I had a lot of fun today judging senior English projects for Ms. Marvin at Lancaster High School today. Ms. Marvin asked me to sit on a panel of experts as a fictional grant committee. The high school students submitted grant proposals to the committee I was a member of and gave a presentation. This was a wonderful learning opportunity for students as they were presenting their projects to a real audience which made it much more valuable to them. After we heard all the proposals the committee met and decided if the grants would be funded in full, part, or not at all. We came back to the classroom later and made our recommendations to all the students in front of the class. We gave them direct feedback on why their proposals were funded or why not as well as strengths and weaknesses of each.
I never thought I would be like Simon Cowell from American Idol, but I did find myself pointing out professional dress issues and holes in the evaluation and budget plans. I was pretty tough but fair on the students. My other committee members were very helpful to the students in making the connections between their proposals and what is the real need or how they could make their grants better. I asked some very pointed questions to the kids and they had to think on their feet. Some were prepared for the questions, some were not. In the end, I think they all learned a great deal from the exercise.
Project-Based Learning is such a wonderful instructional method because the students have to solve real problems, troubleshoot, think creatively, collaborate and communicate, and then present to a real audience. Ms. Marvin is such a great teacher because she uses PBL effectively in her classroom. If you would like to see an example of her using PBL, watch this YouTube video.
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