#akedchat Archive
#akedchat is a great way for Alaska-based educators to share teaching strategies, educational resources, and more.
Monday March 7, 2016
11:02 PM EST
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I'm Molly from Girdwood. Hoping to ski a lot for spring break!
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Welcome Molly! I hope you have snow to do that! I am not familiar with Girdwood :-)
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do we have others with us this evening?
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PBL: using your local environment and resources as a starting point for learning. Nurturing a sense of place
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absolutely yes - I see it as getting to know the unique aspects of our community and anchoring that to learning.
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Molly are you a big user of PBL?
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Yes, as much as I can! Girdwood is an easy place to do it.
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It could be geographical, societal, language, culture - I think just about anything!
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Oh yes - Alaska I think is so rich with place-based opportunities!
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What grades do you teach?
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Wonderful - yes - I imagine there are so many opportunities with that age group!
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If anyone else has joined us feel free to jump in and introduce yourself :-)
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Q2. Do you think that integration of place in curriculum is important to Alaska's future? Why or why not? https://t.co/H6Vy4jaK5v…
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A2 I think it's vital, especially for rural AK Ss and Ts. It is what will keep Ss active in school and community.
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Yes - such an important connection to culture, to land and to family in Alaska - and we have rebuilding to do there!
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A2 Also a major hurdle for new Ts who might not be familiar with community or even the state
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that's why we have to work so hard to get AK teachers in the classroom...do you think?
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At the very least teachers who appreciate the culture of those in rural areas.
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Were you native to rural AK Molly ?
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Agreed, place based Ss could become great place based Ts. Connection and appreciation to community is a win for schools
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No, originally from Oregon but have been in Alaska for about 20 years
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Tammy from Juneau and will be bringing 3 grandchildren to Juneau (without their parents) for Spring Break! No relaxing for me!
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Hello! This is Jethro Jones from Kodiak checking in. Watching a great presentation from one of our rural schools!
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Welcome Tammy! Molly and I have been talking PBE! Glad you made it!
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Welcome Jethro! Multitasking is a good thing :-) - how exciting!
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Q3. What aspects of "place" are most unique in your setting - how could you integrate these into lessons?https://t.co/LxyjxP7xxF…
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A1: PBL = integrating your learning and unique environment to create a rich education. Environment is not just the physical
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little 2nd grader doing a science experiment right before our eyes on VTC. Making the aurora borealis with milk dish soap & color
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Just for those who joined us recently - I am including links in the Qs just as resource - only look at them if you'd like to!
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Great example of PBE! Learning about what we see in front (or above) us.
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That is cool - I can see that!
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A3 we live on an island with Alutiiq culture so ocean and cultural themes are important.
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Here in Juneau - I think the Glacier and Tlingit language are unique opportunities we have.
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But yes - also the ocean..and oh my goodness the beaches with volcanic rock.
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So many unique characteristics likely in any Alaskan community!
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Our science students made salve that natives have made for years. A3
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I was just about to share, we made the salve here on campus from Devil's Club.
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A3: Flora & fauna - great to compare ours to others in Southeast AK
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For myself - and particularly with Tlingit, I could see a focus on place contributing to the renewal of the language in AK ss.
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A4 Lots of SEL connections, sense of self, identity in community, responsibility to place and others
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One of my students did a Minecraft unit where students built their community as it was before modernization. Elders enjoyed it!
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Involving the elders in teaching when possible I think is a benefit to the cohesiveness of the community.
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Great way to connect kids with elders. So important for both groups to anchor them.
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A4: Connection to family and heritage in physical ways - using physical environment same as ancestors
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A4 and so important now- with technology/commerce vs. conservation issues. Rich with potential for engaging lessons.
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I wonder if there are go-to places we have to PBE, or do we generally design our lessons? Alone? With others?
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A5:Ask anyone who has attended one of the grant-funded SE Ed Tech Camps originated by . They can tell of fabulous experience
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A5: I usually create my own or modify other lessons to include local resources.
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A5: iTREC program is a great resource
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Very good - I generally design with Chip McMillan and . But I saw there were many resources out there for PBE.
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It would be great to have that sort of a repository for AK lessons.
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A5: PBE often so unique to people & place involved but would be good to have a place to share what has been done.
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yes just for us to share and build on each others' work would be great.
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A5: Following someone else's lesson plan may create a contrived experience & not as rich.
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Absolutely - I think we'd have to modify for our particular context.
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A4 I think that almost all the benefits of the PBE are not content specific, but more understanding why we do things in an area.
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A5: I think there could be more PD about PBE and how to modify lessons so that Ts can create their own.
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Yes - and more opportunities for collaboration to create these sorts of lessons
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A6 all kids should have an authentic audience as part of what they do.
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The link I am sharing with Q6 is pretty cool - ss in innercity sharing their stories via plays/technology
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I agree! And with PBE we could share w/community and/or with the wider world
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A6: Sharing through technology and throughout your own community. Continue to build the relationships that will make it grow.
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It would also be awesome to have that audience be local and real. Projects that impact the community.
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Sites like this one do good work of sharing culture https://t.co/GscVYSckeP and some videos are student created/produced
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A6: Sharing with family is important so families can grow from the experience and maybe even extend it.
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Yes - the teacher who used minecraft invited elders and parents in to collaborate w/kids one day a week. Powerful.
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Our has cool stuff for our kids, too.
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And because it is Minecraft, the kids were naturally doing much of the teaching - but parents & elders held content for building
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A6: PBE involving museum artifacts such a great project.
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I perceive - not sure this is the case - that selling PBE to powers that be could be problematic...they may see content as buried?
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A7: time to create your own lessons and time to build the relationships in the community to make it really genuine
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A6: or having ss create their own museum/displays in concert with community
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A7: Time for Ts to develop plans that show connection to standards. We know they're there ... just need to show powers that be.
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yes - time is always the enemy isn't it! With any project this can be the case - and pbe will be complex!
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A7 Not being from the place we are teaching so have to learn about PBL
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Yes, I think it's hard to sell at a district level, especially a large district, because it is not standardized at all
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oh that is a good one - what a great opportunity to put kids in the "teacher" seat!
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Do you use UBD to design the lessons? Even so - it would be hard to sell- even with the standards right up front!
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Ideally, PBE would be multidisciplinary and a long-term project. I think that's probably very hard but the benefits are so great!
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Sometimes, but I don't write it all up the way UBD describes. That would be the best way to sell it though
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We should talk about this sometime. These are the people who give constructivism a bad name.
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True constructivism is much like inquiry based learning - and requires rich resources, many scaffolds, and an EXPERT to guide.
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A8: Any collaborative apps - Evernote, Google Apps
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A8 Skype, podcasts, and many more allow kids to connect with someone that is in their environment, even if they are not
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A8 I thought about Google Earth and Geocaching...that would be fun
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Not that geocaching is necessarily place based but a creative lesson could make it so :-)
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A8: One of the great things about PBE is that there are no special tools or programs necessary though.
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A8 Websites - Google Sites, Weebly, etc. -- to collaborate as well as showcase products and experiences
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I agree! That is a very good point.
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yes - screencastomatic or google hangouts to connect with non-local experts.
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Agreed! Use what is best for the unique experience. A8
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A8 Yes, but you are all correct that you need technology in order to share with a wider audience, which is important
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Even just phones to take pictures for subsequent projects.
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Q9. How could you help decision makers understand the benefits of Place Based Learning? Resource: https://t.co/Mt3rAS5GX7
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A9 I feel fortunate that our decision-makers do support it!
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A9: show products, pictures/video/interactions/student experiences
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you are lucky! I think some teachers are harnessed by standardized curriculum
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A9: have student work speak for itself. Have others in community that you partner with speak up on behalf of Ts and Ss.
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Yes, that is likely true, but even with that, you have to find ways to make PBE work because it is so important.
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A9: Tell the Story!!! Get it out in many ways to many people!
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A9 PBE teaches more than the content, so it is vital to incorporate it.
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Yes - so powerful! Let the ss, the community and the outcomes do the talking. .do think we have to prove the outcomes
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Love that! Yes! Tell the story - and let us amplify it!
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A9: But Ts need to be prepared to show the standards met
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Yes - must provide evidence that outcomes are met. Benefits beside content are there - but CONTENT is there, too
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This was our connection to practice piece - we have a dream here of building a model of something to stop the monster lobe
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So if we could, we'd teach that lesson. We have gotten ss and teachers involved in it, though it's dropped off a little :-)
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A10: Grandson's K class is studying families in a way that develops pride & connection to family heritage - loving that!
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I also really enjoy our aspects of place through Minecraft. I think that's a unique way to teach and preserve community history.
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I am not quite at a place that I could take ss to the top of the glacier, but that would be fun
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A10 I like teaching about local government, who makes decisions and how student voices can be heard
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OOHHH so important! Yes!!!
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AND in a way that engages students to inspire that connection
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A10: Learning it myself, but Kodiak history is fascinating. I’d love to take kids around town to different locations,interview,etc
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A10 And local history with elders and trail hikes to see mining ruins and and and...!
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I am also very interested in our goats. I don't know why...but I'd love to do some sort of unit on that.
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I don't know what we'd do - but I'd like to figure something out...and yes the mining history!
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Thanks to all who joined us! I hope everyone has a great week! The for our chat will be posted soon!
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Years ago, my 3rd graders made a video going to places arnd KTN & explaining which arm of govt funds it -- Fed/St/Loc
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that is great. impactful and empowering.
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Thanks everybody for the great chat! I am so glad you came in :-) Let's keep sharing!
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Thanks for a great conversation!
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Molly - rock on! - sounds like you are doing wonderful things!
