The Holidays are almost over. This inevitably means that it's time to start thinking about school starting up again... just when your head finally stopped spinning. Being a PBL educator sometimes (cough) leaves your head spinning a bit faster than the norm.

It’s a almost a new year, and new years mean fresh beginnings. I like the start of a new year because I feel as if I’m getting a reboot similar to the “restart” on my computer.

Learning comes in many different forms, but it seems today the most common method used by instructors in traditional schools is reading from bland, outdated textbooks and regurgitating facts and rules until they’re branded into your memory like a tattoo.

Sparkling lights, festive music, comfort food, and cozy fires. ‘Tis the season for family, friends, joy, and giving.

Being a teacher often means being one who accepts delayed gratification. Just yesterday at the gym I ran into a former student who had just graduated from college with a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology and was immediately employed.

Community partners, this oh so crucial component of an authentic PBL project is often overlooked when first delving into the Project Based Learning world. You have this amazing idea for a project, but can’t seem to find that perfect community partner.

As a math teacher, I feel the same pressure that other math teachers feel when it comes to high stakes, standardized testing. No, testing isn't the only think that I focus on.

My friend Jonathan Nesci is an artist and furniture designer. His style is modern and minimalistic, and his results are phenomenal-- beautiful, elegant and functional pieces of furniture that cost a lot of money.

Students have a lot fighting for their attention; from hormones to cell phones, many distractions can overwhelm their plan to pay attention in your class.

Being immersed in a Project Based Learning environment can be, um, taxing, sometimes. Asking kids to manage projects in every class is a lot to ask. Sometimes, we all just need… a little break.

Let me let you in on a secret...my first few PBL projects...probably not the best projects in the world. I strove to have all the pieces checked off: Community partner? Check.

Through my Project Based Learning journey, spanning ten years, I have been challenged in every conceivable way. Whether the “Defi du Jour” (Challenge of the Day) is a workshop that fell flat, a community partner that had to cancel…

“Toto, I have a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore,” Dorothy Gale said in astonishment as she looked around her new environment in the Land of Oz.

At some point in your undergraduate work as an educator, you probably wrote an essay along the lines of, “Why I Want to Teach?”

I started my journey in out -of-school time (OST) learning in January 2011 when I started working at the John Boner Neighborhood Center (JBNC), but it wasn’t initially where I thought I would end up.

There is a balance between teachers teaching what is required and empowering students to drive their own learning. In fact, it can be one of the scariest parts of starting PBL in your classroom.

For the past several years, I have co- facilitated a course at Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School along with an English/ Language Arts facilitator, Veronica Buckler.

Are you wondering how you can build culture in your school? Are you wanting to teach students how to model positive collaboration skills?

From the time we first learn to communicate we ask why. Human minds are naturally driven by wonder and curiosity. My four year old daughter wants to know the “why” behind EVERYTHING!

Having done Project Based Learning for nine years, I can say a few things with certainty. The most important thing I can say is that I have made every mistake that can be made, more than once.

As the school year begins you will be faced with the challenge of creating a culture in your classroom that can set you up for a successful year.

In July, I wrote a blog and shared ideas on culture-building projects you could do at the beginning of the school year. Since my last blog, our school launched and just finished our own culture-building project.

My sister- in- law, a kindergarten teacher, posted this clever and oh- so- true quote several weeks ago…
"Teachers are solar powered. They recharge in the summer."

Have you ever planned a project focused around math at the elementary level? Examples of projects at this level with a math focus are few and far between.

Can you remember the last time you had a real “ah-ha!” moment? I had one of those moments a little over a month ago.

We’ve all been there, right? We are facilitating this classroom full of teams with different ideas on what makes the best final product.

The root of Project Based Learning is the authenticity of the content. This is true in any subject area and in any classroom.

“Hey there, my name is Josh. Nice to meet you” . “Oh, hi. I’m Ellen. What do you do for a living Josh?” “I’m a math teacher.”

Seven years ago I became a brand- new educator for the second time. Though I was in a comfortable position in a well- established school of good repute…

It wasn’t that long ago that it was -5 degrees outside (or at least it felt like it for months), so ask yourself this: are you ready for the summer?

Having taught the first eight of my sixteen years in a traditional classroom and my last eight in a Project Based Learning (PBL) program, I am often asked to describe the differences between the two styles.

At any given time, students at CSA Central could have four different projects happening at the same time, two for 7th grade and two for 8th grade.

Once a teacher has taken a stab at a project it’s often the case that there are one of two prevailing sentiments. The first: “Never again.” The second, and hopefully more common one, is, “I can’t wait to try that again next year.”

Do you drown in the middle of your projects? Do you find it hard to keep track of the different groups and where they are in the process?

Collaboration is a key element in the PBL process, but it is often overlooked when discussing the benefits of Project Based Learning. In fact, it is usually the one tenet of Project Based Learning that we get the most grief about from some of our students.

Protocols within the classroom are a necessity. They help guide instruction in a way that outlines clear expectations in order to maintain structure and direction….

Group contracts are a key tool to use in a Project Based Learning classroom.