On Tuesday, August 18, Bucyrus teachers gathered for their first professional development (PD) of the year, featuring Project Based Learning (PBL). Superintendent Robert Britton started the day by reminding staff that this PD was the first step in a year-long journey tied directly to Bucyrus City Schools' True North vision: Navigating Students to Career Success.
"If we're going to navigate every student toward career success, we have to continually ask ourselves what kinds of learning experiences will help them get there," Britton told staff as he opened the session. He challenged teachers to think beyond preparing students for a first job, and instead focus on building the confidence, adaptability, and problem-solving skills students will need beyond the classroom.
That challenge set the stage for a full day of hands-on learning led by Nuvia Ruland and Cereecia Sandoval of the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. Ruland, Director of Professional Learning at High Tech High, and Sandoval, who brings nearly two decades of experience in education, walked Bucyrus teachers through the foundations of project-based learning (PBL), a teaching approach where students learn by asking questions, solving real problems, and creating something meaningful, rather than simply receiving information.
Teachers spent the day doing the kind of learning they hope to bring back to their own classrooms. Using a collaborative design tool called the "Kaleidoscope," educators broke into small groups to workshop project ideas together, drawing on perspectives from colleagues across different grade levels and subject areas. Teachers who taught vastly different content found themselves problem-solving side by side, offering feedback, and building on each other's ideas, a preview of the kind of collaboration PBL asks of students.
By the end of the day, teachers had moved from exploring what makes learning genuinely engaging to drafting the first version of a PBL.
This session marks the beginning of a three-part professional learning partnership with High Tech High. Teachers will reconvene in October to focus on how students can share and exhibit their learning, and again in February to explore how to build a classroom culture around thoughtfully critiquing and refining student work.
As Britton reminded staff before handing things over to the High Tech High team: "If our destination is career success for every student, what experiences do we need to create today to help them navigate their way there tomorrow?"