"What will we do with all of that time?" they ask. "The students can't sit still for 40 minutes, much less 60."
Of course they can't, I think. And why should they? Who wants to sit around listening to teachers talk for two-thirds of an hour?
"If the students work on projects, you'll see that 60 minutes isn't really that long at all," I say. Many reply not-so-sheepishly that they have no idea what that looks like. Admittedly, they don't know where to begin, and the notion of shifting from a traditional lecture-worksheet-test style to a student-centered project-based class is frightening.
There isn't a lot of good, detailed blueprints for projects in various subjects, so I understand their fears, even though I use project-based assessment in language arts all year.
So, where do you go for helpful ideas for creating good projects in different subject areas?
And we have to be careful...what we think is a good project might NOT be engaging for the students. If they dont want to learn, any length of class time is too long.
ReplyDeleteRight, selecting the right project is critical to engagement. One thing that has worked well for me is creating a menu of choices and allowing the students to choose. I only care about the final result -- demonstrating mastery of learning outcomes. How they get there is secondary.
DeleteI think projects are best when they have a real audience. That's why I ask local companies how my students can help them. In our Lit/Comp class, students have done marketing research, advertisements, business websites, and social media campaigns.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent way to get students to make a real-world connection. Plus, having community leaders involved in school can never hurt. Thanks for sharing this.
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