TeachThought PBL Conferences: 3 Ways You’ll Grow
by Drew Perkins, Director of TeachThought PD
We’ve loved hosting educators from around the world at our annual Grow PBL conference in downtown Louisville for the past three years in response to requests for open-registration workshops.
Building on the success of those, we’re excited to continue that this summer with TeachThought PBL Grow 20 and we’ve added a similar public PBL professional learning event this spring, TeachThought PBL Hilton Head!
Most of our work is workshops and services held on-site by a school or organization for a group of their educators. The reality is, while many teachers would love to have us facilitate a workshop at their school making that happen is in the hands of their leadership.
Our ‘open to the public’ PD events are a great option for those educators who are looking for professional growth outside the confines of their school walls.
Why attend a TeachThought PBL Conference?
Grow Your Teaching Craft
Our Foundations of PBL Workshop, the center of both PBL Hilton Head and PBL Grow 20, is focused on helping you learn project-based learning through the creation of a project for implementation in your classroom. Over the course of the two and a half days you’ll think more deeply about your teaching as you focus on design and planning, scaffolding and assessment, and implementation and management of projects.
Because inquiry is at the heart of what we do we’ll help you learn how to empower your students with “pull teaching” instead of push. You’ll also engage in increasing levels of peer critique through protocols and practices you’ll be able to use in your classroom.
Grow Your Professional Learning Community
Educators often feel isolated in their practice. Social media can help but it can’t replace the experience of being in the physical presence of others. The benefits of teachers connecting are powerful and our events provide the opportunity to do just that both formally and informally.
At both PBL Hilton Head and PBL Grow 20 you’ll engage in professional dialogue around your practice and your projects throughout your time with us. You’ll also have the time to engage more informally and organically outside of the workshop with teachers from different states, regions, and often other countries. In the past we’ve enjoyed hosting educators from wonderful and intriguing locations like Bermuda, Guatemala, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea!
Grow and Recharge Your Whole Self
Teaching is hard. Days and hours are often frenetic and the pressures and responsibility of a teacher are many. Spring and summer are great times to take a break, take a few deep breaths, and recharge your body and brain. TeachThought PBL Hilton Head is literally on the beach in an easily accessible and breathtaking low-country setting.
You’ll be just steps from our Holiday Inn Beach House Resort venue to the feel of sand between your toes and with the hotel and being on-site you’ll easily be able to take advantage of the live music and multiple dining options.
Prefer our TeachThought PBL Grow 20 summer event? There are plenty of possibilities to find your sweet spot in downtown Louisville.
Are you a foodie? Bourbon aficionado? Love baseball? Check out iconic Slugger Museum or sneak in early on Sunday to catch a Bats game at Slugger Field. Walk across the Ohio River on the Big Four Bridge, take in the amazing Muhammad Ali Center museum, or visit world famous Churchill Downs.
If that’s not enough, a short drive from Louisville will get you to the Bourbon Trail, Kentucky Horse Country, and one of our favorites, the Wendell Berry Center.
We know that your out of school time is precious so we strive to make our professional learning as intellectually valuable as possible. Not only will you walk away with concrete strategies and tools you can implement with your learners immediately, you’ll also put yourself on a learning trajectory that will help you better prepare your students for the modern world with deeper learning and thinking.
We also hope these events can be socially and emotionally valuable for your overall stress and well-being.
I invite you to join us at either of these events or if you’re a school leader, consider our one day Leadership PBL event, March 25th in Louisville. Have questions? Reach out to me directly at [email protected] and I’ll be happy to help!
