Session+5


 * Session 5.1**

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As a Social Studies department their are many opportunities for project based learning (PBL). This year the Generation Citizen program gave my students to work collaboratively in various PBL ways. A group made an astounding video about hunger and poverty in Malden. Another group designed an impressive powerpoint on drugs and youth. Finally, a group took a less technological approach and created "a make a statement about the environment" Tshirt day. All were terrific opportunities for the students. On a lesser scale, we had quarterly projects where students worked in pairs and teams and wrote and performed rap songs about a particular European explorer or Renaissance figure. Group learning has proved to be one of the finer and most rewarding moments for many students.

PBL provides students with opportunities to work in a style that emphasizes collaboration, communication and teamwork. It gives them strong control to the project's outcome while hopefully keeping them engaged in a process that is rewarding, fun and memorable. It affords students with often unrecognizable talents to shine and contribute in ways that traditional education styles might not present. It taps into the notion that everyone has something to contribute which can bring out the best in many, many students. Finally, having a finished product (film, website, song, Tshirt, artwork, etc) for others to appreciate rather than a graded paper or test can only instill greater confidence and self-satisfaction.

Despite the great successes that PBL brings about, the two weaknesses that I can foresee are some students doing all the work if the group is not cohesive and an absence of guidance by an instructor could lead to things going astray at times. Creating groups that gel is a difficult task at times for teachers and could lead to a group that is disjointed and one or two students doing most of the work -not a good environment to excel! Despite the positives of PBL some students need to be teacher-led in most respects and that could throw a wrench into a student-directed project - another challenge for the teacher to be aware. Finally, the ability for student-centered projects to become more about the appearance (bells and whistles perhaps) rather than the core message or theme (content) is also something that must be addressed. Judging a book by its cover is an old adage but can even apply to run away projects that get lost in the style and not the substance.

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 * 5.4 Glogging**