http://www.flickr.com/photos/terekhova/

   (Part 2 of 2)
    As I said in the first part,  what we want the new school to be doesn’t exist and the teachers, administrators, and I have the chance to mold the school in whatever fashion we desire.  And, I am a teacher who has been trained by the New Tech Network (NTN) to use project based learning (PBL).  This is the ultimate PBL assignment.  I was given the entry event when I went to the job interview.  I know that a thriving middle school where teachers are using PBL as the means to teach their content is my final product.  It’s time to create my Knows and Need to Knows.

{Clarification:  There have been some questions such as “Are you building a whole new school?”  This school is, currently, a traditional middle school (6 – 8) with about 750 enrollment.  Starting with the incoming 6th grade we will be building a school that uses PBL to teach the curriculum and we will be affiliated with NTN.)

Now for the NEED TO KNOWS:

• New Tech Schools use a “School Success Rubric” (SSR) that is established at the beginning of the school year, revisited (usually) mid-year, and then revisited again at the end of the year.   What will we model our SSR on?
• What strengths/weaknesses will there be in my teachers who have eagerly accepted this change?
• What do the curricula for the four core areas look like and how might we start thinking about projects centered around key concepts?
• When do we finalize the Master Schedule and how is that going to affect my teachers’ planning?
• What will PD look like this year?  Will our teachers attend different training than the rest of the middle school teachers in the district?
• What technologies (2 or 3) do we want to incorporate in our classrooms to enhance the PBL experience and when do we fit in training on these?
• How can we get the teachers to become active users of twitter and, in particular, #PBLCHAT ?
• What are key times this summer that we need to meet as a team?  And, how receptive will our teachers be to coming in during their summer break?
• How should I create a “Year at a Glance,” (YAG) for PBL implementation and training.
• What are the 1st year goals for the teachers? For the students?  For me?
• Is a Problem Based approach (PrBL) better for 6th graders (rather than a full blown PBL)?
• How many of the incoming students will have had a PBL experience in 5th grade? (one of our feeder schools has been very successful with PBL at 4th and 5th grade)
• What are the current academic concerns from the Superintendent?  The Principal? And, what are the concerns with bringing on PBL?
• What Learning Outcomes will be used at our school?  Will we just adopt the district ones for now and use the district definitions as our guide for creating ours?
• Will we use Group Contracts or is 6th grade too early for a group contract?  What are elementary/middle schools using for contracts?
• Are there any Elective Teachers who are ready to take the plunge with the 7th graders next year?  If so we can start including them in discussions.
• When do we start recruiting/training the 7th grade core teachers?