Every Friday from March – May students were given time to work on their project and in May they had to present something to the class.  These projects are not graded, the only incentive from a school perspective was that if they presented a project they did not have to take the final exam. It is important to emphasize a “school” perspective because through this process students found many reasons to continue but I don’t think most would relate them to school or traditional academics.

No grades?  No guidelines?  Freedom every Friday?  I really wasn’t sure this was going to work and I doubted the process every week from February – May.  Observing the students, many were excited, some were confused or lost and a few seemed not to focus at all.  Again, I thought ” this is going to be a disaster.”

Fast forward to May and 100% of the students completed a project and gave a presentation.  The majority of them blew me out of the water.  One student raised $35,000 for and organization that helps bring clean water to a small village in Africa.  This was after he researched modifications to the current structures being used in hopes to lower the over all cost.  Another student created videos and a guide book for Spanish speakers new to the country and looking to be employed.  She felt that there was some basic common words and phrases that if they could master would increase their chances of employment.  Another student researched the popular concept of “clean eating” and recorded what physical and emotional effects it had on her over the 60 days.  Her presentation was so fascinating you could hear a pin drop and no one wanted to present after her amazing job.  These are just a few examples but truly I could go on.

A new school year, a new group of students.  Should I do the project again?  It might not work the second time around. 

I reviewed the feedback the classes gave me from the year before and overwhelmingly they said it was an amazing experience and THANKED ME (yep, pretty cool).  

One piece of feedback was they wanted more time so this year I introduced the project in January when we returned from Christmas break.  There is a lot that goes into the introduction to get them in the right “mental space” for this project but those details are for another Blog (yikes).  

This time around I did not provide any guidelines on topics but all other parameters were the same.  And off they went…some students knew right away what they wanted to do and others struggled a bit.  After 3 weeks students had to give an “elevator pitch” to the class about their project.  Two reasons for the elevator pitch: first, when you say something out loud it is more likely to happen and second, I encourage them to seek help and connections from those around them.

I had a lot of doubt between January -May.   Not ALL used their time wisely on Fridays – or maybe they did.  Some had to put in several hours outside of school and an occasional Friday was used to catch up on other things.  I can’t control that and letting it go is not always easy but for this experience it IS necessary.

Fast forward and its May, I am really worried that I will be disappointed and the project will be a failure….and then they start presenting.  One student who lost her mom to cancer has created an event with her dad to raise money for an organization that helps fund patients to attend clinical trials.  Another student wanted to design his own shoe. While researching how to do this he realized it was a bigger project and shifted gears to see if he could design older shoes into something someone would want to wear.  He hand painted various used shoes and brought them to show as the final project.  He had fellow students placing orders by the time he was done.  Another student had always wanted to understand Liver transplants and why they were so complicated.   Two students studied diet, exercise and stress as it related to their own health.  One deals with debilitating migraines and the other severe anxiety.  By making some changes, based on research they had done, and charting their experience over 60+ days they made some very powerful discoveries that will be impactful as they move onto college.

Again, I was blown away by the effort and interest the students gave this ungraded project.  In the evaluations they reflected positively on the process and thanked me for giving them the time and reason to pursue something they wanted.

Will I do it again in 2020?  Probably.  I will make some modifications but overall I love the opportunity it gives the students.   It also challenge me to “let go” and see what happens……