"School of Rock" & Project Based Learning

3/8/2016

My family and I have been huge fans of the movie "School of Rock" for years and just recently heard about the new Broadway musical based on the movie. I downloaded the album and been rockin out... thanks Google Play Music! (Full access to the music I want!)

Now here I am juggling my listening from School of Rock when my kids are in the car, to my education podcasts when I'm by myself.

In one of these episodes the subject of Project Based Learning was discussed and I thought "whoa, wait a minute. Dewey from School of Rock was doing PBL and didn't even know it!"

For those of you somewhat unfamiliar with Project Based Learning here is a standard definition from the bie.org website:

"Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge."

So I started planning this blog post; what are the similar components, examples, etc between PBL and this story, but before I started writing I thought "let me check the web and see if someone else has had the some idea" and BINGO, there it was.

Well, instead of writing this all myself, let me pass along what I feel is a really in depth and excellent look at this comparison from a teacher / blogger named Lee Hewes. Here is the link to his post about this. I HIGHLY recommend you check this out.

Here is his list of of PBL comparisons:

Focus on Significant Content
Develop 21st Century Skills
Engage students in in-depth inquiry
Organizes tasks around a Driving Question
Establish a Need to Know
Encourage voice and choice
Incorporate revision and reflection
Include a public audience

Side Note:
As I was writing this blog post, I went to YouTube to look for a good video and check out what I found. First off, have you seen one of these 360 degree videos on YouTube before? If not, they are interactive videos which ANYONE can make themselves. (If you want to make your own look for a 360 degree camera, like the Richoh Theta S. I dig mine!) These videos allow you to look around for yourself by dragging the video in any direction. So here is the promotional video from the School of Rock musical done in 360 degrees.

Even though we really want to see this musical, the final song from Jack Black and the band in the movie still is one killer ending!
Check it out below

Lastly, if you are interested in learning more about Project Based Learning then you should head over the the Buck Institute for Education or BIE. It is THE place to go over information, ideas and resources for all things PBL related. Plus, you can try out the hashtag #pblchat on Twitter as well see the teachers throughout the world are doing regarding Project Based Learning