5. Let them Pick their Product

From a management standpoint, it’s very convenient to dictate to students how they will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the content.  “Everyone is doing a slide presentation on a biome.”  Or, “Everyone is making a book trailer movie.”   These strict requirements are typical for school projects.  But one-size-fits-all projects usually don’t fit most students’ preferences or personal passions.  You will be surprised at the appreciation you get when students get to choose their final products and the diversity of products that they will choose. And, you’ll see more engagement and excitement from your students.

If YOU pick the product, it’s an assignment.  If they pick it, it’s THEIR assignment.

They will work harder because it was their choice, especially if they will be presenting their product in front of the class (which I highly recommend).

Here is a student choice board that I have used in classes to give students more options.  I briefly explain to them some of the online tools they can use before they explore the links to the tools.  Share this choice board as a Google Doc attachment to a project assignment post in Google Classroom.  Last time I used this, students chose to create iMovies, digital posters (Canva), comic strips, slide presentations (Google Slides and Adobe SPRK), timelines, and essays.  Some students decided to make posters on poster board.  The diversity and creativity was fantastic!

Student Choice Board

Podcast/Speech Online voice recorder	Visual Artistic Canva, Piktochart, Google Drawings, Comic Strip – Pixton	Video WeVideo, iMovie (iPad), Biteable, PowtoonEDU
Performing Arts One-act skit, dance, play	Create Your Own Present your idea to Ms. Murphey	Slide Presentation PowerPoint, Google Slides, MS Sway, Adobe SPARK
RAFT Essay Google Doc	Timeline Sutori Timeline	Blog Wix, Weebly, Edublogs, Google Sites

How do you grade students fairly with all of these types of products?  Here is the rubric we used to grade these diverse products.

Boom to Bust Experience & Assessment

Criteria	Beginner	Developing	Proficient	Exemplary
Life After the Civil War	The historian reflected knowledge of life after the Civil War, but lacked specific details from the given topics, and/or included incomplete, and/or incorrect information.	The historian explained knowledge of how life was after the Civil War, with accuracy and sufficient details about the chosen topic.	The historian thoroughly explained knowledge of how life changed after the Civil War. Specific details were reflected through the chosen topic.	The historian reflects Life after the Civil War not only thorough and with extensive understanding, but also includes new perspectives and/or a unique approach to the chosen topic.
Knowledge of the social, economic, and technological changes of the early 20th century.	The historian demonstrated little knowledge of social, economic, and/or technological changes during the early 20th century. Information reflected incomplete understanding, and/or incorrect details from the chosen topic.	The historian demonstrated knowledge of the social, economic, and/or technological changes of the early 20th century, with accuracy and reflected sufficient understanding through the chosen topic.	The historian demonstrated accurate and detailed knowledge of the social, economic, and/or technological changes of the early 20th century; with a thorough presentation of important details, facts, and concepts.	The historian demonstrated extensive knowledge of the social, emotional, and/or technological changes of the early 20th century, but also related concepts in a unique approach and/or reflected an innovative way of showing understanding through the chosen topic.

Thank you Crystal Colohan, @LMSGifted, for creating this rubric.

Since rubrics are rather subjective, I suggest giving students the opportunity to grade a completed sample project using the rubric.  You can discuss the similarities and differences between your interpretation of the criteria levels and theirs BEFORE they are formally graded so that they have a better understanding of what is expected of them.

Finally, I highly recommend giving students the opportunity to revise their final product if they score low on the rubric initially.  Give them immediate, actionable feedback and then let them resubmit their project for a regrade.  I know that this is more work for already overworked teachers, but if you only give a small number of projects per quarter, it is worth the extra effort.  So many students never get the opportunity to learn from their mistakes by reflecting on their process, considering teacher (or peer) feedback, and finally improving on their product.

We can’t ask students to have a growth mindset if we never give them a chance to learn from their mistakes, demonstrate growth, and be rewarded for their efforts.

Here is a FANTASTIC video that encapsulates the power of multiple revisions driven by immediate, specific, actionable feedback.  I’ve shown this video to students as a demonstration since, in middle school at least, they don’t know how to give proper feedback having rarely gotten the chance to do so.  The video starts at 12 seconds so the reveal is not ruined in the beginning of the clip.

 

Let Them Help – Ways to Promote Student Autonomy – 1 of 11
Let them Choose their Seats – Ways to Promote Student Autonomy – 2 of 11
Let them Pick their Problems – Ways to Promote Student Autonomy – 3 of 11
Let them Pick their Project Topic – Ways to Promote Student Autonomy – 4 of 11