PBL / Linked Learning News @ SDUSD

Since the back to school newsletter in the fall, teams have launched projects, students have engaged in meaningful, real-world learning experiences, students have exhibited their work to authentic audiences, and the district has hosted a conference.

In this newsletter you will find:

• Information about the PBL Institute and CCTE Showcase
• SDUSD PBL and Linked Learning news
• Ideas to integrate
• Professional learning opportunities

The content of this newsletter, is just scratching the surface of all of the amazing learning happening in SD Unified. If there are opportunities to see your students in action, please send an invitation. Additionally, if you would 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 Reuben Hoffman, San Diego Unified PBL Resource Teacher, at rhoffman@sandi.net

PBL Institute 2019: June 17-28

• PBL Institute Overview - Learn more about the two-week institute
• PBL Institute Flyer - Share this opportunity with others
  
• Talk with your principal if you are interested in participating with a grade level team.
• If you have questions, please email Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net
  

CCTE Showcase 2019: May 22nd from 4:00-6:00 pm

• 2019 CCTE Showcase Entry Information - Gain an understanding of the event
• Entry application will be open for submissions on March 4
  
• 2019 CCTE Showcase Flyer - Share this opportunity with others
• If you have questions, please email Lance Larson at llarson@sandi.net
  

Two-hundred plus educators from all over the United States participated in PoPPCon, the Power of Partnerships & Pathways from Jan 16-18. This "unconventional" convention was designed and hosted by San Diego Unified in partnership with ConnectED and UC San Diego’s Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment, & Teaching Excellence (CREATE) showcased SDUSD’s vision for college and career pathways as well as industry, post-secondary, and community-to-school partnerships.

Through customized hands-on experiences around common problems of practice through a “Deep Dive” strand, participants explored and experienced how college & career pathways and partnerships create the conditions and opportunities for students to discover their interests and build essential skills for the future.

Stories From PoPPCon

• Twitter account @SanDiegoPoPPCon
• Expanding Horizons at PoPPCon
• Role-reversal: Teachers Present to Students at PoPPCon
  
• In Defense of Learning
• Equity Presents Itself in School Structures
  
• The Big Game
• Students Serve as Ambassadors at the 2019 PoPPCon Conference
  

How might we share the uniqueness of Linda Vista with the larger San Diego Community? The 8th grade team at Montgomery Middle School, in hopes of creating a real-world project, met with members of the Linda Vista Town Council to learn their wants and needs. The council and teachers decided to challenge the students to design prototypes of banners for the light posts that line Linda Vista Boulevard and Ulric Street.

At the culminating event, "We Are Linda Vista" Exhibition, student teams shared their banner designs with the community. The exhibition required students to present and pitch their final banners, as well as the story behind their design choices. Walking through the exhibition space, you could see and feel that this high(er)-stakes forum had motivated students to truly take ownership of their work. You could also hear in their voices just how proud they were of their community, Linda Vista.

The banners that received the most votes are now being professionally designed by students at the University of San Diego. Once the banners are finished, the Linda Vista Town Council will then coordinate with the City of San Diego to have the banners mounted. The students can't wait to see how their banners increase community pride and share the uniqueness of Linda Vista.

School partnerships in action! 9th grade students at Clairemont High School’s Academy of Health and Medical Sciences are serving as mentors, role models, and buddies to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at Toler Elementary. The CHS students will spend nine Tuesdays supporting the Toler students in completing the FitnessGram pre-assessment test and participating in age appropriate, fun, fitness activities that will help the students increase their flexibility and cardio in order to improve their overall health. They are using the IMPACT program, developed by Lynn Barnes-Wallace and UCSD.

The 9th graders saw a need, as Toler Elementary is one of five Elementary Schools in the Clairemont Community Cluster of Schools that currently does not have a PE teacher. The high school students wanted to help and were able to solve this real-world problem, while documenting their journey with quantitative and qualitative data. The Clairemont Cluster is looking forward to seeing the growth in all students involved as the project progresses.

Over the past year, dockless bikes and scooters have flooded the San Diego. There are many differing views as to the positive and negative impacts regarding the latest wave of the sharing economy. 11th grade students in Hoover High School’s Academy of Informational Technology are exploring the pros and cons of dockless transportation through the "Dockless Dilemma" project. They will tackle questions like … Does the incorporation of dockless scooters and bikes provide transportation justice? Is scooter transportation safe? What education is needed for operating dockless scooters? What do we do with broken, abandoned scooters and bikes? After students empathize with dockless businesses, riders, City Heights community members, and the local government, they will focus in on the needs of a specific group. With this group in mind, they will define a problem and create a solution. Hoover students will then present their solutions to the City of San Diego with the hope of improving the dockless transportation experience.

TK/K teachers couldn't be happier as they have been STEAMing ahead with SDUSD's youngest learners. The teachers have been inspiring students to wonder and explore the world around them, by teaching one hour a day, four days a week of science-based inquiry, modeling with LEGO® Education products, and doing hands-on projects with every unit. The curriculum is based on the CA NGSS Science Framework and infused with STEAM thanks to our collaboration with Instructional Technology, VAPA, and OLA. This STEAM infusion has seen students using their hands, minds, and hearts to solve real world problems. Get ready upper elementary, middle, and high school teachers, these students will be ready to be challenged with having a positive impact on their communities and the world.

BlueSTEM teachers from Pacific Beach Middle School and Mission Bay High School, whose goal is to connect students to BlueTech education, career, and service opportunities, recently took advantage of an exploratory tour of the Maritime Museum. During their collaborative learning experience, teachers were challenged to wonder how they might incorporate the Maritime Museum into the BlueSTEM Pathway. Using this lens and a "dream big" approach, the teachers brainstormed creative ideas for new field trips, student led simulations, and designing experiences to learn about sailor health, boat health, buoyancy, and ship design. The staff is excited to partner with the Maritime Museum, and get students off campus for real world learning.

On their next collaboration day, pathway teachers will be traveling to Miracosta College's Technology Career Institute to learn how they are preparing students for BlueTech careers. If your interdisciplinary team is interested in getting off campus for a collaborative experience and want some support in coordinating the day, please contact Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net.

*BlueTech is the innovation of technology and services in the maritime and water industries.

How can we design rigorous and relevant project-based experiences for students? This was the essential question teachers were asked at the Project-based Learning 101 Workshop. To answer this question, teachers learned the PBL design process through creating a project they would implement in their classrooms. A big aha! moment for many teachers was realizing the difference between project-oriented learning and project-based learning. Project-oriented learning is learning the content of the subject first and then completing a culminating project, while project-based learning is when students learn the content through the project experience. After two days of hands-on learning, teachers were ready to get back in their classrooms to launch their PBL projects with their students.

The sixteen teachers in this year's Leaders of Innovation have developed and implemented at least one innovative challenge with the goal of transforming student experiences and learning either in their classes, at their school site, or district-wide. This program has also provided the teachers with the opportunity to learn from guest speakers, read and discuss the Innovator's Mindset, and have access to a mentor as a thought partner. On Day 3 of the program, the teachers will share their learning by putting on their own exhibition. The Leaders of Innovation Exhibition is on March 12 at Taft Middle School. If you would like to attend, please RSVP with Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net.

Improving products to a professional level requires collaboration, feedback, and revision. “Classroom Without Walls” is a project that challenges seniors in the School of Digital Media and Design at Kearny High School to design a product for a professional client. The seniors support one another by using a project tuning protocol. This protocol helps guide the students through a critique and revision cycle. One student’s project is at the center of the conversation. The student shares the mission of organization/internship they are working, provides the other students with the context for the project and their design choices, and then poses a question(s) they want other students to consider for feedback. Once the context has been given, other students ask clarifying questions and then have a discussion about the project. While the discussion is going on, the student with the project the group is focused on, listens and takes notes. When the discussion is over, the student then explains the revisions they plan to implement. This type of collaborative project tuning can transform and level up the products that students design and create for their professional client.

As you walk through Montgomery Middle School, the hallways have been transformed to a museum, curated with student projects. Although it’s easy to assume it all came from an art class, the work on display is from all classes. The staff has made the curation of student projects a priority. You will see people stopping in the halls to take a closer look at the work and read the informational guide that includes the project titles, process, and descriptions. This commitment to showcasing student artifacts sends a message to students and parents that the Montgomery Middle School staff values what their students create and produce.

Where do student projects live after an exhibition or when the project is over? Are you interested in learning more about curating student projects? Charlie Linnik from High Tech High Middle School has created an amazing guide - The Power of Curating Student Work. If you have questions or want to collaborate on developing a plan for curation, please contact Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net.

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

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, email admin@sdeportal.org.

The SDUSD PBL Website is live. No project is ever finished, and this one is just getting started. The goal is that this site will be the place SDUSD educators start when searching for PBL related content. Eventually, it will have resources for quality PBL, access to past and present projects from SDUSD teams, upcoming professional learning opportunities, newsletters, and more. Please send ideas for what you would like to see on the site and/or if you have resources that you would like to share with the SDUSD community to Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net

• SDUSD Innovative Teaching Network - February 26 & April 17
  A community of SDUSD educators that shares, learns, and grows with and from each other.
  
• UCSD Alumni Toolkit - February 13
  This is a special invitation to collaborate with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in the launching of the Alumni Toolkit in the San Diego Region. AlumniToolkit is an alumni platform that makes it easy for educators to mobilize the college knowledge, career experience, professional networks and volunteer interests of alumni to promote program and student success.
  

* 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.

• Educating for Careers Conference (Sacramento) - March 3-5
  The Educating for Careers Conference is an annual three-day professional development event surrounding career technical education (CTE).
  
  
• CUE Conference (Palm Springs) - March 14-16
  The Spring CUE Conference is an annual three-day event focused on educational innovation and educational technology.
  
  
• Linked Learning Conference (Palm Springs) - March 19-21
  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.
  

For more information regarding PBL / Linked Learning at SDUSD, please contact Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net and follow @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