Design Guide and Trainings

Project Samples

Beautiful Work

PBL Culture: Instructional Strategies and Tools for Implementation

Project-based learning at iLEAD encompasses:

• School Culture of PBL: A school culture of project-based learning prioritizes student inquiry, collaboration, and real-world problem-solving beyond the classroom. Operations, facilities, academics, extracurriculars, and family/community connection are learner-centered, with school programs that foster exploration and critical thinking rather than solely delivering information. This approach supports PBL in the classroom as an authentic and meaningful experience.

Project-Based Teaching Practices: 

• Design and Plan: Facilitators create and adapt a project for their context and students, and they plan its implementation from launch to culmination while allowing for some degree of student voice and choice. A unique Design Guide aligned to the PBL wheel ensures projects are high quality. 

• Align to the Standards: Facilitators use standards to plan projects and make sure they address key knowledge and understanding from the subject areas to be included. Project-based learning is rigorous learning. Pacing guides, curriculum, and high expectations of rigorous instruction ensure PBL aligns with the standards. 

• Build the Culture: Facilitators explicitly and implicitly promote learner independence and growth, open-ended inquiry, team spirit, and attention to quality. 

• Manage Activities: Facilitators work with the learners to organize tasks and schedules, set checkpoints and deadlines, find and use resources, create products, and make them public.

• Scaffold and Differentiate Learning: Facilitators employ a variety of lessons, tools, and instructional strategies to support learners in reaching project goals. Differentiation for English Learners, students with disabilities, and learners needing Tier II and III interventions occurs. 

• Assessing Learning: Facilitators use formative and summative assessments of knowledge, understanding, and success skills and include self and peer assessment of team and individual work. The philosophy of beautiful work in project-based learning emphasizes creating high-quality, meaningful, and visually appealing products. This goes beyond simply completing an assignment; it encourages students to take pride in their work and strive for excellence.

• Engage and Coach: Facilitators engage in learning and creating alongside students and identify when they need skill-building, redirection, encouragement, and celebration.