As the new school year gets rolling many of us will be considering using problem-based learning to engage our students in learning experiences. Some of us will try to incorporate “real world problems.” When we do so we have to remember that what we think of as “real world problems” are always “real world problems” to our students. I was reminded of this as I went through my notes from a workshop that I ran earlier this year. In that workshop we brainstormed some of the problems that matter to our students. Here are five of the problems that were mentioned during that workshop (I wrote these notes in the voice of a student):

• Make/ save money for tuition. 
• How can I get more people to notice my YouTube channel?
• Keep toes warm while waiting for the school bus. 
• What’s for lunch (and healthy)?
• Review apps or site that makes sense to me.