Hi Kathryn,
Thank you for your incredibly in-depth inquiry into project-based teaching. I have found your research to be very informative and thorough. This is a topic that I have learned about in many university courses and am always eager to learn more about it and how I can implement it in my future career as a teacher.
A portion of your inquiry that I find to be most impactful and interesting is the part about finding a balance between the teacher leading, and the students guiding themselves in a project-based learning environment. That balance is hard to find, but I think you have found a good solution to create that balance, and that is with scaffolding. I agree when you said that it is important to not overstep the boundary as a teacher so as to not impede student learning, but you also do not want to cause stress and overwhelm the students either. Scaffolding the ways of learning and how projects are carried out will help create that desired project-based learning classroom. You can start the school year by having the teacher lead almost everything, and then slowly transition and let students take small steps to take initiative in their learning and guide themselves through projects. Hopefully, by the end of the school year, the students would feel comfortable doing a free inquiry project and doing things with minimal teacher involvement.
Alecia
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