To Our Students and Parents,
I wanted to let you know a little bit about the project we’ll be taking on for the Spring Semester this year called the “Civic Engagement Project.”
This idea originated from the Google Corporation. Google afforded their employees the opportunity to allot 20% of their working time to pet projects, something that their job description didn't cover, but was important to the employee. This business practice has created some of the most innovative ideas to ever come out of Google. Some educators, including the facilitators at Shasta Charter Academy, are extending this idea to the "classroom" in hopes that it will foster creativity, intrinsic motivation to learn, and innovation. This is completely in line with the ideals of Personalized Learning. Being a Personalized Learning educator I am encouraged to "think outside the classroom," and the cross-curricular skills necessary to complete this project along with the innate collaboration element will help to develop critical thinking skills.
This is a project-based-learning assignment that spans the entire Spring Semester and encourages students to pursue a creative interest they would otherwise not experience in our academic program at Shasta Charter Academy.
I wanted to let you know a little bit about the project we’ll be taking on for the Spring Semester this year called the “Civic Engagement Project.”
This idea originated from the Google Corporation. Google afforded their employees the opportunity to allot 20% of their working time to pet projects, something that their job description didn't cover, but was important to the employee. This business practice has created some of the most innovative ideas to ever come out of Google. Some educators, including the facilitators at Shasta Charter Academy, are extending this idea to the "classroom" in hopes that it will foster creativity, intrinsic motivation to learn, and innovation. This is completely in line with the ideals of Personalized Learning. Being a Personalized Learning educator I am encouraged to "think outside the classroom," and the cross-curricular skills necessary to complete this project along with the innate collaboration element will help to develop critical thinking skills.
This is a project-based-learning assignment that spans the entire Spring Semester and encourages students to pursue a creative interest they would otherwise not experience in our academic program at Shasta Charter Academy.
How Does The Project Work?
Brainstorming, Address a Civic Need
First, students will begin brainstorming and researching ideas for a project proposal. Students may work alone or in small teams (no larger than three students.) While brainstorming, students are encouraged to make the project “Product Focused” and centered on a social “need.” In other words, contributing to the real world where there is an apparent void. At the end of the year, we want them to have made something that is a completed product. It could be a physical product like a graphic novel that addresses the concerns of an underrepresented population or a balloon that takes photos from the stratosphere to help predict weather or monitor crime. It could be an organization like providing tutoring to younger students, or a community service project such as providing books to those who cannot afford them. It could also be a digital project like a short film or video game. The point here is that we want our students to passionately contribute to a community of their choice. For examples of where they could go with this, watch this YouTube video:
Written Proposal (1st Blog Post)
Once the individual/team has an idea of what project they want to pursue, they begin writing the proposal. This is how they will “pitch” the project. In this proposal, students will answer the following questions.
● What is your project?
● Who will work with you on this project?
● Who is the audience / user base / client base for this project?
● Why is this project worthwhile?
● What do you expect to learn from this project?
● What PRODUCT will you have to show at the end of the year?
● What sort of expenses will be involved in your project and how will you cover them?
● What sort of equipment will you need and where will you get it?
● What is your timeline for completing (or launching) your project?
The Civic Engagement Project Blog
Periodically throughout the semester, each student will write blog posts in which they will discuss their progress. They will write reflective, analytical, narrative, persuasive, and informational blog posts by the end of the project. Each blog post must be at least 500 words written in Standard American English and can contain related media that is posted without infringing on anyone's copyright.
Blog posts will follow a format suspiciously similar to a 5 paragraph essay. But, these are not essays! Language can be more informal. Students may use contractions, pronouns, and colloquialisms. Unlike in the standard MLA formatted essay, they will be able to express themselves more freely.
They are just blogging for English? Yeah. Through the process of blogging they will be reflecting on their experiences, sharing them with the world and each other, developing and exercising their English Language Arts skills in a real-world application that is preparing them for future careers in a high tech world, investing their time in a pursuit that is intrinsically motivating for them, all while having autonomy over their learning! So yeah, they are "just blogging."
Blog posts will follow a format suspiciously similar to a 5 paragraph essay. But, these are not essays! Language can be more informal. Students may use contractions, pronouns, and colloquialisms. Unlike in the standard MLA formatted essay, they will be able to express themselves more freely.
They are just blogging for English? Yeah. Through the process of blogging they will be reflecting on their experiences, sharing them with the world and each other, developing and exercising their English Language Arts skills in a real-world application that is preparing them for future careers in a high tech world, investing their time in a pursuit that is intrinsically motivating for them, all while having autonomy over their learning! So yeah, they are "just blogging."
Mentors
Each individual (or team) will find an adult mentor (teacher, coach, family friend, neighbor, parent, counselor just to name a few) who can help guide and inspire their project. We hope parents will play a role in helping their student find an appropriate mentor for this project. The mentor will serve to offer advice, provide informal leadership, and follow the student’s progress on their project and blog. Students should meet with their mentor a minimum of five times over the course of the project.
The Final Presentation
At the end of the year, each individual (or team) will give a five-minute presentation where they will show off their work. This will be carefully written, choreographed, and rehearsed to produce the best presentation they've ever given. Basically, "here's what I did and here's why it was so important." This is intended to be a celebration of what they have accomplished.
Assessment
Many students and parents understandably ask about how we will grade the project. We want to try to de-emphasize the grade because extrinsic motivators like grades tend to discourage the innovation and creativity we are looking for in this project. We want students to be inspired by the project itself, not by the grade they’re going to get on it.
With that being said, students will be assessed according to the objective elements of the project. A significant portion of their English grade will be dependent on the following elements with rubrics associated with them.
With that being said, students will be assessed according to the objective elements of the project. A significant portion of their English grade will be dependent on the following elements with rubrics associated with them.
● The Written Proposal (1st blog post): Is the proposal on-time, and does it address the required questions appropriately? Is the pitch informative? Do they have a good action plan? Have they set achievable yet challenging benchmarks?
● The blog posts: Do the posts meet the required length and are they successfully published to their blog on time?
● Productivity and Action Plan Benchmarks: Is the student spending their time actively and passionately working on the project? If not, we need to quickly adjust the project so they are working on something that is intrinsically motivating. This is less objective, but if students are not being productive, an intervention may be necessary.
● Final Presentation: Does your presentation meet all of the required elements?
What if my project is a failure? What if I do not accomplish the goal for my physical project?
In an English course, there is a place for perfection. Essays, quizzes, and sentence mechanics come to mind. The Civic Engagement Project is no such place.
The only truly failed project is the one that doesn’t get done. We want students to strive to show off a successful product at the end of the year, but we don’t want the quest for perfection to lead to an incomplete project. We want students to follow the advice plastered on the wall of Facebook’s headquarters.
The only truly failed project is the one that doesn’t get done. We want students to strive to show off a successful product at the end of the year, but we don’t want the quest for perfection to lead to an incomplete project. We want students to follow the advice plastered on the wall of Facebook’s headquarters.
This policy doesn't work in all work-related environments. I wouldn't want to see this poster in the dentist's office or the parachute-packing assembly line. But for creative projects where we're trying to innovate, I find this idea very compelling.
If you feel that your project is a failure, we want to hear about it. What did you learn about it? Think about a science fair project. If your hypothesis was wrong, was your project a failure?
Also, I would like to credit an awesome English teacher, Andrew Moriates, for much of the inspiration and content for this project. Thanks dude, our students and local community will benefit greatly from your inspiring ideas.
Do you still have questions? Leave them in the comment section.