Many powerful project-based experiences are borne inside Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, electives, STEM or after school classes. But for most of these PBL experiences, that's where they stay. What would happen if these project-based experiences moved beyond the walls of these progams and into the mainstream curriculum and broader community? What IMPACT might they have then? In this podcast interview I chat with Stacey Duchrow, the Director of workforce solutions at KTEC technical...
Jan 05, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Many schools spend millions of dollars on state of the art learning environments, yet few of them have the desired impact on learners. Why? Because they weren't designed WITH the learners, and integrally connected to learner-centered EXPERIENCES. In this episode, I sit down with Ashley Durdle of world renowned Verso Inernational School to discuss how to seamlessly connect the two. Learn how their flexible, modular, and dynamic environments supports dynamic project-based experiences, and you migh...
Dec 21, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 53
The SDGs (sustainable development goals) have become a huge focal point for many schools. With climate change, water pollution, and elimination of biodiversity effecting the entire planet, it makes complete sense. But how do we address these HUGE issues on a local level? In this podcast episode, I sit down with Margo LaPointe, director of award winning Seaview Learning, to hear how her students are addressing these issues through hands-on projects in Kingston, Massachussetts. Students are loweri...
Dec 07, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Lots of large international schools are seeking ways to make learning experiences more relevant, interdisciplinary and project/problem-based. Yet between fixed timetables, a demanding curriculum, large student bodies, and siloed subjects, they are finding it difficult to do more than offer a few lessons per week. What if there was a way to make experiences like these the main course? In this podcast, I sit down with Amber Kotcher and Jeff Harwood, coordinators of the PRAXIS program, a small micr...
Nov 24, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Imagine your most challenging students- The ones who can't sit still, blurt out, submit low- quality work, have difficulty working with others, and seem totally checked out suddenly self-managing, coming in voluntarily after class, submitting polished work, and leading teams. That's what happened in several classrooms when they were transformed into canvases for student-run businesses. These forward thinking educators are making the magic happen with the support of an organisation called ‘Real W...
Nov 16, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 49
So many schools are spending millions of dollars to reconfigure learning environments to be more fit for the '21st century' and project-based learning. But when the spaces are finally built, they don't have the effect on teaching and learning that they desired. Why? Because the LEARNERS weren't involved in designing them. But what if they were? And what if it was their first project? In this episode, I sat down with Natural Pod CEO Bridegitte Alomes and CSO Michelle Carpenter to discuss their pr...
Nov 09, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 49
How can the most innovative square mile on the planet also be plagued by racial injustice 2 blocks away? And what can we do about it? This is just one of the many difficult questions teens at 'Innovators For Purpose' are tackling through project-based experiences they design in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are building installations. Publishing books. Creating augmented reality simulations. Building educational games. And producing podcasts. And they are using a few simple, innovative tools to...
Nov 01, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 48
What would happen to learning if you collapsed the timetable, paired teachers, and co-designed community and passion driven projects? This is what American International School does for one week each year with its "PBL intensives." It is now in iteration 3.0. The results have been incredible... Teachers have re-configured their classrooms to be more learner-centered. Built partnerships for learning experiences with the community to make them more authentic. Invited student voice and agency to en...
Oct 26, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 47
What if before developing 'Projects' we first built P artnerships? Connected students with real P eople? Became more familar with our P lace? P urpose? This is what Dr. Jane Shore, Director of Community Partnerships at the Revolution School advocates for in her unique version of 'PBL.' Learn more about how she co-creates this space with learners and how to seamlessly: Build partnerships with your own community Co-create curriculum with key community partners Engage students in learning experienc...
Oct 19, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 46
What if schools operated more like a start-up? Students as entrepreneurs. Schedules- flexible. Community as partner. Community needs, and student-generated solutions as the curriculum. Teachers as project mentors. Assessment as value. This is what learning looked like for 14 year old student entrpreneur Raheen Fatima, when she joined a local incubator in Pakistan. In this podcast episode, I chat with Raheen about what lessons we as edu-innovators can learn from this model, and how we can: Design...
Aug 31, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Are you planning to launch your very first project-based experience in the 2022-2023 school year? That can be exciting and terrifying all at the same time. This episode provides insights and tips from teaching team Michelle Willis and Dave Sheenan who launched their first project in the 2021-2022 school year. Through the re-telling of their 'Suenos Unidos' (Dreamers Unite) project, they teach us how to: Take an existing unit and turn it into a project-based experience Become comfortable in the '...
Aug 16, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 44
What happens when we provide time for students to pursue their p assions, and connect them to a deeper p urpose through p rojects they design? This was the big question behind the Capstone Program at Hawaii Prep Academy; a learner-centered initiative that affords students 3 hours a week during their their 5th, 8th and 12th grade years to develop projects that are meaningful to them. One 8th grade learner used the time to start the school's first LGBTQ+ club; while another used it to co-design re...
Jul 26, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 43
What do you think of when you hear the term 'learner agency?' You might envisage students having some "voice" and "choice" around what they learn, or where they sit in class. And while that's a nice start, learner agency is more than allowing students some choice in what they learn. It's about involving them in every step of the journey. Imagine a school with... 🙌🏼 Student- run electives. 🙌🏼 Seventy + student led businesses to carry out the school's day to day operations. 🙌🏼 Timetables tha...
Jul 06, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Good projects aren't that tough to create. But somehow we always seem to overcomplicate them. (Me included) What if I told you that the best project prompts could fit on a single post-it note? Project-Based experiences that have students staying in during lunch, working late hours in the evening, mastering curricular standards, and producing awe inspiring work that makes adult jaws drop. These are the kind of project-based experiences Gary Stager has educators around the world designing through ...
Jun 15, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 41
How do we build 'future ready' students? Answering this question requires us to change a lot of the underlying structures that govern schools. Schedules. Curriculum. Learning Experiences. Age groupings. What if you could start from scratch and build from the ground up? That's exactly what Cameron Fox, Head of School at Verso International School did to build future ready 'citizen designers.' In this episode, Cameron unveils the 🪄 magic and teaches us how to: Craft a simple, yet aspirational vis...
May 24, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 40
How do you make student work public? That's a scary proposition for many of us as educators. But what if it's not for us to decide? What if we turned over control of the whole process to our students? Letting them choose the work, the medium, the format, the audience, and the script. What would happen then? In this episode, I sit down with MYP Coordinator and student empowerer Alison Yang to learn more about how to curate public exhibitions, and how to: Exhibit student work seamlessly in in-pers...
May 17, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Are you the lone innovator in a school that doesn't get project-based learning? How do get more on baord for PBL and scale it across the school? David Moore, a school leader, PBL practitioner and vintage car enthusiast got an entire community behind project-based experiences by converting his school's car park into a Formula 1 Race Track. Learn about the incredible and inspiring story of Faith Lutheran College, and how David transformed it from a place with declining enrollment, to one of the mo...
May 10, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 38
How can one project unite previously isolated teachers, build SEL and cross-disciplinary skills in students, and transform a community? Welcome to the Sensory Therapy Games and Toys Project by the Year 5 Team at KPIS International School. In this episode, I unpack the project with the 5 person teaching team to discover: The starting point for cross-disciplinary learning design How to seamlessly integrate content across a range of subjects Build SEL skills Assess student learning Foster greater c...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 37
When a girl from Cuba arrived in Lua's PBL class, she had zero English. But within two months, because of a hands-on project, she was able to deliver full presentations in her second language. In this episode, I sit down with Lua Yaganagi and her adorable students, in a mixed-age primary PBL classroom in Rizhao, China to hear how projects ranging from building a class garden, to designing Olympic Games helped students: Acquire reading, writing and listening ESL skills. Grow in confidence. Co-tea...
Apr 13, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 36
How can one project culminate in a Wurundjeri Elder officially welcoming students and teachers onto the stolen land on which their school sits? How can one project transform previously disengaged teenagers, into empathetic contributors towards reconciliation between First Nations People and settler Australians? That's the power of PBL when learners are given an authentic problem to tackle. In this episode, Christopher Bush, Head of Student Voice and Leadership at University HIgh School, unpacks ...
Mar 31, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 35
What if you were given a blank canvas to design a new school from the ground up? How would students spend their day? What learning experiences would it include? What would the building look like? Would they even need a classroom? Most of us don't have the luxury to build from the ground up, but with micro-schools, edu- innovators like you are beginning to re-imagine the schooling experience. With their small, flexible structure, micro-schools are able to rapidly adapt and design more learner-cen...
Mar 23, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 34
What if we allowed students to design their own project-based experiences? Formulate their own questions, connect with relevant experts, and find authentic audiences. What global IMPACT might they have then? Fardeen Blaq, a 13 year old changemaker and global citizen, started managing his own projects at age 9. In this episode, I sit down with Fardeen to learn more about his award winning 'Trailblazers' and SDG focused 'Global Blueprint' Project, and how we as educators can: Provide the time and ...
Mar 09, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 33
As the invasion of 🇺🇦 Ukraine intensifies, how might we use the same process to empower our students as global citizens, critical thinkers and problem-solvers? Yesterday, I had the great privilege of chatting with Robert Gold, the Model United Nations Coordinator at the International School of Kuala Lumpur on how to start the discussion in our classrooms. Through the interview we learn how to: Help students understand the complexities of the conflict Seamlessly weave together history, geograph...
Mar 04, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 32
These past 2 years have been some of the toughest we have ever faced as educators. We've been asked to teach in new mediums. Had to work double shifts. Been required to work in unsafe conditions. And at the same time seen our salaries and pensions dwindle. For these reasons, many of us our leaving the profession. How do we re-ignite and re-imagine our love for the classroom during this difficult time? I sat down with veteran educator and master storyteller Todd Shy, to chat about his new book 'T...
Feb 23, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 31
How do you build community partners for project-based experiences to make learning more 'real world,' and meaningful for students? There's the 'old school' way of doing things. 🥱 Plan a learning experience inside your classroom in a silo, or shared office, and then figure out how it fits with the community. Or there's the more effective, '21st century' way of doing things. BUILD the project together with students and community partners 🤝. That's how Julia Kao, PBL teacher, and community outrea...
Feb 17, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 30
What do learner-centered classrooms look like? 15 years ago, as a rookie PBL teacher, I wouldn't be able to answer that question. But after leading and teaching in some of the most renowned PBL schools in the world, I can confidently answer that question. Learner-centered classrooms require 12 key shifts. Making these shifts will tranform a teacher-led classroom, into one that creates student self-managers, leaders, and 21st century socially, globally and emotionally aware citizens. With the hel...
Feb 02, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Being an innovative and imaginative Project-Based teacher can be lonely. Sometimes we are the only ones doing this work in the corner classroom of a large school. What if there was a way to expand the audience and find collaborators for our project-based experiences? Might we feel less isolated? In this short episode, Kelly Pfeiffer, human network architect, dedicated PBL educator, author, blogger and presenter shares how she accomplished this through the 'Dark Sky' Project. She shares how she c...
Jan 26, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 28
What does a theater director and the coordinator of a wall-to-wall PBL program have in common? They are both experts in facilitating several projects at once. Whether that's script writing and set design in preparation for a major performance, or student-designed health apps and meal plans in response to the obesity crisis in their community. In this short interview, Kim Flintoff, coordinator of TIDES (Technology, Innovation, Design, Enterprise, Sustainability), a year 7-10 micro-PBL program, sh...
Jan 19, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 27
When Ayesha Inam moved her co-designed project online, something unfortunate happened. She watched 100% engagement in class dwindle to less than 50% online. Half of her kids weren't even showing up to lessons. And then she tried something magical. She gamified it. Suddenly ALL of her students were engaged. In this short podcast episode, Ayesha Inam, Head Facilitator at micro-school LEO's Workshop by Beaconhouse, describes how to 'gamify' our PBL experiences to increase engagement and how to: Co-...
Jan 12, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 26
How can play therapy help elementary students cope with the trauma caused by the pandemic? This was the BIG question facing Emily Burk's (MakerSpace and Technology Integration Specialist) high school students in Anna, Texas. Their task- design play therapy toys for their younger peers to use in the newly constructed social + emotional well-being rooms. This was real PBL. There were real users. And the stakes were high. In this short podcast episode, Emily unpacks this dynamic PBL experience, and...
Jan 05, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 25
