I just finished developing a project based lesson for a group of teachers to use as an example. My brain hurts.
I decided to take a break when I finished and do some mundane, zero-thinking tasks and then come back to the lesson to review before finishing it up. While I was reflecting on the lesson, a few realizations hit me like a ton of bricks.
First, I was thinking how good it was for me to stay in the practice of creating lessons like this. I've been telling teachers for a long time that PBL is the way to go. For our students, it can make the difference between learning to remember and learning to get by. The process of developing one start to finish (without anyone to collaborate with - my own fault) is not an easy task. Do I think it's worth it? Absolutely. I've seen it first hand with my own students.
Yes, it is time consuming, but again, I will say that I do think this time spent developing PBL units is worth it. It's a pay off in the long run, and if we were to take the amount of time I'd plan in two weeks and add it all up, it would probably be the same amount. I like to use the phrase "uncovering information, ideas, and innovation" rather than "covering curriculum" when describing a true PBL unit.
Another thing I realized is how important it is for us to develop our own units rather than finding existing ones to use. When we're first starting out, I do think it's OK to try one someone else has made first just to get our feet wet. Some great PBL units can be found here, on the resources from the Buck Institute. I've said before, it's easier to follow a recipe when you're learning to cook. Once you get comfortable in the kitchen, you can begin putting your own twist on things.
But here's the biggest reason we should look at developing our own lessons. My process of developing a true PBL lesson reminded me of a time that my science curriculum consisted of science kits rather than science textbooks. The science kits were good. I liked that my students were using hands on projects and reflecting on their learning with blogs. What I didn't realize at the time is that those science kits were developed around the idea of an overarching concept, like motion, design, growth, change. Instead, I said we were working on the "car kit," or the "plant kit."
I had become stuck on the activities that are part of the learning process. And so my teaching became isolated to the events of making a car that would move, planting plants that would grow, and finding what phase the moon was in, rather than recognizing how movement is in effect all around us, how growth is present in our lives, and what cycles we are part of.
This was another piece about teaching with fidelity to me, a self-reflective piece of fidelity. In all that I do and all that I teach, I need to reflect back and see how I'm framing the learning around concepts rather than the activities that are a part of it. The conceptual framing is the glue that puts the entire unit together.
If we design our learning around a conceptual theme (such as with true PBL), we can go deeper in our instruction. Knowledge gained will not be isolated to one particular event, but built around a mature understanding of the impacts and results of that knowledge. When we design lessons like this, we avoid the activity trap. Just activity is not engagement, it's busy-ness. And unfortunately, this is how I approached my science kits.
So what have I learned from this, especially if I'm saying that it's a fidelity piece? One thing is to look critically at what we're teaching to find that conceptual theme. If when talking about our most exciting lessons, we focus on the process or the tasks the students are involved in, then it's activity focused. That doesn't mean that the concept is nonexistent, it just means that we, as the teachers, are looking more at what our kids are doing rather than what level their understanding is. That's what I mean when I say it's a process of covering, rather than uncovering, curriculum. I so wish I'd had this "aha!" moment years ago when I was introduced to the science kits I would use in my classroom.
I hope this also models how important the reflection process is. Unfortunately, I can't go back to my students and reteach those lessons to frame them around concepts instead of activities. I can, however, through this experience, recognize if I catch myself doing that again. And at the same time, serve as an example to take learning deeper.
Because "just activities" are not enough.
