11 Characteristics of an Engaging STEM Classroom

If you’re a new STEM teacher you may be wondering: “What should my STEM class look like? What should my students be doing?” If you’re a veteran STEM teacher perhaps you are asking yourself: “How are my STEM classes coming along? What does an […]

Professional Learning at PBL Champions Camp

Last week was a transformational experience for 26 educators at the inaugural Defined Learning PBL Champ Camp at LutheRanch in Tallapoosa GA. These dedicated and hard-working educators spent a week of their summer being immersed in inspirational […]

3 Ways to Include Project-Based STEM Lessons in Your Math Class

In addition to core classes, students at Memorial Middle School participate in a research course where they engage in cross-curricular project-based lessons that build 21st-century skills. We focus on creating a student-centered classroom in which […]

STEM and PBL: A Perfect Combination

In today’s educational culture, you would be hard-pressed to find a school that did not count STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) or Project-Based Learning (PBL) as one of their core initiatives. While these educational […]

How to Help Students Thrive in Remote Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges in education, particularly with the sudden shift to remote learning. Educators had to adapt, enhancing technology skills and embracing new teaching methods, leading to a focus on meaningful and authentic […]

Engaging Students in the Early Grades: Why STEM Learning Works

I visited an early elementary classroom the other day where students were working on a design challenge. They were spread out across the classroom clustered in small groups. Some on the floor and others perched on stools, these students were […]

How to Develop Future-Ready Students

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist … using technologies that haven’t been invented … in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”

—Richard Riley, former Secretary of Education

This quote from former […]

Spring Into STEM Learning

A group of students gathers outside in a large grassy area. Their teacher is giving directions and assigning students to teams; launch team, diagnostic team, retrieval team, and evaluation team.

The students have spent several weeks learning about […]

Tips for Using PBL in the Remote Math Classroom

Teaching math in a remote classroom needs to be even more engaging than face-to-face since we are not next to our students to give them a nudge when they are off task. One way to engage them while reinforcing our math standards and practices is by […]

What is the Difference Between Projects and Project Based Learning?

One area that I have tried to bring into my teaching practice more over the past four years, is Project Based Learning (PBL). When I first started teaching, I thought that I had been doing “PBL” however I was not. Making connections with educators, […]