Diving Deep with PBL

I'm not gonna lie to you: the day Jessica Skoglund came up to me and said, "Let's have our students make collaborative documentaries," I was more than skeptical. But if you know Jessica Skoglund, you know that she makes amazing things happen by sheer force of will. And so, I began my first deep dive into PBL in the summer of 2017.

Throughout the summer months, members of my PLC and I collaborated to bring together students' summer reading, current events in the state, and even a documentary from our own professional development. Most importantly, we wanted to provide students an opportunity to sharpen their skills and share their thoughts on education to an authentic audience. Thus, A Whole New School was born!

Ready . . .

Our first challenge was making sure students had the opportunity to build their background knowledge and skill sets required to pull off mini-documentaries. Our team felt well-equipped to do this in many areas--but we lacked the skills needed to actually make a documentary. However, our awesome e-Communication Academy students came in to save the day! Armin and Mackenzie presented to all of our Pre-AP English II students in September, teaching them about the rule of thirds, audio, and interviewing.

Set . . .

With the tips our e-Communication student leaders provided, our students had a strong start. We researched, formulated claims, collected evidence, and began drafting our scripts. The creative juices were flowing, and students were excited to begin filming.

And then reality set in. What not all students anticipated was how long filming takes. And how hard it is to capture quality footage that fulfills its purpose. What we teachers didn't anticipate was how tricky it would be to find free editing software that would allow for collaboration.

But we all persevered. One hundred percent of our student groups captured enough footage to complete their documentaries, and we teachers found creative ways to use WeVideo to meet our needs (and budget).

Go!

Just in the nick of time, student groups exported their documentaries and planned their introductions for our public Exhibition Night. With the help of 14 student room managers, an idea that began in the mind of three teachers in the summer of 2017, filled the ONW Commons with community members ready to see and hear what students think about education in Olathe.

ONW Commons on 11/13/17 at 7 pm

And how did we teachers feel about the night? We were pretty darn proud of what our students accomplished!

#ProudPLC

Reflect

After the craziness of Exhibition Night, our students reflected on not only their products but also the process. Students blogged about their learning, and I found reading their blogs to be the highlight of the entire process.  RJ proved that PBL isn't about the product but the process, Jiani and Olivia gave us constructive criticism on Exhibition Night, and Dallas and Abigail articulated what they learned about collaboration along the way. 

While I am proud of the 23 documentaries my students created, it's the experience of taking this big risk, a deep dive, with 101 of my own sophomore students and two amazing educators that I will remember for years to come.