OK, Carmel, enough with the summer of blogging about all this theory and ideas about teaching.  School is starting, we’ve committed to teaching with PBL – ack, things are starting to come into focus, huh?  I’m getting all these emails with questions about writing journals and dealing with parents and how to put things into action.  I’m right there with you guys….it’s Saturday and I’m having a workshop with two of my colleagues who have dedicated their time this year to teaching Geometry with me and PBL for the first time.  I’m so excited!

So I’ve put together a few documents that I think might be helpful.  The first one I’m posting here: Advice for Students Transitioning to PBL

This document is a list of quotes from actual students from years of teaching with PBL.  You can give it out if you like – maybe not on the first day, but after a few weeks – once your kids can relate.  I had kids at the end of the year write down advice to students at the beginning of the year, so that they would know how they will eventually feel.  That in the end, they will know that it’s worth it.  It’s actually kind of helpful for students to know that all of their hard work pays off.

The second document I also have posted under Metacognitive Journaling – it is a sheet that I give out about journaling and explains my expectations to students.  If you are considering assigning journals and having students use journals, this might be a good place to start for you.Keeping a Journal for Math Class

I also have written up a sheet that I call Teacher Cheat Sheet on PBL which includes some talking points for you to use when (maybe I should say “if”) you get resistance from parents.  I believe I also have an old blogpost about talking to parents too.  The initial first few months of using PBL is often very difficult, especially if your school had a traditional curriculum.  Please feel free to contact me for advice or feedback.  Honestly, what I have found most helpful is a very supportive administration and department chair and allowing parents to come and observe classes.  Don’t be nervous, because once they see that real mathematics is going on in the classroom, they become more confident in the learning.  Of course, the teachers need to feel confident in the learning process themselves before you allow the observations, but once they feel the culture of the classroom has meshed it should be fine.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have questions during this transition period and also remember that I do school visits.  Have a great beginning of the year!