Share your idea with another teacher for feedback
Toward the end of a project, we ask our students to critique each other. They are asked to write something they like about another’s project as well as something that might need to be changed, which is written as “I wonder..”. Using these, students gain a few things. First, students have a pre-deadline date for their project, helping to ensure that all projects are ready on the final presentation day. Students also are able to receive honest feedback on their project from their peers and are able to make any necessary adjustments prior to the final due date. Lastly, maybe most importantly, they are able to view other projects to gain ideas and different viewpoints for use on the current or future project. I admit, there are projects my students completed where this was not done, and the quality of work was subpar.
Just as the quality of student projects increases when peer review is implemented, so too is the quality of the project teachers create. If you are fortunate enough to teach the same subject as another teacher, who is also teaching through PBL, this feedback might be the easiest to get, but also the most critical, as you both might use that project in you own, respective classes. I think it’s safe to say that the more unfamiliar with your specific subject the other teacher is, the less will be said about the content of the subject and more will be said about the structure of the project itself. Reviews from both are insightful but when starting out initially, critique from someone who does not teach that subject might prove to be more useful as they will likely comment on the structure of the project and not the details of the daily lessons. I have found this to be the most helpful initially because it was that structure I had questions about when I first began. At the very least, the daily lessons could be completed with textbook work, but I had no backup if I didn’t plan for certain, critical events. Once I was comfortable with the structure of the project, I sought out advice from teachers who knew my subject better so I could improve my details.
Just as the quality of student projects increases when peer review is implemented, so too is the quality of the project teachers create. If you are fortunate enough to teach the same subject as another teacher, who is also teaching through PBL, this feedback might be the easiest to get, but also the most critical, as you both might use that project in you own, respective classes. I think it’s safe to say that the more unfamiliar with your specific subject the other teacher is, the less will be said about the content of the subject and more will be said about the structure of the project itself. Reviews from both are insightful but when starting out initially, critique from someone who does not teach that subject might prove to be more useful as they will likely comment on the structure of the project and not the details of the daily lessons. I have found this to be the most helpful initially because it was that structure I had questions about when I first began. At the very least, the daily lessons could be completed with textbook work, but I had no backup if I didn’t plan for certain, critical events. Once I was comfortable with the structure of the project, I sought out advice from teachers who knew my subject better so I could improve my details.
