A Confession: I Love Class Projects

I'm just going to throw this out there, "I love projects".  It doesn't matter if it's reading, math, science, whatever--I just love projects.  Giving students a large scale (or long-scale) project, seeing them attack problems, deciding where to start, and/or working within a group is one of the best things we can do as teachers (I don't have any data to back that last statement up).  Yes, it takes a lot of work to make sure students are progressing and making appropriate--but it's what we do.

Let me clarify this a little more:  I love projects that take place in the classroom.
I don't always trust projects that go home then come back a little too perfect.  Yes, your parents can get an "A" too.

We also need to bring back science fairs!

/I'm going to step off my soapbox.

Before you get mad and tell me projects are a hassle let me tell you the positives that happen when they're done correctly:

• Collaboration and Cooperation (two completely different ideas, both equally important)
• Stirs creativity and imagination
• Creates problem solvers
• Allows for immediate feedback from peers and their own self-reflection/assessment
• It integrates technology more efficiently
• Connections to the real-world

I've begun creating project based learning activities for my students because I've seen the positive impact in their engagement levels and also allows for multiple modalities of their own learning to be used.  Some of these projects are shorter single day events while other may take a month.  It doesn't matter which kind I use, just that my students stretch their learning potential.

If you're looking to incorporate more project based learning opportunities in your class, might I suggest trying out Geometrocity: A City Made of Math.  This can be completed individually, within a group, or even as a class project.  Your students will literally be designing, planning, and building a city using geometry.

Check out a Preview on TPT or on Google Drive, here.

A great luxury of having a daughter in elementary school is that she always wants to try out what I create. She is my quality control.  So her and a friend spent an afternoon creating building,s using nets, to create 3D model of their city.

                          

        And is it really a surprise that the first building she made was Target?  Nope.  We love Target.

                            

To see more pictures and pages jump over to my blog and check it out.