Snowball

This is a backpost from November...

On a cold and dark Friday night, Mrs. Roller and I sat in her classroom, diet coke in hand, munching on fries, and talking about the week (and month) ahead.  The Promethean board, humming away from a busy day in first grade, displayed a page from the PowerPoint we created this summer, outlining our ambitious goals for the year.  Our dialogue grew and grew, full of life and lofty goals of what we wanted to accomplish with our classes in the coming days. 

It hit me: Project-based learning is like a snowball.  As you watch the snow fall, you have great visions of the perfect, round snowball (Or in our case, students becoming active participants in their home, school, and community, making a difference, going green, learning about unsung heroes and modeling the virtues uncovered.).  All bundled up and with a bounce in your step, you fling open the door and bound down the steps and into the snow (All the materials, resources, and supplies are piled around the school lounge.).  As you start to gather snow, you smile, enjoying the creation and still dreaming of the end snowball (Dipping our feet into the project in September and October, staying on course with our end vision in mind.  Listening to the feedback from students and families who appreciate, value, and enjoy the project's direction.).  But then, as you roll the snowball across the yard to gather more snow, you start to notice that the snowball is getting quite large and moving faster than you anticipated (There is so much we want to do, experiences to share, artifacts to find, technology to develop...).  However, you keep pushing the snowball, hopeful and happy...

Sometimes our First Grade Community in Action project seems too big, slightly out of our control, and definately overwhelming.  As I take a moment to sit back and reflect, I smile and remember: this is what I wanted and this is what I'm getting...
 *Students motivated for a greater purpose than to please the teacher.
 *Students taking action, not only in the classroom, but at home and in the school.
 *Students learning the basics (reading, writing, and math) through authentic and meaning ful projects.
 *Students forming a true sense of community, appreciating, respecting, and valuing each other as individuals.
 *(And of course, a little dash of fun!)