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Join me on Substack
My personal publications, blogs, and newsletters are now all available through Substack!
From 2016 to 2023, James published the Teacher Camp blog on a variety of topics and subjects. You can access the entire archive here!
The Bad Kind of Failure - Nine Ways to Screw Up Your PBL Classroom:
PBL practitioners talk a lot about the theories of educational reformer John Dewey, and with good reason. Dewey believed that the best...
Why Parks? 8 Reasons Connecting with National Parks Makes Sense for Teachers
When John Dewey said, “Education is not preparation for life, it is life itself” he may not have been specifically referring to National...
Park Based Learning is coming to TIES18!
After almost a year of work, my Park Based Learning project is going to finally get some air time! If you're going to be at TIES 18 in...
Option Overload - Narrowing Choice and Encouraging Smart PBL Decisions
Voice and Choice is an important part of strong PBL projects and an essential ingredient in the sausage of student engagement. Without...
Success and the Eye of the Beholder
As the year comes to an end, I have begun meeting with educators from across the country who have gone through their first year trying to...

From Good To Awesome - practical steps for taking PBL to the next level!
Most downloadable project plans, like the ones on our Park Based Learning website, include everything you need to facilitate a...
Exploring Parks at a Distance: Placed Based Learning from your Classroom
In a perfect world, you’d be able to take your students to the park associated with their project in order to provide them a rich...


Beyond the Ideal Graduate – Putting Careers in Focus by Tailoring Success Skills
PBL differs from traditional teaching in many ways, but one of the most foundational differences is the equal credence it gives to both...
Google Keep - The Ultimate Project Management Tool
Wanted to repost this blog about my experiences using Google Keep in PBL that was recently posted on BIE.org http://www.bie.org/blog/goog...
Games As Entry Events
Sorry for the delay. It has been a long and busy summer and I wasn't able to keep up with my blogging. But I'm back! As a social studies...
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