Project Management Strategies for Teachers and Learners
As teachers, we are project managers. When someone is a project manager in a business they must be a masterful communicator, an efficient time manager, and a careful budget-er. Students learn from example so we must show them what it looks like to manage time well and be efficient and organized in our work time. We must think in advance before we present the project to our students. We must consider the resources we will need and the strategies we will need to support time management, teaming, and assessment.
Gathering resources: what (and who) will you need?
Before presenting a project, you have to know what resources will be needed for the project to be a success. If you find that you do not have all the material resources you need, use your "human resources" and get the word out there. Use a class website or newsletter, talk to parents or your principal. Another good resource that most do not tap into is the local recycling center, which probably has tons of useful supplies. Don't ever to forget to use your experts as well. For example, if you are studying the farming community, have a personal farmer come into your classroom, or better yet-take a field trip so he or she is able to show the students how special machines are used.
Milestones and deadlines: It's about time
Projects that support students in their development of time management is crucial when preparing them for high school and the real word after. Plan a project that has milestones and benchmarks that they must reach in order to finish the project on time.
Team Planning
Team planning is essential to the dynamics of a project. If the students are working in groups, how will the groups be made? A good team needs a mix of skills, not just students who are best friends with each other. During projects, students will be doing different things and it is important to have students who compliment each other and who can teach each other in the same groups.
Plan for Assessment
Take assessments throughout the project, not just at the end. This will aid in your knowledge of what is working and what isn't, even before the project is completed. This way, you can make any necessary changes before the students are done. There should be both formal and informal assessments along the way.
Web Resources
Never forget to use your technology resources in guiding your project. Use web pages and ways that students can interact with each other, even outside of school. Web pages also help students organize their thoughts and project due dates with the uses of calendars, notepads, news, and blog feeds. They can stay in contact and relieve pressure off of you to make sure they are getting everything done on time!
This chapter is essential to our project. As the teachers, we must think about our project in advance and plan from there. If we don't have a clue on what kind of outcome we want the students to have, we can not possibly plan a successful project for them. By looking at all the aspects of our project, we can plan accordingly, making it a worthwhile and memorable experience for all.
You did a great job sifting through and highlighting the important concepts of chapter 5. I really liked how you empahsized on team planning and how you identified that a good team needs a mix of skills and not just students who work well together. As teachers, we try to produce an environment for students that works well together and some of us may get in the routine of putting people together who work really well together. We need to keep in mind that different skills need to be put together so that students can build and experience new things throughout the year. We also need to change these groups often so that different people can work together and create new experiences with one another. Great reflection!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above comment! I was going to comment on the same issue. I think as teachers we will know our students pretty well, and team planning is an important part of that. Meaning we will know who can and cannot work well with each other, carefully thinking about your students needs this can still be a challenging step.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good reflection to read and comment on. You organized your information of this chapter in a great way. Team planning is key. There are so many things that go into planning a project for your students and you want to plan it in a way that will be most beneficial to them. Having deadlines, assessments, and managing time are all factors that go into making a project successful.
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