Let's Talk about the Project Spiral

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Permalink Reply by Bob Greenberg on March 7, 2010 at 4:12pm

I document my projects by making a video and posting it on our class blog http://thebrainwaves.us. At the end of each school year I burn DVDs for each student that contains all the videos we made during the year.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on March 9, 2010 at 4:52pm

Do you show the next year's kids? Seems like a great way to prime those little pumps.

Permalink Reply by Bob Greenberg on March 9, 2010 at 5:36pm

Actually, I do. I never gave a second thought it just seemed the logical thing to do ... modeling. I also show them past videos made by other classes involved in our projects. All of these videos can be found on various blogs and wikis.

Permalink Reply by George Mayo on March 8, 2010 at 3:01pm

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the TEDxNYED conference this past weekend in New York City. One of the speakers, Chris Lehmann, described a project created by a group of students at his school in Philadelphia, The Science Leadership Academy. These students created a bio diesel engine from scratch. It turns out that they managed to create a very useful bio diesel engine. Chris explained that they submitted a patent for their invention, and ended up selling many of them to small rural communities in South & Central America. It's a non-profit endeavor, so they are selling the engines for the cost of production.

I found this story to be an amazing example of what is possible in the classroom. Here's a project that was created in a high school classroom that is now being used by people in other parts of the world. Talk about the idea of the project spiral! This just totally blows me away.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on March 9, 2010 at 4:44pm

OH I was so excited to hear Chris was doing that. Is it available on video? We are big fans of Chris's. He and his staff and students put on a conference called Educon each February. It's held at SLA and it's very unconference-y.You have to go, it's the BEST. Good point about the project spiral, the best ones spiral out into the world.

Permalink Reply by Jeffrey A. Wardlaw on March 9, 2010 at 8:06pm

A video is available from Chris Lehmann's keynote at this year's PA Educational Technology Expo and Conference (PETE&C) - http://ning.peteandc.org/page/keynotes-1. From what George describes, sounds like the same/similar presentation.

Really enjoyed his PETE&C keynote (much better live than represented in the video). Played the video for our pre-service Music Education students. Prompted a healthy discussion on education reform.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on March 9, 2010 at 4:51pm

I have a few ideas of spiraling that folks might want to riff off of (and George just prompted one more):
"Spiraling" can mean:
...connecting one project to the next
...reflectively, continuously improving projects so they get better each year
...including others in projects
...shaping a community of practice, building a school culture for pbl
and as George learned from our buddy Chris Lehmann -
...spiraling beyond the school to make a difference in the world.

Permalink Reply by Jeffrey A. Wardlaw on March 9, 2010 at 8:01pm

To borrow Jane's concept of spiraling as continuously improving projects each year, I find it very valuable to get feedback from the students on what worked and what didn't, then incorporate those suggestions to help improve the project the next time around. Their suggestions have helped to refine projects over the years, as their perspectives often are quite different from my own, and help me to keep projects centered on student needs.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on March 10, 2010 at 2:08pm

How do you collect that feedback? I can imagine kids writing a reflection (could do it film review style for fun). While they are writing a critique they are also anchoring their own learning, making the learning stick.

Permalink Reply by George Mayo on March 10, 2010 at 9:52am

Hi Jane,

I have another example of a project that has the potential to spiral out of the classroom that I heard about at TEDxNYED this past weekend. Susan Morgan, a very creative teacher in Virginia, told me about a project she and her middle school students are starting this week. The students are collaborating with another classroom in Canada on the project I believe. Students are picking a world issue that is important to them, then researching all about it. Part of the project then requires students to do something that helps improve the issue they've chosen. So this is another example where a project that originates in a classroom has the potential to make a difference in the world. I also like how the students get to choose the topics, and the action they will take to make a difference. Under the guidance and help from their teacher, I'm sure they will come up with some great ideas.

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on March 10, 2010 at 12:51pm

Thanks George. This sounds a bit like Sue Boudreau's Take Action project we heard about last week. We should get her roped in with Susan Morgan :) It would be great to follow these projects and learn of their impact. What could be more empowering for kids than to make a positive difference in the world. Another project along these lines (and it begs for cross-school collaboration) is the citizen-scientist Black Cloud Project headed up by SoCal English teacher Antero Garcia.

Permalink Reply by Sue Boudreau on March 16, 2010 at 8:46pm

George, have you any way to get in touch with Susan Morgan? Thanks for the heads up Jane!

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