Learning from the Past Wrap-Up #1

March 12

I’m trying not to be discouraged. I’m trying not to back down. I’m hoping to teach my students responsibility. I’m afraid it’s not working.

The last day I gave students to work on their Learning from the Past booklets in class was March 2. At that point, the students had been working on the project for four weeks with numerous opportunities for assistance and feedback during class. I asked my students to submit their Learning from the Past booklets by March 7 to receive full credit; they are required to come see me, giving me the opportunity to go over the formatting of the booklet. Our school has a small 25-minute study hall built into the normal school day for just that purpose--extra assistance with a teacher. Each day after the 7th results in a deduction of 5 points. So as not to shock anyone when report cards came out, I entered 0s in when no one submitted booklets by March 7th. I entered 0s for 12 of 13 students. Only one student came to me on the 7th to review his booklet; he wasn’t finished yet. Today is the 12th. I’ve met with 5 of 13 students. None have submitted books yet as they needed to go in and finish certain parts or tweak what they had. Two are close, though.

Am I expecting too much? Should I back down and be easier on them? I don’t believe I required to much of these students or gave them work too hard:

• Interview
• Interview summary
• Research
• 3 research paragraphs
• 5 side-by-side comparisons
• Works Cited page
• Acknowledgment page
• Cover sheet

Each of those tasks were given anywhere from one to four full class periods except for the last two tasks, which were to be completed when they had the chance. I gave whole-class instruction, small group instruction, and one-on-one instruction; I’m not sure I could have explained it any clearer beyond doing it for them. I’d hoped the public audience--giving the booklets to the person they interviewed--would motivate the students to complete the work, but it doesn’t seem the case.

We’ve moved on to the next PBL--(In)Visibility Project--which is a group PBL. Hopefully this results in work that is more complete and better demonstrates what I know these students are capable of creating. Only time will tell, though.