Having a dream is more important than having a plan.

1. Teachers Ask: What is WOW!?
#pbl #edtech #vision

2. Can you tell me some "things" I will learn?
How students can work collaboratively in groups yet
never receive "group grades."
How to help parents embrace Project Based
Learning including less "help" from you for their
students.
How to be an instructional designer
instead of a content creator.

3. Can you tell me some "things" I will learn?
The profound difference between being "engaged"
and "on-task."
How to help students achieve "flow," the magical
state that makes time disappear during deep
learning.

4. How is WOW! Training Different?
Most staff development features the presenter as
the teacher and the teacher as the student, but
NOT LIKE THIS.

5. How is WOW! Training Different?
In the WOW! model, the teacher acts as his or her
OWN student AND his or her OWN teacher.
The teacher must design AND try the instruction.
The goal is for the teacher to feel what it's like to
be a student AND the teacher in a PBL classroom.

6. How is WOW! Training Different?
The "teacher" (the person who has registered for
the WOW! Academy) designs a lesson which s/he
then creates as if s/he were the student.

7. How is WOW! Training Different?
On the last day of the academy, the teacher
provides a presentation to an audience of teachers
and administrators, just as his/her student will
provide presentations to his/her peers in the
classroom.

8. How is WOW! Training Different?
Another thing that makes the WOW! Academy
different from other trainings is that the instructors
do not HELP the participants with their projects.
In the WOW! Model, instructors are the "guides on
the side."

9. How is WOW! Training Different?
After the direct teach portion of the course has
ended,instructors provide mini-lessons to small
groups as needed, but they do not "help" individual
participants.

10. How is WOW! Training Different?
Not helping participants has several effects:
1.Teachers learn what "guide on the side" means
for the learner.
2.Teachers learn how to find their own answers
and solve problems.
3.Teachers gain confidence in their abilities to find
alternative solutions.
4.Teachers learn how different, frustrating AND
rewarding learning in a PBL environment can be.

11. PBL and WOW! Have Remarkable
Similarities to Sports . . .
Including:
-Competition
-Public Performance
-Teams & Collaboration
-Deadlines- limited practice and performance time
-Spectators/Audience
-Rules/Limits everyone has to abide by for fairness

12. PBL and WOW! Have Remarkable
Similarities to Sports . . .
Including:
-Change of venue for culminating events
-All practice & work leads to better performance at
the culminating performance
-Photos and video are taken
-Performances are rehearsed and timed

13. Why does WOW! Academy last 4 days?
For teachers who are years behind in their technical
skills and stuck in a teaching style that is
comfortable and perhaps has even been successful
in the past, we have found that four days is optimal
for change.

14. Why does WOW! Academy last 4 days?
Teachers have enough time to try out a new style
of learning and trust their experiences. This trust
leads to greater confidence in the methodology and
increased chances of implementation.

15. What's so special about WOW!?
Each WOW! Academy is a unique experience. You'll
learn DIFFERENT things depending on DIFFERENT
topics that arise and DIFFERENT needs of
DIFFERENT people who attend.

16. So that's WOW! . . .
Have more questions? Contact Emily Williamson at
Region 6 Education Service Center
Emily Williamson
ewilliamson@esc6.net
technology.esc6.net
@mathematicianem