This is the final of a three-part series on a PBL partnership between CraftED and Innovation Barn.
On Saturday October 3rd, teachers gathered at the Innovation Barn for a hands-on professional development session focused on brainstorming project ideas. The room was full of practical ideas teachers can use for a future field trip, a PBL unit that leans on the Barn for Field Work, or a quick hook for Monday morning learning.
For the first hour teachers were taken on a guided tour of the Barn and the circular economy that exists there.
During this tour teachers were provided a Bingo card to help with PBL “Look Fors” . I created this resources as a scaffold to help teachers with the following task in the workshop.
After the tour, teachers were brought together in “The Hub” at the Barn to learn a few strategies for how to design project ideas, based on the initial sparks they charted on their Bingo cards.
The agenda for our final hour of this educator day was as follows:
Additional activities that teachers participated in included:
- A hybrid gallery walk/collective brainstorm to help with project “sparks”.
- A brief brainstorming protocol to further refine their ideas
- Big and small plans for something they could do when they return to school on Monday!
Key takeaways from participants:
- The Innovation Barn in Charlotte, NC is an incredible community resource that students, parents and teachers can all enjoy.
- The Innovation Barn can teach students so much more than just science-it is rich with interdisciplinary connections and opportunities.
- PBL is an engaging way to design learning
- Looking around in the real world is a great place to look for project ideas.
Resources:
- Circular_Spark_Bingo_Innovation_Barn
- Reverse_the_Harvest_Aquaponics_Gallery
- Facilitation_Agenda_Innovation_Barn_CraftED
- Workshop slides
- Teacher Professional Development 2026
Questions or ideas to share? Email me at jenny@Craftedcurriculum.com
Which takeaway are you trying first? I’d love to hear how it goes!
About the Author: Jenny
