A Project-Based Learning model allows students to gain a deep understanding of content through the process of answering a driving question. The learning happens through the project experience and not in isolation. This model values the process to prepare our students to be confident life-long learners in the world that lies ahead of them. In a PBL model, while being actively engaged in authentic experiences, students build deep knowledge of themselves and content areas. Students learn to be self-directed learners, identifying a problem, creating a path of investigation, collecting resources and collaborating to find solutions to real world problems. The authentic hands on learning allows students to acquire meaningful knowledge of content and themselves that can be adapted and applied to new situations.

As teachers, we see ourselves NOT as givers of information, but as caretakers of our learning environment and facilitators of learning. Our role is to create a structure that supports student freedom to direct their own learning. Teachers are constantly checking-in and evaluating the path of the project to make sure it is meeting the needs of each child and meeting the overall content goals. Teachers are asking guiding questions. They are not giving the information, but asking questions that will help lead students to discovery. It is the role of the teacher to empower the students to feel ownership, to make a difference and have a voice.

Project-Based Learning is rooted in a continuous cycle of planning, doing and reviewing. Students feel they have choice, voice and ownership throughout the process. While planning, students will define what they know, what they need to know and how they will find the answers. They are constantly questioning and using knowledge and skills, while constructing the path to solving the overall guiding question.

Next, the students will be actively engaged in implementing the plan. They will be researching, exploring, interviewing, building and testing theories. This will happen on site as well as on field trips to experience real world situations.