E-School News – Ashleigh Schultz
“If you’re doing it right, most project-based learning will hit every area of the curriculum, whether it’s social studies, math, reading, or even technology. Any part of the curriculum can shine whenever kids are taking a hands-on approach to learning, because they’re not just sitting at a desk listening to you preach it. They’re the ones doing it themselves, which means they’re kind of assuming that role of the teacher. For much of my 13 years as an educator, I was in a traditional classroom. But for the past two years I’ve really started to incorporate PBL into my fourth- and fifth-grade gifted students. I teach an enrichment class one day a week, where we accelerate and enhance the curriculum. When I was a regular ed teacher it was a little harder, because you have the mandate of the curriculum. But being the gifted teacher allows me to have project-based learning for pretty much everything I do. The kids really get to take control, and dive deep into these projects, which can last up to an entire semester.”(more)