You Make the Rules!

Every year classrooms all over the world establish their class rules. There are many ways to do go about this, but if you really want your students to follow the rules they have to have ownership of them, be accountable for themselves, and for the process. Using PBL methodology Mrs. Ellington's second grade class was given the autonomy to create a set of class rules.
The students were challenged with this:

You are a teacher, and the new teacher across the hall is having difficulty teaching and maintaining order in her classroom. The children are noisy and frequently getting hurt. She comes to you for advice. How can you help her?
Working in groups students came to consensus on three simple rules.
1- Listen and Follow Directions
2- Respect People and Their Property
3- Be a Responsible Student

This covered pretty much any scenario students might face in a typical day and it was a great way to use PBL to let the students have control and think through the same process a teacher does each year. This seems like a simple thing, but it's really not. Students are constructing knowledge, discussing collaboratively, coming to agreement or arguing their points constructively, and bringing back possible rules for students to follow. Thinking at that level is hard, but it develops problem solvers and begins to get students to think about applying these skills in other areas. Check out Mrs. Ellington's post on her class blog and leave a comment!

Year Three Begins at Kimmel Farm!

Yesterday marked the beginning of year three at Kimmel Farm and approximately 800 students filled our classrooms, excited to start a new adventure. Our school first welcomed students at open house on Tuesday, August 23. We ran a split open house schedule where parents and students could choose to attend open house from 12:00 to 2:30 or in the evening from 5:30 to 7:30. The split schedule allowed the many parents and students to flow through the building freely to meet teachers, get a little more quality time meeting teachers, and looking around the school to see what may be in store for the 2011-2012 school year!

One parent commented that the split schedule allowed them to attend their child's open house for the first time because they worked second shift and they were never available during the standard evening open house. There is a survey on our school's website under the quick links for parents to give us feedback on how they felt about the split schedule. Please take the time to answer three questions so we know how we're doing! There were many positive comments expressed verbally to faculty and staff. Teachers and staff all are excited about being a progressive school preparing students through our theme of problem-based learning!

Kimmel Farm/CERTL PBL Pre-K a Shining Success!

Kimmel Farm Elementary, in collaboration with its education partner The Center of Excellence for Research Teaching and Learning (CERTL - part of the Wake Forest School of Medicine) hosted a week-long PBL-Pre-K camp fohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr rising kindergartners August 8 through 12. The PBL Pre-K had a culminating celebration on its final day with students sharing with parents/guardians what they learned through PBL and a short musical performances.
The camp mirrored a typical school day, and was designed to give kindergarten students who will be attending Kimmel Farm Elementary a chance to become familiar with the school, its problem-based learning theme, and nurture a level of comfort before all students report back for the 2011-2012 school year. During the week students participated in hands-on learning experiences that aligned with real-world phenomenon. The class was facilitated by Barbara Kibler, one of Kimmel Farm’s kindergarten teachers and its 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year.
PBL methodology is most associated and used in with medical schools and the education of doctors. Kimmel Farm Elementary’s theme is problem-based learning. Kimmel Farm teachers have been trained through CERTL and implement the methodology with children in all curricular areas and at all grade levels. The wekk-long camp was featured in the Winston-Salem Journal Thursday, August 11th. Click the link to read the story.
Here's a slideshow featuring the culminating celebration held Friday, August 12th.

Kimmel Farm Highlighted at MEGA Showcase

Kimmel Farm Elementary participated in MEGA's 12th Annual Showcase for Educational Innovation in Raleigh , NC Wednesday, May 4. MEGA (Middle Educators Global Activities) was established to enable middle school educators through technology and the shared human resources of North Carolina State University, Johnston County Public Schools, and Wake County Public Schools as a pilot project. Its goal - to foster communication and collaboration between the organizations, it was supported by the College of Education and Psychology to ultimately enhance the curriculum in North Carolina middle schools.
Today, MEGA has expanded and encourages K-12 teachers to participate and has grown to over 1,000 members as announced at the showcase. The MEGA Showcase provides a place for students and their teachers to exhibit multimedia and Web projects. Some students from different schools all over North Carolina were there to show how what they do engages them in learning, and educators set up booths to showcase how technology has been integrated to enhance student learning. It is a great place to share ideas, make new friends and grow connections for future learning opportunities. Kimmel Farm Elementary was represented by AG specialist Tori Gray and second grade teacher Sarah Ellington as well as Adriennne Loffredo from CERTL (Center for Excellence in Research Teaching and Learning) our education partner who helps with the integration problem based learning methodology.

Kimmel Farm Students Respond to Japanese Tsunami

The biggest earthquake to hit Japan since records began almost 150 years ago smashed into the country's northeast coast March 11th devastating the region and leaving destruction in its wake. The day after, first graders at Kimmel Farm were asking questions. Prompted by the canned food drive benefiting the Second Harvest Food Bank that Kimmel Farm took part in during the Thanksgiving season students wanted to know what they could do to help, and wanted to organize another canned food drive.
True to our school's theme first graders and fifth graders collaborated using problem based learning methodology to come up with a viable plan to help. Students in Mrs. Brodeur's first grade class and Mrs. Butler's fifth grade class wrote a real-time PBL lesson where students were told, "A devastating earthquake caused a tsunami to destroy northeast Japan leaving thousands of people unsettled and homeless. Your job is to come up with a list of possible ways we can help the people of Japan recover from this disaster."
Students worked in small groups to come up with a list of "need to knows," and "learning issues" and together came up with a list to present to our principal, Miss Weatherman, who looked at what ideas on the list would be appropriate. In the end, the students voted on their response.
Students made crafts like bookmarks, door hangers, lanyards, and origami creations and asked for donations for themed baskets all to sell at Kimmel Farm's May 2nd PTA Unit Meeting. Raffle tickets were sold for the baskets and the crafts were sold as well. At the end of the night the classes raised over $250 for the relief efforts.