The school year is marked by big events, tests, and projects, and each big event is a milestone of the program we design and promote throughout the school year. This is particularly true during the last six weeks of the year, essentially the project based learning (PBL) stage, a stage that includes the fifth grade play, the Globalchange Makers Celebration, the Global Cardboard Challenge, Rivers/Wetlands Exploration, and our end year celebrations.
This PBL time is exciting and marks the culmination of the learning we've invested in all year. There are other projects, events, and tests embedded throughout the year, however the big projects occur at the end of the year, a time when we are well past the big assessment tests.
As I think ahead to the next week's focus on the Global Cardboard Challenge, I'm excited to revisit a focus on good teamwork, collaboration, and the design process. We'll watch IDEOs shopping cart video and The Caine's Arcade videos too. Students will work together to design arcade games and other play spaces on paper first, and then they'll begin building their designs with cardboard. There will be plenty of time each day to work on their designs and finally on Friday they'll get to share their creations with the whole school during lunch time weather permitting. If it's a crummy day, we'll share the arcade on the following Monday. Onward.
