This week, I took a big leap with my classes. I am giving them control of the course. I've laid out the Challenges for them because they were pre-set prior to the year and other parties are depending on them. These challenges are not just "cool projects" that I will grade and then we put it away. These are actual needs that are in our community or program. Past the fact that they need to solve a problem for someone else through their work this year, I gave up the method of solving it to the class. They will determine everything from deliverable dates, grades, rubrics, even the details of what and how any lessons take place. When I announced it, one of the students looked at me a little worried. He said, "wow, that's scary." I know. I'm a little scared to. I know it will be great for them, but it's hard to give up control like that. To give the students a frame of reference so they can start off in a positive direction, they are treating this adventure as if they are starting their own company. In essence, the class is imagining that they have just decided to start a consulting firm. They have clients that they are completing projects for, and they have stockholders that they have to answer to as well. The clients are the people who are receiving the final products from their project challenges. The stockholders are our administration and school district. In the end, they must complete the projects professionally, on time, and with the highest quality. For the district, they must demonstrate that each and every member of the team (class) has mastered all of the state standards for the course and any other district requirements such as industry certifications. We started out using a deck of discussion cards from MethodKit. For this exercise, It makes sense that I am using the "MethodKit for Startups" pack at this point.
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About me & this blogThis blog is for things related to my class, PL, coaching, or just teaching in general. You can follow me on Twitter @myakSTEM Archives
June 2021
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