PBL planning

This past week, some of the "first wave" of IZ teachers at NM started planning our PBLs for the first semester. Kristin asked if I had ever worked on lesson plans in the summer, and the answer was no--especially not as early as June!
Since I didn't go to the training in Texas, Kristin, April, and Mary Anne helped me figure out what a true PBL is compared to our traditional way of teaching. Mary Anne used an analogy that I liked. She explained that traditionally we teach a unit and do a project at the end as the "dessert." With PBL, the project is the "main course."
I really enjoyed firing ideas back and forth among the four of us, and am surprised by how excited we all are about teaching this fall. Normally, I spend all summer trying to forget about school, not planning for it.
Mary Anne and I worked on a PBL for Ancient Greece and The Odyssey. We reached out to a Greek History professor from WVU to be a resource for our PBL, and he responded very quickly and seems very excited to help! We think he might be part of our entry event to grab our students' interests.