PBL News @SDUSD

From August 10-21, 81 teachers from SDUSD middle and high schools participated virtually in the second SDUSD PBL Institute this summer. The teachers worked in interdisciplinary teams to design rigorous real-world projects to implement with students during the 2020-2021 school year. During the two weeks, teachers engaged in community mapping, job shadows, professional learning opportunities, project development, project tuning, and project pitches. The result was 21 interdisciplinary projects. June & August PBL Institutes = 43 PBL Projects.

Learn more about the SD Unified PBL Institute:

• PBL Institute Website
• Two-week Schedule
• PBL Planner
• Project Websites

An example of an interdisciplinary project is "Eco-Friendly Stadium: Cavers Going Green" designed by the GeoTech Academy at San Diego High School.

The project, which integrates English 3/4 Advanced, Honors Chemistry, AVID, and Introduction to Design, challenges students with the question: "How can we use green technologies to reduce San Diego High School’s carbon footprint?"

Through the project, students will be inspired by professional stadium innovations to design an eco-friendly addition to or renovation of Balboa Stadium at San Diego High School. The project will launch with a virtual field trip to Petco Park, where students will see eco-friendly stadium innovations firsthand. Students will then conduct research on other green stadiums around the world, choosing an arena that interests them to take note of innovations they would like to apply in their design. In preparation for designing a solution for their assigned section of the stadium, students will study concepts of energy, clean energy sources, and human impacts on climate change in chemistry, design software skills in their CTE engineering course, persuasive writing and speaking in English, reflect on their progress, manage organization of steps moving forward, and collaborate with their project teams in AVID. To come up with a unique design solution that meets industry standards, students will partner with and learn from industry experts in landscaping and green design, as well as have assigned mentors from the City of San Diego and Balboa Park. The culminating event of the project is for students to deliver their project pitch to a panel of teachers, industry partners, and their mentors. The top-scoring teams will get to present their designs to the client and one design will be chosen for implementation the following year.

This is just one example of the 43 real-world and client-based or community partnership projects created by teachers during the Summer of 2020. View more - PBL Institute Projects

Job shadows are always a highlight of PBL Institute participants. The purpose of a job shadow is to provide PBL teachers an opportunity to learn about current industry standards and the skills that companies and organizations believe are essential.

This summer, in collaboration with SDCOE College & Career Readiness and TMA BlueTech we arranged virtual job shadow experiences (June Job Shadows & August Job Shadows). The job shadows / virtual tours below received rave reviews. You are welcome to watch, share, and use these job shadows.

• Deep Trekker designs and creates underwater remotely operated vehicles & robots. Deep Trekker representatives are planning to take you on a virtual tour. While on this tour they will share the story of developing an underwater vehicle from concept to customer training and the types of jobs that contribute to the end product. Experience the Deep Trekker Tour Below.
  

• Solutions Farms, a branch of the Solutions for Change nonprofit, is an aquaponics farm located in Vista. Aquaponics is a cutting-edge soil-less agricultural process in which nutrient-rich water from fish culture is used to nourish produce, which in turn purifies the water so it can be returned to the fish. Everything is done within the controlled environment of a greenhouse. In this webinar, Forrest and Pavel from Solutions Farm talk about the process of starting a farm, how their produce grows from a seed to a purchasable item, and how they’ve used the farm as a social enterprise to help people find employment.
  

Interested in getting started with or going deeper with Project-Based Learning or Design Thinking? Let's customize an experience for your site or team. Contact Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net.

SDCOE’s College and Career Readiness team is hosting the Go Virtual! Career Pathways Conference for K12 educators and students on October 14th and 15th.

This free career pathways conference will take place over the course of two afternoons and feature keynotes, panels, and breakout sessions. Educators will hear from employers and fellow teachers discussing strategies for how to provide high quality career-ready instruction in a COVID-19 impacted class, including the following topics:

• Distance learning, virtual learning and blended learning
• Evaluating skill development, competencies and assessment
• Interdisciplinary, integrated, linked learning or project-based learning
• Developing and enhancing middle school pathways
• Leveraging work-based learning, career exploration and career readiness in the virtual space
• Post-secondary alignment

The student section of the conference will feature employers presenting on the in-demand skills and careers that comprise San Diego’s economy (including some virtual site tours!) as well as workshops to prepare students for job applications, their first day in a work environment, and more.

Teachers can register on the Go Virtual! Conference page on our website or directly on the registration page: https://sdcoe.k12oms.org/2378-190459. Once a teacher registers for the conference, they will provide you with registration information for your students. A student’s parent/guardian will be required to sign a digital permission slip for the student to attend.

High Tech High just announced the Project-Based Learning Leadership Academy for 2020-21. The dates are Oct 19-23 and April 19-23. This is a FREE opportunity for interdisciplinary teams (Substitutes will need to be funded by the school site.). The deadline to submit the application is September 30th.

The Ideal Team is four to six educators, each with a focus on one or more of the following: Career Technical Education, Math, English, and Special Populations.

Interested In The Program?

- Talk to your principal
- Complete the PBL Leadership Academy Application
- Email me, Reuben Hoffman (rhoffman@sandi.net) and I will collaborate with your team

SDCOE WBL Opportunities (Highly Recommended for PBL Teachers)

Receive access to the SDCOE Work-Based Learning opportunities as they are made available, by completing the Work-Based Learning Training (30 minutes). After completing the training, submit the Sign In for Work-Based Learning Training Form and the SDCOE College and Career Readiness Team will add you to their email list and send you the training presentation with links to WBL resources.

New Website

Take a few minutes to click around and explore the SDCOE College and Career Readiness Team's new website. It features resources for educators, employers, and students, including a database of regional internships and jobs.

Pactful is design thinking application and curriculum developed by The Jacob's Institute for Innovation in Education for students to create innovative solutions to local and global problems aligned to the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Many SDUSD teachers used Pactful as beta testers in 2019-20 with great success. If you would like support with implementing design thinking or using the Pactful curriculum, email 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.”

How might you provide your students opportunities to share their learning?

Click through Share Your Learning in SDUSD. The slides provide examples and resources to help you understand and get started with student-led conferences, student presentations of learning, and student exhibitions.

Looking for ways to Share Your Learning Virtually?

Find examples and resources on the Share Your Learning for Distance Learning.

How do I Join the Movement?

Go to shareyourlearning.org and join other educators in helping build the movement of five million students publicly sharing their learning. #shareyourlearning

If you would like a collaborator or support with email rhoffman@sandi.net.

North Island Credit Union is awarding 10 Teacher Grants of $500 each in San Diego County. The NICU Teacher Grant Program was designed to assist educators in funding innovative learning opportunities for their students, including programs to support students during distance learning. It is encouraged all interested teachers to apply and be as descriptive as possible. Since NICU began this program in San Diego they have awarded $7,500 to teachers within the San Diego Unified School District alone. Our most recent recipient was at Lindbergh Schweitzer Elementary this past Spring.

The applications are due no later than October 2, 2020. Winners will be notified on the credit union website on October 19, 2020.

Complete the Grant Application Form to be considered for a $500 grant.

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.

If you would like to submit something for a future newsletter, please contact Reuben Hoffman at rhoffman@sandi.net.

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

Follow @sdschools on Twitter for daily highlights from schools throughout SDUSD.