APRIL 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Video chat with Parker County Today Publisher Marsha Brown
“I certainly see it as a more
engaging teaching methodology for
staff to use and get kids involved.
... And we all know when they are
engaged, they learn at a deeper
level,” Hanks said. “Project-Based
Learning is very much about some
real-life application of skills that we
hope all of our kids learn. They are
working often times in group format,
collaborating with each other and
having to communicate and express
themselves.
“What [PBL] does is it gives
teachers the opportunity to present
some real-world problems for kids
and they have a chance to come up
with their solutions for it, and often
times it’s multidisciplinary. In other
words, it may involve writing, it may
involve math, it may involve some
science application or maybe some
social studies.”
Reflecting on his own elementary
80
education, Hanks said it would have
been incredible to experi ence some
of the things Rogers and her team
are bringing to their classrooms. Last
year, Rogers had world-renowned
primatologist Jane Goodall conduct a
web-based video discussion with her
classroom.
Hanks said it’s amazing what
teachers like Rogers are doing,
“just giving kids opportunities that
I am sure many of our patrons and
many of your readers probably have
never even fathomed as going on in
school.”
Although PBL isn’t new and
schools across the world embrace
the methodology on varying levels,
Hanks said he foresees WISD using it
increasingly in the future, while still
supporting educators more keen on
traditional teaching methods as well.
Expounding further on the level
of student engagement, McCoy said,
“There’s a whole different image
that they have in their minds of what
school is because they are in control.
Makes a huge difference for them.
Beyond kids having fun in the
classroom, one of the biggest facets
of education in WISD is future
readiness, and that’s just what PBL is
all about, Mask said.
“The kids that are growing up right
now and in the education system
right now, we’re preparing them for
jobs that we don’t even know exist,”
Mask said. “We’re getting rid of so
many jobs that have been around
forever because there are robots and
machines doing them. [PBL] is really
giving them the skills they need to
think creatively, to think outside of
the box.”
As for how far outside the box
these three teachers are wanting their
kids to go, Rogers said, “I push the
limits as much as I possibly can.”