about and what you could change the next time you do it. The goal is to provide students an opportunity to communicate - it is amazing to hear what our students can talk about and their enthusiasm to describe what they created.
Still Learning and Loving It,
Kevin
Click here to schedule a visit
Current 7th grade Project - “Restaurant’s Signature Dish”
Yes, these four students were very nervous, but they did an outstanding job representing themselves and our school. But more importantly, these four students will forever remember that they conquered their fears and were able to speak publicly about something they created and did in school. I struggle internally having to spend an entire period with so called ‘oral presentations’ but to see every single student get up in front of their peers and publicly speak is a life skill that needs to be developed an encouraged. So, in the end, I find the time spent well worth it because I realize that I am not just teaching a content area but rather setting my students up for success.
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Challenge your students to create a final product for a unit of study that is upcoming and have your students talk about what they created. Try it by starting small and seeing what you like about and what you could change the next time you do it. The goal is to provide students an opportunity to communicate - it is amazing to hear what our students can talk about and their enthusiasm to describe what they created.
Still Learning and Loving It,
Kevin
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Click here to schedule a visit
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Current 7th grade Project - “Restaurant’s Signature Dish”
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