“A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement.” - Rachel Carson
PBL in Action: Ocean Treasures
October 16-18, 2024
San Diego, CA
How do we preserve the treasures in our world? This question will guide the immersive PBL experience for this year’s PBL In Action: Ocean Treasures. This workshop will demonstrate how to design an interdisciplinary project that connects science, literature, visual art, and performance, through field work with our community partners in the San Diego area. We will work with local and international artists, oceanographic experts, and HTH students to bring our ideas to life through multiple art forms. This year’s unique focus on natural treasures will take us on a literal and metaphorical journey to the ocean and back to the classroom. We will model PBL practices and culturally responsive teaching strategies that can be universally applied to all grade levels, content, and school contexts. This event is collaboratively designed and facilitated by the HTH GSE Professional Learning with the Habla Teacher Institute from Merida, Mexico.
Location: HTH GSE Forum
Schedule: October 16-18, 8:30am-4:00pm PST
Testimonial
Liz, from our previous PBL in Action reflected, “Each protocol, text, activity we did was phenomenal and something that I would love to recreate with kids and adults. Loved all the ‘behind the curtain’ - transparent facilitation was helpful for me to see all the pieces and how I can apply the strategies in the future.” This event is highly participatory and “hands-on,” be prepared to step in and out of the student and teacher seat.
María del Mar Patrón Vázquez is the co-founder and-co director of Habla: The Center for Language and Culture in Merida, Mexico. She was born in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico where her family has lived for generations. She studied literature at Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico and then went on to a graduate degree in Hispanic Studies at Brown University in the United States. Her work is focused on how reading and literature can be part of the daily life of communities. At Brown, she received the prestigious Presidential Teaching Award for her teaching of Spanish language classes to university students. Her unique approach to pedagogy involves the literature and culture of the language. Marimar has presented talks and workshops on culture, language, and literacy globally. Perhaps the greatest lessons she’s learned about teaching are from her children, Luis and Sandra, who are growing up speaking multiple languages.
Kurt Wootton is co-founder of Habla: The Center for Language and Culture in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and co-founder of ArtsLiteracy Project in the Education Department at Brown University. He has piloted several lab schools in the United States, Brazil and Mexico and currently co- facilitates Teacher Institutes for educators in New Orleans, San Diego, Chicago, and Merida. He is the co-author of A Reason to Read: Linking Literacy and the Arts published by Harvard Education Press and ENGAGE: Creative Strategies for Teaching and Learning. The New York Times writes, “Mr. Wootton remains convinced of education’s power to transform lives. He has changed his tool of choice, however, from a mirror in which students see only reflections of themselves to a window that opens onto the rest of the world.”
Nuvia Crisol Ruland is a multilingual scientist and artist who is passionate about professional learning and determined to transform education into spaces buzzing with curiosity and creativity. As a designer and facilitator of professional development, she brings her unique personal and professional experience to support learners in designing their own PBL projects. During her decade as an 11th grade science teacher at High Tech High Chula Vista, Nuvia utilized her background as a research scientist at Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and a visual storyteller of her bicultural Mexican-American upbringing. As a faculty member of the HTH Teacher Center, Nuvia applies her passion for neuroscience and education in her course, Brain Health and Social Emotional Development to first-year teachers. When she isn’t at HTH schools you will find her exploring museums, testing vegan recipes, and dreaming up new projects with her talented husband, family and friends.
Kali Frederick is a Professional Learning Designer with the Professional Learning team at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. She started her teaching career in 2004 at a large comprehensive public high school in NYC. Through this experience she learned that centering students’ lived experiences was critical to creating a purposeful and joyful learning environment. She joined High Tech High in 2009 and has taught Humanities at both High Tech High North County and High Tech Middle Chula Vista.
Kali holds a Master’s degree in Education from High Tech High Graduate School of Education, a Master’s in Science of Teaching from Pace University. She is deeply inspired by bell hooks’ and designs adult learning experiences inspired with hooks’ reflection in mind “the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility,” (Teaching to Transgress, 1994). She has an appreciation for dinosaurs, unapologetically loud music, gardening, and baking, and can often be found exploring with her family.
