Classroom Projects: Blessing or Curse?

[Emily Serafa Manschot]

Last night I was grading papers at the kitchen table, my usual hang-out between 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM almost every night. My husband was in the living room watching a new program called "In The Middle". Suddenly he yelled out "'Milia! Turn on channel 7!" I reached for the remote and turned to the proper channel. Here is this poor little kid, about 10 or 11 years old, discussing his school project with his mother. He just happened to be building an ancient pyramid...out of SUGAR CUBES! I screamed out loud! Now, I know that most people who read this may find this unremarkable...except that we did the same project when our son was in middle school! I remembered going to two supermarkets and buying all the sugar cubes they had. Eric glued them in place, and then my husband, the ultimate artist, airbrushed the pyramid the honey gold graham cracker color of the pyramids of Egypt.

I immediately picked up my phone and called our son, who is student teaching in Charlotte, MI. He was unimpressed and didn't think much of what was happening on the program. He responded, "What middle school kid HASN'T done a stupid project like that?"

I often thought that I'd take my middle school mom comedy routine on the road. Included would not only be the sugar cube projects, but the country reports. When Eric was in the sixth grade, the class studied Europe. Students had to choose three countries to do a report, with all the requirements spelled out neatly on a rubric and included a visual aid and, as a contribution to the class pot luck dinner, a typical dish of the country involved. The students were asked to submit the names of three European countries, in order of preference, that they would like to investigate in depth. Well, since Eric had been to Europe, he chose, in this order, Spain, France and England. What country did he get? Lichtenstein!!!

I assume that most people who read this blog know where Lichtenstein was, but most middle schoolers wouldn't have a clue. Well, if anyone were to do a report on Lichtenstein, Eric would be your man. He actually has been to Lichtenstein with one of our student group tours. We had a lovely sausage lunch in front of the castle. His visual aid was his passport, stamped at the Lichtenstein Tourist Center (for a fee of one Swiss franc). His contribution to the pot luck consisted of a strudel that I ordered from a local bakery.

In the seventh grade, the class studied, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Every student got a different country and was expected to produce a 30 page magazine on the country, with a rubric sent home to the parent. The content for each page was explained on a detailed rubric. Since Eric had a good part of a year to do this, we had him do a little every weekend.

So what country did he get this time? His friends were getting China, Egypt...tons of information...well, he drew Nicaragua! So, I thought, "Piece of cake...they speak Spanish there...". But the information was not to be found. Anywhere. (By the way, this was the early 90s. The Internet hadn't come into full swing.) I was able to help Eric with the literature page--we translated a poem by the great Rubén Darío. I bought a tourist guide for Central America. Basically, you were on your own if you went to Nicaragua, as the Central American travel boom hadn't hit. We found very little information on museums, monuments and things to do there. The only recommended restaurant was a place called Rosti Pollo. I also could not find a Nicaraguan cookbook, and couldn't find any authentic recipes, so I got a Guatemalan cookbook and we faked it. (By the way, Eric got 300 points out of a possible 300, and I guess I helped him earn about half of that).

Do we remember any of the information from this project? I doubt it. Was it a good learning experience? It was great to be with my son, but I'd rather have him collecting bugs and leaves and labeling those instead of writing a meaningless report. Eric has told me that the best project he ever did was in the ninth grade, thanks to Mr. Bill Dicks, a colleague of mine from Northville High School. Eric and my husband toured the community to find and report on geological formations. I think that's why he majored in geology.

I hate school projects, probably from being on the mom side and seeing the parents practically do the projects (and I'm as guilty as the rest). I rarely assign them to my students, except when they involve using language. I don't want my classroom littered with poster board collages, shoe box dioramas, temples made out of soap or presentations that they read and do not speak from the heart. I have seen college professors and administrators fall asleep either during student presentations or while observing a teacher's class for a formal evaluation.

But I have seen good projects, too. My colleague Karenda Seiler is the queen of projects. Her Spanish 4 students do some good ones, learn about the culture and have a good time.

I just don't think I'll be assigning any projects in the near future.

Are you a project person?

[Margaret Cottrill]

Emilia,
This is a great topic. Look at how much discussion it has produced. Should we do something about this in our next newsletter? Do you have any ideas as to how to do this? Let's discuss next Sat.

[Susan Formento Buffa]

I think that throwing projects out completely is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Yes, I agree, there are some projects better left undone, but if the projects are meaningful, they can be a great learning experience for students. They also need to be structured in such a way that the kids can complete them, and a group project needs to be structured so that all students are involved. It is tricky business, but it can be done. Sherry, your projects sound great!

[Sherry Amorocho]

Hola Emily!
I always enjoy reading your blog posts. However, I am a big project based learning fan. i usually have my students work cooperatively on a culminating group project for each thematic unit. Here is a selection of what they did for our unit with affirmative tú commands & driving vocabulary. I do think there is a very big difference in the type of project I assign my students and your son's sugar cube experience. The projects include vocabulary and grammar concepts in context for some kind of communicative purpose. Usually the students audience is their classmates, but I hope to be able to share some of these with other students outside their classroom as well. Almost 90% of the work in done in class, and I use Web 2.0 applications to give students experience with these tools. With many projects I also let students have a say in the process. Unlike your son's teacher, if he wanted to pick Spain, he should do his project on Spain. Most of the projects can be done in 2-3 days. They are a nice way to assess student learning other than a traditional test, and they allow students with other talents a chance to shine. Preparation is the key to a successful project, and there is a lot of work in making sure all members of the group contribute equally and work well together.