In this leadership episode, Ryan sits down with Mitch Weisburgh to explore Mind Shifting — a brain-based framework designed to help educators and leaders develop resourcefulness, resilience, and constructive collaboration.

If you lead a school or district, this episode digs into:

The conversation connects directly to PBL environments, where collaboration, innovation, and engagement are essential.

Mitch defines Mind Shifting as the ability to intentionally move from reactive survival thinking to resourceful, solution-focused thinking.

It consists of three core elements:

When leaders stay resourceful, they model it for staff and students.

Resilience isn’t “pushing through failure.”

It’s removing the concept of failure altogether.

Instead:

Mitch shares the story of a Finnish superintendent who didn’t view initiatives as failures — only experiments that produced data.

Key shift:
From “Did this work?”
To “What did we learn?”

Conflict is inevitable. The question is how we use it.

Mitch explains five conflict resolution styles:

No style is inherently wrong.
Effective leaders are flexible and intentional.

True long-term change requires collaboration — especially in PBL environments.

When stressed:

You cannot reason someone out of a survival state.

This applies to:

Regulation first. Logic second.

In chaotic weeks (which every principal knows well), Mitch recommends adopting a Sage Perspective:

Apply the Pareto Principle:

Every challenge offers one of three gifts:

That action could be:

This reframes stress into growth.

Mitch shares a structure used in Finland called CASES:

It shifts discipline from confrontation to development.

The key: Practice it until fluent.
You won’t access structure in the heat of the moment without rehearsal.

Ryan reflects on how:

In Magnify Learning PBL workshops:

Brain science explains why this works.

You don’t debate them.

When people are in survival mode:

Instead:

People buy in when they see themselves in the process.

What if student behavior problems, burnout, and disengagement aren’t discipline issues… but brain issues?

In this powerful leadership episode, Ryan sits down with Dr. Lisa Riegel—author, neuroscientist, and education innovator—to explore how brain science, motivation, and belonging intersect with Project Based Learning.

Lisa explains why today’s students seem “different,” how stress shuts down learning, and why schools must shift from compliance to psychological safety, relevance, and identity-based belonging if they want real engagement.

If you’re leading a PBL shift, this episode will give you a science-backed roadmap for how to get humans—not just systems—to move.

When students feel unsafe, judged, or powerless, their brains switch into survival mode. Thinking shuts down. PBL works because it gives students control, relevance, and purpose—lowering stress and raising executive function.

Lisa explains the Expectancy-Value Theory:

Motivation = “I believe I can” × “I care about this”

If either side is zero, motivation collapses. That’s why irrelevant worksheets and rigid instruction fail—even with “good” kids.

If a student walks into class and feels like they don’t belong, their brain perceives danger. Fight, flight, freeze, or tune-out follows. Strong classroom identity isn’t a feel-good extra—it’s neurological survival.

Change feels dangerous to the brain—especially for high-performers who fear becoming beginners again. That’s why leadership must start with trust, celebration, and permission to fail.

AI is offloading human thinking at an alarming rate.

In five years, success won’t be about what students know—it will be about how they think, regulate stress, solve problems, and work with others.

www.lisariegel.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisariegel/

www.epinstitute.net 

www.jakapa.com

Neurowell book link

Aspirations to Operations book link

What happens when Career and Technical Education stops operating in silos and starts acting like a true regional partner? In this leadership conversation, Jason Lucia shares how he is redesigning CTE to expand access, strengthen district collaboration, and connect students directly to meaningful, high-wage career pathways. From innovative shared-campus programs to deep industry partnerships, this episode offers a bold vision for what CTE can become when leaders put kids first and challenge the status quo.

Start building a portfolio of student success stories—academic, personal, and career-based. Use those stories to initiate conversations with district leaders, community partners, and industry about what’s possible when you design CTE around students instead of systems.

PBL Readiness Scorecard: Assess your school or district’s readiness for Project Based Learning and receive personalized next steps at pblscore.com

As the year comes to a close, great leaders don’t just move on—they pause, reflect, and intentionally prepare for what’s next. In this episode, Ryan Steuer shares a powerful four-bucket reflection protocol used at Magnify Learning to help leadership teams identify what’s working, what’s broken, what’s confusing, and what truly mattered most.

This simple but effective structure can be used at the end of a school year, quarter, or major initiative—and it creates clarity, trust, and momentum for the future.

Leaders begin by naming the practices, systems, and initiatives that genuinely moved the work forward.

Examples include:

This step reinforces progress, boosts morale, and helps teams identify what should continue.

Next, teams openly name systems or processes that didn’t work as intended.

These might include:

This bucket invites honest feedback without judgment and signals that leadership is listening—and willing to improve systems, not blame people.

Confusion often hides beneath the surface, especially in complex systems. This bucket creates language for naming unclear expectations or mixed messages.

Common examples include:

Addressing confusion strengthens trust and prevents frustration from turning into disengagement.

The final bucket captures what filled people’s cups—the moments that mattered most.

Favorites often include:

This bucket reveals what motivates the team and where leaders should invest more energy moving forward.

Ryan emphasizes that many issues—especially confusion—can be resolved immediately once surfaced. Over time, this protocol becomes part of the team’s culture, not just an annual exercise.

Leaders can run it individually first, then with teams to maximize insight and impact.

PBL Readiness Scorecard: Assess your school or district’s readiness for Project Based Learning and receive personalized next steps at pblscore.com

When the building is quiet but the work isn’t done, what should leaders actually be doing? In this episode, Ryan Steuer breaks down how top-tier school leaders use those “in-between” days—when students and teachers are gone, but administrators are still on contract—to create clarity, momentum, and renewal.

Rather than reacting to email or busywork, high-performing leaders use this rare space to plan long-term, reconnect with key relationships, and rest in ways that genuinely refuel them. This episode is a practical guide to using quiet seasons to strengthen leadership impact and prepare for what’s next.

Top leaders use quiet days to focus on deep, strategic work—not inbox cleanup. Ryan challenges administrators to identify the one thing that would move their work forward 5x or 10x, rather than reacting to urgency.

Leadership can unintentionally sideline important professional relationships. These quieter days offer rare opportunities to reconnect with trusted peers, mentors, and thought partners.

Rest looks different for driven leaders. Ryan reframes rest as something intentional and personal—not just doing nothing.

PBL Readiness Scorecard™: Assess your school or district’s readiness for Project Based Learning and get targeted next steps at pblscore.com

In this episode of PBL Simplified for Administrators, Ryan Steuer breaks down how school and district leaders can intentionally plan and sustain a Project Based Learning (PBL) movement—without waiting for the “perfect time” or burning out their staff. This is a practical, leadership-focused roadmap for turning PBL from a few isolated classrooms into a lasting system-wide shift.

PBL momentum doesn’t have to wait for summer professional development. Ryan makes the case for moving during the school year—especially in the second semester—when leadership teams can see PBL in action, experience the culture, and begin shaping a real plan instead of talking in theory.

The fastest way to understand PBL is to experience it live in a model school. Ryan explains why bringing a leadership team—not just one administrator—creates shared understanding, shared language, and long-term alignment. This isn’t a “dog and pony show”; it’s real classrooms, real students, real questions.

Not everyone needs to be on board on day one. Ryan walks through the innovation curve and explains why PBL work should start with innovators and early adopters—then spread through visible success in your own building. Laggards aren’t the problem; they’re just not first.

A PBL movement requires more than a framed mission statement. Leaders must collaboratively define and live their mission, vision, and values—along with openly naming hopes and fears. When teams feel heard, resistance drops and trust increases.

Teachers talk to teachers first. That’s reality. Ryan explains why teacher representation on leadership teams accelerates buy-in, builds credibility, and creates early classroom wins that convince the early majority far more effectively than mandates ever could.

Short-term initiatives fail. A transparent, written three-year plan signals commitment, stability, and seriousness. Ryan shares why teachers rightfully wait out initiatives—and how a long-term plan with coaching, training, and internal capacity building changes that dynamic completely.

Top-performing schools don’t rely on one visionary leader. They build leadership teams—and teams within teams—to handle innovation, coaching, community partnerships, and reflection. Sustainable PBL requires distributed leadership, not superhuman administrators.

Ryan introduces the PBL Readiness Scorecard™, a free interactive tool that helps leaders identify strengths, growth areas, and next steps across vision, leadership capacity, and student outcomes.

👉 Take the assessment at pblscore.com

What separates a top 10% school from the other 90%? In this episode, Ryan lays out the habits, systems, and mindsets that high-performing, innovative schools share—and the traps they refuse to touch. You’ll hear why visiting model PBL schools is a game-changer, what visionary principals actually do differently, and how you can start moving your school into that top tier without waiting for summer PD.

Leaders get stuck thinking they should “start PBL next year.” Ryan breaks down why the second semester is the smartest launchpad and how to get your leadership team trained now so teacher PD in the summer actually sticks. 

Ryan explains why stepping into a top-tier PBL school feels different—teachers talk differently, students use real-world vocabulary like collaboration and conflict resolution, and the culture is unmistakably student-centered. 

From solar-powered Babcock Ranch in Florida to standout campuses across Missouri, Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, and beyond, Ryan highlights what visiting high-performing PBL schools will teach you about culture, process, and leadership clarity. 

What do innovative leaders fear most? Hint: it’s not test scores.
Ryan shares an interview with principal Cynthia Bruno, who says her biggest fear is students having ordinary school days—an unacceptable outcome for a true top-tier leader. 

✔ Build a strong leadership team
Assistant principals, coaches, and teachers collaborate to shape and spread the vision.
✔ Use instructional coaches intentionally
Not data clerks—actual co-teachers and PD leaders.
✔ Create a written 3-year vision
If it’s not written, it’s not real.
✔ Protect their calendar with fierce precision
Deep work blocks. Limited weekend labor. No white-space for chaos.
✔ Develop systems that outlive the leader
So the school thrives even when leadership changes. 

✘ Sit-and-get faculty meetings
Logistical items go in the newsletter—meetings are for collaboration and learning.
✘ Fixed mindset thinking
Problems are solvable. Kids can grow. Systems can improve. Period.
✘ Hide in the office
High-level leaders are visible, affirming, and vision-casting in classrooms daily. 

If you're ready to launch PBL with clarity and momentum, check out the on-demand and in-person webinars at pblwebinar.com. And if you want to visit a model PBL school, we can help you connect with one in your region.

In this episode, Ryan shares the honest, often-overlooked reasons school leaders struggle to launch Project Based Learning—even when everyone knows it works. Whether you’re wrestling with teacher buy-in, traditional systems, or shifting school culture, this episode breaks down the five biggest barriers and gives you practical ways to overcome them.

Most PBL rollouts fail at hello. Innovators, early adopters, and the early majority need different invitations. You can’t pitch the same way to everyone and expect momentum.

We’ve operated in a traditional learning model for over a century. It’s comfortable, predictable, and familiar. PBL requires pushing a giant cultural boulder—but there is a way to move it.

When instructional practices evolve but evaluation, systems, and PD don’t, teachers eventually retreat back to what’s safe. PBL collapses when leadership isn’t aligned and trained.

Top-down mandates always fail. Ryan explains how to build a “grassroots movement” where teachers ask for PBL—without forcing it.

When educators visit authentic PBL schools, witness the culture shift, talk to students, and see the engagement—everything changes. Most resistance is lack of exposure.

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Simon Holzapfel, the CFO and Co-founder of Leaf Lab, joins the podcast to share his experience in education, leadership, and business, describing himself as a "PBL fanboy". Simon asserts that PBL was the heart of education because it caused the learning to bond to something other than just the head, such as the body or heart, making the subject matter truly matter. He clarifies the crucial distinction between progressive education—which offers specific forms of scaffolding and flexible structure—and the dangerous lack of structure found in permissive education. Simon offers insights on avoiding leadership mistakes, managing burnout, and the sustainable implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL). He details how Leaf Lab partners with schools to use real-world problems from local companies to provide students with a digital portfolio and two professional certifications.

Main Points

Takeaways

In this episode, Ryan shares his firsthand experience visiting Calvert County’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, where Project-Based Learning (PBL) and hands-on technical education intersect to create incredible outcomes for students. The visit highlights how authentic projects, structured pedagogy, and real-world experiences are transforming student engagement and post-graduation success.

Ryan explores how CTE teachers—often experts from the professional world—are empowered through PBL frameworks to deliver deeper learning and stronger instructional design, creating classrooms that mirror real workplaces.

🧠 Key Takeaways

🧰 Resources Mentioned

🎯 Call to Action

If you’re a school leader ready to:

➡️ Visit pbwebinar.com or callmagnify.com to get started.
And if you’re proud of your CTE program—reach out to be a podcast guest and share your success story!