I've been very lucky to have been part of many different EdTech Communities over the years. From my time spent with amazing educators at Adobe, Google, Raspberry Pi, Sphero, TED-Ed, and my first EdTech Community, Evernote, I've loved how you get what you put into a community. It can be what you need it to be when you want it to be. I've taken all of these experiences I use them to help me craft the community experience for educators in the SchoolAI Community.
One of the things I have loved from the different communities was the effort to give the community members a platform to share their story. There is so much we can all learn from each other, but educators are not always given the chance to share or they do not have the ability to attend a conference and share their story. Sometimes the keynote circuit is the same few names and it can be tough to break into those conversations. That's why I have started the SchoolAI Lightning Talks.
Open to any educator who has an idea worth sharing, I want to give as many educators as possible a chance to share something that matters to them. You can find all of the details here and the submission page here. Do not let "I'm sure everyone already knows this." or "It probably doesn't make that big of a difference." stop you from sharing. Do not let the imposter syndrome take over and prevent you from sharing your idea. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at nicholas@schoolai.com or find me on my socials. @TheNerdyTeacher
Time. The most valuable asset of any teacher. Teachers have been asked to do more and more over the years, but the schedules have never allowed for more time. Added bus duty, recess duty, aftercare duty, etc. All of these take time away from all of the other little things that teachers need to do to do their job effectively. All this really means is that the time do these things gets moved to personal time. Longer days in the classroom or longer nights before bed are needed to complete many of these tasks. Worse yet, the stress of coming up with new lesson idea, assignments, projects, etc, can make it hard to create on the spot before tackling the numerous other responsibilities we have as adults. I wasn't sure what role AI was going to play in my life as a teacher, but when I opened the door to the possibility of AI helping me with the little things, I found myself reclaiming my time.
One of my biggest issues when it came to lesson planning was Lesson Block. A cousin of Writer's Block, Lesson Block is when a teacher has some sort of idea, but they just can't put it into words or the format needed to roll out in class. Too often, seemingly awesome ideas would never fully develop because I could not get over Lesson Block. Sometimes the idea would finally fully form, but after that part of the unit has passed. I used to be able to pop into another teacher's classroom and bounce ideas off of them to help flesh out the lesson, but those windows of time are few and far between because all of us are so busy. I needed a thought partner and one that could be there for me when I needed to explore an idea. I turned to ChatGPT to see if it can help me.
I first explored the free version of ChatGPT and then eventually turned to the paid version. I started with a casual conversation exploring what it knew about lesson plans, education, state standards, etc. I was impressed by what it knew and understood with my various prompts. I decided to give it a broad idea of what I was thinking for a lesson and I wanted to see what it would do. Well, it gave me a lesson that was amazing...for someone else's class. The lesson would not work for the students I had in the class and rolling that out would have been trouble. But, that failure of a lesson was helpful to me in the long run. It gave me a starting point for exploring a similar type of lesson that would work best for my class. So, similar to how I might go to my teaching partner and ask for their thoughts on my ideas, they might not have an idea that would work, but it could lead me to the idea that works for me. This conversation with ChatGPT was great in its failure to understand my class dynamic and that back and forth and the creation of the lesson took less than 10 minutes!
After exploring multiple school specific AI tools because I was concerned about data security and model training, I settled on SchoolAI because it was fully COPPA and FERPA compliant and I just loved the UX more than the others. I can be a bit of snob about those things. Anyway, SchoolAI has an assistant called Coteacher that functioned in a similar fashion as ChatGPT, but it was designed to better understand classroom dynamics and the things that a teacher might need when requesting different solutions. It became one of my go-to tools to help me work through ideas quickly. There was even a time when I had an idea mid class that I was trying to articulate and I dropped it into Coteacher and it was able to put into works my jumbled idea to use in class and it worked! When I started to explore Spaces and how I can prompt a chatbot to support the students in class, that was a game changer.
One of the first things I did with SchoolAI Spaces was to build a Space to help students building in Minecraft. The Minecraft House Builder Space was designed to help students with varied experience with Minecraft to build a house using the Design Thinking approach we covered in class. The common issue with this lesson was that the class has a wide range of experience with Minecraft. I had students who have never played Minecraft and some students that kill the Ender Dragon for fun on a Saturday night. I am somewhere in the middle of those two groups. I am either spending lots of time with the first time users or I am struggling to help the advanced student figure out how to do something beyond my experience. Either way, I am spending too much time on one type of student. What the Space does is support all students based on their skill level. It will help newbies explore Minecraft with basic steps on getting started and it will also help students use redstone in wildly creative ways. That frees me to engage more fully with the whole class and observe how all of the students are doing, not just the top and bottom of the experience ladder. That reclaimed time allows me to connect with more students.
Being able to connect with students with the reclaimed time is a huge part of using AI correctly and effectively. By creating that Space to support students, I was able to focus on the thing that makes teaching so amazing; connecting with students and helping them 1-on-1. That is my hot take when it comes to AI. Using AI effectively can lead to more human moments, not fewer. Reclaiming 5 minutes here and there might not seem like much, but that student that you connected with during that time felt seen and heard for the first time all day, week, or month. Teaching is all about the moments. If AI can help create more opportunities to have those moments with students, then it is worth every bit of time spent learning how to utilize it in the classroom for yourself and for students.
I'd love to hear how you are using AI in your class to create more moments with your students.
Hugs and high fives,
Nerdy
Note: All images are AI Generated using SchoolAI and do it that way saved me tons of time!
I've been thinking about community lately. What communities am I part of and how do I interact with them. What do they bring to me that I cannot get on my own. As an EdTech person, the number of communities I have joined has grown over the years. Some are super active at the start, then life gets in the way of everyone and the community slowly falls away. A community only thrives when its members are active. Managing a thriving community takes time and dedication and that can be tough for teachers who might not have the energy after a particularly difficult day or week or month of teaching.
With that idea of EdTech communities, I thought more about school communities. Every school wants to foster a community feeling that makes everyone feel welcomed, seen, and heard. Building community is a marathon, not a sprint. That idea can be tough for some school leaders to accept because "turn around" need to happen quickly to showcase change.
As teachers, we work very hard to foster a strong sense of community in the classroom and that can lend itself to a school community, but do teachers have the bandwidth to support the growth of the entire school's community? Where would they even start? Do not come at me with committee work either.
I'm not sure there is an answer to these questions. I know that the communities I cherish most are filled with people I consider to be friends and I always leave community interactions feeling better. Not just about what I learned, but about who I spent my time thinking and growing.
In the quest to provide inclusive and comprehensive education, there's a saying that captures the essence perfectly: "When we design for disability, we all benefit." At the heart of this perspective is the understanding that strategies we use to support neurodivergent students can, in many cases, enhance the learning experience for everyone. Here are five essential ways educators can make their classrooms more accessible, taking inspiration from methods employed to support neurodivergent students.
Structured Environment
One of the most common strategies for assisting neurodivergent students is creating a structured classroom environment. Predictable routines, clear organization, and labeled areas can aid in reducing anxiety for students who crave routine. This is something that can benefit all students because having clearly labeled locations for items and solid routine allows very little room for lost time. I have found that students in the middle school really benefit from the strict routine of certain class activities. Whether it is taking attendance or the procedure to use the bathroom, those approaches help all students, but especially neurodivergent students who get anxious at the uncertainty that can present itself in seemingly normal, every day tasks for others.
Example: Starting every class with a 5-minute overview of the day's lesson, displayed on the board, can help all students set clear expectations and mentally prepare for the tasks ahead.
Visual Aids and Graphic Organizers
Visual aids can be beneficial for neurodivergent students, especially those on the autism spectrum or those with attention disorders. These tools can clarify information and break down complex ideas. The use of chunking is wonderfully helpful for all students. It can be very easy to get overwhelmed with a large project or concept. Breaking it down using visuals can help make it all seem more manageable. I have found that more visuals and fewer long texts really help all of the students stay on task and are more engaged with the content.
Example: For a lesson on the water cycle, a colorful diagram with arrows and brief descriptions can make the concept more graspable.
Flexible Seating Options
Providing various seating options can cater to different sensory needs. Some students may need movement to concentrate, while others might benefit from a quiet corner. As a teacher, it is important to remember that it is not "your" classroom. It is their classroom and the space should accommodate their needs. The first time a student in my ELA class asked if they could sit on the window ledge instead of their desk, the traditional teacher in me said, "No way", but I figured I would give this fidgety student a chance and it was the most on task they had been all year. Finding different options for sitting can be difficult and costly, but it is important to explore because students learn in a different environments and we should be flexible to that.
Example: Offering a mix of traditional desks, standing desks, soft cushions, and even wobble stools can provide students the freedom to find their most productive space.
Breaks and Brain Boosters
Regular breaks can help neurodivergent students regulate their emotions and energy. But in reality, all students can benefit from intermittent pauses to refresh and refocus. If you teach in block scheduling, you must have something to break up the 70 minute blocks or the students will not make it to the end of the year as engaged as you might want. Taking time to stretch, walk around, play a quick silly game, etc. are important to keep the students engaged. Neurodiverse students will really need a way to energize themselves after long periods of sitting.
Example: Introducing 5-minute "brain boosters" every 25 minutes, like a quick stretch or a short mindfulness exercise, can help rejuvenate everyone.
Multi-modal Instructions
Offering instructions in more than one format can make a world of difference. Whether it's auditory, visual, or kinesthetic, multi-modal teaching addresses diverse learning styles. I learned that putting everything online and on the board AND reading over it at the start and end of class is a great way to ensure that ALL of my students have a chance to understand what we are doing or remind them what we just did. I read everything at least twice to make sure everyone heard it because there are students who might be too embarrassed to raise their hand and ask for a repeat. That applies to all students.
Example: When introducing a new project, provide written instructions, explain them verbally, and perhaps demonstrate a step or two to cater to different learners.
The beauty of these strategies is that they don't just cater to a subset of students. By supporting our neurodivergent learners, we are essentially laying the foundation for a holistic, inclusive, and enriched classroom environment that uplifts everyone. Let's continue to learn, adapt, and grow for the benefit of all our students.
My feed has been swamped with all of these posts proclaiming that ChatGPT is great for education and that it will bring about the demise of education. Every take in between has been given as well. I've been around long enough to have seen this reaction with multiple tools over the years. There are plenty of people out there that are going to tell you how to use ChatGPT in your classroom or how to check and see if your students are using it to complete assignments. Much like the Force, it can be used for good or for bad. It is not all one or the other.
Ugh.
Rather than spend a bunch of time coming up with a variety of reasons about why teachers should not worry about ChatGPT, I just had ChatGPT come up with the reasons for me.
Lack of personalization: ChatGPT, as advanced as it is, cannot replace the personal touch that a teacher brings to the classroom. A teacher’s ability to understand individual student needs, emotions, and learning styles cannot be replicated by a machine. ChatGPT may provide a quick answer, but it cannot provide the human connection and personalized support that students need to learn and grow.
Limited scope of knowledge: While ChatGPT has been trained on a massive corpus of text, it is not perfect and may not always provide accurate or up-to-date information. Teachers, on the other hand, undergo extensive training and have a deep understanding of their subject matter and the curriculum. They are able to provide students with a comprehensive and well-rounded education that goes beyond just answering questions.
Importance of critical thinking and problem solving: Teachers play a crucial role in fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills in their students. They do this by encouraging students to think deeply about concepts, ask questions, and engage in discussions and projects that require creativity and innovation. ChatGPT, while it may provide answers to questions, cannot facilitate the kind of hands-on learning that helps students develop these important skills. Teachers should not worry about ChatGPT as they provide a level of education and support that a machine simply cannot match.
I will throw in another reason why people should stop freaking out about ChatGPT.
Teachers were very concerned about essay writing with the introduction of the Internet. There was this fear that students would not create an original essay every again. I always found this funny, because any teacher worth their salt can identify a plagiarized paper from a student they have had in class for a small amount of time. It is not that hard to see that a student who has written at or slightly below grade level is writing at the college level out of nowhere. While taking credit for the student's writing advancement would be nice, teachers know it came from somewhere else. Either too much "help" from a parent or from an online source. The way this was addressed in many classrooms was more in class writing assessments. Will some students beat the system and submit work they did not do? Of course they will. Students have been beating the system as long as there has been a system. The overwhelming majority of students follow the directions, do the work, and are honest about it.
The big issue that many teachers do not want to look at is WHY students would choose to be dishonest with their work. Finding the root cause might require teachers to look inward at their curriculum and overall classroom learning environment and that can be much scarier than the thought of AI taking over the teaching profession. Food for thought.
I used AI to create an image of what AI looks like in a dystopian world. Here it is. Kind of nuts right?
I was thinking about the phrase, "It's just a phase" the other day after watching someone say it on a show I was watching. The phrase is funny to me. It is said as if it is not a big deal, but I think that is wrong. I think going through a phase is a big deal and we should encourage students and adults to go through them. Follow me on my logic here,
A phase is a time where a child is trying something new. This could be a new style of clothing or possibly a new type of music (90's Swing Music anyone?). They will explore this new identity or hobby and claim it is who they are now. Instead of telling kids they are wrong or they will grow out of it, I think it should be encouraged. Exploring and trying new things is not easy. This is something that should be supported because you will never know what you love or don't without experimentation. If you have taught long enough, you have seen students evolve over the years because they try on many different hats. It is a fun conversation to have with them when they get older because they, like many of us, are embarrassed by their phases. I have some great pictures of me with tremendous 90210 inspired sideburns. We shouldn't be embarrassed. We should be proud that we tried something out that made us happy at the time.
As teachers, I think it is easy to dismiss new pedagogical approaches as fads or just a phase another teacher is going through at the moment. There are plenty of things I have tried that I no longer do. I'm not embarrassed but them. I use them as points of growth along my educational journey. They are examples of where I have tried something to better support my students. I either do it because it is great, don't do it because there is something better, or I don't do it because it does not work how I want it to. Not matter the reason, I tried it for myself and I'm glad I tried it.
The next time you think that someone is just going through a phase, also think about how you can cheer them on as they explore something new.
Right now, there is a big push to support students and staff with Social Emotional Learning. My big questions to people out there that talk about SEL is, do you know what SEL actually is? I feel it is another acronym that people use that do not fully understand what it means. There is a vague understanding, but not truly enough to expound on the specifics of it and how it would be possible to implement it.
This is one, of many, issues with public commentary on education that does not have an educator's voice at the front. It is super easy to tell everyone that we need to support our students with SEL and then not have to worry about the complicated process it takes to infuse it into a school. While still requiring students to take these high stakes tests and then find time to make sure their mental health is supported would be comical if it wasn't so sad.
Teachers are not equipped to just "roll out" SEL with students. It should not be a box that is checked as well. "Doing" SEL is not the same as investing in SEL with your students and staff. It takes lots of hard work and the shifting of priorities. I wish more people would spend the time to dig deeper into the buzzwords that are thrown around before expecting teachers to adjust their instructional day, again, for a new program that they have not been prepared.
If you are looking for SEL resources, check out these links,
I hope these resources help. I will be writing more and sharing more on SEL in the coming weeks. Let me know if you have any good tips or resources to share.
The time from the start of school until the Thanksgiving break has always been the longest part of the school year. When you break down most calendars, it is one of the longest periods of time in the school year without a break. It can be 10-12 weeks without a week off to recharge. It is so important to find the time to take care of yourself in ways that are going to make it possible to be your best self as the school year continues.
Everyone practices self-care in very different ways. Here are just a few things I have done in the past during these Fall months that have helped me make it to the first long break of the year. Maybe some of these will inspire you to give them a try.
Workout the Stress
I have finally gotten back on the bike for my physical wellness. That is not just fun wordplay, I have invested in a Peloton bike and have been riding regularly since August. I am not a fan of big studio bike riding where I'm surrounded by other people. Being by myself where I can just ride and sing along to the music has really helped me stay in shape and lose some weight. If you have the bike and subscription, you also have access to all of their non-bike workouts as well. I have been working on stretches and things to improve my back health. I suffer from chronic back pain and I'm hoping I can work on getting everything in a better place. If you can make the time for some physical wellness activities, it can make the Fall time a little bit easier. If you live in areas that gets ton of snow, try to get outside as much as you can before the weather makes it impossible.
Find Peace
I have started to do more meditation at night before I go to sleep. It has really helped calm my mind and would encourage everyone to try it out. It is not for everyone, but it works for me. My anxiety slammed brain needs something to calm it down before trying to get to sleep. Doing some breathing techniques and thinking routines has really helped calm my thoughts and prepare me for a restful night of sleep.
If meditation is not your thing, find something that brings you joy. It could be cuddling up on the couch wrapped in a blanket reading your favorite book. Maybe it is sitting at a table and building a puzzle or creating something amazing with LEGO bricks. We all have those things that make us feel calm and relaxed when we get to do them. It is important to make the time to connect with those activities and feel good about doing them.
Take a Break
This one can be tough to do, but can be very important. Take a break from grading one day a week. Pick a day and choose not to bring the grading home. Dedicated that time to yourself and your family. It is very easy to write this here, but I have found that making that choice has led to a less stressful environment. Taking work home every day and over the weekend is exhausting and leads to burnout. It is ok to take the time for yourself and leave those paper on your work desk for an extra day. Once you establish this routine, it will be very easy for you.
Just Say No
The hardest thing that a teacher can say is no. We are hardwired to want to help and that can be taken advantage of by others who do not consider how much stress the extra work can bring to people. Every person only has so much bandwidth to give to a variety of projects. While it can be tough to tell someone know, it is important for your health to advocate for yourself and set those boundaries. I have had to tell people that I'd love to help, but my plate is full and I do not have the time to do a project to the best of my ability. Honest conversations about what you are able to handle at that moment can be effective is lessening the load during the entire school year.
This school year is the second full school year impacted by the pandemic. Teachers have been pushed to the brink in many different ways. The long stretch in the Fall has been very tough for many educators and the winter months, especially for those that are going to deal with lots of snow, are only going to get tougher. Please do your best to make time for yourself so you can be happy in mind, body, and heart. If things become too difficult, remember to reach out to friends and family to get the support you need. You're not alone on this journey.
As you get ready to start school, or, for some of you, engage in the first week or two of school, I wanted to write a letter to you. The first thing I want to say is thank you. You might be in an environment where you do not hear that enough. Thank you for getting up and getting ready to tackle another insane school year. When they told us teacher would not be easy in college, they did not tell us about the possibility of teaching multiple years in the midst of a pandemic. Despite the change of your entire teaching environment, you have altered your lessons and have come up with some pretty cool ideas that I am sure will stick around when this virus is passed us.
You are going to face more challenges over the course of this school year and you are going to make mistakes. That is ok. We are all going to make mistakes. You will rise up over those mistakes and still do an amazing job. The students will look to you for guidance and grace and you will show it to them. When you don't, you will step and make it a teachable moment. I am so sorry that this is going to be another year of students coming and going because of quarantine, another year of having that pit feeling in your stomach when you, or your loved ones do not feel well, another year of trying to figure out how to take care of your own children at home and the ones in the seats in your room, and another year of thinking you are just not good enough. You are good enough. You are better than good. You are freaking amazing. You have made it this far and you decided to come back for another year. It is not easy, but you are doing your best.
I also want to make sure you take time to take care of yourself. Your mental health is important you DO NOT need to burn yourself out in the first couple of months of the school year. You have friends and family that need you and, most of all, you need yourself. Take those breaks from grading at home. Spend time watching the true crime documentary you have had saved for a few months. You are no good to anyone if you are not well. You are loved by so many. We all want you to be well. Take time to make sure you are.
Lastly, to any new teachers starting their first job this year; welcome to the club. You don't get a shirt, but you will wear your job as a badge of honor for years to come. It is not going to be easy, but find yourself a mentor to help guide through all of the things you need to know that are not taught in school. Be eager to learn, be yourself, and don't be afraid to say, "I don't know". Those three words are some of the most honest words you can say as a teacher and more people need to feel comfortable with saying it as long as they follow it with, "But I'm going to find out and get back to you." You are going to feel like an imposter this year, and probably a few years after. To be honest, you will not feel truly good abut what you are doing until your 5th year or so. That's ok. We've all been there.
I know this year is going to be tough, but I know that teachers across the country and around the world and going to do their very best to make sure our students feel welcomed, loved, and safe. You've got this and share this message with other educators that need the pat on the back. It is a small act with everything that is going on, but sometimes support starts with a small act and grows over time.
Welcome back to the next installment of the PBL Q&A posts where I answer commonly asked questions about Project Based Learning. You can find the first post here if you want to catch up!
Another set of common questions I receive about Project Based Learning has to do with group work. Here are three of the most frequent,
1. "Should I assign groups or let students pick them?"
2. "What if a student doesn't want to work in a group"
3. "What do I do if I have students working in a group and one of the students is not doing the work?"
These are very tough questions to answer and can cause lots of stress for a teacher, especially if they are new to Project Based Learning. Let's unpack these questions and see what we can do provide some support when you encounter these in your classroom.
1. To assign or not to assign...
Group work is tricky because most of the time, it comes down to the chemistry of the group. As a teacher, if you do not know your students very well, assigning groups could be disastrous. The inner workings of the social structure of your students group might not be evident and conflict could pop up if students are forced to work together in groups. I have found that the start of the school year leans more toward student selected groups with some minor teacher intervention as needed.
Like all things school related, the age group of the students is important to consider. High school students are much better at choosing their own groups than middle school students. In my experience, having an honest conversation with students about choosing partners for projects really helps set the tone for the rest of the year. I explain that it is great to work with your friends, but you need to be able to trust them to do their part. I had friends that were great friends, but terrible work partners for projects. High School and Middle School students respond well to these conversations. Ultimately, I tell students that they can pick their groups and I will only get involved in extreme situations.
An extension of this part of the process focuses on the students that are not asked to join a group and this where it is important to really know your students. I have found asking a group of students to include the one looking for a group to join to invite them in is often very successful. I have seen amazing friendships blossom because of this approach. Other times, there are students who are not included in groups because they have a history of not doing their work. This issue leads to question 2.
2. Flying solo in group work
Many people find it hard to believe, but I am an introvert in many ways. Large scale group projects are not always my things and I only enjoy them if I can do my part of a larger project on my own or I am working with a close group of friends that understand my eccentricities. We often forget about our introverted students in the classroom in a rush to have everyone socialize and have "normal" interactions in the classroom. Sometimes it is ok to let the "quiet kid" stay the quiet kid.
Every lesson I have created that has a PBL element allows for the flexibility to be completed as a solo project. Every project has the opportunity to be expanded based on the number of students in the group. For example, if the average group size was three, an assignment for a novel we read might ask for 3 examples of theme and three examples of symbolism be showcased in their project. That would break down to each student being responsible for a theme and symbol example. If the group had four students, It would be up the examples to four. I tell the students that if they want to add more students to the group the work, and the expectations, go up. Group work is not about packing in as many bodies as possible to reduce the workload for everyone. After a certain number of students, there are diminishing returns.
For the student that goes solo, I will have a conference with them and see what we can do to adjust the assignment for them to meet them where they are. There are so many different reasons why a student might want to go solo for a project. I think it is important to have conversations with your students to find out where they are. I have had students tell me they are working the late shift the next two weeks to help their family and can't work in a group because they'd never be able to meet up with them. Some have had serious anxiety issues that make it difficult to connect with others outside of the classroom. Having these conversations with students is important because it will inform you on how much you will nudge them to work with other students.
I've encouraged students to push themselves to work with other that might not be in their friend group and see how different ideas can come together to create some interesting projects that really push their thinking. There have also been times when the group got the work done, but it was not an awesome experience. That is the reality of group work sometimes and it is important for students to understand that as well. Sometimes group work does not work the way we want it to and that leads us to questions 3.
3. Carrying the group
The toughest part of group work is when someone in the group is not doing their part. It is important to be upfront with students at the start of the year about the process that is in place when students are in groups and they feel one of their partners is not doing their work. Every teacher needs to create a process that is good for their students and must be comfortable adjusting it from class to class as needed. Here is the process that I had in place for my classes,
Student Responsibility
1. Talk to your group member to see if they need any help with their part of the project. Encourage them to see the teacher if they are having trouble getting started.
2. Privately talk to the teacher if you feel the project is getting close to the end and a group member has not completed or started their part of the project.
Teacher Responsibility
1. Once a student has had a conversation with you about the lack of progress, go over to the entire group and check-in with them about their progress. (Note: Hopefully project check-ins are a normal part of your class period while students are working on projects so this should not seem weird.) Ask each student where they are at and if they need any support. This is usually when you will see that a student has not been doing the work needed for the group project.
2. Have a private conversation with the student to see what type of support they need to be successful for the project. Some many things can be going on in a student's life that a school project is not a priority. This check-in can inform the next steps.
3a. The student was just stuck on an idea and was afraid to let their friends know. You help them get started and they are back on track with the rest of the group. An extension can be given for the whole group if the student needs a little extra time.
3b. The student needs to work on their own because of personal issues. The project is adjusted for the student so they can be successful and focus on the project in a way that does not add to the stress and anxiety they are already facing. Consider reaching out to other teachers and the appropriate school resources depending on the severity of the personal issues. The project is adjusted for the group as well as so they can focus on their work and not worry about the loss of their group member and the work they needed to complete.
3c. The student says they will get it together after the talk and shows some progress. Unfortunately, they do not finish their part of the project and the rest of the group is worried about their grade. Luckily, the project can be assessed based on the different parts that the students completed as individuals and their grade will not be harmed because a member of their group did not complete their part.
This last part opens the door to the next question I will write about next week that addressed the grading of project based learning. Here is a hint, it involved rubrics!
Every project in every class will present teachers with a new problem that has to be addressed. Group projects can lead to some amazing leaps in learning. Some can be downright disastrous. I will leave with a project from a group that I was worried about, but managed to pull it together and blow the class away. I present to you, The Great Gatsby Rap
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments or to message me on Twitter @TheNerdyTeacher
I'm excited to be heading down to Orlando for a few days to share the awesome things that have been happening in the world of MakerEd at my school. Below you will find my schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday. I will be sharing different tools to support reading and writing, maker examples tested by students at my school, and a talk on how MakerEd can make positive changes in a school environment.
I'd love to see you at any of my sessions if you are at FETC or meeting up in the Convention Center to chat.
Please reach out to me on Social if you want to connect. @TheNerdyTeacher on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat!
