There are two questions I hear a lot from visitors to High Tech High that are TOTALLY different, but both based on the same misconception about Project-based Learning.
Lots of teachers come to High Tech High, see how collaborative the teachers are, and get inspired to make their first project a massive interdisciplinary collaboration between, say, English, Spanish, Biology, and Algebra.
This is almost always a bad idea.
Q: It seems restrictive to tell every kid to make the same kind of product when we’re doing a project. How should I decide what parts of the project to be flexible on and which are non-negotiable?
“We critique and discuss what makes the work powerful: what makes a piece of creative writing compelling and exciting; what makes a scientific or historical research project significant and stirring; what makes a novel mathematical solution so breathtaking.”
Rosemarie Biocarles-Rydeen talks to Alec about “Everybody Needs a Rock”, the kindergarten geology project she designed and ran at High Tech Elementary Chula Vista
Veteran teacher Andrew Lerario talks to Alec about “sharing the cognitive load” with students, and treating the project as a shared journey you go on together. He also talks about doing rocket science with high schoolers.
High Tech High Mesa Instructional Coach David Roney explains how his colleagues designed August PD to put projects front and center, so teachers were ready to launch their projects on day one of school.
The Six Equity Stances of Liberatory Project-Based Learning creates a way to identify, challenge, and critique the social forces that reproduce inequity and oppression.
A project launch is an engaging, active experience with multiple entry points for diverse learners that invites multiple perspectives and fosters diverse, innovative thinking.