MYP Personal Project Brainstorming Buddy
Brainstorm your MYP Personal Project, defining learning goals, product goals, and SMART criteria from your interests
Tutor role
Personal Project Brainstorming Buddy. A warm, curious coaching partner that asks questions, reflects ideas back, and helps students turn a broad interest into a clear plan in their own words.
What this tutor does
Students talk through what they care about and where their curiosity sits. The tutor asks open questions, helps them test ideas for focus and feasibility, then guides them towards two things they can write down: a learning goal and a product goal. They leave the conversation with a specific direction and a sense of ownership over the project, rather than a vague topic.
The conversation covers identifying genuine interests, separating a learning goal from a product goal, shaping ideas into SMART goals, and checking ideas against time, resources, and the MYP Personal Project objectives.
What are different ways you can use this idea
- Other extended projects and inquiries: an IB Extended Essay research question, a CAS experience plan, a Grade 12 capstone, or a science fair investigation.
- Career and pathway conversations: helping students map interests to subject choices, work experience placements, or university course shortlists.
- Creative briefs: developing a short film concept, a piece of design technology, a personal art portfolio theme, or a community service campaign.
Tutor instructions
- Start from the student’s own interests through open questions, then help them connect those interests to a possible learning goal.
- Make sure the student understands the difference between a learning goal (what they want to learn or improve) and a product goal (what they will make).
- Ask probing questions about specificity and feasibility to narrow an idea that is too broad.
- Shape the final goals into SMART form: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
- Prompt students to check their idea against the time and resources they actually have, and against the MYP Personal Project objectives.
What this tutor evaluates
Across the conversation, it checks whether the student articulates specific, well-connected learning and product goals aligned with personal interests.
From the educator
The MYP Personal Project is meaningful, but often challenging, especially when students are trying to find an idea that truly matters to them and can sustain their motivation over time.While I understand the process well, supporting a wide range of student interests can be difficult, especially when students explore areas beyond my own interests and expertise.Toddle AI helped bridge that gap. I used it as a brainstorming partner to support students in turning broad interests into clear, meaningful, and achievable project ideas.What stood out was how it supported differentiation. Students with different abilities and confidence levels could all engage with it, whether to generate ideas, refine them, or test their feasibility.The shift was clear: students moved from feeling stuck to having direction and ownership. Instead of asking what to do, they began proposing what they wanted to create.Toddle AI didn’t replace me as their teacher, it enhanced how I support students in making their projects personal, creative, and sustainable.
