It was so wonderful to have the time to really plan out the
Goole Docks Project before we started it off with our group of Year 9 students.
After Louise came back from her trip to High Tech High, she said she was
energized and inspired, and definitely wanted to do the project first,
which is advice that Jeff Robin (a brilliant art teacher at High Tech High)
gives any teacher involved in project-based learning. Here is a video created
by Jeff Robin called WhatPBL Is, which emphasizes the merits of doing the project first. (Here is a link to more videos created by Jeff Robin.)
Louise and I spent some of the day meeting and planning with
Helen. Helen is helping to coordinate Goole Studio School, opening next year,
and she is a logistical genius when it comes to juggling community connections
and planning fieldtrips. She helped us plan the Goole Docks fieldtrip that was
coming up in a couple of weeks and she helped organize interviews with Goole
Dock workers (scheduled for two weeks after our project kick-off).
After our meeting with Helen, I shared a project web page
template with Louise and we worked on filling it in with information about the
Goole Docks Project. Louise totally took ownership of the web page and
continues to update it with the project plan and resources for students. You
can visit the Goole Docks 2013: Part I project web page here.
On part of the web page, we created a shared calendar and
began mapping out each day with the students. We also decided to create a book
as a final product, as well as a visual display for the exhibition. This first
part of the Goole Docks Project will be built on next year in the Studio School
as students delve deeper into answering the question: What can be done with an empty dock?
Doing the Project
Ourselves, First
We did the project ourselves (including the field trip)
before the students during the half-term break. We went to the Goole Docks,
drove the route we would drive the students around and we completed each step involved
in creating a chapter for the Goole Docks book. We recorded our interview with
Daniel Wells during our trial field trip. Later, we transcribed that interview
to complete an example of our book chapter for students. We used our example on
the project web page to help guide students as they go through the same
process.
Goole Docks Fieldtrip
After many hours of planning and working with community
connections, the dream of the Goole Docks field trip became a reality. Students
interacted with Goole Dock workers, experienced a boat and driving tour of the
docks, and then met in the boardroom to discuss the future of the Goole Docks.
It was a successful, inspiring kick-off to the project.
The Interviews
The next step of the project was when all of the
interviewees came to Goole to be interviewed by students about the past and
their vision for the future. Students divided into groups of 3-4 and conducted
interviews with six different individuals connected with the Goole Docks. They
gave up half of their day to answer students questions and get their pictures
taken for the book. Students were a little nervous at the start, but really got
into their interviews. They recorded the interviews on iPads, checked out from
the school for the day.
The next step of the process was transcribing the interviews
and choosing their favourite few quotes and summarizing the heart of the
stories they heard. Following the interviews and a project work day, all of the
Goole students had a day off the normal time schedule. A group of 40 students
who signed up for a Project-Based Learning day worked on thank you notes for
the interviewees, designed the cover for the book and created artwork for each
portrait. The project and the book are
well on their way…
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