Come hang with Chris & Erin as they talk all things teaching - curriculum, grading, assessment, students - without the BS.
Erin and Chris sit down and discuss a recent trip to Nashville for the iNacol conference. Listen, rate, and subscribe. Find us on Twitter: Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/techteachtravel Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org links https://www.dallasisd.org/ http://flglobal.org/ https://www.inacol.org/ https://www.projectbasedawesome.com
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris continue their series of episodes focused on the more traditional side of teaching in a Project Based Awesome style. In this episode they focus on the use of socratic circles and class discussions. They discuss the great things about using this technique, the ways they've done it or seen it done, and possible pitfalls, as well as offering some resources teachers can go to if their curious about using these techniques in their own classes. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (7:15) What's great about these techniques (14:30) How we have used it or seen it used (27:15) Possible pitfalls with using these techniques (42:07) Resources (51:28) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Websites: www.projectbasedawesome.com Resources: Class discussion backchannel: http://www.teachhub.com/technology-classroom-alternatives-todays-meet https://www.edutopia.org/blog/rethinking-whole-class-discussion-todd-finley http://edtheory.blogspot.com/2012/10/going-around-in-questioning-circles.html Right Question Institute: could the Question Formulation Technique be a good fit for generating student questions prior to a discussion? www.rightquestion.org Find us on Twitter: Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/techteachtravel Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris begin a series of episodes focused on the more traditional side of teaching in a Project Based Awesome style. In this episode they focus on the use of canonical texts as whole class novels required to be taught based on district or school curriculum. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (3:30) What can be great in the through the use of canonical (or whole-class) texts? (12:00) How we've used it/seen them taught or taught them ourselves that really works well in the PBA style classroom. (21:03) What are some potential pitfalls? (30:25) Resources (36:12) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Websites: www.projectbasedawesome.com Resources: Whole Novels for the Whole Class - Ariel Sacks Find us on Twitter: Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/techteachtravel Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris sit down with rockstar educator Trina Johnson to discuss project based learning, instructional technology, coding for the littles, conferences, running around the streets of Chicago, and more. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes (3:23) Who is Trina Johnson? (7:12) How does project based learning fit in your classes and in education in general? (12:40) How does instructional technology fit in your classes and education in general? (14:54) Trina designed some curriculum to have a project based student led capstone project? (21:30) Tynker and ISTE (31:40) What are you doing to take care of yourself? (32:00) What do you have coming up? (37:30) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Websites: www.projectbasedawesome.com www.tynker.com Find us on Twitter: Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/techteachtravel Trina Johnson: www.twitter.com/lutes_johnson Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris launch season 4 of the Project Based Awesome Podcast. We wanted to spend some time and go back to our roots to remind and explain what PBA is all about and who we are. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Back to our Roots (1:00) Personal Anecdotes (9:41) Change in roles in our district (16:12) What's coming up (26:42) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Websites: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris interview Tyler Rablin. We delve into instructional coaching, project based learning, instructional technology and more. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Updates on all things PBA (00:40) Table Topics (04:30) Tyler introduction (15:14) Pbl, edtech, personalized learning, etc. (20:40) What's the best part about being an instructional coach? What's the hardest part? (27:53) Where do you see education moving to in the future? (32:30) What cool things do you have coming up? (33:33) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Connect with Tyler Rablin Tyler Rablin: www.twitter.com/@Mr_Rablin Blog: https://teacher-totter.blogspot.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF__bRyehn15NuUl2p_5MVw Websites: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris answer two big questions. In their Mastermind PBA Voxer group Chris posed these two questions to the other members to elicit their feedback. On this episode, Erin and Chris decide to answer those two questions for their listeners. The two questions are: What is one pivot you've made this year based on the PBA ideals? And Based on the statement “Don't let the ghosts of past successes outvote original thinking” What is a past success you've had to or chosen to give up in order to progress forward with original thinking? Feel free to follow along at home. We'd love to hear your thoughts on these two questions. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Updates on all things PBA (1:45) Table Talks (5:30) What is one pivot you've made this year based on the PBA ideals? (10:00) What is a past success you've had to or chosen to give up in order to progress forward with original thinking? (19:16) Is Your Lesson a Grecian Urn? (22:06) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Cult of Pedagogy Blog Post: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/?s=is+your+lesson+a+grecian+urn&submit=search Websites: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
Episode 3.8: Troy Cockrum & Team Erin or Team Chris In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, We welcome Troy Cockrum. Troy is an instructional technology director in Indiana, a speaker, a Google Certified Innovator, and an author with a new book coming out. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Updates on all things PBA (1:02) Table Talks (4:22) Troy Cockrum interview How did you get into teaching? What's your background? (7:42) PBA is based around 3 pillars: PBL, Instructional Technology, and just great teaching strategies...What are some your “pillars” of education? (13;08) You're a Google Certified Innovator...how does that fit with what you do? (15:24) If you could give one piece of advice to teachers or coaches wanting to move into using instructional tech...what would it be? (20:08) Learning is social (21:57) New Book...Firefly Classrooms (23:44) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Connect with Troy Cockrum Troy Cockrum: www.twitter.com/@tcockrum Instagram: @tcockrum Youtube: cockrumvideos Websites: www.projectbasedawesome.com www.troy-cockrum.com/fireflyclassrooms.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin's back! Chris and Erin spend some time updating what's been happening in Erin's classes. They talk about the (sometimes) painfully slow progress toward innovation. Then, they dive into some ideas for PBA as teachers move towards the end of the year. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes ( Erin update classes Chris update Why committee Slow road to progress What can teachers do the last few weeks of school? Shark Tank (link to blog post) Erin's cool party trick Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Shifting Our Schools Podcast: http://sospodcast.org/ Shark Tank Blog: https://www.projectbasedawesome.com/blog/2017/5/23/shark-tank-a-project-for-the-end-of-the-year Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Chris is joined by Collin Gibbs. Collin is a social studies teacher that I had a chance to work with the last year and a half as a coach in his class. He has embraced instructional technology, project based learning, and has jumped in to a district cohort of teachers as a model classroom. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes (1:15) How does the proper use of instructional technology lends itself to your classroom and student learning? (9:55) How does Project Based Learning fit into your classes? (17:00) What cool things do you have going on in your classes? (25:38) Where you see education moving in the future? (29:20) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Collin Gibbs: www.twitter.com/@collinjgibbs Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Book Credits: Why Learn History (When it's Already on Your Phone) -- Sam Wineberg https://amzn.to/2KC63am Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris are lucky enough to be joined by the one and only Tisha Richmond. Tisha is a Culinary Arts teacher at South Medford school district and is a gamification guru, speaker, and just a really inspiring educator. We're stoked to have her on the pod with us this week. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: What could be done to make school a better place? (2:00) How did you get into teaching? Background? (8:53) What are some “pillars” of your teaching and classroom? (16:13) Talk about gamification and how that works in your classroom (20:09) How do you think gamification/PBL tie together? (27:45) Where do you see education moving in the future? (35:58) What do you have coming up? (37:47) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Tisha Richmond: www.twitter.com/@tishrich Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris discuss Chris' recent trip to Colorado to visit some “innovation” schools and some thoughts and perspective he came away with. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: What is your favorite type/style of taco? (2:38) The “Innovation” schools we visited in Colorado (7:36) Instructional cycle pillars: collaboration, tight feedback, targeted instruction, student agency (9:15) A brand, a vision, a culture, and core values (15:02) Instructional coaching in place at all schools (23:00) Commonalities and PBA reaffirmation (23:38) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris discuss Chris' recent work with a math cohort in his district. This cohort has been “re-thinking how they do math” and trying to reach students through project based learning, inquiry thinking and strategic grouping and workshops. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Math cohort work (1:30) District wide implications? (5:20) Work time structure (10:00) Highly structured, loosely organized (12:53) Conversation about tracking (14:40) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Credits: Minds on Mathematics - Wendy Ward Hoffer http://amzn.to/2IGt0s5 Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris recap a recent conference that Chris attended and some big ideas he came away with that tie in with the ideals of Project Based Awesome Send us feedback. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: (2:00) IPDX18 - IntegratED conference recap (5:56) These words aren't in the common core (7:36) The world is handing you a curriculum, are you using it? (15:30) Students need support from skilled Teachers on how to use technology to understand their world (19:09) We need to value Students curiosity (22:42) Grit (25:20) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Credits: Smoky Daniels: www.twitter.com/@SmokyDaniels Kristin Ziemke: www.twitter.com/@KristinZiemke Tisha Richmond: www.twitter.com/@TishRich Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
Welcome back to the Project Based Awesome Podcast In the first episode of season 3, Erin and Chris do a deep dive into what's happening in her IP class. Erin shares her thought process based around how to help guide and teach students to do higher quality work and deeper investigation into problems in a situation where the class is very open ended. Through the discussion the two weave in and out of difficulties and possible situations and land on the “realization” that “Man, this is hard.” The format has changed to more of a free-form conversational style of podcast rather than a scripted, bullet point based exploration of a specific topic. We hope you like it. Send us feedback. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Tools: www.gradeinflation.com https://goo.gl/bckGUC The Atlantic Article: “Why Grades Are Not Paramount to Achievement” Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris sit down and update us about what's been happening since season two. Season three is coming your way soon. Looking forward to sharing more with you soon. Credits are in the show notes below. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Second semester changes (1:10) We wrote a book (5:10) Chris going to be a guest on Jeff Utecht's Podcast “Shifting Our Schools” (9:43) 3rd season of the podcast coming soon (11:35) More blog posts coming your way (12:04) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris sit down with Jeff Utecht of www.edurolearning.com to talk about his background, where he sees education moving to in the future, and all things Project Based Awesome Credits are in the show notes below. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (1:24) Tell us about yourself (8:00) How'd you get into education? (14:22) How'd you get to where you are now? (17:02) Top 3 nuggets for teachers getting into the project based thing? (19:00) What do you miss most about classroom teaching?/What do you find most rewarding about what you do now? (30:40) What's going on with Eduro? (35:50) New Book (40:40) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Jeff Utecht: www.twitter.com/@jutecht Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com www.thethinkingstick.com www.jeffutecht.com www.edurolearning.com www.sospodcast.org (shifting Our Schools Podcast) www.quadblogging.net Books/Credits: Your Connected Classroom: A Practical Guide for Teachers by Kim Cofino (Author), Chrissy Hellyer (Author), Jeff Utecht (Author) http://amzn.to/2j3Mhfp Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris wrap up season 2 of the Project Based Awesome Podcast and give some highlights of things to come. Credits are in the show notes below. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (1:00) 2.1: Welcome back and shoot the breeze. (8:22) 2.2: Start of the Year Routines (9:40) 2.3. (parts 1 & 2) What is the purpose of grades? (10:13) 2.4: Setting up a gradebook PBA style (11:30) 2.5: A play-by-play of a pivot Erin made, mid-week and mid-unit and mid-lesson. (17:16) 2.6: Our thoughts on grading versus feedback. (18:33) 2.7: What do you do when you hit a creative wall? (19:30) 2.8: The Chelan workshop (19:30) 2.9: Watch other people work (19:30) 2.10: When your lesson bombs (20:55) Upcoming stuff (22:07) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode of the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris talk about what happens when the lesson bombs. It's a fact that sometimes, no matter how well you think the lesson is going to go or how much you've planned and prepared for the lesson, sometimes, it's just not going to work. It's gonna bomb. It's a simple fact of teaching. So, what do you do when this happens? In this episode Erin and Chris discuss what has worked for them in this situation. How to make the best of the failed lesson moving forward. They also talk about some specific examples they have been part of recently in relation to lessons that just didn't go well. Credits are in the show notes below. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (00:36) Chris' experience today (9:40) Erin's experience today (23:05) Gosh, this is hard/The struggle is real (32:07) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris discuss a conference that they attended a couple weekends back and their major takeaways from the conference. This week they discuss another specific thing you can do to get out of a rut and gain new inspiration: watch your colleagues teach. They discuss two specific protocols that they're district uses for their “learning walks” as they've been dubbed. They also dig into the details about the difficulties and major benefits of teachers seeing other teachers work and how it can help both hosts and observers better their craft. Credits are in the show notes below. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (1:00) Learning Walks (7:20) 1:1 observations (14:05) It takes a leap (26:08) The value is immense, you should try it (29:00) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Books/Credits: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story - Donald Miller http://amzn.to/2ylAPhs The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood http://amzn.to/2hXMcG3 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak http://amzn.to/2ynGenW The Sparrow: A Novel - Mary Doria Russell http://amzn.to/2ymcece Learning Walks Checklist 1:1 Observation Protocol Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris talked what you can do as a teacher when you've hit a creative wall. This week they discuss a conference that they attended last weekend. The conference, “Moving Students for Consumers to Creators” was put on by Eduro Learning and led by Jeff Utecht. Credits are in the show notes below. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (00:55) The Conference: big picture (6:40) Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose (10:40) 21st century skills: Collaboration, Communication, Critical thinking, Creativity (13:54) Teacher as creator of learning experiences (17:00) The creative process (20:35) Bubble catchers (20:37) Reinforced my belief that “the struggle is real for Ss” and it's a good thing (26:28) The tie back to PBA (29:53) Look forward to an upcoming podcast with Jeff as a special guest. (31:48) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Credits: www.EduroLearning.com Drive - by Daniel H. Pink http://amzn.to/2iY0eLb Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org Some of the links in the above post are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning that we may receive a small percentage of any purchases you make, at no additional cost to you.
Episode 2.7: Erin and Chris Sing A Hall & Oates Tune At The 2:45 Mark (43:26) Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris talked about feedback This week, Erin and Chris discuss what you can do as a teacher when you've hit a creative wall. Erin and Chris give some specific insight into things they do and places they go to get inspired, find new ideas, re-stoke that creative fire. They name drop a ton of people they follow, sites they use, conferences they attend, and books they read for inspiration. Credits are in the show notes below. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (00:56) Draw on the expertise/knowledge/advice of colleagues (6:43) Twitter (11:22) Read a book or a magazine (13:26) Listen to some podcasts (17:19) Check out some websites(20:52) Join some twitter chats (27:46) Attend a conference or a summit (35:05) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
Episode 2.6: I Also Have An Apathy Group Sitting Over There In The Corner (27:08) Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris talk about a learning moment Erin had This week, Erin and Chris discuss our thoughts on grading versus feedback and how these two things differ and relate to the Project Based Awesome ideals. They talk about how many time grading is used as a kind of a post-mortem - the end result, after the learning has happened. Whereas feedback can be much more beneficial for both students learning and the teachers growth and ability to adjust their teaching based on what the students need. Erin and Chris discuss how feedback should be ongoing, constructive, and specific. They discuss some specific techniques and tools that can be used for feedback ranging from a simple personal check-in by the teacher to the use of digital tools. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (00:26) An update on Erin's instructional pivot (4:50) Grades vs. feedback (7:26) Ongoing, constructive, specific feedback: (12:00) Mark Barnes' SE2R Framework (13:22) Ways to give feedback (16:15) Digital tools (18:08) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Tools: Mark Barnes' SE2R Framework Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris talked about some nuts-and-bolts strategies for setting up a gradebook that will help you clarify what students have learned. This week, Erin and Chris talk about a learning moment Erin had this week. She realized that her IP students weren't getting as much out of the unit as she wanted them to. Her students just weren't engaged. So, she knew she needed to make an adjustment. A pivot. Erin takes us through her thought process from realizing things weren't going to well, to the changes she made, to things that she still wants to improve in the future. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (00:55) Erin's epiphany which led to a pivot (5:35) Changes made (17:00) Positives (24:44) Areas for improvement (25:58) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Tools: Erin's Unit Document Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris continued to discuss grades and their role in education and how they fit with the ethos of Project Based Awesome. This week, Erin and Chris talk about how to set up a gradebook to work with Project Based Awesome. They focus on a couple of options that work well with PBA: setting up weighted categories for formative and summative assessment or only including summative assessments in the gradebook. They also discuss the benefits of changing from a “traditional” 100 point scoring scale to a 4 point scale. They wrap up the discussion by talking about a one column rubric and the benefits of using that type of rubric and how it ties with standards based grading and PBA. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal anecdotes (00:58) Options for setting up a gradebook introduction (6:08) Two categories: formative and summative (8:37) Only summative (15:00) Multiple “scores” (data points) for each summative assessment (18:44) 4-point scale equated to letter grades (23:11) Single-column rubric, measuring multiple standards; “meeting” standard usually equates to a (Credit: Jennifer Gonzalez - Cult of Pedagogy) (27:03) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Tools: Single column rubric examples Theme analysis PSA Credits: Jennifer Gonzalez Twitter: @cultofpedagogy www.cultofpedagogy.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris discussed grades and their role in education and how they fit with the ethos of Project Based Awesome. This week, Erin and Chris talk about grades some more in part 2 of episode 3! More specifically, they explore their thoughts on the overall purpose of grades and how it fits with what they do with Project Based Awesome. They touch on the fact that grades should be tied directly to standards, should truly communicate students' academic abilities and skills and should not be tied to extraneous factors such as attendance or work ethic etc. This is a pretty deep philosophical dive into Erin and Chris' (and in turn PBA's) beliefs of the purpose of grades and some of the discussion is challenging and difficult. It's meant to be. We hope you enjoy our discussion on this topic. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: When you get rid of all the extraneous “stuff” it naturally leads towards a focus on… (1:00) skills, standards project based learning dealios (no more just doing posters at the end of a unit and calling it PBL), Driving questions Getting rid of “moral judgements” (how did Jimmy do? Look at the standards) Gets rid of participation grades unless those are directly linked to your standards Extra credit re-do's Late work? Participation grade No zeros (28:08) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
Last week, in the Project Based Awesome Podcast, Erin and Chris talked about setting up routines for classes at the beginning of the school year. This week, Erin and Chris talk about grades! More specifically, they explore their thoughts on the overall purpose of grades and how it fits with what they do with Project Based Awesome. They touch on the fact that grades should be tied directly to standards, should truly communicate students' academic abilities and skills and should not be tied to extraneous factors such as attendance or work ethic etc. This is a pretty deep philosophical dive into Erin and Chris' (and in turn PBA's) beliefs of the purpose of grades and some of the discussion is challenging and difficult. It's meant to be. We hope you enjoy our discussion on this topic. Episode 2.3 is the first part of a two part podcast exploring this topic. Enjoy Until next time...peace. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: (00:52) What is the purpose of a grade? (5:10) Grades should communicate a student's academic ability, skills (17:05) What are some negative things We use grades for in academic settings (24:10) Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In this episode, Erin and Chris beginning of school routines, setting norms, and foibles. They dive into everything from how to handle that first week of school when things go haywire to setting beginning of class period routines, establishing workflow, and how to begin to establish a culture of student participation and sharing. Erin talks at length about her first week back in class and some struggles she's dealing with in setting up the flow of her class. They also discuss the importance of icebreakers as a way to get to know your students and for them to get to know each others. They wrap up with some mistakes (foibles) they have made...Chris specifically...in his past as a teacher and lessons learned from those. Thanks for listening. Enjoy. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: (1:00) Setting expectations for class flow, first 5 minutes of class, etc. (7:12) Routines for student participation - talking with partners, small groups, sharing out, etc. (16:20) Physical set-up (23:40) Icebreakers (27:28) Different routines in different settings (33:00) The don'ts of school routines (42:58) Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Book Credits: Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers - Penny Kittle Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In the first episode of season 2. Erin and Chris welcome you back to school and their Project Based Awesome Podcast thing. They recap season one, discuss what listeners can expect for season two, catch the listeners up on what they're doing professionally in their district this year, and drop some knowledge on and upcoming E-book they are writing and will have available for download around the holidays. Enjoy. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: Whadja do this summer (1:20) Recap of last season on the pod (6:00) Erin's new gig (8:00) Chris' modified gig (15:00) What's happening in our district? 1 to 1, etc. (18:00) Upcoming plans for PBA (25:31) Shout out to our Michigan Peeps (29:30) Out-takes (31:45) Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In episode #11 Erin and Chris wrap up season one of the Project Based Awesome Podcast and put a pretty, little bow on it. Enjoy. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: Whatcha doin' this summer? Season episode recap Episode 1: Overview of PBA Episode 2: Surviving and Thriving Episode 3: Going 1:1 Episode 4: Personalized Learning Episode 5: Driving Questions Episode 6: Inputs & Outputs Episode 7: Real-World Task & Audience Episode 8: The Process of PBA Episode 9: Technology Integration Episode 10: Standards, Rubrics, and Assessment Looking ahead E-book: Date TBD (hopefully summer-ish) Season 2 of the pod We're gonna keep writing this blog Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In episode #10 Erin and Chris are digging into assessment. Standards, rubrics, formative vs. summative and other awesome things. They discuss the common core state standards and how at first glance they can seem daunting, but with a little work they can be adapted into student friendly, usable by both students and teachers, as power standards. They touch on the importance of transparency in the use of standards and rubrics and the value of student self evaluation in the assessment process. After discussing standards, Erin and Chris dive into how to create great rubrics based on standards that offer both feedback and a growth model for the students. One specific type of rubric they refer to is the single-point rubric that they learned from Jennifer Gonzalez of Cult of Pedagogy. *References and links below* Enjoy. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: What'd you do last week? (00:30) Digging deep into assessment (8:06) Let's talk standards (9:54) Narrowing down the standards (12:00) Students need to see and be able to use the standards (17:55) Let's talk rubrics (21:27) Let's back-up...what is a rubric? (24:36) This is the Single-Point Rubric (Jennifer Gonzalez: Cult of Pedagogy) (28:55) John Hattie's meta-research (37:14) Self-Evaluation (40:38) Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com References: Fahrenheit 451 Cult of Pedagogy - Jennifer Gonzalez ”Your rubric is a hot mess; here's how to fix it” http://www.brilliant-insane.com/2014/10/single-point-rubric.html The Single-Point Rubric: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/single-point-rubric/ John Hattie - Visible Learning Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In episode #9 This week, Erin and Chris talk about how technology figures into a PBA unit. They discuss how students having access to technology in a classroom changes the way learning happens. They dig into daily routines in 1:1 settings, specific ways technology can be used by students, the importance of flexibility, a couple specific models that have been used in integrating instructional technology into a classroom setting, and how integrating technology in the right way should transform your teaching and student learning. Enjoy. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: Where'd you go to college? (00:40) Use an LMS (5:20) The importance of daily routines (13:40) Google extensions (22:15) Be flexible (25:42) Having access to tech/interwebs can (should?) change the way you teach (27:14) Having access to tech doesn't discount good teaching (41:06) Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com References: Chrome extensions: Kami, Grammarly, Tab Resize, Screencastify TPaCK SAMR Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In episode #8 of Project Based Awesome, Erin and Chris discuss the process of Project Based Awesome. We're taking a deep dive into the process of this thing we call Project Based Awesome, from planning to day-to-day implementation to final outcome. These are the three main parts of the process of putting together a unit based on the idea of unit planning with this thing we call Project Based Awesome. We go into detail, giving specific ideas and examples based around planning, day-to-day implementation, and the final outcome of a Project Based Awesome unit.
In episode #7 of Project Based Awesome Erin and Chris discuss the how(s) and why(s) of trying to incorporate authentic, real world outcomes and a real audience. They discuss how incorporating more authentic learning experiences and a real audience into your classroom it creates More buy-in on the part of the Ss - Students are wondering how your content/skills are relevant to their lives - show them. A chance for Ss to experience what the workforce may be like after school - and isn't that kinda why we're here, in a way? Erin and Chris also share some specific examples of authentic tasks and real world audiences from their work in the classroom. Enjoy. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: Movies we should have seen but haven't (00:38) Introducing the idea of authentic, real-world tasks, finding an audience more than just the teacher and why it works (7:00) Examples of real-world tasks/audiences and some specific techniques to use these in class (16:50) Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes and other podcast hosting sites. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com References: www.breakoutEDU Music credits: Song: Two Men From New Jersey Artist: We Is Shore Dedicated Site: www.freemusicarchive.org
In episode #6 of Project Based Awesome Erin and Chris explain the idea behind inputs and outputs and how they are related to this curriculum design idea we call Project Based Awesome. Erin and Chris describe what Inputs and Outputs are and how they were able to use these key concepts to marinate their students in a rich stew of information. They take you into the room where the planning process occurred and give some specific examples of Inputs and Outputs in literature based and non-literature based units. Enjoy. Some things Erin and Chris discuss in this episode: Personal Anecdotes: favorite destinations (1:03) Recap of last weeks pod: Driving Questions (6:16) What exactly do we mean by Inputs in relation to Project Based Awesome? (7:20) What do we mean by Outputs in relation to Project Based Awesome? (10:48) Taking you into the room where the process the planning looks like: The whiteboard moment (12:40) Making the connection between relationships between the Inputs & Outputs (16:07) What happens if you have a unit that is not based around a piece of literature? (21:06) Until next time...peace. Listen, rate us, and Subscribe on iTunes and other podcast hosting sites. Follow us on Twitter Erin Dickey: www.twitter.com/@ogybuns Chris Butler: www.twitter.com/@techteachtravel Website: www.projectbasedawesome.com References: Mentor texts Blog: When You Have to Teach Huck Finn
Erin and Chris begin to move away from ideological and philosophical discussions and into more specific application of the curriculum/unit design we call Project Based Awesome.
In Episode 4 of Project Based Awesome, Erin and Chris discuss Personalized Learning. For more detailed show notes, head to www.projectbasedawesome.com/podcast
In Episode 3 of Project Based Awesome Erin and Chris discuss what 1 to 1 is all about. For detailed show notes, head to https://www.projectbasedawesome.com/podcast
Chris and Erin share their thoughts on how to not only survive but thrive in a setting that may not be the most progressive-thinking in its views of what teaching and learning could and should look like. For detailed show notes, head to https://www.projectbasedawesome.com/podcast
Chris and Erin talk about their backgrounds, and what this Project Based Awesome thing is all about. For detailed show notes, head to https://www.projectbasedawesome.com/podcast/