October - 2016

How PBL Could Have Helped a Presidential Candidate

The benefits of project-based learning transcend the classroom, allowing learners the opportunity for growth that will benefit them beyond their K-12 education. The focus of PBL on success skill growth can help them to become great thinkers, problem solvers, and maybe even presidents! Speaking of presidents, as a social studies teacher I am inevitably drawn to political contests, but this season, like many other people, I have watched the election process like one would view

Run-Hit-Catch-Throw: The Basics of Teaching

Recently I returned from an amazing professional development hosted by the Buck Institute for Education where I was lucky enough to end up in a group discussion moderated by BIE Program Manager Stanley Richards. It was my first time getting to work with Stanley and the hour or so I spent in his focus group was time well spent. Mr. Richards has a wealth of experience, and during his time as a teacher coach at Envision Schools in Oakland, he came up with a brilliant analogy tha

Four Awesome Project Ideas for Garageband

As an instructional coach, I often get called in to bat for teachers who need help coming up with a project or refining a rough idea. Occasionally, I get emails that begin with the following sentence; “Hey, I want my kids to use ________ in class on _________, have any ideas for a project?” Some support providers may find this to be an annoyance or an attempt by a teacher to score an extra prep period, but I see it as a blank slate. I’m being given 45 minutes to do whatever I