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Teaching Diary 31: Practical Research
Feb. 26th, 2024 02:46 pmAs you might remember, this year I ended up with a middle school "projects-based research" class, a class with no curriculum, something that got added because the Ring Leader knows all the good educational buzzwords but has no clue how to implement anything. I've managed to keep us going with projects. They aren't, strictly speaking, Project Based Learning, which has some very specific elements. I decided to look at this class as a way to get kids to practice their English reading and writing skills, and if I could make the research practical, I would.
We're working on a Dream Vacation project right now. I set a budget, a timeline, and required them to plan a trip for themselves and one adult. It's been fun watching them realize how much things cost. I have students who are dreaming big, looking for 5-star hotels, and others who are trying to spend as little money as possible.
We are also learning some practical digital navigation skills. For example, a student was getting frustrated because he couldn't find a train from one city to another. I hopped on my computer to help him out -- only to discover that the reason he couldn't find a train was because the first destination he chose was on an island! 😂 It was a good lesson for him to remember to look at the big picture from time to time and not get bogged down in the minutiae. In some ways, this project reminds me of an Oregon Trail project we did in middle school. We were given characters and families and we had to plan a trip from Missouri to Oregon. I remember agonizing over packing my wagon. We had a weight limit of something like 2,000 pounds. I was so careful, and so when we had things like flooded crossings to face and had to ditch weight from our wagons, I lost vital barrels of salt pork and such, while this complete GOOFBALL student who brought TWO PIANOS with him was able to sail through those obstacles, and it WASN'T FAIR BECAUSE HE WASN'T TAKING THE ASSIGNMENT SERIOUSLY, MRS. ROBINSON!!! WHY DOES HE GET TO SURVIVE WHILE I DIE OF CHOLERA IN NEVADA?????
Whew. Okay. I still have some Feelings about something that happened over twenty years ago.
I gotta see if I can find this game so I can play it with my class.
We're working on a Dream Vacation project right now. I set a budget, a timeline, and required them to plan a trip for themselves and one adult. It's been fun watching them realize how much things cost. I have students who are dreaming big, looking for 5-star hotels, and others who are trying to spend as little money as possible.
We are also learning some practical digital navigation skills. For example, a student was getting frustrated because he couldn't find a train from one city to another. I hopped on my computer to help him out -- only to discover that the reason he couldn't find a train was because the first destination he chose was on an island! 😂 It was a good lesson for him to remember to look at the big picture from time to time and not get bogged down in the minutiae. In some ways, this project reminds me of an Oregon Trail project we did in middle school. We were given characters and families and we had to plan a trip from Missouri to Oregon. I remember agonizing over packing my wagon. We had a weight limit of something like 2,000 pounds. I was so careful, and so when we had things like flooded crossings to face and had to ditch weight from our wagons, I lost vital barrels of salt pork and such, while this complete GOOFBALL student who brought TWO PIANOS with him was able to sail through those obstacles, and it WASN'T FAIR BECAUSE HE WASN'T TAKING THE ASSIGNMENT SERIOUSLY, MRS. ROBINSON!!! WHY DOES HE GET TO SURVIVE WHILE I DIE OF CHOLERA IN NEVADA?????
Whew. Okay. I still have some Feelings about something that happened over twenty years ago.
I gotta see if I can find this game so I can play it with my class.
