Class 3 Homework Ch 4 - Pitfalls to avoid!

[Jane Krauss]

You've done projects before. What pitfalls can you anticipate and avoid? Let's teach each other. I'll go first.

[Jane Krauss]

I have a habit of deciding everyone needs to learn everything equally no matter how trivial. If kids jigsaw to teach each other and EVERYONE learns the Big Ideas I should let up. I have to design for these outcomes.

[Crista Lawson]

Some pitfalls I have had with projects is that there was no clear concept of where we were going. There was a set of activities but not all of the activities were thoughtfully planned out. I also had lack luster endings or culminations of projects. I was short on learning outcomes.

[Sarah B. Jones]

Ohhh... I am so guilty of this charge as well.

[Deirdre]

Since I am so late to respond to this assignment, I thought I would respond to a few comments that also resonated with me.
As I was reading your entry Crista, I wondered if you experienced a similar problem as I have when I have attempted to present a PBL experience in my class. Like you, I have presented a set of activities that I had not worked out completely, because of this lack of cohesion between exercises, when it came time to complete the project, student interest has dropped off, and the unit fizzled in the end. Rather than call attention to my lack of thorough planning, I concluded the unit with a content test, and had students turn in what ever project component they completed. When this happened, I felt I too had "a lack luster ending or culmination of the project.”

I too feel I was short on learning outcomes - It seems to me the struggle that we are all presented with is an accurate method by which learning outcomes can be measured.

[Barbara Forester]

Reflecting on the projects I have done in the past, I would say my biggest pitfall was final outcome. The focus wasn't clear and the outcomes did not justify what the students had learned in the process. I need to find "right-sized" projects that better fits the learning.

[Jamie Nicholsen]

I struggle with what exactly I want students to get from the project. Usually my projects end with the same culminating project, and usually it is the students regurgitating the information I have given them in some other way. I also struggle assessing these final projects.

[Aimee Orr]

Argh, this is a confessional. In my first year of teaching I have abandoned one project (a Middle Ages simulation that was confusing and chaotic) and altered another (iMovie, using laptop captures rather than the handheld video cameras with which the kids roamed the school). The first project was hampered by my lack of expertise, and several groups poorly placed. Additionally, the final outcomes were unclear for several of the "rungs" of the unit. For the iMovie project, it had a happy ending, but I wish I had been more aware of the ins and outs of loading film onto a computer (and how it can take FOREVER, esp. with one and only one firewire) and given the students clearer expectations. Proper prior planning, as my old boss used to say...I definitely need to spend more time (because we all have so much of that, right?) planning and test-driving.

Boy, I should take Project 101, simply from the above acknowledgement! :0)

[Brian Holte]

Seems decent video products will ALWAYS take forever, newbie or newb-ish or old like some of us. Kudos for learning by jumping into the fire (damn flames!).

[Sarah B. Jones]

I have abandoned projects before (don't feel too bad Aimee). Actually, it was a class digital story that took on a life of its own and then was delayed and put off because of Korean language class.
I think the biggest pitfall I have encountered in my projects was not clearly defining perimeters for the project. I have learned to incorporate a rubric so students know what they are being graded on.
RUBRICS, RUBRICS, RUBRICS that is the lesson of my first year. When the expectations are clearly stated, the students will increase the quality of their work to meet those standards.

One of the other pitfalls is time limits. Sometimes I have planned a project, thinking it wouldn't take as long as it did. Other times a project can be interrupted by TESTING, (rawrrrr) and we sort of get of track.

[Brian Holte]

I agree that the clarity of rubrics aid and guide and raise the students' work . . . and help me be that much clearer, too.

[Deirdre]

I feel like you, new to this process. I find myself developing my rubric after I give the assessment. I find that I am developing my expectations I see the type of product that the students present. I believe the use of the rubric, as a guide for student achievement, means that students design their products much more creatively. Unfortunately, I find it difficult to develop a rubrics.

[DJ Ellis]

Some of my pitfalls in projects have been planning to do too much in one class period. This can be overwhelming for some students and sometimes the learning process can feel rushed.