A 3rd grader builds a submarine. If I could re-do 4th grade, I totally found the place to do it at! Granted, I did some cool things back in 1993 and had a wonderful teacher, but I recently saw a totally different take on what school can look like. Heritage Elementary is part of Stockbridge Public Schools and I was hosted by 4th grade teacher Josh Nichols. So what makes this place so different? First and foremost...it's authentically fun! (see video)
Heritage has 3 classes (1 in each grade level 3-5) of immersive Project-Based Learning that spans the majority of the curriculum. While PBL is somewhat widespread in the US, there are very few public elementary schools in Michigan that, to my knowledge, use PBL philosophies exclusively. There are currently 10 New Tech Network schools listed in MI, but these are high schools. Josh and his colleagues confirmed this relative obscurity when they described just how hard they had to search in the past year to find model schools to learn from. I was intensely curious about the program not only for it's uniqueness but also because it was a teacher-driven reform without a major funding source (like a big donation or bond) that had strong administrative support. Essentially a group of educators came together and decided... "We can do something radically different here that will totally engage our kids in learning".
Heritage has 3 classes (1 in each grade level 3-5) of immersive Project-Based Learning that spans the majority of the curriculum. While PBL is somewhat widespread in the US, there are very few public elementary schools in Michigan that, to my knowledge, use PBL philosophies exclusively. There are currently 10 New Tech Network schools listed in MI, but these are high schools. Josh and his colleagues confirmed this relative obscurity when they described just how hard they had to search in the past year to find model schools to learn from. I was intensely curious about the program not only for it's uniqueness but also because it was a teacher-driven reform without a major funding source (like a big donation or bond) that had strong administrative support. Essentially a group of educators came together and decided... "We can do something radically different here that will totally engage our kids in learning".
In the past year, 3.5 million people have watched Caine's Arcade. Many of us saw this and asked.. "Why can't school feel more like this?" At Heritage they literally DID that. Their creativity-infused cardboard box project incorporated math (counting money), science (building circuits), tech (iPads), literacy (writing about their plans), etc. The classes even hosted the 1st and 2nd graders in the building and TAUGHT THEM about the learning concepts using their invented contraptions. How fun would that be!? The PBL hallway has a Mock Government, complete with elected officials and Due Process. Students run their own pencil businesses. You start to get the idea that there aren't a lot of worksheets being filled out with those pencils here.
5th grades test underwater ROVs "How do you cover the Core Standards??" many of us inevitably will ask. At Stockbridge, Principal Jim Kelly and his teachers embarking on this journey don't seem too worried. Everything they do is grounded in standards. It's just HOW students go about discovering and showing their growth that is different. MUCH different from the "dessert" projects I often did with my students. (Dessert projects were described to me while visiting a New Tech school- meaning that teachers will often do a project that wraps up a traditional unit...nothing wrong with these, just a completely different pedagogical approach). Editorial note: While I prided myself in a hands-on classroom environment as a teacher, the training and curriculum overhaul at the district level that would have been needed for true PBL never materialized.
Don't get me wrong...there are great elementary teachers doing all sorts of wonderful projects (with tech and otherwise) all over Michigan. The bottom-up PBL reform witnessed here it it's early stages, however, has really taken what we seem to have landed on as acceptable/normal for the majority of our classrooms and shifted that dramatically.
Generally, I would characterize the differences (based on my own experience and observations) as:
Mr. Nichols illustrated "authentic" when he described students needing various wrench sizes while building their submarine: "We talked about what 5/16 meant and how that related to measurement and fractions". I would bet those students will remember that better than if they had used a 'fraction pizza' interactive game on the Smartboard!
Perhaps most impressive about my visit to Heritage was how open and reflective the entire team was. Mr. Kelly was quick to emphasize that this was not a program to be copied and packaged as-is. It was the beginning of a process they had set out on with the hopes of creating the best learning environment for their students. They don't have all the answers...they aren't experts in PBL and they don't have mounds of data to back up what they are doing.
Answers, data and expertise.. that will come in time. That's not what matters.. What matters is passionate educators willing to take risks to create a more engaging school experience that turns our kids' fires on for learning. What matters is they didn't just read about something or watch a video and think how nice it would be. They are rolling up their sleeves and actually doing it. And so are the students.
I told Josh that I wanted to go back to elementary school...but not just as a student. I wish I could get a do-over for teaching. If I would have seen this before, maybe MY classroom would have been this fun. #FunMatters
Generally, I would characterize the differences (based on my own experience and observations) as:
- Long-term projects focused on driving questions or challenges
- Hands-on: students creating, building, making
- Standards infused in logical and authentic ways.
- Student-driven pathways for learning and demonstrating learning
- Limited use of traditional curricular "units", teacher lecture, worksheets, and busy work or homework
- Varied use of collaboration and communication structures
Mr. Nichols illustrated "authentic" when he described students needing various wrench sizes while building their submarine: "We talked about what 5/16 meant and how that related to measurement and fractions". I would bet those students will remember that better than if they had used a 'fraction pizza' interactive game on the Smartboard!
Perhaps most impressive about my visit to Heritage was how open and reflective the entire team was. Mr. Kelly was quick to emphasize that this was not a program to be copied and packaged as-is. It was the beginning of a process they had set out on with the hopes of creating the best learning environment for their students. They don't have all the answers...they aren't experts in PBL and they don't have mounds of data to back up what they are doing.
Answers, data and expertise.. that will come in time. That's not what matters.. What matters is passionate educators willing to take risks to create a more engaging school experience that turns our kids' fires on for learning. What matters is they didn't just read about something or watch a video and think how nice it would be. They are rolling up their sleeves and actually doing it. And so are the students.
I told Josh that I wanted to go back to elementary school...but not just as a student. I wish I could get a do-over for teaching. If I would have seen this before, maybe MY classroom would have been this fun. #FunMatters
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