John Sammon

What if your next book club became more than a great read? Bring meaningful professional learning to your district with The Tapas Approach to Project-Based Learning or Beyond the Algorithm. We’ll provide a ready-to-use book club template, reflection prompts, and a complimentary virtual session with the authors to help turn conversation into practice. Build educator capacity. Strengthen connections to the Portrait of a Graduate. Create greater impact for students. STEAM Machine Innovations 📧 [email protected] @SammonSTEAM @steammachinepd #ProfessionalLearning #PBL #PortraitOfAGraduate #AIinEducation #TeacherPD #STEAMEducation

PBL starts before the project does. The first days of school are your opportunity to build the culture that makes powerful PBL possible…student voice, collaboration, curiosity, ownership, and a willingness to take risks. As you plan those first days, consider: Are you preparing students for PBL before you ever launch the first project? Start with the culture. The projects will follow. ❤️ Small Bites. Big Ideas. @SammonSTEAM @WCSDEmpowers #TheTapasApproach #PBL #ProjectBasedLearning #BackToSchool #ClassroomCulture

PBL Spotlight: Community Partners Some of the most powerful PBL experiences happen when learning extends beyond the classroom. Community partners bring authenticity, purpose, and a real audience to student work. They help students see that what they are learning can matter to someone outside of school. Whether students are designing for a hospital, solving an environmental challenge, thinking like entrepreneurs, or creating for a community need, our partners help turn an assignment into an experience. They ask questions. They provide feedback. They share expertise. Most importantly, they show students that their ideas have value. A huge thank you to all of our incredible community partners who give their time, expertise, encouragement, and trust to our students. Your partnership helps make these learning experiences possible and meaningful. PBL reminds us that learning doesn’t have to stay within four classroom walls.@SammonSTEAM @WCSDEmpowers @drbonkwcsd @CentralHudson @SenatorRolison @WMCHealth @TrevorZoo @MandT_Bank @Habitat_org @dutchessrestore #PBL #CommunityPartners #AuthenticLearning #ProjectBasedLearning #StudentAgency #PortraitOfAGraduate

In preparation for the Portrait of a Graduate (POG), we have an opportunity to think differently about what learning can and should look like for our students. If we want students to become effective communicators, collaborators, critical thinkers, and problem-solvers, we must intentionally create learning experiences where they can practice those competencies authentically. PBL provides one of those pathways. But meaningful PBL doesn’t happen simply because we encourage it. Leaders have to create the conditions for it to thrive. The good news? We don’t have to do everything at once. 🍴 Small bites. Intentional moves. Big possibilities for students. Here are 8 ways leaders can begin supporting a sustainable PBL culture. @SammonSTEAM @WCSDEmpowers @drbonkwcsd #PBL #PortraitOfAGraduate #EducationalLeadership #AuthenticLearning #DeeperLearning

Iteration in Action 🔄❤️ The fidget boards now being used in pediatric treatment room at MidHudson Regional Hospital didn’t appear overnight. Elementary students learned life science concepts and created initial prototypes. High school manufacturing students refined and built the designs. The prototypes then returned to the elementary students for testing and feedback before final revisions were made. Design. Test. Revise. Improve. What started as a classroom idea became a product that is now supporting real pediatric patients. That’s the power of authentic PBL—learning that extends beyond the classroom and creates impact in the community. @SammonSTEAM @WCSDEmpowers @drbonkwcsd @steammachinepd @dailystem #PBL #DesignThinking #Iteration #AuthenticLearning #PortraitOfAGraduate

The biggest AI adoption mistake schools make? Starting with tools instead of pedagogy. Tools change constantly. Good instructional design lasts. Our goal isn’t to teach students one specific AI platform. It’s to teach them how to think critically, ethically, and purposefully about AI — no matter what tool exists next year. Human-centered. Purpose-driven. Future-ready. We want students to: • Question AI outputs • Evaluate accuracy and bias • Understand when AI should and shouldn’t be used • Use AI to deepen learning — not replace thinking • Transfer these habits across any platform or technology Because the future isn’t about mastering one tool. It’s about developing thoughtful humans who can navigate an AI-powered world responsibly. @SammonSTEAM @steammachinepd #PBLAI #Humancentered Check out some of our freebies at hearourwords.com

What’s next for us? More conversations. More workshops. More writing. More helping educators design for what’s next. Because the future isn’t just about preparing students for careers. It’s about preparing them to think critically, collaborate meaningfully, solve real problems, and lead with empathy. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, automation, and rapid change, schools must intentionally design experiences that help students become adaptable thinkers, ethical decision-makers, creative communicators, and compassionate humans. We believe this work is only becoming more urgent. Want to see what this looks like in action? Explore our past STEAM/PBL work on our website — and stay tuned for our 2025–2026 showcase. We’re just getting started. @SammonSTEAM @WCSDEmpowers #PBL #STEAMEducation #FutureReady #AIinEducation #HumanCenteredLearning #PortraitOfAGraduate sites.google.com/wcsdny.org/…

Authenticity changes everything. Students work differently when: • The audience is real • The stakes are real • The problem is real Authenticity is not a PBL add-on. It’s a design principle. Today, our 4th and 6th grade students presented their learning experiences and final products to Central Hudson and WCSD personnel. Students taught adults about the role energy concepts play in a utility company and how those ideas connect to the real world. This wasn’t students completing an assignment. This was students using their voices, their thinking, and their learning to contribute something meaningful. @SammonSTEAM @WCSDEmpowers @drbonkwcsd @CentralHudson @j_sammon

Kindergarteners aren’t too young for real PBL. When students design pinball machines to demonstrate pushes, pulls, and collisions… that’s learning transfer in action. 🎯 Content knowledge matters. Transfer matters more. The real question isn’t: “What facts did students memorize?” It’s: “What can they do with what they know?” Kindergarten students applied their science learning by designing and testing pinball machines. They used their understanding of pushes, pulls, and collisions to build, revise, and explain how motion changed during their designs. That’s authentic PBL in action — even with our youngest learners. @SammonSTEAM @WCSDEmpowers @steammachinepd @dailystem @levelupsophie #PBL #PBLtapas #NGSS

Coverage is not the same as learning. Traditional instruction often prioritizes exposure. PBL prioritizes application. Today, energy concepts are coming to life as Central Hudson visits Brinckerhoff and Fishkill to connect with students and see the learning in action. Students are preparing for the upcoming big reveal of their digital escape rooms—student-created experiences designed to teach the community about energy concepts and how they connect directly to the Central Hudson community. Students didn’t just “cover” energy. They used it. Applied it. Designed with it. Created for an authentic audience with it. Students remember what they use. @SammonSTEAM @j_sammon @WCSDEmpowers @drbonkwcsd @CentralHudson @FishkillFrogs @steammachinepd #PBL #PBLAI

We are just 3 days away!! We have limited copies available the day of the event. Get your copy from Amazon TODAY 😁 We appreciate all of the support!!!! @SammonSTEAM @steammachinepd

Writing together taught us something important. Collaboration is messy. It requires: • Trust • Honest feedback • Revisions • Ego management Exactly the same skills we ask of students during PBL collaboration. That’s why we share our own collaboration stories with students too — the disagreements, revisions, feedback, and problem-solving that happen behind the scenes while creating real work together. Students need to see that productive collaboration isn’t perfect. It’s a process. Join us May 15th at Sloop Brewing Co. as we continue the conversation around PBL-AI, collaboration, and designing meaningful learning experiences for students. #PBLtapas #Beyondthealgorithm #PBLAI @SammonSTEAM @steammachinepd @WCSDEmpowers

AI literacy is not prompt engineering. Today, during our rocket company PBL, a student was using AI to create an infographic explaining why investors should support his company. The first output looked polished—but he immediately recognized it didn’t truly match his vision or audience. Instead of simply accepting it, he gave the AI specific feedback about what wasn’t working and pushed the design in a stronger direction. That moment mattered. Students need more than: “Write a better prompt.” They need: • Critical evaluation • Ethical reasoning • Strategic use • Reflection on process • The confidence to critique AI outputs and improve them intentionally That’s AI literacy @SammonSTEAM @GayheadWCSD @WCSDEmpowers @steammachinepd @jmattmiller @DitchThatTxtbk @GeminiApp @drbonkwcsd @levelupsophie