Over the next month I will be publishing 5 posts as sneak peaks for our upcoming book, Hacking Project Based Learning, which was written with Ross Cooper (@rosscoops31) and will be released this winter. During a recent chat, a teacher shared his hesitance to approach Project Based Learning (PBL) or inquiry-based learning stems from his belief that some information requires direct instruction. This disclosure stood out to me, as I never thought of PBL and direct instruction as a one or the other option. To the contrary, strategic, differentiated instruction is critical to student success. I have found, teachers are more likely to embrace PBL when they become skilled at seamlessly…

Over the next month I will be publishing 5 posts as sneak peaks for our upcoming book, Hacking Project Based Learning, which was written with Ross Cooper (@rosscoops31) and will be released this winter. When you observe the classroom of an accomplished project based learning (PBL) teacher, the joyful rhythm and the organized chaos can be awe-inspiring. It may feel as though the magnificent sight of a fine tuned PBL experience occurred through an act of magic, however, it is actually the product of a carefully crafted classroom culture. A really cool idea and a well planned project can fall flat, if the culture of the room is not prepared. As…

Two years ago, I joined the administrative team at Eyer Middle School. On my first day, principal Michael Kelly (@principalmkelly), filled me in on the work the school had done to improve grading and assessment practices. He shared some research with me, and as a self proclaimed book nerd, I happily dug into the texts. Less than a year later we embarked on an original experience, as we put an end to marking periods and created a continual grading period pilot in our sixth grade. You can read more about the pilot at principalmkelly.com, but the specifics are not the focus of this post. I am writing this post, because…

 In their book, Creative Confidence, Tom and David Kelley discuss the challenges, but ultimate benefits of taking “leaps” when approaching innovation. “While everyone has enormous potential for creativity, our experience suggests that successfully applying creativity in your work and life requires something more: the courage to leap. All that potential energy will just fade away if you don’t work up the nerve to unleash it, again and again” (p. 168). In education, I have found a lot of great ideas get caught in the “Yes, but…” trap. Anyone who spent time performing on stage will tell you the number one rule there is actually, “Yes, and…” Whether performing in a…