Good reflection by Andrew Miller

At any given moment, the disciplines represent the most well-honed efforts of human beings to approach questions and concerns of importance in a systematic and reliable way. (Howard Gardner, The Disciplined Mind, p. 144)

What they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four and three, and two, and one. (Sandra Cisneros, "Eleven," from The House on Mango Street)

As most of you know, the uber gods of PBL are BIE. I was first introduced to the BIE PBL 'model' from mate Dean Groom who handed me over what I still refer to as my 'PBL Bible' - a ring-binder full of the BIE Freebies that help teachers plan effective projects and keep students on track as they move through the different phases of each project. The cool thing is that you can use as much or as little as you want … PBL is a very personal process that (like all good teaching) should be tailored to the expertise and needs of the teacher and students. However, there are 8 Elements of Project Based Learning that can be called the 'essential elements' of PBL … keeping an eye on these and 'testing' your project design based on them can help you determine if what you're creating isn't just a 'project'. I really like this statement from BIE contrasting PBL and traditional 'projects':

A typical unit with a "project" add-on begins by presenting students with knowledge and concepts and then, once gained, giving students the opportunity to apply them. Project Based Learning begins with the vision of an end product or presentation. This creates a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.

Learning new languages is a natural instinct for children, and yet it becomes more difficult as we age. We might be at a disadvantage as adults, but with a few learning methods, you can still give yourself the best chance for learning a new language.

"What is it? Here's an article by BIE, updated from its original appearance in the September 2010 issue of Educational Leadership magazine from ASCD. Good for general audiences as well as educators, it explains the essential elements that make rigorous PBL different from "doing projects." Why do we like it? This article was written because some teachers say they "do projects" already (so why learn more about PBL) and some educators and members of the general public may have negative stereotypes of PBL as merely a "fun" or "hands-on" activity. How can you use it? Share this article with anyone, from teachers to parents to administrators, to explain PBL and provide a common framework for projects. The 8 Essential Elements are the basis of BIE's Project Design Rubric and PBL 101 Workshop."

Language life at UC Berkeley and beyond. Relfections on meaning, language use, cultural means of expression, status of languages, and more.

ACTFL's position statement on 90% rule

How can language educators effectively transition students from language "learning" to language "acquisition"? This is a question to focus on as all language educators try to create classroom experiences that meet the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' (ACTFL) guidelines. ACTFL is calling for a shift in all language classes. Students and teachers need to use the second language (L2) at least 90% of the time. This amount of target language (TL) use will only create success for students if the teacher uses Comprehensible Input (CI). L2, TL and CI are three must-know acronyms for language educators today. Language "acquisition" is a key concept to our journey towards using research-based methods to update our language teaching practices.

Tons of resources collected by our good friend and ACTFL President, Toni Theisen.

"I came across Terry Heick's blog - 10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds - at TeachThought from earlier this year and really enjoyed the formative assessment strategies that he outlined. Using formative assessment techniques in class - or "simple assessments" as Terry calls them - are easy to administer and provide the instant feedback teachers need to identify which students need more help, and then adjust their instruction and lesson plans to help them."

Great ideas here!

"The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment,[1] abbreviated as CEFR, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries (for example, Colombia and the Philippines). It was put together by the Council of Europe as the main part of the project "Language Learning for European Citizenship" between 1989 and 1996. Its main aim is to provide a method of learning, teaching and assessing which applies to all languages in Europe. In November 2001 a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEFR to set up systems of validation of language ability. The six reference levels (see below) are becoming widely accepted as the European standard for grading an individual's language proficiency."

After producing reference documents such as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages taught as "foreign" languages, the Council of Europe's Language Policy Unit proposes a new instrument, in the form of this Platform, enabling member states to benefit from the experience and expertise of other member states in formulating their programmes relating to languages of schooling and all language teaching.

"The ECML is a Council of Europe institution based in Graz, Austria. In cooperation with the Language Policy Division of the Council the Centre functions as a catalyst for reform in the teaching and learning of languages.  "

Digital portfolios of student work are powerful to help students see how they have grown over time. In turn, they support confidence in students to tackle things they may have once thought too difficult to learn. I have used wikis for this purpose, and they work well, but Evernote, with its apps for smartphones in addition to web access and desktop apps, is more versatile. In addition, students can take photos and make voice recordings to add to their notes, and share folders with their teachers and group members. Great tips here in this article.

Good review from #PBLWorld about driving questions, and links to more resources, including from BIE and Edutopia

I had the privilege to 'hangout' with Suzie Boss and Jamie McGrath to talk about PBL and how messy it can be.

Good article highlighting some of the misconceptions we can have about PBL.