PBL Building Blocks

It was the semester's midpoint @hightechhigh and as I walked the halls during this particular week, I noticed something.  Tables were pulled out of the classrooms with teacher teams and individual students sitting around them. I kept walking and there were more tables with teachers and students chatting and pointing at things on paper & screens. I stopped to find out what was happening, of course--because I am fabulously(!!)  nosy. 

The teacher teams had a list of all their students, project timelines, and project deliverables at each table. While students worked independently in the classroom, the teacher teams made personal check ins with each student. They were curious about how each student was making progress on the project's deliverables (smaller building blocks, prototypes, etc. that are intended to be scaffolds to completing the larger project). Students came to the table prepared to talk about their progress and the teachers provided guidance like consultants. 

Project work is team work. Teacher teams design collaborative, interdisciplinary projects that are super badass, complex, and wicked! They pour their hearts and souls into their work and it shows! 
If you're getting your PBL on, what might be some ways to build scaffolds to support learning, growth, and progress for students? How might we do the same thing for teachers as learning designers? Going a bit further: how might we design super badass learning experiences for adults? How are we personalizing their learning journey?  

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