April 23, 2024 Posted in General PBL
This summer, we want to help individual educators like yourself land in the right PBL workshop or course!

With only a few weeks of school left, now is a great time to begin planning your professional learning for the sunny months ahead. If you're anything like the many educators we've spoken with, you're likely buzzing with ideas about workshops, webinars, or books to explore during your school break. With so many options out there, it can be challenging to decide!

But don't worry—we're here to help you navigate and find the perfect fit for your professional learning this summer.

Our workshops and courses for individual educators are available online and in-person at PBL World, and you'll find:

Below are five common scenarios of educators looking for PL and our workshop recommendations that match where you're at in your PBL journey. Which one fits you?

You're a teacher who is brand new to PBL and wants to learn how to adapt/design a project for your students. 

Great, let's get you started! The PBL 101 Workshop or our online course PBL Jumpstart: Design is your best starting place. In different ways, each of these professional learning experiences will ground you in the PBLWorks model for Gold Standard PBL. If you want to jump right in and be supported in developing or adapting a project incorporating our Essential Design Elements that you can implement right away, then our 3-day PBL 101 is for you. In the PBL 101 Workshop, you’ll also learn about and experience our equity-centered Project Based Teaching Practices to facilitate high quality PBL. If you prefer a more self-paced experience that supports you in adapting a project from our Project Library through the lens of our Seven Essential Design Elements, then the PBL Jumpstart: Design is a good choice! In PBL Jumpstart: Design, you’ll participate in a lightly facilitated eight-week course with only three required 90-minute sessions and one to two hours of self-paced learning each week.

More details on the PBL Jumpstart: Design course (an eight-week online course with weekly sessions and asynchronous work in between the sessions) can be found here.

You're a more experienced teacher with PBL and want to focus on implementation and your teaching practices. You have already participated in our PBL 101 Workshop.

Now, your options are expanding! Our online course PBL Jumpstart: Teach might still be a useful next step to expand your foundation since it focuses on the Project Based Teaching practices necessary to implement the project you developed or adapted in the PBL 101 Workshop.

If you’re attending PBL World, you can now explore PBL 201: Improving the Quality of Student Workshop or PBL 201: Equity & Gold Standard PBL Workshop. Each of these PBL 201 Workshops is a deeper dive into the elements of high quality Gold Standard Project Based Learning. Note that PBL 101 is a prerequisite for participating in PBL 201.

You're an instructional coach looking to support teachers with designing and implementing their projects.

Be sure to start with the PBL 101 Workshop so you share the experience and understanding of your teacher team. Then, check out the PBL Coaching Workshop, where you'll gain the knowledge and skills to support teachers in project implementation. (Note that PBL 101 is a prerequisite for PBL Coaching.) 

You're a school or district leader wanting to start or strengthen your PBL initiative.

Let's look at creating the conditions for PBL. Your ideal choice is to attend the PBL Leadership Workshop, along with a couple of your colleagues in leadership. This workshop requires that attendees register as a team of three individuals from a school or district. The workshop focuses on creating the conditions needed for Project Based Learning to thrive in your systems.

Keep in mind that you are also welcome and encouraged to attend a PBL 101 Workshop and a PBL Coaching Workshop. The firsthand experience with a Gold Standard PBL workshop will make a lasting impact.

You're exploring PD for a whole group of educators at your school or district.

Our Partnership Engagement team is happy to connect and will talk through the details, answer your questions, and share tips on how to get started with PBL in your context.

You can quickly fill out a form on our Contact page regarding booking a workshop for your school or district.

If you're an educator who thrives on immersive, in-person experiences and loves connecting with peers from around the globe, we have something special for you.

Don't miss our annual event, PBL World, in breathtaking Napa Valley! Join hundreds of educators for an immersive experience that promises joy, inspiration, and opportunities for collaboration.

At PBL World, you can choose a workshop from all of our offerings. This year's exciting addition is our new workshops designed exclusively for math, science, and social studies teachers interested in implementing one of our new fully designed, standards-aligned Gold Standard PBL units.

Beyond the workshops, you'll have the opportunity to gain insights from our keynote speaker, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, a leading advocate for culturally and historically responsive literacy. In addition, there's the student panel where you can hear firsthand experiences with PBL. Celebrate with us as we honor our PBL Champions at Copia.

You can learn about the experience of past PBL World attendees in our PBL World Spotlight Series...

Has this guided you toward finding the perfect match for your needs?

We certainly hope so! In the meantime, feel free to reach out to our team at [email protected] if you have additional questions or want support with registration.