Guerilla Educators

Project Based Learning Development Guide

Developing the Project Concept:
•    What type of Project do you want to conduct with your students and why?
•    Will you be collaborating with other teachers in, or out of your school?
•    What content areas do you want to craft this project around?
•    Take a real-world topic related to the selected content areas.
•    Create a Driving Question that will drive investigation into the topic.

Develop a Driving Question that:
•    Is aimed at solving a problem
•    Will lead to deep inquiry
•    Will invite future learning
•    Is meaningful to the student, the school, the community, and/or the world
•    Is an issue that students believe in or have a passion for
•    By answering, they are having a positive impact on something or someone

Understandings/Outcomes:
•    What specifically do you want students to understand?
•    What facts and basic concepts should students know and be able to recall?
•    What will students know and what will they be able to do?
•    What curriculum, standards, and performance-based objectives will be addressed?
•    Will the learning be meaningful and applicable in their lives?
•    Project activities should be connected to curricular objectives.
•    Build planning time in to address curriculum connections.

Skills:    Students will be able to independently use their learning to:
•    Demonstrate citizenship and leadership
•    Work through real-world problems by trial and error
•    Collaborate and problem solve with others
•    Utilize technology to actualize and express ideas
•    Guide future independent directed learning across disciplines using the PBL process

Project Design/Features:
•    What teachers/colleagues should be involved in the collaborative brainstorming process?
•    Is the project part of a curricular unit?
•    Do students have choice of topic within a curriculum?
•    Will the teacher be guiding students in the framing of a driving question? Will students create their own driving question?
•    Is the project interdisciplinary and thematic?
•    Will you be collaborating with other teachers in, or out of your school?
•    Will students work independently or in groups or a combination?
•    Will the project involve class trips and or individual student experiences outside of the school day?
•    Does the project have community partners?
•    Will the project have a service-learning component?

Technology:    How will technology be implemented to enhance the Project by:
•    Communication Collaborating with other students/educators via technology
•    Information sources, information sharing
•    Creating, producing, presenting (Website, documents, etc)

Community Partnerships/Resources:
•    Which Community Partners can help you with your project?
•    In what ways will Community Partnerships model good citizenship/leadership?
•    What resources do you need to see the project through to completion?
•    Will project related class trips be taken?
 
Project Timeline:
•    Overall length of time
•    Time per week
•    Weekly Schedule

Project Activities:
•    Planned to achieve overall project objectives.
•    Connected to grade appropriate curricular objectives in at least 2 subject areas.
•    Engage students to take ownership of their educational processes
•    Are the activities FUN?

Benchmarks:
•    Set clear time referenced deadlines for each task and/or product.
•    Should be scaffolded to build on previously achieved objectives towards success of the project.
•    Help build the guidelines in which the project can take place
 
Reflection/Journals:
•    Student journals will offer students the opportunity to continuously reflect and assess their progress toward completion of the project.
•    Teachers can use student journals as valuable assessment tools.
•    Offer students the opportunity to learn from the strategies that did and, perhaps more importantly, did not work to achieve project objectives.
 
Assessment:
•    Will student be assessed throughout the project cycle or on a final project? Formative/Summative
•    An effective assessment program uses multiple strategies to demonstrate growth and performance, and should be closely correlated to your stated goals.
•    How are rubrics used as an effective assessment and evaluation tool?

Reporting Out:
•    Students will report out to peers, school staff, and the larger community:
•    How they addressed their driving question.
•    What they learned.
•    Their final project products.

Celebration:
How students will be celebrated and recognized for their important work at a Reporting Out Celebration!

Professional Developments for Educators at Rose Tree Media School District

Guerilla Educators has added a new client.  We recently completed  2 day Professional Development for the hard working educators at the Rose Tree Media School District that focused on how to successfully implement and complete curriculum and real-world based Projects with students.  The workshop was given through the prism of our 12 Hallmarks of Effective Teaching and Learning.  We'll return to ongoing work with the teachers throughout the 2011-2012 school year to assist with implementation and successful completion of the proposed Projects developed in the planning phase of the training.  Welcome to our family of clients, Rose Tree Media, that includes:

• American Institute of Architects
• The School District of Philadelphia
• Council of Educational Facilities Planners International
• Delaware Valley Green Building Council
• SchraderGroup Architects
• Fielding Nair International
• Philadelphia University
• District of Columbia Public School System
• Milwaukee School District
• Alliance to Save Energy
• York Suburban School District
• University of Wisconsin
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Education Environment Planning Consultants
• Regina Board of Education
• Philadelphia Zoo
• Re:Vision Architecture
• Wallace Roberts & Todd Design
• LOTI (Levels of Technology Integration)
• IQity
• Journal of Teacher Education
• Edutopia
• Barack Obama Green Charter High School
• MaST Community (Math, Science, and Technology) Charter School
• Friendship Public Charter Schools
• Rose Tree Media School District

 

Project Based Service Learning; The Children's Water Monitoring Network

This video demonstrates a wide range of positive academic and civic benefits for students who participate in water monitoring Service Learning projects.   The video is a compilation of Service Learning projects in 3rd and 4th grades at Harrity Elementary an inner city school in Philadelphia and at GreenWoods a Philly public charter school.  Take a look...

The charter school students conducted macrobiotic studies on a nearby stream and the inner city school students did chemical testing. In both cases, test results were sent electronically to the Philadelphia Water Department as part of their ongoing efforts to maintain water quality. It is clear that these students are engaged, doing important work as citizens, and are achieving mastery of curricular requirements in a very powerful, effective way.

12 Essential Questions for School Architects and Planners; Connecting School Design to Educators, Students, and Curriculum via Project Based Service Learning

In honor of the 4th anniversary of my Guerilla Educators blog, our first entry, posted below, was an interview conducted by Christian Long who, at that time was the online editor of DesignShare.  His first question was,    

If you had to pick a single educational technique, learning style, or pedagogy to drive the future of school design, what would it be?

My response centered immediately on Project Based Service Learning and prompted me to ask a series of 12 rhetorical essential questions in return.  The questions also became the genesis of the Guerilla Educators blog and ultimately became an article onDesignShare, a premier educational facilities website.  The questions also formed the basis of a long term, in-depth video based study centered on the merits of Project Based Service Learning as one of the most powerful and effective teaching and learning methodologies for ALL students and why school architects should design educational spaces to accommodate this type of pedagogical focus.

These 12 rhetorical questions for Educational Facilities Planners is now also a foundation for a forthcoming book based on my 10 Hallmarks of 21st Century Teaching and Learning. 

Here are the questions:

Question 1: Why is Service Learning the most effective way for students to achieve mastery of curriculum and state mandated standards?

Click here to view a short video compilation of authentic, student centered PBSL in action

Question 2: Why is the Service Learning process the most effective way to engender good citizenship skills in all students?

Click here to see a student directed, middle school anti-bullying skit.

Question 3: Why should school architects design educational facilities that facilitate the Project Based Learning methodology?

Question 4: Why should the school design process be used as a real-world, project-based teaching and learning strategy?

Question 5: Why is student involvement in the design process a desirable strategy for educational facilities designers?

Click here to view student participation in the charrette processes

Question 6: How can the school itself be used as a 5 dimensional textbook (including Real-time and cyberspace)?

Question 7: Why should school architects see the physical facility and the teaching and learning that take place inside as a seamless continuum?

Click here to see how Question 7 looks in real-time

Question 8: Why should High Performance, Sustainable school design be used as a teaching and learning tool?

Question 9: Why should school architects “give back” by coming into classrooms as Community Partners to use the design process to create hands-on projects?

Question 10: What is the role of teachers in the connection of design to curriculum and students via PBL/SL?

Question 11: Why should school architects design buildings that are fun places to attend?                     

Question 12: Why does school design that will accommodate Service Learning have a positive impact on the architect's bottom line?

Click on the Questions to see the responses.

 

 

 

Friendship Charter Schools Science Fair

This video documents the Friendship Charter Schools Science Fair, which was held on a cold, sunny Saturday morning in February, in Washington, DC at Friendship Collegiate High School.  Students competed in such areas Botany, Engineering, and Environmental Science and in each project students displayed a high degree of rigorous, practical and theoretical knowledge of the subject.  The 1st and 2nd place winners of the Friendship Science Fair will now go on to compete in the District-wide DC Science Fair.

 

Educon 2.2

Today, Guerilla Educators conducts a "conversation" around Educational Commissioning at Educon 2.2.  Our conversation description is as follows:

World-class teaching and learning can, and perhaps should, take place under a tree. With this in mind, our conversation will focus on the essential non-difference between the physical facility (the school) and the teaching and learning that takes place inside of those spaces (the School). We will explore and build on the idea that the educational facility can be used as a 5 dimensional (including time and cyberspace), hands-on teaching and learning tool to achieve academic and civic objectives.

Our Essential Question then, is:

In a wired world unfettered by the geography of place, how do we design teaching and learning spaces to accommodate the education that takes place outside of the physical walls of the "school"?

Follow up tomorrow...

The Language of School Design; Design Patterns for the 21st Century

We recently received the revised edition of "The Language of School Design; Design Patterns for the 21st Century, by Prakash Nair, Randall Fielding, and Jeffery Lackney.  WOW!  My concern was that you would somehow lose the simplicity of the Design Patterns that I think was one of the hallmarks of the first edition.  This straightforward explication of the Design Patterns is what made the book not only a resource for edfacs but for educators as well.  The 2nd edition maintains that universal relevance and the illustrations enhances the patterns very nicely.  Bravo! ...and thanks, guys.  Here is a short video of Randy explaining the design patterns to a group in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Barack Obama Green Charter High School

The Barack Obama Green Charter High School, located in Plainfield, New Jersey and scheduled to open its doors in September, 2010, will be that state's first high school that will be driven by sustainable, "green" real-world concerns.  Using the Project Based Learning methodology as the primary teaching and learning strategy available in the pedagogical toolbox, students will achieve curricular and social proficiencies while addressing the critical issues of sustainability which affect their neighborhood, the nation, and the world.  With world class Community Partners, students will conduct "hands on" projects in areas like sustainable design, green architecture, alternative energy, and water quality.  Students will not only get a first rate education at Barack Obama Green Charter High School, they will also become the leadership cadre at the forefront of sustainability.   

Guerilla Educators is proud to be a part of this unique educational initiative by providing professional consulting services to assist across a wide range of education related issues.

Guerilla Educators Consulting Services

Below is a partial list of clients who have employed the expertise of Guerilla Educators Consulting Services to advance their architectural design and/or educational programs:

• American Institute of Architects
• The School District of Philadelphia
• Council of Educational Facilities Planners International
• Delaware Valley Green Building Council
• SchraderGroup Architects
• Fielding Nair International
• Philadelphia University
• District of Columbia Public School System
  
• Milwaukee School District
• Alliance to Save Energy
• York Suburban School District
• University of Wisconsin
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Education Environment Planning Consultants
• Regina Board of Education
• Philadelphia Zoo
• Re:Vision Architecture
• Wallace Roberts & Todd Design
• LOTI (Levels of Technology Integration)
• IQity
• GreenWoods Charter School
  
• Journal of Teacher Education
• Edutopia
  
• Barack Obama Green Charter High School
• Cayman Islands Ministry of Education
  
• MaST Community (Math, Science, and Technology) Charter School
• Friendship Public Charter Schools
• Meeks Educational Technologies
• Hamilton School District, Hamilton, Ohio
  
• Rose Tree Media School District
• Puerto Rico Department of Education
• Norristown Area School District
• East Norriton Middle School
  
• Educational Entrepreneurs Professional Association
  

Call us today at, 215-510-2059 to see how we can help you!

3 Questions About Project Based Learning (updated)

We here at Guerilla Educators are consistently asked 3 basic questions about the Project Based Learning methodology:

• What is Project Based Learning?

• How can educators use projects to assess mastery of curriculum?

• Where can research data be found to confirm (or deny) the effectiveness of PBL as a successful pedgogical strategy with students?

To answer these questions, we turn to the great online education magazine, "Edutopia", for assistance: 

• What is PBL?
  

In the article, "Why Teach with Project Learning?" an article by the Edutopia editorial staff defines PBL like this; Project learning, also known as project-based learning, is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges, simultaneously developing cross-curriculum skills while working in small collaborative groups. 
To this definition, we would add that the incorporation of a Service component (i.e. Service learning) with Community Partnerships into projects models what good citizenship looks like and is a crucial element in the Project-Based teaching and learning.

• How can educators use projects to assess mastery of curriculum?

To learn about how projects can be used to assess student academic progress, take a look at Eeva Reeder's students at Mountlake Terrace High School, near Seattle, Washington. 
In our view, a project's success ultimately has value to the extent that it can advance students towards mastery across a range of curricula and that this progress can be assessed.

• Where can research data be found to confirm (or deny) the effectiveness of PBL as a successful pedgogical strategy with students?

A great place to begin investigating the growing body of research that supports the use of projects with students can be found in the Edutopia article, "PBL Research Summary: Studies Validate Project Based Learning".

Guerilla Educators is the best global resource available to see Project Based and Service Learning in action.