The last week has been crazy in my classroom. Last year I assigned students to complete their website/portfolio over the last 7 school days and it went pretty well. I did have some students finish early and they seemed to shut down a little early. So this year I added an “independent study project” on top of their portfolio to fill in any down time. I am now debating if it was a mistake due to time constraints. Not only is it stressing my students to get it all done in time, it is stressing me out even more since I worry for about half of them getting it done. I will have a lot of upset parents if I give them an incomplete or “E” on their report card.
However, I am seeing about 20 kids at lunch and after school working very hard.
A few students are even doing movies that appear to take much more time than the other projects options, but are having a ton of fun. I strongly encouraged them to film everything outside of class, which I think has given students more freedom and flexibility. Some students made costumes for their silent film, while another made a ShamWow infomercial in front of a green screen.
Even though it is stressful, I am seeing great results and I feel good setting the bar high, even if I have to be a step they can use.
Only two days left to work and it seems like some students are only half way. Some students are planning coming to class Sunday afternoon and Monday before and after school. Wish us luck.
Have you ever questioned assigning too much?
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Wow! This seems amazing. I can understand the stress and pressure. However, when they see the results, it will all be worth it. I am interested to know the basics of the assignment and if you had to teach them how to use all the technology. That seems to be my biggest concern is teaching how to use the technology. Assigning too much is always an issue - especially when it comes time to grade it! Have fun.
ReplyDeleteBasically I gave the students 6 different options on what they could do. Very open ended. Two options were on software that was never used before. I created some video tutorials, and I directed them to some YouTube videos as well. The idea was learn more about a piece of software and take it a step further. For example some students knew how to use Google Sketchup but learned about Sketchyphysics.
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