This evening, I will be attending Teacher Action Group’s Kick-off event for their 2013 Inquiry to Action Groups. Last year, I participated in an ItAG called “Context for Change,” and one of my big discoveries from those sessions was that I would do well to share content from SLA with the outside world. (Hello, blog.)

This year, I’m thrilled to facilitate an ItAG about project-based learning. The group already has a clear “action” in mind — design and implement a project-based unit in your classroom — but that will obviously look different for each person. Here are the all goals for the group:

• Create a Project-Based Learning unit for your classroom
• Gain a working knowledge of Understanding By Design lesson planning
• Strategize on how to bring PBL to your learning environment
• Collaborate and network with like-minded teachers
• Develop a session for the 2013 Teacher Action Group Curriculum Fair

Going into this process, the big thing I am thinking about is how to meet educators where they are at — both in terms of individual knowledge and the settings in which they work. One misguided response we get to our work at SLA is “you could only get away with that here” — which couldn’t be any further from the truth! I am excited to help educators from around the city play with PBL and make it work for them.

The group will be meeting for six weeks at SLA. If you’re in Philadelphia, there’s still time to register for and attend the kick-off meeting. For those who can’t make it, due to scheduling or geography, I am going to do my best to blog our group’s materials and activities here. If you plan on following along at home, please let me know in the comments!

As a preview of what we’ll be up to, here’s a short video that introduces the basic tenets of PBL — chipper, but informative.