The Innovation Barn isn’t just a venue, it’s a model for how professional development for educators can work. Instead of sitting through slides, teachers spent the day in a real place, doing real work, with real people. That’s exactly the kind of experience we want students to have.
Here’s the shift: treat real-world places as field work for teachers, not just for students. When teachers experience a place as learners, they see it differently — they notice what students would notice, what would spark curiosity, what would fall flat. That perspective is gold when they design their own project based curriculum.
The best professional development doesn’t start in a conference room. It starts somewhere real.
Check out any of these links if you are interested in reading my work on School Leaders/Professional Development:
- Leading Adult Learning in COVID-19, Getting Smart
- Making PBL Stick: All it takes is 5 minutes, Getting Smart
- Making PBL Stick Part II: Leading a Reflective Year, Getting Smart
- Advice for PBL Alignment, Headrush
- 3 Steps to Supporting Teachers with Student Collaboration, ASCD
- 5 Steps for Sustaining PBL, Getting Smart
- Critical Friends; Developing a Culture of Collaboration, Teaching Channel, ASCD Smartbrief
- 4 Ingredients for the PD Revolution, Getting Smart
- Scaling High Quality PBL, Getting Smart
- Getting Started with PBL: Do ONE Thing Well, Teaching Channel
And if you want to see what these teachers did while at the Innovation Barn, with CraftED, you can read this post that recaps our time together.
About the Author: Jenny
