LifePractice PBL, the backstory
Why Do We Call Them LifePractice PBL “Recipe Cards”? Kevin and I have been partnering since 2006 on this project. I was hired to start a school that had a PBL foundation with 1:1 laptops for learning. It was the most difficult and most awesome thing I have ever done. Kevin, who was a budding consultant at the time, would drop in with his AMAZING ideas and over 5 years, we grew that program, doubling it in population (plus) twice and expanding K-12. We created the LifePractice PBL model right there in that extraordinary education petri dish. And the school is still going, for those of you interested to know.
As I stepped away and began helping other teachers figure out how to engage their own kids in deeply cognitive, active, personalized, and fun work, I started writing the best PBL units we had done.
Again, I was faced with a serious task. We had done many PBL units at our school across the curriculum, and I was being asked out to schools on a growing basis to answer questions for teachers — and they were hungry for examples. I was under tremendous pressure to get examples ready to share. Additionally, our work would be implemented at all ... read more
As I stepped away and began helping other teachers figure out how to engage their own kids in deeply cognitive, active, personalized, and fun work, I started writing the best PBL units we had done.
Again, I was faced with a serious task. We had done many PBL units at our school across the curriculum, and I was being asked out to schools on a growing basis to answer questions for teachers — and they were hungry for examples. I was under tremendous pressure to get examples ready to share. Additionally, our work would be implemented at all ... read more
Ginger Lewman
I am an educational specialist with ESSDACK, an educational service center based in Hutchinson, Kansas who specializes in Project Based Learning, Technology Integration, Gifted and High-Ability Learners, and Creativity.
I am formerly the Director of Turning Point Learning Center’s f2f Program where, for half a decade, I worked to create the LifePractice Model. Here I learned how to create a mash-up of Project Based Learning and 1:1 laptops with a Democratic approach to learning. Online PLN's have been the key to making it work! Graduating from Emporia State University in 1994 with a BSE in Social Science, I promptly began teaching the day school at a residential boys' home for The Farm, Inc. where I quickly discovered differentiated instruction and how to engage students well beyond my formal pre-service teaching instruction. I taught all core subjects to 11 troubled boys at a time, ages 11-18, at the home's two dining room tables, using previously-discarded 20 year old text books. Eventually uncovering a lifelong passion, in 2004, I earned my Master’s degree in Psychology and Special Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education. I began working as the Gifted Services Coordinator at Emporia Middle School and also serving as NCA Steering Committee Chair. I have served on the Board of Directors for the Kansas Association for the Gifted, Talented, and Creative for 7 years as a Region Representative, State and Federal Legislative Liaison, Conference Chair, and the Kansas Education Liaison, and have been a member of the National Association for Gifted Children, working at both the state and federal levels, advocating for the needs of gifted children in Kansas. Currently, I serve as the co-chair of the Professional Development Committee for the Kansas Learning First Alliance (KLFA), am on the Board of Directors for Advocates for High-Ability Learners (AHA Learners) as their New Media Specialist, am a member of the Kansas Council for the Social Studies, am a Google Certified Teacher (yay GTACO ’09!), and am a Discovery Education Network STAR Educator. I was also recently named "Teacher of the Month" for Northeast Kansas by 27 KSNT and Fox KTMJ television out of Topeka. |
Kevin Honeycutt
I grew up in poverty and my family moved a lot, always staying a step ahead of the ramifications of my father's behavior. As I witnessed education around the country I collected powerful experiences that still influence my conversations and my work with educators. I spent 13 years teaching art K-12 in public school and spent summers leading creative, adventure camps for kids for 17 years. For the past three years I have hosted a creative learning site called ArtSnacks (http://artsnacks.org) where I share 150+ ten minute drawing videos that support standards curriculum. This social “learning” network is my Petri-dish for learning to mentor teachers and students in virtual environments.
I am currently serving my eighth year as a Technology Integration Specialist at ESSDACK, an educational service center based in Hutchinson, Kansas. At ESSDACK I research and develop programs with a strong passion for making teachers and learners comfortable with technology. I am a school board member in the town of Inman Kansas and am currently serving in my second term. I feel that one of my most important roles is to help vision what the future holds for learners and to help move my district in right, new directions. During my classroom tenure, I developed project-based approaches to learning that infused technology and problem solving skills. I created a film program for kids and developed it into a fully functioning curriculum at the high school level. I have developed; online safety, anti-bullying and cyber-bullying curriculum which I share with parents, teachers and students around the country and I certify instructors in my curriculum. I continue to work with schools to develop innovative, engaging curriculum to better prepare learners for the world they will face when they graduate. I am passionate about meeting the needs of at-risk learners and I work with kids in juvenile detention, developing approaches to re-engage the "lost" learner. I travel the country speaking at conferences and working with educators at the grassroots level and I like to promote a "tradigital" approach to education. I like to bring my personal life experience and a sense of humor to the mission of helping prepare 21st century learners! |
