Sanborn Explores Student Agency through NG2: Collaboration in action

Our Sanborn Journey

The Elementary Schools in the Sanborn Regional School District are participating in the NG2 initiative. We are piloting Project Based Learning in a K-2 grade-band focusing on community helpers. The driving question for student work is:

How does your community helper support (help) the community?

The standards and progressions for the students are taken from the K-2 common core standards in both social studies and literacy. Our main focus is on 21st century skills; collaboration, creativity, communication and self-direction.

The project has a strong focus on student agency. Student agency can be seen when students have a great amount of ownership in their learning. Teachers scaffold the learning and ask questions or wonderings to guide deeper thinking.

In our project, teachers provide guiding questions, organizational support and choice. By giving students

choice and grouping them by interest students are motivated to learn. Further, students will be using a variety of resources (including multimedia tools) to find information. Students will show their learning by creating a product of their choice.

As novices at PBL, we have struggled with the amount of facilitation to give to groups; how much to lead and how much to step aside, as well as with finding time for the pilot. The Gold Standard PBL: Project Based Teaching Practices from the Buck Institute has been useful.

Sanborn Explores Student Agency through NG2

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Collaboration in action

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