How well would a school solely focused on project-based learning and social media work?

For one school in Texas, it may be a success. Todd Nesloney, who worked as a fifth grade teacher in Texas for seven years, was recruited to head an underperforming school in the Navasota Independent School District, said an article on TheJournal.com. During his first year, "Nesloney hired a completely new staff and adopted an entirely project-based learning approach."

Nesloney participated in a Q&A with TheJournal, and talked about his approach, methods, success, and other findings in bringing this new type of learning in his school. Nesloney said he always loved project-based learning, and "they were offering me a school where I would be in charge of helping teachers do that for an entire campus, along with hiring my entire staff. That's a dream job: to create your own school."

I started implementing [flipped classrooms] ... only to find out that when I implemented just the flipped classroom, the only difference was that I was now making videos introducing the material that they could watch at home," he said. "So I brought project-based learning in with the flip. That allowed me to have kids watch the videos and then come to a classroom where we were completely hands-on.

Nesloney brought his staff together in the summer to train them to use social media as an educator, the article said.

TheJournal then asked how Nesloney will know if his "first year as a principal has been successful."

"We take the state test in April, and you’re not going to hear me mention it except for the day we have to take it," he said. "I’m more focused on getting those kids to know that they are wanted here, that they have a voice and that we care about them on a deeper level. If they love coming to school, I’ll know we’ve been successful."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor