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New rubrics from BIE synthsizing critical thinking, creativity, communication skills in PBL

"A New Hero's Journey in the Classroom Kids need to know the basics of story creation -- character, conflicts, resolutions etc. -- before they can write their own. Have them read, watch, and play video games with a critical eye towards identifying these basic story elements. Then you can use life timelines as way of uncovering their personal narratives. Have them identify heroes of their own from real life or fiction as inspiration. You can go as deep as you have time for here! There are myriad tools available for actual story creation (see Resources below). "

It's a practical guide to building 21st century-student competency in the "4 C's" - critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity/innovation. The book is designed for middle school and high school teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders. It also shows how the 4 C's in a PBL context align with the Common Core State Standards. Sample projects, CCSS-aligned 4 C's rubrics, tips for technology in projects, notes for school leaders on building support for 21st century learning with PBL. Authors: Suzie Boss, author and BIE National Faculty, and John Larmer, Editor-in-Chief, BIE

In this first three-part post, John Larmer describes how he and co-author Susie Boss answered the question in their newly published book, 'PBL for 21st Century Success: Teaching Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity'. In the next post, Deborah Esparza will review the book from "the field". For the final post, co-author Susie Boss has been invited to explain why she and John choose this topic.

"What boosts PBL from a fun and engaging exercise to a rigorous and powerful real-world learning experience? Researchers have identified four key components that are critical to teaching successfully with PBL (Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008; Ertmer & Simons, 2005; Mergendoller & Thomas, 2005; Hung, 2008). All of these play a role in the curriculum-design process."

Innovation is a key ingredient to authentic PBL. We must take risks, be prepared to experience failures, learn from them, persevere, endure criticism from skeptics and other curmudgeons, if we are going to make a difference. Never give up!

"John Mergendoller is Executive Director of the Buck Institute for Education, where he leads a talented team focused on building the capacity of districts, schools and teachers to do high quality Project Based learning. He has taught in both elementary and high schools, and received his Ph.D. in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan."

Do you really 'cover' the material for a class or do you design learning experiences which lead students to discover / uncover things for themselves? PBL offers many opportunities to acquire critical thinking skills which are far more important than covering a list of standards.

Authenticity -- we know it works! There is research to support the value of authentic reading and writing. When students are engaged in real-world problems, scenarios and challenges, they find relevance in the work and become engaged in learning important skills and content. In addition, while students may or may not do stuff for Mr. Miller, they are more likely to engage when there is a real-world audience looking at their work, giving them feedback, and helping them improve. This is just one critical part of project-based learning. However, maybe you aren't ready for fully authentic projects. Where are some good places to start taking the authenticity up a notch in your classroom?

Activating Communication:Focusing Lenses How can we use focusing lenses to guide thinking when creating instruction? How can an old unit "going to a café" be changed to a thematic unit on food and hunger that focuses on performance tasks integrated to create a meaningful cultural context? How can images, videos and other technology encourage learners to critically think of solutions to real-world global issues on environment in innovative ways? We will explore these questions through the lenses of an UbD designed thematic units and the concepts of the ACTFL 21st Century Skills Map.

Digital Storytelling can transform your students' writing into a visual masterpiece that is filled with voice and emotion, while enhancing critical thinking skills.  The iPad takes digital storytelling to a new level by making the process easier, and even more engaging for students of all grade levels as well as for their teachers.   This site will help guide you in what you need for success in the iPad Digital Storytelling classroom.

Great ideas for questioning strategies.

Another great article by Suzie Boss

website on Jason Ohler's work