Leading Project Based Schools

I walked into HTHI and stood in awe as I took it all the beautiful scenery around me.   I knew this was going to be a challenge but I was so eager to begin to produce pieces with my students to be on display, hanging from the roof and decorating any empty space.  The Odyssey ended and I hit the ground running; I explained the series of projects that we would be completing in about 17 weeks.  I did notice the jaws drop as I explained to my classes the expectations, projects, deadlines, and general structure of the class, but I kept right on going, not flinching a bit at the terrified looks I was seeing.

Here are the six projects that most students completed.     

1. Mi Escudo (Coat of Arms-Present, past and future tense)

                        2. En el restaurante (ordering/table etiquette)

3.  Dia de los Muertos (analysis of idioms/cultural expressions and Latin American  traditions)

            4. El Aeropuerto

5. El noticiero (news broadcast)          

6. I-Search (semester long research Project. 

I thought that leading a project based school meant that projects had to be going on all the time.  Needless to say but the end of the first semester I was doubled over in physical pain and complete exhaustion.   It wasn’t until we had a PD and discussed a piece we were asked to read by Ron Berger, about beautiful work.   I left that day with so many questions:   what was the point of the projects we were doing? Were my students being challenged?   Was I being fair in grading?   Was I scaffolding enough or properly?   How equitable was the project?  

I have learned in the last 3 years at HTHCV that leading a project based school requires so much time.   Teachers need time to collaborate, to share ideas, to tune projects, to get feedback, to observe each other.  

Keeping this in mind I wanted to honor our staffs time and use it efficiently so here is what we did. 

“Simko check this protocol out, I tweaked it a bit.”   I took 2 protocols from Power of Protocols and created a “hybrid” (Hopes and Fears and Success Analysis).   We read over the PowerPoint and made some changes, some structural and others grammatical.  

Monday morning bright and early we met for professional development.  The bagels and fruit put a smile on the faces of many staff members, while the coffee did miracles to those who were trying to recover from their weekend slumber.  Considering we had Festival del Sol on the PD calendar and that we had requested the Friday before for all teachers to bring their materials that they had for FDS (rubrics, calendars, project descriptions, room layouts etc.) it was no surprise that the majority of the teachers had a clear idea what was going to be the topic for the morning.   The classrooms were set up, the materials were ready.   We got started, at their tables teachers shared out the following:  success in past exhibitions, and for new teachers to write down on the paper cut outs in the shape of suns what they were excited about, or things that were going well in the preparation for FDS.  

• On the Sun Reflect on and write:  describe areas where you are finding success or making progress in festival planning.  Use specific details. For returning teachers, think about a successful exhibition, for new teachers something in general that has been a success.

¡  Share the Rays.   In small groups, the first person shares orally his or her case of successful practice, while the others take notes. (2 min.)

¡  Analysis and Discussion All participants offer their own insights as to why this was a success.

What has the presenter done to contribute to this success?

Identify are other factors involved?

The presenter is encouraged to participate and may be asked questions (5 minutes)

¡  Repeating the pattern

¡  The group then complies specific successful behaviors and underlying principles that seem characteristics of the cases presented.   (5 minutes)

Groups report out, posting lists.

• Cloudy with a chance of rain: What are your fears?                                                               Worries?                                                                                                          Concerns?                                                                                                                   Needs?

• Other things to think about: Thinking it through, how will my project/exhibition impact others?  How do we make this work in 2 hours, limited space…all 4 grade levels.   How do you manage space?  Logistics?  Parking?   Venues?  

We use exit cards on our campus regularly, with students, parents, and of course with staff.   Before the staff broke off into their teams, we asked them to jot down on a sticky note that we had placed on their tables to give us some warm and cool feedback.   Here are some of the comments

·         I loved that we actually came to a decision.   The map was great.   Felt like we really accomplished a lot. 

·         Liked how we talked about the space for Festival.   Very efficient.

·         Everything was planned in a amazing manner and had a great flow.

·         It was fabulous! I like that we reflected, but also got decisions made!    That is something that is important to me.

·         The suns/clouds were so cute!   Good thinking about good stuff/tips.

·         Nice job getting us organized for such a chaotic event.

·         Cool session nice to brainstorm on Festival!

·         I enjoyed the time to talk with other people and hear what they are doing; I would have like a bit more time to talk with everyone at the tale about the clouds to get more ideas.

·         I liked that we had a clear agenda for the entire process

·         I liked how well planned it was, it kept on track really well and did not feel like it dragged at all.