Chapter 11 - Bring It Home

     Looking back at the end of a lesson, using a project-based learning approach has a long list of benefits. But at the end, what you're really looking back at is the experience of working through the project. The end is really a time for reflection - how everything played out, how much the students enjoyed it, what you might do differently next time. Essentially, what you want to come away with after using a PBL approach is a sense that students truly learned something. Using this learning approach is setting students up for success in their futures; the ultimate goal at the end of the project is to have students that know truly know more about the world around them than they did when they started the project.
     As the project comes to a close, it's important to reflect on everything that occurred along the way. While not being too hard on yourself (if using PBL is a first), it is an important step to critique your work; see what areas were successful, what techniques need improvement the next time around, etc. This is also the perfect time to reflect on collaboration that may have occurred with other teachers. While you once bounced ideas off each other when the project was underway, now you can give one another insight into how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Another suggestion is sharing work with other colleagues (or with others in general). This is not only helpful for your own needs, but gives other teachers a point at which to begin their own exploration into project-based learning.
     This chapter gave some wonderful insight into our topic because it gives us an endpoint as the guides in the process. Since we have built the foundation and executed the project, we now know where to go next, what to fix, and even what to expect when we implement these techniques in our future classrooms.