Project Based Learning for Teachers at Grass Lake School

School is up and running for the teachers and students at Grass Lake School. Learning comes in many forms for both. The teachers and all auxiliary staff attended a professional development day with the focus being on Project Based Learning. This is year two of a three year implementation of PBL. The teachers engaged in PBL instruction by being placed in the seat of a student. They experienced first hand the process their kids will be experiencing for the first half of the day. After participating in this real-life problem solving event, teachers reinvested in the need for excitement, interest, and teamwork to move student learning further resulting in improved test scores and better student interactions. Creating open-ended Driving Questions allows students to participate in the planning and exploration of learning which becomes paired with existing Standards and deeper meaning to the subject matter. Teachers and staff worked in the Makerspace in teams while being exposed to the many supplies now available to them. Learning by doing always works better! The last half of the day was spent working with teams to develop their PBL project for this half of the year. All staff, from food services, administrative assistants, to the support staff, were included in supporting and collaborating with the teachers to change the learning mode from direct instruction to student lead inquiry. PBL allows Grass Lake School a place where we nurture and empower students to explore, achieve and excel!