While I was observing Mr. Simms’s students, I definitely noticed how EL education principles were present in the classroom. However, those principles didn’t appear to have been harnessed and put into practice through PBL or EL. The atmosphere of the classroom was certainly welcoming, and the students seemed comfortable with one another and Mr. Simms. However, that comfortability was not seen when it came to the classroom discussion that the TA was attempting to facilitate. I wish that the TA would have encouraged this exciting energy that the students entered into the classroom with. I feel as if, by giving them laptops, turning off the lights, and merely lecturing and showing the students videos, the vivacity that they came in with became lackluster. It seemed as if they immediately disconnected from their educational experience as soon as they realized their course content was just being spoken to them as opposed to partaking in an engaging educational experience. Moreover, when the TA allowed the students to choose a story from their packet, she didn’t actually have the students read, she simply read the story to them. I know that if she would have encouraged the students to read aloud by either picking someone, letting them do popcorn, or even by letting them volunteer, it would have shown to the students that the TA believes in their intellectual capabilities; it would have been much more self-empowering.

Yet, even before the TA carried out her lesson plan with the students, I knew that PBL/EL principles were not in the forefront of her mind while she was working with the students. At the start of the class she simply handed the students a packet. There was no explanation as to what the packet was for, why it was important for the lesson, what the driving question, or purpose of the class was, or what it would “mean to know this.” These two insistences in the classroom – the TA’s neglect of outlining the lesson for the day and her lack of inclusion of the students – showed me that PBL is not a part of her teaching experience. Yet, I do think that the atmosphere of the classroom has potential for being a great PBL workspace. The students came in lively and excited, they all seemed comfortable with one another and the teacher, and they all seemed interested in the course content when they did get the chance to actively participate. With the introduction of the four strategies for building PBL culture, which are: focusing deliberately on beliefs and values, creating shared norms, implementing protocols and routines, and ensuring that the physical environment the students find themselves in is conducive to PBL, I really do think that these students would enjoy a tremendously enriching educational experience.