Blog Post #13

                                                                   What was left out?

"Hypothetical Post"-
What are some ways to incorporate PBL (project based learning) into the classroom with out the use of blogs or video projects for your subject? List at least 3 examples and explain why these would prove beneficial for your students.

"Answer"-
The use of videos, blogs or the many other type of technological savvy ways to do have students in participate in PBL is not always viable. Imaging the monetary restraints of many schools along with those of the students family. With this in mind projects should be able to be completed with the good old fashioned books.

1) Coke Bottle Figures-  This project requires the students to do some basic research on the childhood and life of a historical figure being studied during that particular unit. The students should create a realistic replica of that figure a present a brief paragraph on them. The point of this project is to get the students deeper into who these individuals really are. This allows the students to understand more than just what history books tall about them, i.e. where they were born and grew up, where they only children, the oldest, or the youngest, what else did they do that is note worthy outside of what the text book tells us. I have seen this project done and the students always love it. A twist on it would be allowing the students to dress up themselves to be the individual.

2) Propaganda Posters- The students would create a poster for either side of a particular dispute based on how they think it would have been done. This is a group project, allowing students to use their artistic and imaginative ideas to create a piece of history. This was done in my history class as sophomore student on the Boston Tea Party. Each group was given the choice of colonialist or British and had to create a poster reflecting their side. The class then would vote, after they were graded, on at least 6 posters they felt were the best and most creative and would hang them up around the class. This gives groups pride in their work, along with allowing other classes to see their work possibly for years to come. The students will gain a greater understanding of the events, and this is without using any knowledge outside lectures or readings.

3) Historical Board Games-  This is quite interesting since it forces the students to put a twist on the board games they grew up playing, also a group project. It requires nothing outside of a text book or possibly google. The students have the choice of creating something completely new, or simply altering an established game. For example, my group many years ago took monopoly and created "Civil Waropoly". Over the board we traced the playing surface and relabeled each of the squares to famous battles or notable people from each side. Along with the community chest and chance cards. One card might say, failed to attend the Gettysburg Address pay bank $200 or land on Bull Run and purchase it for $350. It is a way, just like the other three to encourage students to get deeper on a particular unit.

The point of any project should be to get the students more information and allow them to create some way of learning that information. Not every student will learn the same way, also for a subject that is seen to be all about multiple choice and memorization requiring students to use the lectures and any knowledge gained from the text book to create something that will embed this information in a more reliable way. Learning has to be fun for it to affect the students especially with history, a subject that can easily put someone to sleep.