My Story

I grew up in a small town (Jenkintown, PA) where I graduated with 35 students in my class (we were a public high school). This was a perfect setting to grow up with my own interests, and I was able to play two sports, act in the school drama (I was the Lion in the Wizard of Oz), be Student Council President (a lot of lessons learned), and meet my wife (yes, we were high school sweethearts!).

I left small-town life for West Chester University and was an awful student my first two years (which I didn’t seem to mind). My third year was when I realized I enjoyed reading, writing, and discussing deep and important topics. In reality, it took me five changes to my major before I got it right!

Towards the end of college (it took me almost six years to graduate), I was able to go to South Africa and Swaziland on two separate trips. We went with Comfort For Africa and were able to partner with local communities there to build a community center, health clinic, church, and a six-classroom school. These trips helped change my perspective on life, connection, and education. I left college with an understanding that education could be a “bridge” out of poverty, out of isolation, and to a life full of possibilities.

I graduated. I got married. I bought a house. I got a job. And all of a sudden I was a real adult. I started teaching 8th grade English, and my district distributed Macbooks to all the teachers during my first year! We also had a number of classrooms that were 1:1, and I was able to really use technology my first year to engage students and improve my instruction. This continued my next year as I moved up to become a high school English teacher in the same district. Now I was using laptops in the classroom every day, experimenting with different technologies, and completed my Master’s program in “Global and International Education” from Drexel University.

The 2011-2012 school year was just one of those years. I tried everything to motivate and engage my students but was failing, desperate, and frustrated. Finally, I began to “practice what I preach” with my students that year and began the “20% Project” in my class in January of 2012. This type of inquiry-driven, user-generated approach to learning had been something I’d always talked about and advocated for, but this project allowed me to really give my students the opportunity to learn what they were passionate about and make a difference. This is when I started writing on this blog, and what led me down a path of ultimately publishing my first book about Genius Hour and inquiry-driven learning.

In the following years I became a K-12 instructional coach, a Curriculum Coordinator, Tech Director, and Director of Learning and Innovation for multiple school districts in the Philadelphia area. Along the way I continued writing, coaching, and working at the University of Pennsylvania GSE PLN.

The past few years have been a whirlwind. My wife and I now have FIVE kids. I’ve written eight books, launched a podcast, and a whole host of other projects (including starting my own company, Adaptable Learning). Writing and speaking about learning has become my passion, but more importantly, I want to write and speak about learning that makes an impact now and in the future.

Here are some other interesting facts about me (since you’ve made it this far!):

• I coached football and lacrosse as a teacher, but now I spend a lot of time coaching my own kids in lacrosse and basketball. I love working with a team and learning how to improve individually and together. This is where you’ll typically find me on a weeknight or weekend.

• My Pop-pop became ill right before Covid-19 hit (he was 90 years old). He was a big horse racing fan so we bought shares in a few racing horses (my Pop loved going to the track throughout the years). There were no sports to watch, so we all loved getting together to watch Lane Way (our first horse) and Authentic (our second horse) race down at my grandparents' house. Much to our surprise, the horses did well. In fact, Authentic won the Haskell Stakes to get a place in the Kentucky Derby. He then won the Derby and eventually the Breeder's Cup!!! Here's a video to show the joy that happened as we all cheered them on. My Pop-pop recently passed away in 2021, and we have carried on his legacy with Juliani Farms, where we own a few shares in a few horses that will be racing for a long time.

• My brother Gabe was 33 years old when he passed away due to cancer. I talk a lot about my brother and the impact he had on me. His wife and our family started Gabriel’s Gladiators Foundation to support his mission of helping others that are making a difference around the world. Both Gabriel’s Gladiators and my work on the Board of the Breathing Room Foundation are so important to me and motivate me every day to make a difference.

• I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I’ve started more than 15 businesses since I was a kid, and I love the challenge of solving a problem through a business.

• I fail. A lot. Each year I write a “Failing Report” about my biggest mistakes and mess-ups throughout the year. This started when a student of mine said that we needed to make our fails feel like wins because we were getting better. During that school year, we put up an “Epic Fail Board” in my classroom and shared our fails (and wins) along the way. It changed my perspective on what it means to “fail” and I’ll never forget that class.

• I speak around the world on learning, education, and innovation. Last year I had the opportunity to work with over 100 different organizations, schools, and events. Even though I’ve scaled back on how many events I do each year, I love this work, and always excited to take on the challenge of inspiring, motivating, and impacting others through keynotes, workshops, and year-long consulting.

Send me an email at ajjuliani@gmail.com to connect with me at anytime!