So far, so good!

The PBL unit that I am facillitating with my year 12 class in our study of Brave New World is progressing very well. Each period I am experiencing extreme satisfaction and warm fuzzy feelings in my tummy because of what I am seeing.

The highlights so far include:
1. My weakest student is engaged and on task. He is creating a theme based wordfind and has recorded notes on at least 5 themes in the novel. Previously this year I have had to cajole him into doing any work. Now he is self motivated and enjoying what he is doing.
2. In depth analysis of the characters in the novel. I sat and read what some of my kids had written about the main characters and, compared to last year, it is far more detailed and includes insight into why each character behaves the way they do. Magic!
3. The students are enjoying what they are doing. I asked a group what they thought of PBL and they said they really liked being able to work independently at their own pace. They like the choice that they are given on what to do and when to do it.

There were a couple of negative comments: one was about not really understanding the novel and the other was about there being so much to write about in this novel that they didn’t know where to start!

I am really pleased with how this unit is going and believe that the risk I have taken is totally worth it.