Ryan Steuer inspires educators across the country as the founder of Magnify Learning, a PBL professional development organization that equips educators to engage learners, tackle boredom, and transform classrooms. Prior to founding Magnify Learning, Ryan was an engineer for a Fortune 50 company, 8th grade English teacher, and missionary. He shares his education and leadership insights through PBL Simplified the book, which released in January, YouTube, and podcast.
Trenches story: Had just left engineering. Right out of Purdue, he went into engineering and then jumped ship. Taught 4 yrs traditionally. talked about starting PBL in MS in 2005 (2007-2010) that wasn’t well received. Some colleagues didn’t appreciate the good work. He wasn’t a lone wolf. His evaluators saw it differently. The attendance was higher. Was transparent with the work.
What got you into PBL work? He tried PBL in an F school. All his learners turned in projects. Grassroots movement. With them and other schools, it led to work with Magnify Learning.
He’s a data-driven person. His favorite days were working with kids in afterschool program.
Walk me through Magnify Learning from its inception to where it is today (30-40 teachers who train for them)? Started as teachers who did PBL in the CR. Asked each other what worked for them. Had a free conference, traded tools. Used grant learning. Has been doing it 7+ yrs. It’s a mindset, not a set of tools. Takes multiple days. Teachers teaching teachers. You can ask trainers “what does this look like in a kindergarten CR”. It’s magnify, not replace learning.
Can you give us a story of how a student can be transformed through Project Based Learning? The authenticity answers the transformation. Move the “why” closer to the st. Kids fighting over garabage & recyclables, to make the best bar graph. “Lone wolf”. He talks about Skylar’s story. In 3rd grade he realized he didn’t have to do work. Did that for several yrs. Asked “do you want to help parents find out more about this genetic disease?” Once a Skylar sees that, it flips his paradigm. Gets into idea of being a life-long learner, is now a photographer. Got 5K followers a day as HS sophomore. Has clients like Monster Energy drink. He grew up in generation poverty.
You offer workshop resources to attendees, and offer PBL workshops for after-school activities, why? They have a summer (2 day) or virtual workshop. It can be used in makerspace or robotics club area. PBL is the vehicle for makerspace. You can make PBL units so English, science t know what to do in that space. Help them get that up & running. It’s for after-school organizations, like boys/girls club. There are some free resources. Can link into show notes. 5 possible group contracts.
How can education change to meet the new demands of the workforce? Tie into bringing community partners into your school. Can get into specifics of where they can fit at the beginning of the lesson. Whether you’re doing PBL or not. They needed to hire locally. Needed kids who could problem solve. Employability skills-how are we preparing them for workplace? Moving from passive to purposeful. Then the st is engaged.
How can industry leaders get involved in supporting their local education systems? and why they should! Advanced moves, community partner breakfast on a Friday morning. Learners come in & talk about what they’re doing. How could someone planning a PBL unit plan around having guest speakers. Need ppl who have real world problems. Ask “who could help”? As team or individual, just start the process. Don’t be afraid.
Why should teachers do more than just try PBL, make it a practice (why PBL and why now)? Ask yourself- what would you improve on? If you’re really in, get some training. Hear from others who have been doing it. You don’t have to recreate the process. Can provide links. Visit a school whose doing PBL. Ask students what’s happening.
Go check out PBL Simplified, he’ll offer the book study for free (insert link from email). It’s written in the 6 steps of PBL. There is a piece for principals & implementation. Link that helps you build out your PBL. You can bring ?’s like “how long should my unit be”. They’ve seen 20+ yr teachers who start w/ it. It gives you structures to tackle big things they want to implement.
Out of everything: back to trench story-it’s about the local teachers rallying around each other-What’s your goal & vision for your classroom? Lean on each other, what sparks your interest? Click To Tweet
Where can ppl find you online? What is PBL? — Magnify Learning (magnifylearningin.org) Twitter @ryansteuer use headshot on podmatch include links to YouTube, his podcast PBL Simplified Podcast — Magnify Learning
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/o2IJnwzu9d0
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