PBL News @SDUSD

This newsletter features:

• SD Unified PBL News
• Professional learning opportunities
• Resources for funding and integration ideas

From June 17-June 28th, 139 teachers came together from SDUSD middle and high schools at PBL Institute to work in interdisciplinary teams to design rigorous real-world projects to implement with students during the 2019-2020 school year. The following articles are only scratching the surface of the amazing hands-on, minds-on learning happening with the 35+ PBL Institute Projects.

If there are opportunities to see your students in action, please send an invitation or you would like to submit something for a future newsletter, please contact Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net

9th grade students in Bridges Across Borders (BXB), a new educational pathway at San Diego High School, have been getting out and about.

With the support of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Students at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, students attended the “Diplomacy Begins Here Regional Summit” where they discussed binational and cross border issues, solutions, and ideas.

Students were also provided the opportunity to travel to the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. The reserve is Southern California's largest coastal wetland, encompassing Border Field State Park and the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge. This trip was the kickoff to their project-based learning project that focuses on understanding energy, water, and cross-border shared resources. Former State Senator Denise Ducheny, a major supporter of the Bridges Across Borders pathway, greeted the students and shared how the governments of US, Mexico, California, and SD County work together in the border region. Students then broke off to learn about the history of the region and the natural environment in the reserve.

Community is the key! Bringing the community into a shared space to learn about upcoming events and projects is an annual tradition for AoIT Academy at Hoover High School. The orientation kicked off with a video of former academy students sharing their positive experiences in Hoover AoIT. Following the video a few former students shared how Hoover AoIT was the bridge to what they are currently doing in college or career. Community partners were up next. Two opportunities presented were joining The League of Amazing Programers and applying to work in the cafe at the local YMCA. The interdisciplinary projects were introduced and community partners / clients discussed what they were hoping would result from the students efforts. In the end, the message was clear! Hoover’s AoIT Academy is a community where students are informed, supported, and part of a family!

A personal tour of the USS Midway?! Pacific Beach Middle School 8th graders will experience that and much more this year through their participation in Project S.A.V.E. (Serve and Volunteer Everyday).

USS Midway Volunteers kicked off the project at PB Middle by explaining the history of the Midway and the significant role volunteers play in sharing the story of the USS Midway everyday with visitors from all over the world. PB Middle teachers explained how through the partnership, students would have the opportunity to honor the service of the USS Midway Museum Volunteers by creating posters and a book to highlight their stories of service.

Students can’t wait for their first visit to the USS Midway in October.

On Thursday, September 26th, seniors from Kearny Digital Media and Design filmed the Taft student collaboration with volunteers from Brummitt Energy Associates and the San Diego Green Building Council in a Green Apple Day of Service. Approximately 40 6-8 graders were matched with 10 volunteers to pull weeds from the existing garden, fill a vertical garden wall in the lunch area with strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and more, and prepare a raised garden in one of the open spaces on campus--all in an effort to build community and engage Taft students in campus beautification. The Kearny students captured the experience on film, interviewing students and volunteers, and will eventually create a documentary that tells the story of this year’s Taft garden project.

Project-Based Learning 101 - December 3-4

Grades 6-12. No prior experience required.

In two days, you will ...
- learn the project-based learning process.
- develop a project-based experience for your students.

Please share this workshop with colleagues interested in getting started with PBL :)

Google Certified Educator Level 1 - November 13

Becoming Level 1 Certified will help you create a more student-centered classroom, understand the functionality of GSuite apps, and support your quest for lifelong learning.

Design Thinking in a Day - January 9
Grades 6-12. No prior experience required.

In this workshop you will ...
- experience design thinking through a hands-on design challenge.
- consider ways you can apply design thinking in your classroom.
- develop a design challenge for your students.

Project-Based Learning Institute - June 15-26, 2019

Save the Dates!

SDUSD Innovative Teaching Network
A community of SDUSD educators that shares, learns, and grows with and from each other.

October 24 from 4:30pm-6:00pm at Mount Everest Academy - Register

Mark your calendars for the other days - December 3, January 14, March 11, May 7

* The events listed below are paid events not sponsored by SDUSD. They have been included in the newsletter for awareness of events that pertain to PBL / Linked Learning / CCTE / Pathways. You can follow these events for free virtually on many social media platforms, especially Twitter.

• SDCUE: Powered Learning Fair - (West Hills High School) - November 2, 2019
  SDCUE is an annual event focused on educational innovation.
  
  
• Educating for Careers Conference (Long Beach) - February 27-29, 2020
  The Educating for Careers Conference is an annual three-day professional development event surrounding career technical education (CTE).
  
  
• CUE Conference (Palm Springs) - March 19-21, 2020
  The Spring CUE Conference is an annual three-day event focused on educational innovation and educational technology.
  
  
• Deeper Learning Conference (San Diego) - March 25-27, 2020
  Annual conference focused on experiencing deeper learning for yourself and engaging with others to create more equitable schools around the globe. To receive San Diego educators discount rate, "Apply Promo or Voucher" = DLSD
  
  
• Linked Learning Conference - TBD
  This is a great opportunity to learn from educators, postsecondary institutions, and economic development and employer leaders who come together to make the vision of Linked Learning a reality.
  

Ideas For Making Student Learning Public

When students share their learning with others, amazing things happen! According to the Share Your Learning website, “when students share their learning with an authentic audience, we provide them with an opportunity to share their story, reflect on their growth, and engage in real dialogue with others about their learning and their futures.”

Go to shareyourlearning.org and join 300,000 other educators that have committed to having students share their work publicly. Check out and use the resources they have developed to support you in setting up student exhibitions, student presentations of learning, and student-led conferences. #shareyourlearning

Free SYL Exhibition E-Course - Share Your Learning has created a new free e-course to support teachers in the implementation of exhibitions or showcases of student learning. This free course is available by signing up on www.shareyourlearning.org and selecting Exhibition as the SYL practice you want to try. The course is composed of a series of email lessons, each focused on a necessary component of exhibition, with easy to follow activities that will get teachers ready to have their students exhibit their learning at the end of a unit or project.

Work-Based Learning Opportunities - San Diego ePortal

How do we build opportunities for students to interact with experts from industry and our community? How and where do I find people and then the time to coordinate these opportunities? It has to be easier!

Check out San Diego County’s Work Based Learning ePortal, a FREE resource for employers to get involved in the education system and for educators to connect their students to work based learning opportunities (work site tours, guest speakers, job shadows, internships, and more!).

If you are interested in being trained on the San Deigo ePortal, register for one of the following trainings:

December 11, 2019 Register here

January 15, 2020 Register here

March 11, 2020 Register here

April 15, 2020 Register here

San Diego Gas and Electric’s Support for STEM Teachers

SDG&E supports STEM K-12 teachers by matching donations for STEM projects posted to DonorsChoose.org. Teachers at schools in SDG&E’s service area are eligible to receive matching funds for STEM education projects of $1000 or less (up to a $500/$500 SDG&E match) and double matching funds for eligible teacher projects at schools in disadvantaged communities as determined by the CalEnviroScreen (up to a $334/$667 SDG&E match). SDG&E has $66,000 left in their program balance for the year, so there are plenty of projects remaining to be funded for www.donorschoose.org/SDGE

Click here to learn more about the program.

SD Ag in the Classroom - Garden Grants

San Diego Ag in the Classroom (SDAITC) invites San Diego County Schools and youth organizations to apply for its annual grant program, supporting garden projects that enhance the teaching of agriculture. Awards range from $1000 to $2,000 and can be awarded to individuals, groups or schools.

Click here to learn more.

Donors Choose

Great option for all types of funding related to student learning. Create an account at www.donorschoose.org

For more information regarding PBL at SDUSD, please contact Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net, visit the SDUSD PBL Website, follow #sdusdpbl & @reubenhoffman on Twitter.

Please invite me to see your students in action, so I can share more of the great things happening in SD Unified.

Email: rhoffman@sandi.net
Website: https://sites.google.com/sandi.net/pbl/home
Phone: 8584142557