Amber Hobson
Chapter 10
Celebrating and Reflecting
Wrapping up a project is a very important step in the project. You should take the time to plan in advance what it is you plan to do when the project comes to an end. Students will want to know, so they have something to look forward too. Culminating activities celebrate the journey, reminding learners of where they have been and what they gained along the way. Having the end of a project be a meaningful experience for your students, is a great things for the students to plan for and look forward to celebrating their achievements.
Reflect on the journey, taking the time to reflect helps students feel good about their accomplishments, but more importantly reflection can be the thing that makes learning really stick. Reflection is very important to students, it is the acknowledged as being an essential element in learning. It is always good to set aside time foe conscious reflection throughout the project, things like what have they learned and what they enjoyed learning, and also what they want to learn in projects to come.
Building tradition and identity is something great to have for a school. You can be able to say "We are the school where kids get to..." Having a school that is known for doing something special will make students feel special. A lot of schools do many different things for their names to be known and what these schools share is a sense of tradition and an expectation of excellence.
There are so many ways that you can celebrate the end of a project with a class. You can display students work, put on some sort of event, create a blog, or even hold a party. Anyway you choose to celebrate learning, and build your schools identity as a place where students can get to learn through projects. When you are planning a celebration you will want to include an opportunity to look back one more time. Acknowledgment of how hard work and commitment contributed to the success of the project and a culture of excellence at your school. Appreciation for those who helped. A display of the learning, including both student creations and presentations. A look inside the learners with opportunities for them to talk about their processes and growth. Also an opportunity to showcase projects to colleagues,administrators, parents, and others in your larger learning community.
I like how you noted that students need to "celebrate" their learning. I think that by saying this to your students makes learning more fun and not so standardized and boring!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas about creating tradition! I believe tradition is so important, not only in schools but also within classes. It really soldifies a sense of community and camraderie amongst students,and encourages them to do their best, knowing that other students will see their work in the future. I really like how you said "an expectation of excellence"- it is so true that students need a motivation to do their best, and tradition is one way that accomplishes that well.
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