My students are diligently working on final projects to culminate our class reading of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I’d like to post some of their work here on the blog, so I’ve made a page for their projects. I’m not sure how this is going to work or how quickly it’ll happen, but this is my goal.
One of the reasons I believe they are working so hard is choice. They were given 8 engaging project options and then given a final 9th option to come up with anything else that is creative and shows me they understand Steinbeck’s purpose (the big idea). My students have come up with some pretty cool ideas – I love it when they think of things I never thought of.
What is most rewarding about assigning projects that students take and run with is that I get time to watch them work independently with internal motivation. This means less classroom management, so I can actually spend time getting to know my students better and keep tabs on the progress of their project. All around, this unit has gone very well and I’m excited to see the results I get from this project – the learners will present on Thursday.
