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This year, along with your students, I will be attempting something brand new to my classroom and something rather new to education as a whole.
In 2004, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin outlined a new idea in business, a concept that would come to be called the 20 Percent Rule. Google had found that some of their best products: Gmail, Google Maps, and many others began as small side projects. Their engineers were squeezing in time to play around with passion projects. Some of these went nowhere, but others become company defining hits. They decided to encourage these sorts of innovations by allowing their engineers to use twenty percent of their week on their own projects.
The 20 Percent Rule was quickly seized upon by educators, chief among them Kevin Brookhouser, whose book and work in this field has encouraged many teachers to try to give their students a opportunity to pursue their own interests to better their educations.
What Does This Project Look Like?
What Does This Project Look Like?
This project is open ended. You can pursue nearly any idea you find interesting. But it must follow the following guiding principles:
- This must be your project. You know the kid at the science fair with the ridiculously polished project? The one you know was helped every step of the way by their father, who may have taken over at a certain point and done the whole thing? Don't be that kid. This is your project and while the adults in your life can help, it should be you doing the research and ultimately making it happen.
- There must be a product. Whatever you create, it must have a product at the end. It can be a film, a book, a short album of original music, a play, or almost anything else, but it must be a concrete product.
- Your project must be important. You must create something that you, personally, are passionate about. This project should get you excited and should be something that you think will make the people in our community excited for you.
- You must convince the class that your project is possible. Your first step will be to create a five minute pitch presenting your project's purpose and importance. You will have to create a timeline and outline the resources/materials you will need.
- You must document your process. Your second step will be to decide how you are going to report on your process. You may choose to create a personal website, use Instagram, or make use of any other resource you are comfortable with. But, you will additionally have to report weekly via Google Forms.
Okay, take a deep breath. We're going to get through this project together.
Step One: The Pitch
Step One: The Pitch
For this section of the project, imagine that you are looking for investors in your project. You want to convince your listeners that your project has a PURPOSE, WILL CREATE A PRODUCT, and CAN BE DONE IN THE TIME PROVIDED. To do that prepare a three to five minute presentation outlining the answers to the following questions:
- What is your goal?
- Explain what the product will be.
- State your purpose as simply as possible.
- Why does this project matter?
- Why are you interested in the project?
- What do you hope your project will bring to the community?
- What resources will you need?
- What will you need to be successful?
- How much will your materials cost?
- Who will mentor you through this process?
- As an English and Language arts teacher, I can help with a number projects, but consider the other adults in your life, are there others who may be able to help you reach your goals?
- If your project demands that you visit other communities, who will be your guide?
- What will you have done at each of the eight class check ins?
- Remember that you will have a two weeks and four in-class hours between each check in, set specific goals with the understanding that you will be scored on the achievement of the goals you set.
- How will you determine success?
How Will This Project Be Graded?
How Will This Project Be Graded?
While grades are explicitly not the goal of this project, you will receive credit based on the following:
The Pitch
Your three to five minute presentation will be assessed as a speech.
Weekly Check Ins
During your pitch, you will establish a timeline setting a series of goals you will have to achieve to make your dream a reality. Every week you will report on your progress for a score.
Product Presentation
In a TED style talk you will present both your product and the steps along the process.
What if I have no idea what I want to do?
What if I have no idea what I want to do?
The fact is that some of us find this project anxiety producing to the max. Some of you are probably confronting a wall of fear and ideas that are going no where. To get you started, answer the following questions in an email to me and I will help you brainstorm a project.
- What do you do when you’re supposed to be doing something else like homework?
- What do you do in your free time?
- If you had the chance to get your dream job right now, what would that job be?
- In ten years, what do you want your lifestyle to look like?
Suggested Projects
Suggested Projects
- Podcast discussing a specific topic of interest to you
- Short stop motion film retelling a classic story
- A video game designed in something like Valve's SDK
- A graphic novel
- Interview senior citizens and document their personal histories
- Record and produce an original album
- Create a tutoring program helping area grade schoolers
- Poetry compilation
Step 2: TED Talk
Step 2: TED Talk
You will deliver a three-to-five minute speech on your Twenty Percent project, explaining what you did and, more importantly, what you learned from the project.
You will deliver a three-to-five minute speech on your Twenty Percent project, explaining what you did and, more importantly, what you learned from the project.
Instructions:
Instructions:
- The speech should inform the audience about your project in an interesting way. Your speech should be interesting, entertaining, and leave the audience feeling that we learned something valuable from your presentation.
- Your presentation must include a visual element (Powerpoint, Google Slides, or Prezi) to help illustrate your topic and to maintain your audience’s attention. The purpose of a visual aid is to add interest with charts, photos, video clips, screenshots, maps, etc. You should not read sentences directly from slides, which will bore your audience. To prevent this, your visual aid must contain a minimum of three slides with a total maximum of 50 words, no matter how many additional slides you add. Keep in mind that any video clips will not be counted in your three-to-five minute time limit.
- You must submit a formal outline of your speech prior to speaking. This will help you organize your presentation ahead of time and also help me follow the path of your presentation as you speak.
- You may use one 3x5 index card during the speech to help jog your memory. Do not write complete sentences. Use only key words or phrases that will help you stay on track. No more than 30 words are allowed on the card. Be prepared to turn in your card at the conclusion of your speech.
Begin preparing for your speech by getting your thoughts in order. Think about what you learned through this project, what your struggles were, and how you want to tell your story. Begin by answering the questions linked above
Due 4-17-19
Write an outline of your speech. Remember that while improvisation is a part of all good speaking, preparation is what makes the difference. Use the rubric as your guide as you write.
Due 4-25-19
Modeling your work by the example above, create a presentation that emphasizes showing pictures and video, rather than text. Write no more than 50 words total on your presentation slides.
Due 4-30-19
We will all confront the dark night of the soul in the course of this project.
Brave it.
Overcome it.
Create something new.
Learn how to do it better next time.
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