It Might Be Hands-on Learning, But Is It Minds-on Learning? Blog Post

It was the first Friday of the first week of my first year as a teacher and I was determined to have students engage in a hands-on learning activity. My students were going to solidify their understanding of the five themes of geography by creating…

10 Things That Happen When Students Engage in Project-Based Learning Blog Post

We often hear about the need for students to learn how to program in order to be ready for STEM fields and the Information Economy. It’s what we’ve been hearing for over a decade. However, there’s a fascinating piece from the Washington Post that explores…

Starting the School Year on a Creative Note Blog Post

When I was a middle school student, I dreaded the first week of school. Teachers would walk us, line-by-line, through the syllabus and handbook and we would practice the classroom procedures. It was as if school started a week before the learning started. But then…

Getting Started with P.B.L. Page

Getting Started with Project-Based Learning Subscribe to My Channel Think back to your most memorable educational experience. Chances are, it was an epic project. As teachers, we can design epic projects to make this happen! But what about the time constraints? What about the standards?...

Learning Is About More Than Just Speed and Accuracy Blog Post

When I was in the first grade, I was a tiger at reading. Tigers were fast. We knew how to tear through the text with speed and precision. But we weren’t nearly as fast as jaguars. The jaguars sat at the front table, where they…

The Case for More Recess Blog Post

We tend to view recess as a break from learning. However, free play is actually a vital part of the learning process. Play boosts divergent thinking, flexible thinking, and creativity. It helps students learn critical social-emotional skills. Unfortunately, in many schools, students are losing recess…

Moving from Recipes to Projects Blog Post

This article is part of a longer series on design thinking, a flexible framework for empathy-driven creative work. You might want to check out other articles in the series first. Students begin with a state of awareness in the Look, Listen, and Learn phase. Next, they move…

Empowering Students with Voice and Choice Page

Empowering Students with Voice and Choice Subscribe to My Channel We want students to be creative, critical thinkers. We want them to rewrite the rules as life-long learners and critical thinking citizens. It's a mindset of self-direction and student ownership and it begins by empowering...

Projects Page

Projects and Resources If you're starting out with project-based learning, design thinking, or inquiry-based learning, you might be thinking, "where do I even start?" You might want to try one of these free projects, mini-projects, or other classroom resources. Most of these projects include slideshows,...

10 Teacher-Tested Strategies to Engage Reluctant Writers Blog Post

A few years ago, my son opened a Google Document and started typing. I asked him about it and his eyes lit up as he described the shared story he was writing with classmates. This was the first day of summer break but he was…