PBL Simplified for Administrators by Magnify Learning

  Ryan answers the question of how to bring Project Based Learning into your school or district in a sustainable way. PBL should be integrated in a way that creates excitement and long-term success. It starts with personal development for every leader.  Episode Highlights:  [05:10] "Need to know": Are actual problems more successful than hypothetical problems? Which one is the more...

  Today, I talk to 2nd Grade Teacher Kelly Misheikis from Unionville Elementary School in Bloomington, Indiana, and two of her former 2nd-grade students. Kelly and her class solved a runoff problem at their school's pond and raised over $10,000 to dig a well in Africa so girls could go to school instead of carrying water.  I also have a "need to know" question: "How do I bring PBL ideas...

  As a leader, it’s essential to build your core learning team when introducing PBL to your school. You want PBL to empower learners and not go away when you leave. Having a core learning team will help with the sustainability of your PBL program. I talk about the three keys for PBL sustainability in your school. You don’t want to do it alone. People follow the first follower instead of the l...

  In this guest episode, I'm interviewing coach John Bacon. He's the author of Let Them Lead . Coach Bacon took the worst team in hockey and turned them around. He was able to empower his players and make them a winning team. It's a great story, and I recommend you listen to the audio version. Hearing the coach tell the story almost makes it seem like a movie, but it's real life. Our "need to...

  We are talking about two schools today. One had a design plan for bringing in Project Based Learning. The other school didn't have a succession plan. I'm also going to give you the backstory for these design days and how it goes when you have a succession plan and when you don't. We also dive into concerns about a community partner taking over your class with their own agenda in today’s “ne...

  This PBL Showcase will feature excerpts from teachers I interviewed during a PBL Jumpstart. I was able to talk to them on their third day to get some of their thoughts. We'll hear things like, I used to think this, but now I believe this, so we'll see mindset shifts. In a PBL Jumpstart, you get to live out PBL while creating a PBL unit.  Our "need to know" for today is based on this qu...

  This PBL Leadership episode is about increasing your PBL knowledge. The big question that people often ask is how to bring PBL to my school or district. I'm going to talk about doing PBL well in a way that makes it sustainable for your school or district. Building PBL knowledge is the main focus today. People often ask if their PBL unit has to revolve around a real problem. We have strong f...

  Can you sum up your life or express your feelings in six words? Surprisingly, a simple six-word statement can be used to share your story, emotions, dreams, or just what you’re thinking about right now. Larry Smith is the founder and editor of SMITH Magazine and the man behind Six-Word Memoirs®. This movement has evolved into books, an app, a game, and a great way to get people to write. La...

  Dr. Dan Kreiness from Leader of Learning is an instructional leader, podcast host, author, and speaker. He constantly looks for ways to advance education and produce high student learning. His dissertation was “Transformational Leadership to Inspire Growth Mindset in Classroom Teachers.” We dive into transformational leadership and what could hold teachers and students back. We talk about h...

  This is the second part of my deep dive into the Lucas Research Study on Project Based Learning. You can find the first part in episode 88. The research findings absolutely dispel the myth that PBL doesn’t improve test scores. Project Based Learning improves AP test scores for high school students and creates noticeable gains in middle school and elementary school students. It also increase...

  How do you implement PBL as a district? I’m hijacking another PBL Showcase episode to talk about this important question. School leaders need to build their PBL knowledge through books,  resources, and even visiting a school that has implemented PBL. I also talk about the steps that you can use to implement PBL such as design days, PBL core team, being an advocate, and observing. Our “...

  I’ve seen lives turned around by Project Based Learning. I have loads of success stories from learners, teachers, and administrators. There is also research to back up the benefits of Project Based Learning. This leadership episode is going to be a two-part episode focusing on Research on Project Based Learning by Lucas Education Research. The brief is linked to in the resources below. This...

  Danny Bauer from Better Leaders Better Schools is here to continue our conversation about leaders, confidence, and competence. Danny is the host of the Better Leaders, Better Schools podcast and the author of The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap and Mastermind .  We talk about visioning your work by focusing on your vision for yourself first. Danny shares what a Ruckus Maker is an...

  In this leadership episode, we are talking about building confidence in your staff. How great do you think your building would be running once you've launched your vision and become a confident leader with a confident staff? You can build confidence by starting with the wins and pointing out the positive aspects of portions of PBL projects.  We also have an opening need to know about h...

  I have an exciting and personal PBL showcase today about a young man coasting in school until a PBL unit inspired him to step up and become the leader he was meant to be. It’s a PBL unit about helping parents get their questions answered after their child's genetic disease diagnosis. They want to know if their child will be okay and everything else they can learn about the condition. ...

  Our leadership episodes in July are going to revolve around confidence and how to be a confident leader. Our main topic today is about how to become a competent leader. I’m going to use some examples from The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance by Dr. Nate Zinsser.  I’ll talk about the E-S-P approach and how to draw inspiration from times when things go well...

  This bonus episode is all about how entrepreneurship fits in the classroom. I’m excited to have Austin Brooks the Executive Director at Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship which heads up the CEO creating entrepreneurial opportunities program. Ten years ago, Austin was the “kid who sparked the CEO movement” when he interviewed business leader Jack Schultz. Now he’s pairing community learn...

  Dr. Robyn R. Jackson is the CEO of Mindsteps Inc. and the creator of Buildership University. She’s the author of multiple educational books and the host of the School Leadership Reimagined Podcast. She’s helped thousands of teachers and administrators turn their classrooms into success stories.  She’s passionate about all students being successful and pursuing your vision with passion....

  The PBL Simplified book will be out and in your hands by January of 2023! The foreword is written by New York Times bestselling author Dan Miller. We know there is change in the workplace and change in education. We need empowered learners, not passive learners that sit back and take in information.  Today's opening "need to know'' is about engaging learners in the classroom. When you...

  I'm Ryan Steuer from PBL Simplified. I have a book with the same title coming out in January. In this book, you'll hear about a lot of student stories revolving around Project Based Learning including wins and fails. I include the failures, because things don't always turn out perfect. Still, it's really helpful to hear the stories to solidify the skills, tactics, and processes.   This...

  I am fired up with today's leadership episode. Our “need to know” for last month was how to publish your book, because I believe that everyone has a book inside of them. This month our “need to know” is going to be focused on learner presentations. How do we get our learners ready to present publicly and give them opportunities at your school?  Everyone can have amazing learner stories...

  Andrew Larson is a full-time PBL Facilitator at the secondary level. He’s also the author of his new book with a tentative title of Life Is A Project: The Six A’s of Project Based Learning . We’ve been talking about books all month, and Andrew shares his processes and thoughts on how to make it happen while being a full-time teacher.   We also have a book-related “need to know” focused...

  There's a book inside every person and every educator. This is part 2 of our PBL Leadership Series on how to write your book. First we kick off with our opening “need to know” of how to define my vision. If you can break down your entire vision into a 5-minute speech, you can clarify and narrow your focus. In episode 75, we went over the first three steps of writing a book. Now I’m moving o...

  I kick off this show with the “need to know” question of how do I increase the engagement level of our students. I use the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge metaphor for filling gaps and increasing engagement through real-world problems. Engagement will lead to rigor in learning which leads to opportunity. Foster Heights Elementary is a public school in Bardstown, Kentucky that had a r...

  We are now PBL Simplified, a name that matches my book coming out in January of 2023. I'm taking project-based learning and simplifying it, so you can bring it to your school, classroom, or district. Recently, tons of questions about how to write a book, publish, etc. have come up in my mastermind group. It's such a hot topic that I'm talking about it today. In the next two leadership episo...