PBL is more appropriate for today's students for many reasons. One reason is that today's learner needs more interaction with peers than in previous years. Another is that it helps students compete in the 21st century workplace.

yes I have a better understanding of PBL.

PBL is different in the fact that students are given the exact specifications to what the end product should be. There is a more creative aspect to the end product and it gives the students the ability to make choices as to what they are comfortable with. This is definitely different from frontal teaching in the fact that the teacher is more of a facilitator and creator of this inquiry based learning to engage students. Students are more accountable for their decision making process in their own groups which makes it more personable and challenging.

at first, I thought PBL would be a great learning tool to use in my CTE program
however, after day two, I think PBL is to complex to add at this time

PBL learning requires the student to be an active participant in the learning process. By the very nature of today's students-if we don't hook them in the beginning and encourage them along the way-we are likely to lose them.

PBL is a constructive teaching approach that encourages inquiry learning on the part of students. I am a firm believer in PBL since it makes students accountable for their own learning. PBL also encourages and requires the student to take ownership of his or her own learning.

Traditional education was all about the students acquiring knowledge. In today's world students need more than knoweldge they need skills to be able to survive in the 21st Century. PBL helps them acquire the skills needed to plan, collaborate, and communicate. It also challenges them to be civically responsible on a global front.

PBL provides an environment for application of skills - requires the student to actively participate in their learning.

Project Based Learning can work for students with basic skills issues, it may be necessary to include more direct instruction during a project, design shorter projects, or tie projects to fewer standards. But PBL offers all students the opportunity to investigate things that interest them which hopefully, will engage them in the learning process.

* What considerations are important when incorporating a Project Based Learning approach into the classroom?
You have to consider the basic skills of the students, the available resources, the standards, how learning will be assessed and what the key focus will be. I like the idea of PBL but I'm concerned about doing just one unit as a PBL and then going to the next unit without PBL...I'm afraid the inconsistency of two different methods will confuse the students. At this point, I'm contemplating working on the units over the next year with a group of teachers and not implementing PBL type units until next year.

•What makes PBL appropriate and different ...?
I think what I appreciate the most about PBL is that it really seeks to foster learning that is deeper and more connected to the life of the learner. Traditionally, much of what is learned gests lost after a short period because of the somewhat superficial nature in which it was learned. PBL, if designed well, really seeks to embed learning in an experience that is real and significant and. therefore, has the potential to become a part of the learner as they engage in the lesson.
•What considerations are important when incorporating a PBL...?
I think the biggest factor that needs to be taken into consideration is the depth and complexity of this type of learning experience. Making the transition into this type of learning environment will be difficult for many students (and also their parents). To be successful, all lower ability students, students who have gotten used to the traditional memorization of dates and definitions, and anyone who expects their school experience to be quick and easy will likely need help making the adjustment. Ample supports must be built into the design of the unit to help facilitate the development of necessary cognitive skills, positive social skills, and a transition from the traditional understanding of the learner being poured onto to the learner constructing an understanding for themselves with teacher support.

What considerations are important when incorporating a PBL approach into the classroom?
In section of the article called "Covering vs. Uncovering" we are given some guidance in choosing topics for projects. I have wondered how to develop driving questions in a way that "covers everything." Instead, I need to uncover the deeper issues embedded in the glces. Some glces can be covered, or taught traditionally. It is our decision to determine which hold the best potential for a project-based approach. Where are the opportunities for students to learn about issues connected to the modern world, to social justice dilemmas, to technology and our culture? These are the bits that are best "uncovered" rather than covered. This is a huge relief. It's hard enough to do it all. It's good to know that we aren't trying to do more, we're just trying to do it better. And the place to start deep thinking is with the deepest issues.

I am looking forward to beginning the year with a PBL math project. The idea of "uncovering" is embedded in our math series so this seems like a good starting point . I have to remember not every aspect of PBL requires "deep thinking". I co-teach and will use this additional support to help with planning, guiding learning, and tweaking things as we go along. I am also wondering how attendance might impact the structure of this as I have always had classes with high absenteeism?

•What makes Project Based Learning appropriate and different in comparison to traditional instruction?

PBL is appropriate and different because students are taking knowledge that they have aquired and doing something with it. They are using the skills that are going to help them be successful as they venture out into the work force such as problem-solving, communication, and self-management. For a teacher, it helps them combine their curriculum with the community, while collaborating with their fellow teachers. In return, teachers will gain more support from their community and parents will have a better understanding of their child's needs. In the past I know I always struggled to work in the community piece, so I'm very excited about PBL.

•What makes Project Based Learning appropriate and different in comparison to traditional instruction?

PBL recognizes that learning is partly a social activity. Students construct the solution and focus on the PROCESS of learning rather than just the content of learning. As a media specialist, I feel this idea has important implications in the media center--I teach students about the paths they can take that will lead to learning, rather than the content they'll receive when they reach their goal. Another important component of PBL is that it recognizes students' inherent drive to learn. Projects have meaning for students. They take ownership of their work. This is a feature that is lacking in traditional instruction and, I feel, it is where we lose many kids.

What makes Project Based Learning appropriate and different in comparison to traditional instruction?

The PBL model lends itself to differentiating instruction. Students are given a goal and can find their own way to reach that goal. The process of working in groups can also help all learners use their strengths to accomplish that goal collectively. This collective learning is very different from traditional model and is appropriate because it is how students will be working in the real world. The project model encourages students drive to learn. Students become engaged in their learning and feel pride in their project outcome.

What considerations are important when incorporating a Project Based Learning approach into the classroom?

I think this is a great question to ask of educators because more times than not you get an answer that will seem to lead you to think that PBL has completely different considerations that educators must keep in mind in order to implement it into a classroom. I think this could not be farther from the truth. In a PBL classroom the considerations that you take are is the PBL applicable to the student in a real life situation or how will the student use the learning from the PBL in their everyday life. In PBL there should be some relationship building completed between students and between teachers to develop a comfortable conversation like climate so that all students are willing to contribute their thinking to move the thinking of the entire classroom forward. Your PBL project has to be rooted in standards based instruction and will require students to demonstrate their understanding of the standards that you are introducing to the class. PBL also allows students to choose the way in which they learn or demonstrate what they have learned from instruction in the classroom. All of these seem like considerations for PBL but if you go back and read the statements I made and remove PBL from the sentence - don't we want our classrooms to be structured this way anyway?

What makes Project Based Learning appropriate and different in comparison to traditional instruction?
Project-based learning is designed to put students into setting where they learn collaboration, critical thinking, written and oral communication, and the values of the work ethic while meeting state or national content standards. In traditional classrooms, students typically work on simple assignments that emphasize short-term content memorization; they work alone, write for the teacher alone, and make a presentation which almost is redundant. PBL, by contrast, is deep, complex, rigorous, and integrated. Just as in the real world, the challenges involved in the projects require students to use a spectrum of skills, which helps them fine tune their critical thinking ability, gets their creative juices flowing, and involves using knowledge from a breadth of curriculum. This generally makes the work more meaningful for the students, who in turn, put more effort and enthusiasm into their work.
Most importantly, PBL allows students to better understand how academic work can connect to real-life experiences.

What makes PBL appropriate and different in comparison to traditional education?
PBL employs different methods than traditional direct instruction based education. Often I think of traditional education as more teacher or content focused and PBL as more student focused, but the real difference is perhaps better stated as traditional is more teaching focused, while PBL is more learning focused. Great teachers in any era focus on students.
PBL is appropriate because it meets the identified needs of today's students. Communication, collaboration, and global citizenship are keys to the future of today's students. I loved the math teacher in the video - she not only set up great collaboration and communication for her students, at the end she talked about being in a collaborative study group of math teachers. So she was modeling the learning in her own life. I completely agree with the teacher in the second video that noted that students sense a disconnect between school and life. Well done PBL bridges the disconnect for students. Standards based PBL offers the rigor demanded in education, creates the opportunity to build the relationships with students as the teacher faciliates learning, and can provide relavance for education to students.

Important considerations for incorporating PBL include: (1)scope, (2)laundry list of topics/concepts/skills, (3)skill/prior knowledge levels of students, and (4)your teaching style(leader vs manager). I think it all comes down to focus. Getting myself to narrow my focus in each of the areas will be required. Coming from a middle school I found the basic skills required for projects are a lot different at the elementary school level and the better I have been at adjusting the required skills the more successful the students have been.

What makes PBL appropriate and different is the fact that the world now operates in a vastly different way. The timing for PBL is perfect as we enter a the age of technology and information is so readily available. The traditional classroom doesn't support the idea that the process is where the emphasis needs to be. In the traditional classroom the the goal has been to cover material and this left the students feeling like they were in either in the race, or out of the race. Through PBL all learners can be engaged, and the drive to learn can truly be fostered.

What makes Project Based Learning appropriate and different in comparrison to traditional instruction?
To me, the single most outstanding aspect to PBL that gives it advantage over traditional learning is relevance. PBL gives relevance to the standards. Students often don't see any connection between what they are learning in school and what happens in the real world. Helping students see how schoolbook learning is important in the real world gives them a connection to that learning, and motivates them to continue learning. Connecting emotion and the learning process is a proven way for real learning to take place.