This blog series was authored by our own A.J. Juliani, Head of Learning & Growth.

“Everything begins with an idea.” – Earl Nightingale

When I started on my Project-Based Learning journey, I always wondered what other teachers were already doing with PBL in classrooms around the country and world. I remember joining Ning sites and finding other teachers who were doing PBL, it was like a dream come true to chat and discuss and learn.

With the growth of Twitter, blogging, and conference I was able to meet educators from around the world who have inspired me to go deeper into Project-Based Learning. Their ideas were what got me started documenting projects and step-by-step practices that would enhance any PBL experience.

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This blog series was authored by our own A.J. Juliani, Head of Learning & Growth.

There is a scene in the film, “Most Likely to Succeed”, that struck me to the core.

You see, for years I wanted to be the challenging teacher. I wanted to be the one where students came into my class and left knowing and understanding much more than in any other subject. I made their tests and quizzes extremely challenging, making sure they’d have to study in order to even come close to a B or an A. And for the first few years of my teaching career this is how I taught.

My students were forced to pay attention in order to get a grade.

I used every extrinsic motivation technique in the teacher playbook. Grades, extra credit, and of course the dreaded “wait until you go to college or get in the real world” talk.

And I thought it was working. In fact, I prided myself on it working.

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This blog series was authored by our own A.J. Juliani, Head of Learning & Growth.

“Our job, sometimes, is simply to be the spark, help build confidence, and then get out of the way. If innovation in any school is solely dependent upon one person, it will continue to happen in pockets. In contrast, when we focus on empowering learners to become leaders, they help spread ideas.” – George Couros in The Innovator’s Mindset

It seems that every school or organization I work with, speak at, or talk to has a similar problem. In all honesty, the school’s I’ve been a part of as a teacher, staff developer (and now administrator) have each dealt with this exact same issue.

Pockets of innovation.

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We could not be more excited to announce A.J. Juliani as our new Head of Learning and Growth at NextLesson.

A.J. is one of the world’s most innovative thought leaders when it comes to engaging students through inquiry-based learning. Through his prolific and award-winning speaking, writing and professional development courses, he has built a huge following of educators who are passionate about innovation, inquiry, and engagement — exactly what NextLesson is about!

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