Wrapping up

[Sarah McPherson]

According to our original schedule we will wrap up the Reinventing PBL Book Discussion this week. It's been great fun with a number of excellent discussions on project based learning and 21century skills in the classroom. We've explored major elements of project-based learning, resources and assets to use in project planning, project implementation and assessment strategies. We've debated the essentials of PBL, learning communities and the differences between project-based learning, problem-based learning and performance-based learning. Experts and novices (and even the authors!) from around the country weighed in on the discussions. This week we will take a final look at the book and our thoughts on PBL in the digital age as the formal book discussion.

The final steps in PBL are celebration and reflection. It is fitting that we follow suit here in our ning. What nuggets have you gained that you will remember and use in future PBL activities? As you launch future projects remember that members of this ning are a community of learners and, as such, are resources for planning your projects. Let us hear your successes.

The ning has tremendous resources and connections to others interested in this topic. Even though the formal discussion is coming to an end, the connections we've made here will endure. We will keep the ning up indefinitely, and, who knows, we may continue to meet here on occasion. Please keep in touch and keep working on PBL to help our students learn 21st century skills.

[LindaH]

I've really enjoyed lurking on your group and reading your discussions. Thanks for having me :-) Don't forget sharing your bulletin boards in the Classroom Displays flickr group is a great way to celebrate your student's work. You could also post some of their work with an explanation to the Re-inventing Project Based Learning flickr group.
I'm going to stick around as I've learned a lot about approaches to PBL activities by reading here.

[Sarah McPherson]

Linda,
Thanks for your reminder about the Flickr group. I also have foound the video examples really helpful as well as the Suzie and Jane's blog. The 'formal' book discussion may be winding down but we can keep this rich community of ideas and support for pbl going. Thanks for your input.

[Karen Huffman]

I've just recently joined the group but am encouraged by the energy of you all. I have started some conversations with my local libraries and within my project teams on how libraries can work hand-in-hand with teachers, media specialist, and other librarians to develop the resources, services, and on-ongoing training teachers and students may need.

[Tina Hudak]

I feel this has been a great learning experience for me. During the school year, though, I find it difficult to keep up with this format. I would love to see a summer "book" or issue used where we could possibly collaborate on a lesson plan as a group designing a PBL.

Just a thought :)....and thank you to all, especially Sarah for setting this up and seeing it though.

[Sarah McPherson]

Tina,
That's for your ideas. Maybe we should try something for the summer. It could tie into planning rather than trying to start new things during the school year. I'm game if you want to see if we can get some others interested.

[Suzie Boss]

Hi Sarah,
Thanks so much for the thought and care that have gone into this online conversation. Here's hoping the dialogue and connections that have started here will continue to grow, fostering a robust community of RPBL educators. We would love to hear about new projects and ideas for ongoing collaboration.
Best,
Suzie
P.S. Please join the conversation on our blog, too: http://reinventingpbl.blogspot.com

[Sarah McPherson]

Thank you Suzie and Jane for your support and participation. Your work is greated needed and appreciated. I'm going to see what I can do to bump up the application to undergraduate level. College is such a cultural shock if pbl is in k-12 and ivory tower lectures from the early 1900's are in college.
Thanks for everything and we will continue to follow the blog and keep in touch. See you at NECC.

[Frances Thomas]

I have really enjoyed the information in the book and all the shared conversations of RPBL. I think we have brainstormed some thought provoking thoughts through some problems that we might encounter, and we will need to continue sharing of RPBL.
I think the key word is connection. We must make connections from the known to the unknown in order for our students to learn. We must remember that it is very, very important to know what we want our students to learn on the higher order thinking skills of Bloom’s from each lesson. I would like to encourage all teachers and administrators to read this book. I thank the authors for writing it because I have extremely enjoyed all of the shared information. I do want to set-up a book talk with our faculty and staff for next school year because this will be our summer book. Everyone can share their views and thoughts rather than in a faculty meeting where some teachers are reluctant to talk. We still can discuss the overall views in the faculty meeting weekly.

[Sarah McPherson]

Thanks, Frances, for your insights and commitment to continuing study groups to explore and support pbl. I agree that the key is connection for support and would add action for making it happen. Good luck with your summer book group and planning for next year. We'll be looking forward to your keeping us updated and hearing about your successes.

[Frances Thomas]

Are we finished with this course? Will we receive information about our grade?