Have you ever been to a restaurant where they let you
build your own meal? After weeks of agonizing about how to end our digital
citizenship unit, a trip to Friendly's inspired an idea. On the table was a pad
with options for build your own burger. Although, I didn't want a burger, I
really wanted to fill out the burger order form. When you love your curriculum
and the technology, sometimes it’s hard to make a decision about what to cut. I
knew I wanted to do a project but I kept vacillating between topics, audience,
and mediums for the project. A few days
prior, our Superintendent had mentioned incorporating student choice into our
curriculum. On Sunday morning while contemplating an end-of- unit-project, I
was thinking Aaaahhhhh! I can’t decide what should be the
focus of this project; I should just let the kids decide. A perfect storm of recent experiences and
necessity, and the Build-Your-Own-Project was
born.
Like me wanting to complete the build-your-own-burger
order form, my students were drawn to the idea of building their own project. I
have never seen students get so excited about a project.
Choice is such a motivator. It sets students up for success as they can play to their strengths. I also really like how you have students choose an audience. (No where is the teacher an option!) Many teachers that I work with are starting to have students make academic choices. I'm definitely going to share your form idea. Thanks!
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