Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. In the culminating episode of this season, we explore how instructional leaders can drive transformative change through project-based learning (PBL). We highlight how PBL has the potential to improve student learning and engagement when teachers can effectively facilitate the core practices of project-based instruction. This episode examines how instructional leaders can support teachers beyond traditional professional development meth...
Jul 07, 2025•8 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. This episode explores how instructional leaders can create a unique school identity, engage parents and community members, and foster a robust PBL culture that differentiates their school from others. Fostering a PBL culture in a school is not an overnight transformation. It typically spans three years, depending on the school's starting point. This journey requires careful planning, a clear vision, and an unwavering commitment to crea...
Jun 30, 2025•15 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. This episode explores how instructional leaders can build an impactful professional development experience for teachers who facilitate project-based learning. We address the limitations of traditional professional development methods and advocate for a modern approach that provides teachers with sustained support and multiple pathways for engagement. We discuss the importance of starting with personalized growth plans and explain how a...
Jun 23, 2025•12 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. The previous episode explored the necessary components of building an impactful project-based learning culture. This episode explores how to execute these components at your school. Recognizing most instructional leaders' limited capacity, we discuss how you can leverage the comprehensive support system the Impactful PBL Network provides for successfully implementing project-based learning (PBL). Building on the essential components re...
Jun 16, 2025•16 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. This episode explores how instructional leaders can create a sustainable project-based learning (PBL) culture in their schools by understanding and developing three core components for PBL success: clarity, competence, and capacity. We'll discuss what it takes to shift from traditional instructional methods to project-based learning. You'll learn how clarity helps map out your vision for a project-based culture, competence builds essen...
Jun 09, 2025•21 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. This episode explores the main challenge instructional leaders face as they attempt to provide professional development support for project-based educators. As an instructional leader, you may find yourself excited by the promise of PBL, only to struggle with its practical execution. Traditional training sessions often leave teachers feeling overwhelmed and underprepared to transform their classroom practice. Instead, we emphasize the ...
Jun 02, 2025•14 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Have teachers implemented a PBL unit but have not seen immediate results? Are you wondering if it's worth continuing? You're not alone. In fact, this is one of the most common reasons schools abandon their PBL initiatives - but here's why that's a costly mistake. This episode reveals a crucial insight: building an effective PBL initiative takes time, typically spanning three years for full implementation. The impact of project-based le...
Jan 28, 2025•11 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Are you wondering how teachers can use predesigned project-based learning curriculum but still make it authentic for students? Most teachers prefer to have ready-to-facilitate lessons but also worry that the resources may not meet their students' academic needs and interests. This feeling leaves educators wondering how to solve this dilemma. Don't worry. In this episode, you'll discover: How to identify and integrate local issues into ...
Jan 21, 2025•11 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. When launching project-based learning initiatives, school leaders often ask teachers to create resources from scratch or modify existing curricula. While this might seem cost-effective, it's actually compromising both teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. This episode explores why teachers shouldn't create project-based learning resources from scratch and reveal a concerning trend I've observed while working with schools. Talente...
Jan 15, 2025•14 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Is your project-based learning initiative struggling to gain traction? You're not alone. Many schools invest in PBL training only to see enthusiasm fade and implementation stall. But there's a crucial element that successful PBL schools have discovered: the power of teacher communities. Our latest article explores how communities of practice amplify project-based learning impact by revealing why isolated PBL implementation often falls ...
Jan 08, 2025•10 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. What's one of the biggest challenges instructional leaders face? Viewing project-based learning as separate from their priority initiatives. You're focused on reading scores, math benchmarks, and other pressing goals. PBL feels like a luxury you can't afford right now. But what if PBL could be the framework that makes your existing initiatives more effective? In this episode, we will explore how project-based learning: Naturally aligns...
Dec 10, 2024•10 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Remember the last time you sat through a professional development session that had absolutely nothing to do with your needs? That sinking feeling of wasted time while your actual challenges went unaddressed? Let's avoid accidentally hosting a dreadful professional development experience for project-based teachers. It's time to flip the script on traditional professional development. Instead of top-down mandates, we're advocating for so...
Dec 03, 2024•11 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Are you struggling to connect teacher professional development with actual student growth in the classroom? You're not alone, and here's the good news: there's a way to ensure every step of teacher growth directly impacts student success! In this episode, we explore how to help teachers make professional development plans that are meaningful to them and impact students' academic outcomes. We challenge the idea that teacher development ...
Nov 27, 2024•8 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Picture this: You're excited to bring project-based learning to your school. Your teachers say they're experienced with PBL, and you're ready to dive into advanced implementation strategies. Sounds promising, right? But here's what we recently discovered at one school: While leaders believed most of their teachers were PBL-savvy, a simple needs assessment revealed that less than half had actually used project-based instruction in their...
Nov 26, 2024•10 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. If you have been following the sustainable PBL series, you now understand that building a sustainable, high-impact, project-based culture is challenging and rewarding. School or district leaders encounter three primary roadblocks when launching a project-based learning (PBL) initiative: lack of clarity, lack of competence, and lack of capacity. In episodes 2-5, we explored the importance of overcoming these roadblocks and how to overco...
Oct 28, 2024•9 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. The success of project-based learning initiatives depends on initial implementation efforts and teachers’ ability to sustain project-based instructional practices over time. Instructional leaders play a crucial role in this process by creating the conditions necessary to enhance teachers' ability to enact the core practices of project-based instruction. The challenge is figuring out how to foster the conditions for launching a successf...
Jul 17, 2024•14 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Project-based learning (PBL) holds the transformative power to engage students actively, foster collaboration, and develop essential problem-solving skills. While PBL yields numerous benefits, implementation has its challenges. Common challenges teachers face include: Adapting to a facilitator role Leveraging technology effectively Aligning projects with academic standards Conducting frequent formative assessments Differentiating instr...
Apr 30, 2024•14 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. The challenges instructional leaders encounter when launching a project-based learning initiative often stem from a lack of vision setting. A well-defined vision for a project-based learning (PBL) initiative is essential. The vision not only articulates the purpose and goals of the initiative but also aligns with the school's core values and broader educational objectives. It fosters a cohesive and focused approach to implementation, e...
Apr 16, 2024•15 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. In this fast-paced, ever-changing world, teachers must adapt their teaching methods to prepare students for the challenges they will face in the real world. One approach that has gained traction for its ability to cultivate critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and student engagement is project-based learning (PBL). However, implementing and sustaining a high-impact project-based culture within a school or district comes with chal...
Apr 02, 2024•15 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Welcome to season 3! This series will focus on how to build a sustainable, high-impact, project-based culture at your school site or within your school district without overwhelming instructional leaders, teachers, and students. This series is designed for school leaders, professional development coordinators for districts, PBL coordinators, teacher mentors, or anyone serving in a role that supports current or aspiring project-based te...
Apr 01, 2024•12 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Season 2 of the Impactful PBL Podcast ended in May which marked two years of this podcast. The podcast started as a “learn in public” project so that I can document my professional journey and share insights about what I’m learning about project-based learning. In this episode, I’m sharing a progress update on my 2021-2022 goals and why I'm pausing the podcast. Tune in to... Explore what it means to learn in public and why I started th...
Sep 15, 2022•26 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Phase 2 of the Impactful PBL Roadmap™ is to map the scenario and write a driving question. The initial scenario structure will involve first determining what students will learn (i.e. standards), thinking of a theme or topic second, and then writing the driving question. The next step is to draft a scenario. I've noticed that most teachers can select standards, a theme, and compose a driving question, but some struggle with writing the...
May 02, 2022•11 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. As I support teachers to design project-based learning experiences, I notice confusion often arises during phase 5 of the Impactful PBL Roadmap™ planning process. Phase 5 is about creating students' daily learning experiences or lessons. Teachers are usually excited about exploring project-based learning as an instructional method. However, when asked why they haven't implemented project-based learning in their classroom as of yet or w...
Apr 11, 2022•11 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. An essential part of the project-based learning experience is producing a public product or artifact to showcase knowledge for an authentic audience. Depending on the PBL topic and driving questions, the audience could be peers, parents, or community members. Teachers often wonder what students can create for projects besides designing a poster or presentation. Students may also struggle to develop ideas without seeing examples or bein...
Mar 28, 2022•13 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. It is essential students buy into their project since they will be exploring their complex question or challenge over an extended time. While hooks for traditional lessons are typically short, less than ten minutes, project-based learning hooks may vary in length to sustain students' interest over a more extended period. A PBL hook typically occurs at the start of the unit, although it is not uncommon for teachers to integrate several ...
Mar 14, 2022•7 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. In traditional learning experiences, subject areas are taught in silos, and teaching often focuses on the "what" of a subject area. Students do not synthesize the material when they memorize parts of a cell in isolation or memorize the steps to solve a math problem without understanding why the process works. Educators know that knowledge should not be measured by simple content regurgitation. It is often encouraged to connect multiple...
Feb 28, 2022•10 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. We've all participated in a fundraiser at some point in our life, especially as a student. It seems kids bring home items to sell every year to support a team, club, or school. Although many students do not necessarily think about whether or not their fundraising efforts are supporting a cause, they gain some valuable skills during the process. You may be excited (or at least interested) in incorporating a fundraising component into yo...
Feb 14, 2022•12 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Project-based learning is an effective way to help students foster their social-emotional learning skills, especially during group collaboration. During phase eight of the Impactful PBL Roadmap™ planning guide, we focus on uniting students and building a collaborative culture. It’s easy to assume that all students enjoy collaborating, possess the skills to handle conflict effectively and understand how to interact with feedback. Howeve...
Jan 31, 2022•11 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. Recently I’ve heard from many of you who listen to the podcast, attend my workshops, or communicate with me on LinkedIn that you're finishing up a project-based learning unit. I've been checking in with past and current members of the Impactful PBL Network to hear updates. I love listening to what's working, what's not, and what you're learning. It can be easy to wrap up a project-based learning unit and immediately move on without clo...
Dec 13, 2021•10 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Do you have a topic to suggest or insight to share? Text me. As a project-based learning coach, I'm often asked if it's possible to design a PBL unit that integrates standards. Teachers wonder how they will find time to teach content standards and allow students to create public products. Identifying the learning objectives for your project-based learning unit is phase one of the Impactful PBL Roadmap, the planning framework I created to help educators craft a high-quality project-based learning...
Nov 03, 2021•10 min•Season 2Ep. 5
