Yes it's me again!! I thought I would like to facilitate our getting to know each other in this group by summarizing and reflecting back some of what has happened since this listserv was launched one short week ago.
We are now 77 people subscribed here with this common interest in projects. However with about ten people subscribing each day and getting only those messages which are posted after they subscribed many people do not know what went before. I guess a discussion group stabilizes after a few weeks. At the moment it feels rather like starting a symposium in a room with three people and in the first fifteen minutes of starting the room fills up. Gradually we become aware that successive members of the group are missing out on an increasing amount of information. Few people are quite sure what's being talked about and an increasing number present are reluctant to enter the discussion because they might be repeating what has already been said!
A few days ago (is it only that long?) Kim offered us an interesting set of questions to consider. There have been a few messages on some of these issues but I would like to repeat them here so as to encourage other teachers to respond.
1. When and how much do I instruct versus when do I back off and let the children construct?
2. Am I being too concerned about end products?
3. Do all projects have to have beautiful show pieces at the end to show what was learned?
4. How do different teachers interpret the meaning of a project approach?
5. Are there different levels of the project approach?
6. How do different teachers document the processes that lead to the products and the learning that takes place along the way?
7. What about the kids who just aren't interested in the topic? When you have a room of 27 - 30 kids, this happens... How do I pull them into the project? Do I need to pull them into the project? What do I have them do while others are doing project work?
These are all very serious questions with many and varied responses possible.
Kim (a fourth grade teacher) is keen to hear from other teachers.
By the way, one of the things we have done is to invite members of this group to introduce themselves. It is interesting to know where people are from and to learn about the particular expertise they have.
So far, here are the people who have introduced themselves between 12 and 14 Feb.:
Mihkel Pilv (Mike Cloud), Tartu, Estonia, Eastern Europe
Larry Witt, North Platte, Nebraska, USA
Kim Bierly, Oak Harbor, Washington, USA
Sylvia Chard, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Tom Drummond, Seattle, Washington, USA
Bruce Pohlmann, Tembagapura, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
Heidi Weiman, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Katherine Murphy, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Skip Watkins, Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA
(apologies for any slips in spelling)
Please do let us know who you are too!
Our discussions have so far been mainly concerned with how teachers select topics for children to study by means of a project, where these topics originate, and how projects develop. There have been several interesting brief descriptions of projects. Some members have said they are especially interested in stories about how projects have developed in different classrooms with children of different ages and backgrounds.
Project topics referred to so far have included, where things come from, winter clothes, the river, beds, bread, class camping trips, student run stores, the Iditarod (sled dogs), stars, insects, mice, mazes, plants, volcanos... just a very few of these were described in greater detail.
Please let us know about projects which developed in ways which you were pleased with. I also think it is interesting to hear about projects which surprised you... either because they developed exceptionally well or because they ran into problems.
I, myself, am especially interested in how much children can learn about topics which are close to them (in time and space), how detailed and complex their understanding can become and how fully this understanding can be represented in the work the children do and how their learning progress can be documented so that others can know too.
Well, I think that's quite enough from me for tonight!
Welcome to those of you who have joined this group in recent days or hours!
(Feb 19 '96)