Ryan Steuer (00:00.096)
Welcome to the PBL simplified podcast for teachers brought to you by magnify learning, your customized PBL partner from over a decade of experience with you in the trenches. We are bringing you the top rated educational podcast designed for inspired classroom teachers seeking to transform their classrooms with project-based learning. Live your why transform your classroom teach inspired. Here's your host Ryan Stoyer. Welcome.
PBL simplified for teachers. I'm your host Ryan Stoyer. This is the podcast where we talk all things project based learning for you, very specifically the classroom teacher. Your administrators should be on a different podcast. There's a PBL simplified for administrators. They should be over there. And this podcast, we're talking specifically to you, the classroom teacher. And to that end, if you've got a question, you go to pblshare.com, pblshare.com. It takes you to one of our web pages and there's a
a drop down and you can ask any question that you'd like, or you can share a win. I'd love to share your win on the podcast as well. So if you've got a question that you'd like to do an episode on, or maybe it's just a five to 15 minute talk on a specific need to know that you have, I would love to do that. And just to kind of pull back the curtain, how that works is I actually email you specifically the answers. You make sure you get that. And then it hits a podcast because a podcast might not come for two or three months. And then it's like, well, thanks Ryan. You answered my question three months later, but I need it right away.
So we'll actually answer your question right away. And then we'll share it with a broader audience. Cause we all know that the question you have is likely the question someone else has, or at least we've said it so much in a classroom setting that we believe it. Don't we think we do. Hey, thanks for tuning in today. I really appreciate you coming in. We're to talk about reflection in project-based learning. It's super key topic. It's where a lot of the learning actually happens. Let me grab you a quote from John Maxwell. Experience is not the best teacher.
evaluated experience is the best teacher. Reflective thinking is needed to turn experience into insight. So important. Like I love that you've got a hands on classroom. I love that we're doing things out in the community, but we need to reflect on them to turn experience into insight. The insight is what our learners, that's what makes them future ready is they have these experiences. They've turned into insight. They've learned these things while they're with us in this K-12 environment and
Ryan Steuer (02:25.58)
Now they take those out into the world. And that's what's really exciting. That's what changes kids, molds their personalities, molds who they're gonna be as a leader and a citizen. So this is a really important topic. And sometimes testing's coming up and it's gonna fill that month and it's like, we gotta get this done. don't have time for reflection. We really need to make time for reflection. So I'm hoping in this episode I can give you some really tangible takeaways of how to bring reflection into your.
classroom. All right, let's jump in. So the first thing I suppose is what is reflection? And if you grab my book, PBL simplified, it's the six steps, right? So PBL simplified, the subtitle is six steps to move project-based learning from idea to reality. So it's, not a formula by any means, but, the six steps is something that we use at magnify learning. It's going to look really close to the scientific method. Like there are other problem solving steps you can use for sure.
but it's nice to have a set of six steps that you know where you're at and where you're going and your learners know where you're at and where you're going. And the sixth step is reflection. And of course, the first thing we say is that while it's a full step, reflection happens throughout the entire PBL unit. Like you're going to be reflecting throughout. You're to see, how did this workshop go? Right? You're going to ask for feedback. You're going to ask for likes and wonders, maybe as an exit ticket, right?
And you might ask for some, some need to knows at the end of a workshop that turn into really a reflection time to say, you just learned this. What else do need to know? We've just created a small little pocket of reflection. We also really liked the idea of taking a full step for reflection. So it might be a day of kind of celebration at the end of a PBL unit where you're reflecting on what you learned, maybe watching through maybe some of the presentations. Maybe there's a video format that you can watch through and see
you know what some of the learners did or finding ways to make reflection a really intentional process. And let me give you a couple of takeaways from the book. So I've got, give you some questions to consider as you create a time of reflection. There's four of them. How can you make sure everyone's voice is heard? How can you make sure everyone's voice is heard? And this is this idea of voice and choice, right? And this is where we bring protocols in.
Ryan Steuer (04:48.014)
So if you do a chalk talk, right, you've got your dry erase board up and the question is, what did you learn during this latest PBL unit? And everybody can kind of go off of there, they can write, they say, well, I learned about compound complex sensors. I learned that working with my best friend is not the best idea, right? So there could be all kinds of different things. Or you could frame the same chalk talk as golden shining moments. What were the best things that happened during this PBL unit?
And you know, it might've been lunch on the presentation day, like whatever it is, but you just let kids write it all down. They don't, they don't get to talk during this, right? So it's a silent protocol. So they do this silent protocol, but they're just writing on the board and they can plus one things. They can take a little, you know, kind of mind map off of somebody else's idea and give ideas that way. But what we're doing is we're protecting voice, right? If we just say, Hey, what are the best things that happen in this PBL unit? And we just let kids shout out, then you're
three to four most extroverted students are gonna talk and you're not gonna hear from everybody. There's no way you're gonna get 25 responses to that question. Your introverted learners just aren't gonna do it. And it is amazing that if you give them Post-it notes or you're writing on a dry erase board and it's really pretty anonymous, all the feedback that comes out, all the reflection that happens. And even if a kid doesn't write anything down, they're stepping back, they're looking at other people's answers and they really are, they're reflecting.
and they're starting to turn experience into insight. And they take that insight with them in the next PBL unit. All right, next question. How do you make sure overly negative or overly positive voices don't take over the time? Have you ever done a reflection time? I'll just put it into a faculty meeting because that can happen. And then it just turns into like this complain fest and it's like, yeah, and what about this?
Yeah, what about that? Like those plastic forks always break, right? And it just goes down this rabbit hole of negativity. And you're like, how do I stop this? And you might just, the question is really there just so you can start thinking about it. So it's not in the moment you don't freak out. And when I say freak out in this particular case, I think the freak out would actually be if you did nothing. If you see reflection, a conversation,
Ryan Steuer (07:04.77)
going in the wrong direction and it's not helpful for anyone and maybe it's even getting hurtful, you just stop it. That's my advice. Again, there's a lot of different ways to do it, but just don't let it keep going because, well, everybody needs their voice, need to get out there. Maybe not. Like maybe there's a better avenue for that than just open voices. Not necessarily shouting, but just, you know, kind of shouting, popcorning those things out and just builds negativity. If you want to have
you know, an exit ticket where kids can, can gripe. I maybe you want to do that and you want to hear those things. That's fine. But don't be afraid to just say, okay, that's enough. That's good. Let's move on. Like there is nothing wrong with that. So just putting that idea into what do you do when the reflection section, session starts to go in a direction you don't want it to. number three is super good. How will you respond to the feedback? So you're in this reflection section. You just said, Hey, we just did a PPL unit. What did you like?
What do you wonder about? What would you change? And you're getting feedback. You're just writing it up on the board or here, let me give you another protocol. All the learners write down their likes and wonders individually, right? And then they get with a partner and they compare notes. You give them some time. Okay, I didn't have that one. You have that one. Then they get in larger groups of four to five. And now they compare, they all come up with a list. And now you have them shout them out and you put them up on the board.
All right, so some are duplicated, right? So you don't say the duplicated ones. Some make you think of something else and then they can write down an extra one, but you get them all written down and you see some feedback on there you're like, they misunderstood. That's not what I meant by that. And you want to kind of defend yourself. I would really, really recommend that you step back from that. Just let the feedback come up on the board. You do not have to respond to the feedback right away. It's real.
The best response is, wow, thank you so much for this feedback. I'm gonna take a look at it, I'm gonna think through it, and then I'll give you guys a response tomorrow. Right? And then you don't, because otherwise you'll get defensive, and everybody's gonna notice you're getting defensive, even if you're not trying to be defensive, right? You're trying to be collaborative and solve this problem, but it's gonna feel like you're being defensive. So just put it up there. And when you do, it's gonna let other learners who don't wanna hurt your feelings say, you just take feedback. Okay.
Ryan Steuer (09:25.698)
Here's another piece of cool feedback that would help me learn. Well, isn't that neat? Like, because ultimately that's what we want. We want our learners to learn. If there's something we're doing that's getting in the way, we want to know about it so we can do something differently possibly. So you just get it all up on there. What I love to do in this case, in this kind of a reflection feedback session, is find one or two things that you can act on right away. You do not have to act on all of them, right? They're always going to ask for more time. They're always going to ask for more resources. And you don't have to give that, right?
We're always going to ask for more time, but we also need time constraints. So you did not by any means have to give all the things that your learners put out there, but I would find one or two and I'd kind of make a big deal about it. Like you said yesterday that you wanted more clarity upfront in the entry event. So here's what I'm doing to create more clarity for the entry event. Right? So what you're, what they're saying, you're acting on. That's a big deal. That's a super big deal and a great idea for reflection. All right. Last one. How can you,
scaffold the process for learners who've never given feedback to a facilitator before. They've never given feedback before, because there are some classrooms where you just come in, you do the things, and then you leave again. And you don't want that to be your classroom culture. But they might be used to that. So they're not used to giving feedback. So a protocol is super helpful. Again, you can start with Post-it notes. A really easy one is, everybody gets two Post-it notes, put on a like and a wonder, and as you leave,
The classroom for the day, it's just an exit ticket. Put your like on the dry erase board, put your wonder on the window, and then head out to your next class. Have a great day. And it just kind of stair steps them or scaffold them into getting used to giving feedback and reflection. All right. So that's just really just four kind of general questions. Came around to PBL simplified. There's a whole chapter on reflection. There's a whole chapter on norms and protocols. So if you like some of the protocols I kind of described,
just kind of talk to you through, you would love, love that whole chapter. It's a lot of fun. Once you get into protocols, I kind of call them, there's a geekiness to protocols, but you just never go back. It's like, why would we have a conversation that doesn't have, you know, rails on the side that protect people's voice? It's awesome. All right. Got a few other ideas. I want to give one just for you, the classroom teacher is the idea of teacher reflection. So how can you reflect on the work that you're doing?
Ryan Steuer (11:52.243)
because we want our learners to grow in reflection, but we need to grow, right? As, as learners. And if we can develop this growth mindset by reflecting after each PBL unit or even a good day or a rough day, right? Sometimes on good days, we just like, that was awesome. Let's head out. Well, maybe you should reflect and think why was today awesome? Like what was it that got your learners engaged and leaning in? What worked so well? Cause we should do that again. We should have more of those bright spots.
And then you have a rough day, like instead of sitting in the rough day, which is okay, you might sit in it for just a second and then think, why was today so rough? And why could I, or what could I do differently? And gosh, I wish I would have done this. I'm trying to get better at this, but just asking someone, what man today was rough for me. Like here's what I did. What do you think I could do differently? Just ask the teacher next door, whether they do PBL or not, right? Just like get an outside perspective. What do you think I could do differently?
And you'd be surprised. There are some things that you might not see that they see very clearly. But if you don't ask, people don't typically tell you those things. Right, they say, hey, do you know you could fix this, but, you know, that's usually not taken very well. But if you open the door to, hey, what are some things that you do that help with classroom management? Or what are some things that you do that help with grouping? Well, I've got this group contract. Would you like to see my group contract? Yes, I would. Right, so if you can really be open.
And it might be very specific teachers that you asked this for. Maybe you're secure enough, you can ask anybody, that would be ideal. Again, but it's something I think we struggle with, right? Because we're supposed to be perfect, we're supposed to figure this out, but we're not perfect and we're not gonna figure it all out. So asking like, what is it that I'm not seeing here? What is it that I'm missing? And you might be really surprised. So teacher reflection is another idea that I think is super important for us. And let give you one kind of last idea.
and reflection is like, you cause it's like, where do you start? I'll give you a couple of protocols. I think that you could start an easy place. But how can you put in, you know, some structures? So maybe just on Fridays on Fridays, you've got feedback and forward days. So feedback on this last week, and then looking forward to next week, what could you, what could you use to be a super successful learner? Right. And again, I love Post-it notes. I think they're awesome because it's,
Ryan Steuer (14:17.851)
It's individual, they're easy to go through. It has an exit ticket. You can bust through those really quick. In about two minutes, you can get through your whole class and you'll see some themes that pop out and some things that you can use. So again, post-it notes someplace really quick. Another question, what's one thing you learned today that surprised you? What's one thing you learned today that surprised you? If you have a community partner come in, it might be a good question to get some conversation going.
You can have kids ask each other. Again, you can do post-it notes. If you're just starting out, post-it notes is a great way because it's, you're not asking kids to speak out loud. Some of your kids, that's a barrier at this point. You're not asking them to present. That could be a barrier at this point. You're just, you're not asking them for a grade. You're just saying, give me your thoughts. Reflect on today. Think about what just happened. But what you're doing is you're building this muscle. You're building a reflective muscle in your learners. And now even on their own, they're starting to think,
what worked well for me today, what didn't work. And they'll start to make better choices, which if we're trying to create future ready learners or future ready citizens, like that's a great way to start is having people reflect on what's happening in their own lives and making some changes. I would call that a win for sure. All right. So that is reflection and PBL. There's obviously a lot more that we could talk about. You know, a resource we haven't talked about on the podcast much is if you go to pblsimplified.com,
pblsimplified.com there's a whole set of YouTube videos on a lot of these major need-to-knows that you can walk through. Reflections is certainly one of them. So if you go to pblsimplified.com, can get these YouTube videos come right into your inbox and you can watch them when they come in or maybe not, but you'll see that reflection PBL comes up. yeah, I want to hit that one, right? And you can hit them real quick. They're typically five minutes or less, so real quick hit. All right, hopefully today was helpful and you'll build a reflective culture.
in your classroom and also in your own practice. Go out and teach inspired. That's just what I needed to bring PBL to my classroom. If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing the show. It only takes two minutes to scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select write a review. Then be sure to let us know what was most helpful about that episode. Your review helps the next inspired teacher, just like you,
Ryan Steuer (16:42.313)
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