When students plan their own path for learning, the amount that is learned has the potential of being far greater than anything I could've planned out myself. This is true, in part, because of the great students that I have this year. However, it also speaks to the culture of my classroom and the expectations that have been set since day 1. Everyone in the room knows that I will do everything I possibly can in order to help you succeed. Week 9's update is rather brief, but very powerful in the sense of letting go of the control and passing it on to the students.
As we approach the final turn of the school year, complete our state testing regiment, and plan out to the numerous activities at the end of the year, it is still our job to plan high quality lessons that will engage and challenge our students. In the past, it has been about fun projects that get them thinking toward the opportunities they will have in high school and beyond.
This year, with the introduction of the 20% project, students are learning about their passions and beginning to form a foundation of who they want to become. Instead of suppressing a child's curiosity, why not encourage it? That's the premise of 20% time. But what if 20% isn't enough time? After the pummeling of CST review, we've moved beyond 20% and into 40% time. Yes, 40 percent of the school week in my room is dedicated to students learning about what interests them. Is it hard for me to let go of that control? Nope.
I've paced it out to where we have 6 more days of the 20% project remaining. It isn't much, but it still gives the groups a bundle of time to work through their projects and be proud of a product. Instead of me doling out the requirements, I had them reflect on what they needed to accomplish. Each group was to create an objective for each of the 6 days that they will be working. From there, I can monitor them based on their intended agenda and support them to finish on time.
This year, with the introduction of the 20% project, students are learning about their passions and beginning to form a foundation of who they want to become. Instead of suppressing a child's curiosity, why not encourage it? That's the premise of 20% time. But what if 20% isn't enough time? After the pummeling of CST review, we've moved beyond 20% and into 40% time. Yes, 40 percent of the school week in my room is dedicated to students learning about what interests them. Is it hard for me to let go of that control? Nope.
I've paced it out to where we have 6 more days of the 20% project remaining. It isn't much, but it still gives the groups a bundle of time to work through their projects and be proud of a product. Instead of me doling out the requirements, I had them reflect on what they needed to accomplish. Each group was to create an objective for each of the 6 days that they will be working. From there, I can monitor them based on their intended agenda and support them to finish on time.
We have also reached the point in the project where more students are asking about the grading of the project. They are relieved when I tell them that each group will be grading itself based on an honest reflection of whether or not they have met a certain set of criteria that we develop as a class. I'm hoping that they come up with (each based on a scale of 1-10 or something similar):
Worded all like an 8th grader, of course. With emojis.
Happy Fishing
- Quality of research
- Quality of message being delivered
- Depth of knowledge about the topic
Worded all like an 8th grader, of course. With emojis.
Happy Fishing
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