Last week I wrote about a student weather report project that I’m doing with my classes. I gave them three days to develop a weather report that included all of the content that was taught to them during this unit. Overall, the working phase of this project went about as expected. I still feel like time management is a skill that most junior high students simply don’t grasp yet, but this problem isn’t limited to my classroom. This is a a junior high thing.
I introduced the project by modeling what a superb project looks like. I actually had one student pretend that they were the teacher and that I was the student. I gave a flawless presentation if I must say so. 
I then asked the class for feedback on what I did really well and what I could have done better. They had a tough time finding much wrong with it. I set that as the standard. Afterwards, I gave the same presentation but turned it into what a typical junior high student would do. If it was a poor presentation skill then I did it. We had a lots of fun with it and the students knew that they were all guilty of at least some of the characteristics that I was modeling at the front of the classroom. I feel like my point was really well made and the expectations had been set. I even had a kid show up in a suit today thinking that he was going to be presenting (a day early). I asked if he wanted to go ahead and go, but he felt that he could make it a lot better if I waited until tomorrow. He’s one of the kids that strives for perfection especially in front of his peers.
Once I released them to start working on their projects it took several of the groups a little too long to get going. Again, I think that’s just par for the course. I monitored them throughout the days of working and they had to answer 3 questions from me at the end of each day.
- What did you do today?
- What are you going to do tomorrow?
- What does the final project look like in your head?
The answer to those questions told me everything that I needed to know. I could move along and not bother the groups that were on task or I could have a mini-session with groups that I felt like needed some more guidance. They present the projects tomorrow and I’m anxious for them.
