I just completed three days of training from Tim Kubik with the Buck Institute on Project Based Learning. I decided my first attempt at PBL would include all three grade levels working on the same thing – Kindness. While working through the process over the weekend, I began to see some obstacles I will need to address. The first obstacle is the nature of my classroom. I see each Intermediate classroom (15 in all) once a week for 45 minutes. That means there will be over 300 students involved in this project. After putting students in groups, this project would require the assessment of around 100 groups. Fortunately, I am not required in my position to take official grades, so the assessments I give will be minimal. The second obstacle is I will only see each group once a week. Continuity will not be able to happen without involving the grade level teachers in some way. That is a huge obstacle in that there just does not seem to be time to collaborate in our busy schedules. The third obstacle is specific to this project because of the timing of it. I will be at school the next two weeks to kick things off, but then I will have a substitute teacher for the following two weeks due to my absence. I will need to ensure the students have all the information and supplies they need to complete the project in my absence. Although there are foreseen obstacle, nevertheless, I am looking forward to introducing this project as a jumping off point for me and PBL.

So here goes:
Project Title: Kindness Campaign (Students will be challenged to work in small groups to discover ways to promote kindness on our campus.)
Entry Event: Students will watch the videos above as they participate in a backchannel chat using TodaysMeet. Included in the discussion will be the following points:
*One of the steps to learning to express acts of kindness is to observe acts of kindness. Students will be challenged to look for and record on their blog three acts of kindness.
*Kindness changes people and can change the atmosphere of a home, school, business, etc.
*We can become kinder by: becoming aware of the importance of words, listening to ourselves speak and begin replacing unkind words with kind words, and remembering the value of every person we meet.

Driving Question:  How can we, as students, create a campaign to promote Kindness Day on February 14, 2012 at White Oak Intermediate School.

Each group will create a product to promote February 14, 2012 as Kindness Day at White Oak Intermediate. The week after February 14th, they will each create a blog post detailing their group’s contribution and their perception of the day’s events.

Click on the picture below for additional resources.