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In my Learning Through Projects series, I wrote about crafting questions that drive projects. Developing interesting, relevant, and meaningful driving questions is challenging. To help teachers with project based learning, Global Digital Citizenship Foundation has free publications with ideas and resource links. The publications are PDFs and are licensed under Creative Commons, so you may distribute or print them as long as you do not modify them in any way.

Telling our story is an essential part of our humanness. It allows us to feel part of the community that knows our story, and it fosters empathy for those that surround us. Story is a powerful force in shaping mental models, motivating and persuading others, and teaching the lessons of life. Telling story extends back to a time when oral history dominated the tools of communication. And now the flood of technology tools that allow for instant communication has spun us back into a golden age where story again dominates the media landscape.

t's no secret that curiosity makes learning more effective and enjoyable. Curious students not only ask questions, but also actively seek out the answers. Without curiosity, Sir Isaac Newton would have never formulated the laws of physics, Alexander Fleming probably wouldn't have discovered penicillin, and Marie Curie's pioneering research on radioactivity may not exist.

In 1968, two researchers conducted a fascinating study that proved the extent to which teacher expectations influence student performance. Positive expectations influence performance positively, and negative expectations influence performance negatively. In educational circles, this has been termed the Pygmalion Effect, or more colloquially, a self-fulfilling prophecy. What has always intrigued me about this study is specifically what the teachers did to communicate that they believed a certain set of students had "unusual potential for academic growth." The research isn't overly explicit about this, but it indicates that the teachers "may have paid closer attention to the students, and treated them differently in times of difficulty." This begs the following questions: Why can't teachers treat all of their students like this? How do we communicate to students whether we believe in them or not?

Students engage more passionately when trying to answer a question that interests them. Here are ten opening questions that have inspired this kind of learning

"I travel with a heavy suitcase. Over my 35-year career as a public school teacher and educator at Expeditionary Learning, I have been obsessed with collecting student work of remarkable quality and value. I bring this work with me whenever I visit schools or present at conferences and workshops, because otherwise no one would believe me when I describe it."

Diane Zimmerman is the Associate Education Director at Temple Sinai in Washington, D.C. She wrote the Project Based Learning section of the lesson plan manual for Building Jewish Identity, Volumes 3 and 4, which will be published by Behrman House in March 2013.

PBL has the potential to liberate Judaism from the exclusive domain of the synagogue.

Most Hebrew programs in congregational schools are directed toward language learning rather than language acquisition. In other words, students learn Hebrew as a skill (and often as a prayer skill) rather than for communication. That's a choice education directors make based on the time available, teacher ability, practical needs such as preparing students to become bar or bat mitzvah, and other factors such as the education director's own level of comfort speaking Hebrew or the Rabbi's preference.

Prayer has become more meaningful, intentional, and personal for fourth graders at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, Massachusetts, thanks to Project Based Learning (PBL). The fourth graders created a siddur all their own that is now used by their fellow students in K-5 classes. Guided by questions about why people pray and the importance of the siddur, the fourth graders worked in groups based on their interests. One group was in charge of siddur design and layout, a second group focused on kavanah, a third group worked on the siddur's illustrations and graphics, and another group decided on the siddur's content and the order of the prayers. Students combed through a library of siddurim as research, interviewed people about what's important to include in a siddur, and reflected on their own prayer in the process. The project culminated in a dedication ceremony for the new siddur.

Project Based Learning has made a splash in the secular education world, and it can be a powerful tool for Jewish classrooms, too. In fact, project based learning can be a dynamic technique for teaching a wide range of Judaic topics, especially Jewish values. Why? Because we want students to live Jewish values, not just study them, and PBL is all about learning in the context of real life: Project based learning is hands-on, student-driven, and involves projects designed around real-world activities. Students build life skills while researching and tackling issues that are meaningful to them, resulting in learning that can be deeper and more lasting.

Some ideas on creating your own PD

Good reflection by Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller provides tips for conducting Math PBL projects with examples

"Last month we released Projects for all our education wikis. Our intention was to give you a better tool for group work, but, as many of you have pointed out, they're also great for project-based learning. Project-based learning, or PBL, grew out of early 20th century education reform, like the works of John Dewey. It generally involves directed, open-ended questions, real-life problem solving, and presentation to an authentic audience. And, of course, it's a great way for students to build collaboration and 21st-century skills while mastering content. We're really looking forward to hearing how you use PBL and the Projects feature in your classrooms. We're so excited, in fact, that we rounded up a few resources from around the web to help you out:"