"Measure twice, cut once."

Brent Jennings is enjoying the advantages of the longer blocks that give him and his students time to work on the school greenhouse. Brent has found that this hands-on project, like most, has its advantages and challenges along the way. Currently, he is teaching three different levels of Precon. To accommodate some students’ schedules, his classes could contain various levels at the same time. In addition, students come to Brent with various levels of ability and experience. For example, in Brent's afternoon class, one student had worked in construction this past summer, another was very familiar with the machinery and tools after using similar ones on the family farm, and a third had just come back from his morning NIACC classes in the trades. Other students come with little to no experience in construction, just an interest. Adjusting curriculum to so many levels of ability and experience can be challenging, but projects can provide an opportunity for individualized learning, too.

Brent, who often uses a project-based curriculum in his classroom, is used to differentiating instruction for his learners. Several of the tasks in constructing the greenhouse have multiple steps that provide opportunities for scaffolding learning. Much of the project involves teamwork and problem solving, skills that all of his students can work on and are assessed through an employability rubric.

Brent’s greenhouse project is a great example of project-based learning in action. The project has an authentic purpose, an authentic audience, opportunities for student choice, and the opportunity to differentiate instruction based on learners’ needs. When projects contain these components, the more engaged and the more motivated they are to learn. The students in Brent’s classes love being there. The end product will be used by many of them or their classmates and the skills gained through the project will be used later in their lives and possibly future careers.

Are you ready to design your own project? Here are some things to consider:

What is project-based learning?

“Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.” Visit pblworks.org to learn more about the method, examples of projects, and resources to use in your next project.

How do I make my project authentic?

• When designing your project, make sure to hit these essential design elements.

How do I assess a project?

• Align to standards. Using the standards, design rubrics that describe the criteria needed to show mastery of these standards. The final product does not have to be the final assessment for all of the standards. Mini lessons can and should be incorporated during the process of learning.

• Assess frequently. It’s important to provide feedback to students during a project often. Individual conferencing and quick formative assessments can be used to inform the teacher and the student about their progress towards mastery of the standards.

• Use assessment to inform instruction. Based on formative assessment results, design/redesign instruction as the project progresses. Some students will need more support than others. Incorporate small group lessons and opportunities for retakes when needed.

• Project Based Learning is not product based learning. A final grade for a project shouldn’t be a surprise. Learning takes place during the project and feedback is provided to students often throughout. Because of all the feedback along the way, students should know where they stand when they share their final product to their audience.