Summer planning sessions and workshops scheduled!

With summer programming only a few short months away, OST providers have already begun planning this year’s activities. A number of workshops have been scheduled to help providers with this process.

Three PBL Summer Planning Sessions have been scheduled, throughout April and May. At the PBL Summer Planning Sessions, OST providers will have the opportunity to discuss summer implementation strategies with staff members from other programs, and to fine tune their summer project plans.

Additionally, the Professional Development for New Staff workshop series has been scheduled for June 20th. New staff members will receive training in classroom management and Project-Based Learning implementation.

OST Students Shine at George Washington Carver Science Fair

Andy Zheng and Ameen Widad of the United Communities of Southeast Philadelphia-Fell OST program participated in this year’s 34^th annual George Washington Carver Science Fair hosted at the Academy of Natural Science at Drexel University. The Science Fair provided students from Philadelphia schools and OST programs an opportunity to demonstrate their science knowledge and compete against one another. 

Using Preferred Activity Time (PAT) in OST programs

Preferred Activity Time in OST

If you’re looking for a way to tighten your transitions, hold youth more accountable for time wasted, or give youth a sense of ownership over your program, implementing Fred Jones’ concept of Preferred Activity Time (PAT) may be the answer.

Facilitating PBL with OST’s youngest youth

When planning and facilitating project-based learning, each age group presents its own opportunities and challenges. Working with our youngest youth (kindergarten to 2^nd grade) can be challenging because youth are rarely reading and writing independently.  These youth are also still learning what it means to share and to work cooperatively.  Since project-based learning teaches the 21^st century skill of collaboration (along with other important skills like communication, critical thinking and problem solving), it fits the developmental needs of these youth perfectly.  Below are a few guidelines to keep in mind when implementing project-based learning with K-2^nd grade youth:

Aligning PBL to the Common Core Standards

Over at Edutopia, a blog post about Green Street Academy’s efforts to fully integrate PBL into the school day includes some useful lessons for afterschool providers. By aligning PBL with the Common Core Standards, Green Street Academy teachers are able to preserve the outcomes and objectives of a traditional school day classroom while still offering the fun, flexibility and freedom of Project-Based Learning.

Although, as afterschool providers, we don’t face the same constraints described by school day teachers in this blog post, we can certainly learn from their experiences. Here are some of my takeaways from the article.

Providing Students a Platform to Share Their Interests

The Driving Question is an essential part of the project plan. A good Driving Question will root the project in inquiry, and prompt exciting, hands on activities. Writing a good Driving Question can be challenging, particularly if students aren’t accustomed to giving feedback or sharing their interests with staff. Here are some fun ways to give students a platform to share their interests during the project planning phase. Let’s look at how we can use these techniques, and their benefits.

United Communities holds STEM expo

On October 19, 2012, United Communities of Southeast Philadelphia hosted a STEM Expo, featuring a Marine Science Lego Ship Show.  The Lego Show featured 106 ship models up to six feet long from tugboats to container ships to aircraft carriers.