Bruner Scheets RR Ch. 10

Celebrating and Reflecting 
When finishing a project, it is important to not just say "well that's it. We're done" but to celebrate the project and reflect on what everyone was taught. By taking time to reflect on the project, students can feel pride in the accomplishments. Reflection also will make the whole project stick and the students will remember it.

When planning your reflection, it is important to take the most meaningful parts of the project and focus on that. If you ask tons of questions on every little detail, students will end up resenting the project, even if they had a blast during it. Focusing on the few things that matter most make the reflection period the most meaningful.

For a project to be successful, it need to be continued and carried on to the next project. Ask your students about what they are wondering about next. What ideas did the project spark in them? With the extension of another project, the whole year will be a meaningful experience, one that the students will remember.

Schools are known for traditions. If you and your school make a tradition of meaningful projects that are involved in the community, people will know and will want their children to go there and be a part of it. Younger students will know your classroom and already be excited for projects that they hear about through students already in your classroom. How exciting to already have ready-to-learn students waiting to enter your classroom!

Finally, be sure to celebrate and show off students' work. Hold a party, put on an event, and display their work to facilitate pride in your students. If they get to show off what they have done, they will feel more powerful in their own education. They will be more involved.

For our project, I think it would be awesome to ask the local news station if our students could have a party with the "weather-person", either at the news station or in our classroom. They could go and see how a news team does the local news and get first hand experience with how the weather is read to bring it to the public.