Project Time

Hi Team!
I told the kids that one of my goals for them was to become so good at it least one thing that everybody you know calls you up for advice on that thing. We then brainstormed ways of learning all that information. We pretty much came up with, "you have to practice." With that in mind, our class has project time for at least an hour every Friday. During project time, the students choose one thing that they want to get better at, want to practice, want to learn more about, or just find really interesting to do. They then have to propose it to me. They have to come up with a proposal that includes what they want to do, the materials they need to do it, who they want to do it with, and what their process should look like.

This is what their Project Proposal looks like:

Name:

Do you have a partner?:

Choose an activity or skill that you are passionate about and want to work on.:

What resources do you have that can help you get better? You can include websites, books or people that you could contact.:

What materials will you need?:

What are your goals and timeline?

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Week 5:

Week 6:

What will the end product be?

Why do you want to pursue this? How does this benefit yourself or others?

 

  I want them to get in the habit of planning ahead and not starting a project when you don't know what your goals are for completing it. I want them to start managing their own time and be able to work independently on an item because they have already planned the steps out in advance. This project also has roots in our identity theme. Each student is using their own unique abilities and interests to create a product or an item for our project time. They are able to work either independently or with a partner. During the six we creation process, they are to keep a log of their progress in a progress log. The progress log details what progress they made that day, what their challenges were in that project, and what their goals for the next week are.

This is what their Project Log looks like:

Project Log

Name/Partner’s name:

What is your project?:

Week 1

Progress:

Challenge:

Goal for next week:

Week 2

Progress:

Challenge:

Goal for next week:

Week 3

Progress:

Challenge:

Goal for next week:

Week 4

Progress:

Challenge:

Goal for next week:

Week 5

Progress:

Challenge:

Goal for next week:

Week 6

Progress:

Challenge:

Goal for next week:

 Many times they find that the goals that they had originally set out in their project proposal do not match those that they are achieving in class. Some work faster than the original goals, some not so much. After they have completed their project they will fill out a project reflection sheet where they reflect on the process of creating their project and delivering it to society. They will also be included in a discussion where we discuss each other's projects and their benefits to our community.

Here is what the Project Reflection looks like:

How did your project go?

What went well?

What didn’t go the way you expected?

What would you do differently next time?

What did others think of your project?

 The students seem to love their projects so much that they are known to work on them over snack-time.

They also work on them any free time chance they get, not just the hour a week on Fridays.

In our class, you can see students working on video games that they're designing, building pieces of their project, and making signs for a sale. The group making the play has gone so far as to draw a crowd of other students in our class during the rehearsals to watch and give feedback during the process. They've also been creating their own little comedy bits. I can't wait to see the show. One student has actually finished a lovely table for Debra, our admissions and marketing director. It was a fabulous surprise for her.

Each student not only has the responsibility of creating their own project, but also of helping each other out with their project. They can give feedback to other students, or be a mentor to students that do not know how to use the technology that is provided. Part of the project is helping the other students build on their knowledge.

On Monday we will be presenting our project time projects, albeit in progress, to the school during the morning meeting. We will discuss the purpose of our project, the process of our project, and what our projects actually are. We will be doing this first thing in the morning on Monday morning, so if you could make it that would be amazing.

To see the actual Project Document, follow this link.