Tag Archives: remote learning

Remote Need to Knows in PBL

This is the second of a series of posts about what Project Based Learning infused with Social and Emotional Learning looks like when teaching remotely. Is it the ideal situation? Probably not, but it is the reality that many of us are dealing with. I will share my ideas and what others are doing to hopefully inspire you to action.

Need to Knows

After an engaging remote entry event, it is time to introduce the Driving Question. Remember the intent of the DQ is to shift the excitement of the entry event to purposeful inquiry. Like a delicious appetizer, the entry event should leave your students wanting more.

The Need to Know Process (N2K) is a structured way for students to generate questions starting with the individual and culminating with the whole group. Once completed, the class N2K list drives inquiry and instruction every day. This is the fundamental way that student voice and choice is integrated into every aspect of PBL.

So how do we transition N2Ks to remote learning? Let’s consider some methods and technology options to facilitate online N2Ks.

Live Options

In remote learning start the N2K process the same as in person, by having students write down their questions on a sticky note, scrap paper, or in a journal. It is important to always start with individual questions to honor all voices in the class and give wait time.

After 5 minutes, put students into random breakout rooms of 4-5 students and have them share their questions and choose the group’s top three. After 5-10 minutes in breakouts, reconvene as a whole group and collect each group’s top questions.

There are many tech tools that could be used to collect and save the class N2Ks. Popular options including posting sticky notes in Padlet or Jamboard, listing them in Google Docs, or posting on a collaborative board in Nearpod. Don’t overwhelm students by mixing up how you do this. Pick one tool that students already know and stick to it for consistency.

On Demand Options

If you won’t being doing N2Ks together live, then you could start with a simple Google Form. Give students a set amount of time (1-2 days) to submit all of their N2Ks. Next share the spreadsheet of answers with the class and have them pick out their top 3 questions. This could be done individually or students could work in groups on a shared GDoc.

Another option is a slow chat on Twitter. Post the DQ with a class hashtag and have students respond throughout the week. At the end create a thread of the responses into a class list.

What to do with N2Ks

So you have collected a diverse list of N2K questions. What should you do with them? In face-to-face instruction, they are posted on the wall for everyone to see and to check up on daily. We want to replicate this visibility and daily checkin virtually. So “put” them somewhere that students see them. Make them easily accessible. You could house N2Ks on a class website, in Google Classroom, or other LMS.

The location should be the place that students go to daily in your virtual classroom.

You need to direct students to them constantly. Refer to a specific N2K as the focus of each lesson. Frame each day around them. Use N2Ks to drive student inquiry. A good way to think of it, is that you are replacing your daily objective in your lesson plan with a student N2K. Check off each N2K question as students answer it. Add new ones to the list as students ask more questions throughout the project. Students should still be learning similar content and skills in your class, but they are driving the instruction, instead of curriculum.

Questions? Interested in SEL and PBL workshops or consulting?  Connect with me at  michaelkaechele.com or @mikekaechele.

7 Remote Entry Events in PBL

This is the first of a series of posts about what Project Based Learning infused with Social and Emotional Learning looks like when teaching remotely. Is it the ideal situation? Probably not, but it is the reality that many of us are dealing with. I will share my ideas and what others are doing to hopefully inspire you to action.

Entry Events

Every project should begin with an entry event to prime the learner’s pump. We want to activate the prior learning inside of our students to launch the project. We also want to get kids excited about the topic that we are about to study. Entry events are a “hook” to the content that is coming and preemptively answer the age-old student complaint, “Why do we have to learn this?”

A good entry event captures both heads and hearts. An interesting problem creates cognitive dissonance while an empathetic situation generates an emotional perspective to the issue at hand. Different students will react more strongly to each, so including both engages more students into the project. Finally, the entry event should connect the content to the community and the final product.

One of my favorite entry event videos is posted below. Watch, laugh, and enjoy the plot twist. But then ask yourself, “What is the final product and community connection?”

Hopefully these teachers did more than just this simulation, but also tied this into a larger purpose. Sometimes rather than being a single experience, entry events are multiple activities that build upon each other to a culminating call to action.

Historically, by which I mean before Covid, entry events included things like simulations, inspiring videos, field work, guest speakers, a controversial article, open-ended science experiments, or a puzzling problem. Many of the best entry events require interactions between student and the community. So how can you launch an engaging project online? Here’s some ideas to consider:

Videos with Back Channel Discussion

Obviously, videos still work in remote learning, but just dropping a video into your LMS feed for students to watch whenever they feel like it, isn’t going to cut it. Make it an event. Schedule a time to watch the video together in live time. Have students active in a chat reacting to it as they watch. Show multiple short videos around a theme. Use videos from various platforms like TicTok, news clips, interviews, or science clips, not just movies or YouTube. Share videos of diverse people reacting to your topic to give them multiple perspectives.

It is important to set the stage. If you just show a video without any background, students may not react much. Instead hype it up by telling students we about to launch a huge project to set up the video before viewing it. Your enthusiasm toward the project launch goes a long way in selling the value of what you are about to embark on.

Video Conference Guests

Many teachers are using video conferencing to invite in guest speakers. One benefit of social distancing is that many adults are working from home and it is actually easier for them to commit to sharing with your class. They don’t need to take time off from their job or travel, but can easily join you for a few minutes.

Guest speakers don’t need to be national scientists or famous leaders. Your local healthcare worker or government official are more accessible and connect the project to your local community. Having trouble finding someone? Ask your students’ parents to contribute personally or if they have a connection in the field related to your project. Many teachers are uncomfortable with networking, but reaching out is a risk worth taking to move your project to the next level.

Virtual Field Trips

I don’t think anyone is scheduling field trips this year. The risks and safety protocols are too big of an obstacle. I prefer the term, field work, which implies that there is a purpose and task to be completed related to the project. But in lieu of physical trips there are hundreds of online options from virtual museums, webcams, or other virtual trips such as Google Expeditions.

Teacher Field Work

Another option is to do the field work yourself. My friend, Sarah Smith and her team go on a trip themselves, interview people, collect data and information for the project. They record their field work and edit it to present to students the information. Is this better than students doing it? No, but it is better than no trip at all. Personally I love this idea!

Home Field Work

Field work can be done at home. Tell students to go outside and collect bugs, leaves, water samples, or whatever else that you are studying. Have them observe patterns in their neighborhood or at the store (if they go). Assign data collection of how much time they sleep, read, exercise, and are online. This kind of field work is personal and relevant. Bonus: you can get them off from their devices and active.

Interviews

We may not be gathering with loved ones over the holidays as the virus is spiking, but a phone call or video conference with family members is a great opportunity to interview them to get their perspective on a historical event, current event, or cultural viewpoints. Tying content into family history is a powerful way to make it relevant. When students share different viewpoints with each other they can learn to appreciate other perspectives.

Virtual Simulations

Run a virtual experiment or record yourself in a science lab. Use a popular game like Minecraft or Among Us as the launching point. Ask students to design their own (safe!) experiments at home with adult supervision. Have them investigate scientific phenomenon themselves.

No matter what option or combination of options, you choose, an engaging entry event is critical for student buy-in to the project. Few of us consider remote learning ideal, but we can still engage students in relevant work with a little creative thinking.

Questions? Interested in SEL and PBL workshops or consulting?  Connect with me at  michaelkaechele.com or @mikekaechele.