PBL / Linked Learning News @ SDUSD

Wishing you a fantastic start back at school for the 2017-2018 school year. We are so excited for you to put your plans into action - engaging students in meaningful, authentic work. Since the last newsletter in the spring we’ve seen the results of your effort and that of your students through amazing student exhibitions of work, the CCTE Showcase, and the gallery walk at the end of the PBL Summer Institute. And… we know there are many great events ahead. Keep reading for more information on the good that’s happened and on the horizon!

In this newsletter you will find:

- Upcoming Events & Relevant Resources

- News on PBL / LL around the district

If you'd like to make a suggestion, would like to submit something for a future newsletter, or would like to be removed from the list of recipients, please contact Liz Perry, San Diego Unified PBL/ Linked Learning Resource Teacher, at eperry2@sandi.net

Please mark your calendars to attend next year’s PBL Institute and CCTE showcase. If you have questions pertaining to either, please email Liz Perry at eperry2@sandi.net

• PBL Institute 2018: Monday, June 18th - Friday, June 29th 2018

• CCTE Showcase: Wednesday, May 23rd 2018

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 www.shareyourlearning.org and commit to having your students share their work publicly. The site also offers free resources to support you in setting up student exhibitions, student presentations of learning, and student-led conferences.

Want to do a project related to the ocean or learn more about the various jobs and industries related to the ocean and other waterways? This half-day Workforce Development experience at the Blue Tech Summit is free for educators and will include panels, demonstrations, and the opportunity to network. To register, please visit: https://www.bluetechweek.org/workforce-development-track/

In May, students part of an interdisciplinary teaching team from Serra High School showcased their work from a project teachers designed and implemented with their students during the Spring semester. Parents, siblings, and community members in attendance were excited to view and celebrate the hard work of students. During the exhibition, students showcased Adobe Spark presentations featuring threatened or endangered animals that they would encourage the zoo to designate as “priority species.” Students used rhetorical strategies they learned in their English class, research on biodiversity and endangered species and habitats in Biology, and photography or videography skills in their Career and Technical Education course to accomplish the task. Now, pictures from Serra High School students are featured at the entrance to the Office of Secondary Schools at the Ed Center! If you are looking for support in designing or implementing interdisciplinary project based learning at your school, whether it’s new to you or you are a seasoned veteran, please don’t hesitate to reach out! You can contact Liz Perry at eperry2@sandi.net

On May 24th teams from all across San Diego Unified attended the CCTE Showcase to exhibit the inspiring work produced throughout the year as part of an interdisciplinary team or in one of their CTE classes. Projects included work like that of Crawford’s Law Academy which worked closely with the California Innocence Project to analyze cases of inmates who claim to be innocent of their charges, a team from Hoover’s SABE program that build tiny houses for the International Market Fair @44, and a team at Mission Bay high that designed underwater virtual reality games that allow users to explore the ocean and gain awareness of climate change. While teams presented, attendees were able to sample foods prepared by CCTE’s culinary programs at Garfield, Hoover, Madison, Mira Mesa, Morse and San Diego High School. Hope you can make it next year!

This summer over 80 secondary school teachers from across the district met for two weeks to design interdisciplinary projects for the 2017-2018 school year. Participants engaged in professional development around Design Thinking on the Midway Museum, worked alongside nine “PBL Scholars” (10-12th grade student interns trained in PBL pedagogy), attended job shadow opportunities organized through CCTE, ConnectED, and The San Diego County Office of Education, prototyped projects at Kearny High’s Education-to-Employment Incubation Lab, and proudly presented their projects during a gallery walk to Dr. McQuary, San Diego Unified Board Member, site administration teams, and staff from the Office of Secondary Schools. Stay tuned for updates as teams launch their projects with students.

During the spring and summer eight middle schools requested support from the Office of Secondary Schools and CCTE to design and set-up Makerspaces (Genius Labs!) on their campuses. In addition to being a great way for teachers to put students at the center of learning by building, creating and inventing, Genius Lab experiences will be a great way for students to build essential skills that they can build on in their high school and postsecondary education. We’re so excited to see the work that comes out of these spaces!

Students from San Diego High and Morse were able to benefit from amazing industry partnerships and gain internships with paid stipends through San Diego Workforce Partnership to complete real-world work. During the spring semester, San Diego High Sci-Tech (Geo-Tech) students partnered with Lumeo to do an energy audit of campus and report their findings to administrators. During the summer, Morse students partnered with OpTerra to create educational resources for students regarding solar power, to build a marketing campaign, and to design a more efficient mechanism for cleaning panels. Students presented their final products to administrators and OpTerra employees. A big thank you to OpTerra, Lumeo, San Diego Workforce Partnership, teachers, and admin that provided the time, energy, and resources to make this happen!

For more information regarding Linked Learning / PBL at SDUSD, please contact Liz Perry at eperry2@sandi.net

Email: eperry2@sandi.net