Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers from the West Milford Township Public School District, along with Apshawa School Principal Bernice Colefield, joined IDE consultant Andie DiMarco to work toward creating more Learner-Active, Technology Infused Classrooms in their schools. Most of the teachers in the group have already created and taught PBLs, and were ready to take their work to the next level! Others were new to the philosophies and strategies involved.
Andie says:
"I couldn't get over the enthusiasm with which this group approached the training ... they took work home, stayed after hours, and came up with really impressive products! While some of the folks in the group have had prior training with IDE in Problem-Based Learning, for a few this was a first exposure, which makes their work all the more impressive. The students at Apshawa and Westbrook have a lot to look forward to next year, and I look forward to seeing these terrific teachers in action!"
Third grade teacher Grayce Monravieff already runs a very learner-active classroom. She has set up her room so that the students have a variety of workspaces, some designed for collaborative time and others for individual concentration. The workshop is her first introduction to PBLs, and she is especially interested in familiarizing her students with the terms and structures involved so that they will have a high comfort level on entering the fourth grade. Grayce has written a PBL designed to help each of her students identify a "polar partner," a student whose learning style is quite different from his or her own. This enables each student, throughout the year, to seek the input of a peer from whom he or she might not naturally have done so. It also helps the students to understand and appreciate differences.
Sue Morris and Grayce Monravieff share insights and ideas about
Problem-Based Learning.
Fourth grade teachers Sue McEvoy and Chrissi Kissack teamed up to work on a PBL called "Save the Rainforest!" Click on these links to access their PBL and rubric, the student checklist, and animal mini-research worksheet. They also encourage you to view related Student Fact Sheets at www.ran.org.
Fifth grade teachers Tanja Lane, Judy Mett, and Maryanne O'Brien teamed up with special education teacher Connie Barry to develop a beginning-of-the-year PBL called "I Wanna Be on MTV!" It is designed to help students get to know one another and celebrate their differences. Maryanne comments, "Our goal is for our students to be more accepting of each other's differences, and to be able to utilize those differences to successfully work collaboratively." Click here to read more about these teachers.
Andie and Maryanne
brainstorm ideas.
Connie gets
Bernice's feedback.
Tanja and Judy
hard at work!
Sixth grade teachers Robin Walles, Elaine Schwarze, and Phyllis Becker worked with special education teacher Susan Morris to refine a PBL that they worked on last year. They are sharing an Archaeology PBL . The archaeology PBL requires students to complete numerous activities that relate to the task given. Students will engage in hands-on activities and work collaboratively to produce a final project. The 6th grade teachers have also successfully run a Greece PBL, which requires higher-level thinking and cooperative grouping. Students will enjoy a fun-filled Olympics at the closing of the unit. (Robin, Elaine and Phyllis co-hosted the First Annual Apshawa/Westbrook Olympics this past spring as part of their PBL ... they look forward to the Second Annual Olympics!)
Click the following links to access their PBL, main rubric, paragraph rubric, scaffold, student checklist, job description activity and sample responses, and Teacher Hints.
on these links to access their 
