Geoff Krall
LOUIS, MO — The only thing more intense than the Mississippi current was the PBL kitchen. Eight teams entered the Steelcase room on an overcast Saturday afternoon hoping to design the “tastiest” of projects based on three mystery “ingredients.” These ingredients came in the form of three randomly selected standards from across the curriculum.
Each team had 20 minutes to design the outline of a PBL unit based on the following standards which were drawn at the time of the competition.
- Natural selection leads to adaptation, that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. (HS-LS4-3),(HS-LS4-4)
- Rearrange formulas to highlight a quantity of interest, using the same reasoning as in solving equations. For example, rearrange Ohm’s law V = IR to highlight resistance R. (CCSSM.A-CED.A.4)
- Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.7)
As soon as the standards were drawn, the first round of the competition began in a flurry of ideation and activity. Teams scribbled on whiteboards provided by Steelcase. Participants. The end of the 20 minutes was punctuated by a “3…. 2….1… Markers down! Cooking time is over, chefs!” Exasperated from the intensity, participants – teachers and principals alike – let out a cry of triumph. While the design of a PBL Unit – with carefully selected and uniform standards – can take hours, competitors had come together to create an engaging, meaningful project in 20 minutes.
Sadly, only three teams could advance to the final round. This proved to be the most difficult part of the competition – for the judges. After some deliberation, looking through the eight project ideas, they identified the three projects that allowed their creators to advance to the final round. At this point, standards were drawn again:
- ELA: Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
- SS-Geo: Use geospatial and related technologies to create maps to display and explain the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics.
- Sci: The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns.
As before, 20 minutes flew by in a flash and the three teams developed PBL Units that would be uniquely engaging and meaningful to their students. They presented to the judges who asked them critical questions to get a sense of the scope of the project and the team’s understanding of the project.
After two rounds of high pressure, minimal time PBL design one team was left standing. The judges – after much deliberation and pained conversations – came to the unanimous conclusion that Scottsburg New Tech‘s final project was the one to take them over the finish line. They were announced as the winners at the next morning’s plenary session.
But while Scottsburg got to take home the lovely 2017 NTN PBL Chopped Trophy (which we can only assume is currently being prominently displayed in a proper trophy case), everyone who competed won something. Some teams walked away with a greater understanding and empathy for teachers of other disciplines. Some teams walked away with a greater camaraderie with their peers. Other teams walked away with an actual project that they promised to refine and implement in a cross-curricular experience.
So congrats are in order to the winner, Scottsburg New Tech, but given the creative explosion in the Steelcase room on that Saturday afternoon, congrats are also in order to the thousands of students who will benefit too, from PBL Chopped 2017.
Commentary and Details
Seriously, it was such a fun experience (although, it’s probably more fun as the MC than as a competitor or even a judge). The participating teams made it fun as they were excellent sports, super-creative, and, most importantly, into it. It was fascinating to watch teachers and principals from different content backgrounds develop projects in a compressed amount of time. In two rounds, we had a total of eleven brand new projects designed around standards that had probably never been combined before. So thank you to the following:
- One Guy has hair (Random assortment of NTN principals)
- TCS Jagwires (The Community School)
- The Warriors (Scottsberg New Tech)
- New Tech East
- Timmy’s Angels (DeKalb New Tech)
- Titan Up (Manor)
- Warrior Pride (Osceola Fundamental High School)
- Weapons of Mass Instruction (Rocket New Tech)
And of course, thank you to our judges:
- Kevin Gant, NTN Teams
- Lydia Dobyns, President and CEO of New Tech Network
- Robbie Ramirez, Art / AP Art History Teacher Memorial Early College High School
There were certainly some things we’d like to change going forward. The biggest challenge was trying to sufficiently judge eight projects after the first round. Due to time constraints we had about 15 total minutes to read, process, analyze and pass judgement on eight projects which included Entry Events, Benchmarks, a description of a final product, and sometimes more. It would also be nice to have a judgment rubric of something other than our gut.
Get the Goods
Care to see what PBL Units folks came up with? Want to see the agenda and facilitation notes? Join the 2017 PBL Chopped group in Echo and check out the “conversations” tab. You can join by searching the groups for “PBL Chopped” or typing in this reference “BZ364420006”.
