PBL Simplified for Administrators by Magnify Learning

  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...

  Marianne Renner is a transformational leadership coach with a fantastic backstory. By the time she was 32, she had owned her own business, founded a nonprofit for at-risk youth, was a bodybuilding champion, and led youth dance teams. She shares this remarkable story in her TEDx Talk.  We talk about how important mindset is for teachers and students. We talk about the fast pace of chang...

  We have a name change coming up. We'll be switching from PBL Playbook to PBL Simplified, because that's what we're doing. We are simplifying project based learning. We also have a YouTube channel with the same name and my book is coming out in January of 2023. This leadership episode is all about the impact of your vision being fully implemented.  Our opening "Need to Know" is about wh...

  Jordan Manley from STEAM Academy in Lexington, KY is here. This is his seventh year of PBL, and he went to Magnify Learning training right out of college. We spent an awesome week together. Jordan has always had a ton of passion. He teaches health and PE at STEAM Academy. It's a small school with around 400 students. Jordan loves stretching himself and working on new projects with the other...

  We are continuing our Leadership Series on Mission Drift. Our focus today will be on the communication of our vision. We also have a Need to Know that I address. The topic is how librarians can help with Project Based Learning. Librarians can be technology experts and provide another space for learning.  I’m going to talk about four different topics within the communication. The first...

  This bonus interview features Jethro Jones, author of How To Be A Transformative Principal, ​a book with over 400 interviews on how to be a successful principal. He's been in the podcasting and educational space for nearly a decade. Jethro is the host of the Transformative Principal Podcast.  Jethro wants every student to feel seen and heard and become successful. In this episode we ta...

  Education is more than just learning information. It’s about preparing our learners to go out and make it as individuals. This episode is about the importance of the soft skills that will carry the students through a successful life. We’ll be talking about workforce development skills, employability skills, and creating confident individuals who can reach out and shake somebody’s hand.&nbsp...

  We are in the middle of the Mission Drift Leadership Series. We will talk about how you know that you are achieving the vision you want. We will talk about tightening up your mission so it doesn't get off course or fall victim to mission drift. This episode is all about teams and the focus of avoiding mission drift. We also have a "need to know" about what types of books educators should be...

  Jaime Miller is a coach in a public school district. She works with K through 12 teachers. These teachers are implementing Project Based Learning, design thinking, and maker spaces. Magnify Learning partnered with them very early on in this work. We did a PBL Jumpstart Workshop, a PBL Advanced Workshop and eventually PBL Certification with their staff.  Jaime shares the mindset shift s...