Project Based Learning
A.J. Juliani is an amazing educator that has written books about Project Based Learning, one of my favorites is "Launch". If you want to borrow my copy, just let me know! He is also the inventor of Genius Hour, which can be difficult to do when we are concerned with covering standards. Think about how you could create Genius Hour in your classroom, by giving students a choice of how they can create their own unique project that would cover standards in your curriculum. Try to aside maybe 30 minutes every Friday, or every other Friday, or even a Monday! What a great way to start the week! I highly recommend subscribing to his blog, he gives amazing ideas to spark the innovator in you and your students. If it fails, that's okay too! You learn what works and what doesn't, and try again. I was notorious for trying new projects that were an epic fail- which I feel is important for students to see. We live in a scripted world, and our students need to learn how to fail, how to learn from failure, and how to react to it. I choose laughter!
LIST OF PBL RESOURCES TO INSPIRE YOU!
The Buck Institute : This site has checklists that ensure your PBL is covering all essential project design elements.