The First Unit is Done!

Wow...
Those three weeks flew.
I think the students thought so too.

Well it does help that when you have three weeks,
but procrastinate for two,
then realize through self and peer assessment that you actually have very little done,
now you have to learn a whole unit in a week,
that 'Ain't nobody got time for that!'

Wow...
The feedback process was intense - roughly 60 projects reviewed in one weekend...

Ugh...

Well - I knew the first one would be hard... and a little bad...
and for some it was.

There were a few who really don't have much...
There are a few that have copied ideas from one source onto their 'project'...
There are a few which only seemed to complete one component of the unit but not get to the others...
There are many who covered most of the ideas...
There are many who tried to reword the information to show their understanding
There are many who made PowToons & videos...
There are a few who planned and executed their own labs...
There are a few who gave amazing detail on ideas on complex ideas just because they were super interested!

Okay... so what do we do...

Regroup and discuss next steps:
1. Create Learning Goals and Success Criteria for their rewritten curriculum
2. Put them into check lists so students can mark off what they have accomplished
3. Go through final products and give feedback on progress and next steps
4. Discuss feedback with students - create goals for next project
5. Set them up for more success upfront

Plans:
Get two experts from unit one to meet with the students who will be investigating that unit next.
Explain what the important things to focus on are, what was most challenging and what was the easiest to get through.
Share what the focus of their project was and how they presented their understanding.

What does this do for us:
Gives students new to the unit a head start on ideas.
Tells students where to focus their energy early.
Most importantly gives students two more go-tos if they have questions so that students can start collaborating to share knowledge and ideas.

Okay Unit Two - We're coming for you...
We expect this to go a bit smoother, faster and for students to use their progress in unit one in order to find more success...