Our Experience WITH

Nora Apelt & Reena Dhillon

Our Journey

• Met at the PBL workshops hosted by C.O.R.E• PBL World Conference in Napa, California

• Began designing PBL• Spent 5 months putting it together• Project time line – 6 weeks• Have tweaked the project each time it is done

with a class

Why we changed our practice?

• Student engagement, autonomy and responsibility needs to be increased

• Felt uninspired by textbook work• Doing way more work than the students• They need skills for the real world• Big ideas to stick with them for a long time, rather than lose

small facts immediately

HOW HAS OUR TEACHING CHANGED?

• Facilitator rather than content delivery• Technology and skill based• Focus on cooperative learning, inquiry, critical thinking,

empathy• Students held accountable for their learning-(real world

scenarios)

Impact on Student Learning

• Developed insight into current social issues• Skill and big concept based teaching vs. trivia

facts and parroting the information back• FORCES the students to make sense of the

material by putting it in Gr.6 language and it cannot be plagiarized from the internet.

MUST HAVES FOR PBL

• Collaboration time• Collaborative project• Access to resources (laptops, guest speakers, digital

resources)• Access to work space or presentation space• Administrative support• Teacher reflections

The

• Social Studies 10• History of the First Nations and their relationship

with the Federal Government• First contact to 2015

THE

Guiding Question: • How can the relationship between the Federal

Government and Canada’s First Nations be improved given their history?

THE

Setting up the Project

1. Hook video, blanket presentation 2. Need to know- brainstorm activity

Need to Know

• Guiding Question-How can the relationship between the Federal Government and Canada’s First Nations be improved given their history?

• In your groups, brainstorm what you need to know in order to answer the question and for the project as a whole

Setting up the Project cont’d

3. Activating prior knowledge( carousel, K-W-L…)4.Group contract 5. Setting up guidelines for students (roles, responsibilities, daily routine)

Our Lessons

• How to conduct effective research• What is a theme• Making connections• How to present• Sharing Circle• How to work effectively in groups

Final Product(s)

• A digital storybook• Using ‘flipsnack’

• Digital Presentation• Sharing Circle• Brain Dump

Other PBL Options For Social Studies

• Social Studies 9– Revolution/Reform– Canada’s changing

landscape – impact on First Nations

• Social Studies 10– Minority groups in BC– -BC history: social,

economic, political development 1850-1925 and impact on residents

Steps Taken By Student

• Initial ‘broad’ research – each responsible to find 2 ‘interactions’ that occurred from 1700- present day

• Responsible to choose 4 ‘interactions’, 1 from each century then identified a theme

• Begin ‘In-depth’ research on their interactions• Some created a story-line• Discussed connections between historical interactions

and current relationship• Suggested solutions• Began their digital storybook

• Initial ‘broad’ research – each responsible to find ‘interactions’ that occurred from 1700- present day

Broad research

• Responsible to choose 4 ‘interactions’, 1 from each century then identified a theme

Identifying a Theme

• Begin ‘In-depth’ research on their interactions

In - Depth Research

• Discussed connections between historical interactions and current relationship

Creating Connections

Began their Digital Presentation (prezi, Flipsnack…)

• Students suggested solutions to improve the relationship between the First Nations & the Federal Government

Solutions

Student

• “working with people I normally wouldn’t”• “I like most that we can go beyond the textbook . . .

improve research skills, like filter useful information”• “a public audience [gives us] feedback from what we

present. It makes it so others have to understand, not just our teacher and class who are all learning the same thing. If the audience understands it as well is important, instead of just us.”

Student

• “answering the actual guiding question was actually hard at first but through the project it got easier and I finally was able to answer it”

• I learned a lot about the First Nations and how they got treated because a few weeks ago I didn’t know. I never knew our federal government was like this. This has really left an impression on me.”

• “before this project I didn’t even know they were having problems with each other”

• “I learn[ed] [that] the FN have had a tough life and the relationship is terrible between them . . I found this very sad”

Student

• “is how much the First Nations people went through in their life and especially residential schools”

• “the immense and complex history between the First Nations and the rest of Canada for the rest of my life”

• “we were treated like adults than teenagers . . . figure it out with our group first, then come to her if that totally didn’t work. We had to work hard on communicating.”

• “I liked putting it together as a team. It turned out to be easier”

Student Skills

• “how to cope with situations when we need [to] figure [out] stuff on our own”

• “important things I learned is how to research properly and not to use wikipedia”

• “3 website check to make sure the info is accurate”• “if you don’t do your work, your peers will be upset with you

Student skills

• “I will remember that taking responsibility is a big thing because if I get a job and don’t do the things I have to do , I will get fired”

• “that some people do not have the same drive as you so you will have to do meet in the middle”

• “I also learned how to work in a group successfully and not just fool around and talk the whole time.”

Student challenges & Changes

• “needed more time to practice and to make the presentations better”

• “they put a lot of effort in it because at the start I was like why are we learning about First Nations, but at the end it was worth it and you learn a lot of new things”

• “The most challenging part was the starting off. The only thing I didn’t like about the project was the noise it brings with it. If it could be more mellowed out it would have been better”

• “getting the information”