I started using Student Choice Projects my first year teaching to solve some common problems. It turned out that Choice Projects were good for me and my instruction, and benefited my students and their learning. Win, win!
In this blog post I share my knowledge on Student Choice Projects:
- What are Student Choice Projects?
- Choice Projects work because of differentiation and choice
- Choice Projects develop valuable real-world skills
- Why I started using Choice Projects
- Choice Projects work as Extension Activities
- How I assign Choice Projects
- Why I love using Choice Projects
What are Student Choice Projects?
Students gather information through research, then apply their knowledge and skills to create a deliverable, a project of some kind.
An inherent quality of choice projects is CHOICE! Students select the format in which they wish to synthesize information. As the teacher, I present a menu or list of possibilities. The students select the option that stimulates their creativity and innovation. They can even make a proposal for a different kind of project that suits them.
Students build a model, write a newspaper article, design a board game. You name it! They then present and communicate the information they learned to their peers. Some examples of Choice Projects are:
- Build a model
- Create a worksheet
- Create a brochure
- Do an experiment
- Make a poster
- Make a slide presentation
- Create a video (Adobe spark is great!)
- Design a book cover
- Write a newspaper article
- Create a board game
- Write (and perform) a play
- Write a song
Choice Projects Work Because of Differentiation and Choice
Choice projects work well for two main reasons, differentiation and choice.
Differentiated instruction involves teaching in a way that meets the different needs and interests of students. It uses varied course content, activities, and assessments.1
It can be tough to differentiate in a class of 35 students. They have so many different skill levels, strengths, and come to the table with varied background knowledge. Sometimes I still question where to start from. I need to “teach to the middle,” as they say, and give every student what they need. But when students work on projects, they create something that is to the best of their ability. They challenge themselves. The effort and quality of their work is unique to them and their potential.
Choice gives students the freedom to explore their special talents and interests. When they choose something that speaks to them, they work with more excitement and motivation. I notice a difference when students are doing work because they have to. There is a clear change when they are working on a project that they want to.
- “Differentiated Instruction.” Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning, https://ctl.stanford.edu/differentiated-instruction#:~:text=Differentiated%20instruction%20involves%20teaching%20in,content%2C%20activities%2C%20and%20assessments. 21 Apr 2024.
Choice Projects Develop Valuable Real-World Skills
Projects are an excellent way to facilitate student-centered learning, and develop real-world skills. By completing a project, students research, evaluate, plan, design, write, revise, create, and communicate. These are valuable skills that take practice to develop. The experience they gain helps them with future school assignments, as well as tasks for future jobs and careers.
Research is an important real-world skill. Using online resources, and obtaining and evaluating information are abilities in demand in the modern workforce.
Communication skills are also important in the real-world. No matter if you own your own business. No matter if you work for a company. Whether you work with clients or in teams doesn’t matter. Communication skills will be required on the job. Group projects are important learning experiences for students. They take on their share of responsibility and work together to meet the deliverables. They learn accountability. They need to plan and delegate to get the job done.
Presenting and public speaking are also communication skills. When we do presentations in class, students gain confidence and get practice conveying their thoughts.
A trait I observe in my students is that they want short and quick answers to things. Google and TikTok get right to the point. If it’s drawn out at all, it’s hard to pay attention. Doing research and working on projects requires focus and discipline. The brain is like a muscle, and what we work on gets stronger and improves. Students today need opportunities to use their brains for critical thinking and problem solving. Use it or lose it!
Students need help developing their research and communication skills to be successful in their work and careers after school. They need opportunities to do research and work on projects to learn these valuable skills. Check out my blog post How She Teaches Presentation Skills to read about how I help students prepare for presentations.
Why I Started Using Choice Projects
I started using projects to solve problems I faced as a first year teacher and also working in the education system:
- There were high achieving and highly motivated students in my class who were not being sufficiently challenged. I’m not kidding. There were 6th grade students of mine that were on my level of intelligence! There are certain personalities out there that are just craving knowledge and stimulation. When you’re in 6th grade, you don’t care about Tiktok or YouTube or Netflix. You have a lot of time to read and wonder about the world. I felt a lot of pressure my first year teaching just in general. It’s really hard! Add on top of it that I had to implement a curriculum that served a wide range of students. Every teacher has to do this. It could be very stressful at times.
- Choice Projects extend the lesson and solve the problem of: “I’m done, now what?” This was another problem my first year. Students would finish the lab, activity, or assignment early. They would ask, “What do I do now?” Teachers don’t want students wandering around the classroom. They also don’t want students disrupting friends who are working. Another issue is students entertaining themselves in creative ways they come up with. Instead of free time, students devote their time and effort to science. They do not work on homework for another class while in science class. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? Choice projects and other classroom routines like organization, Check-ins, and Vocabulary Logs, keep students focused on science. Check out my blog post 8 Classroom Routines & My Go-To Lesson Structure for Better Classroom Management.
- “An inch deep and a mile wide” is how I feel sometimes as a teacher. There are learning standards we need to cover, and standardized tests to prepare for. I have 35 students per class, and the school day is so fast paced it feels like a revolving door. I feel rushed sometimes to cover content when I would love to go deeper. Choice projects empower students to explore the content and expand on what we are learning in class.
Choice Projects Work as Extension Activities
Early on in my quest to make my life easier with classroom management, I planned extension activities into each lesson. If a student finished early I would start them working on that. However, there were so many downsides to planning extension activities.
- It was a lot of extra planning time. I did this nearly every day, and each extension activity took me at least 30 minutes to research and prepare. I didn’t need to use my extension activities very frequently. Sometimes it felt like a waste of my valuable time.
- Students saw it as sort of a punishment. Not every student who finished early was over enthusiastic to go deeper. They wanted to be productive, but an extra activity or task was not exciting to them.
- The activities felt disjointed from one to the next. That’s because each activity or task was designed to go with the specific lesson that day. The learning goals and skills changed each day, and so did the extension activities.
It was too much work to create an extension to each day’s lesson. I craved something more structured and long term that students could work on. The solution to my problem turned out to be Student Choice Projects.
Rather than spin my wheels constantly, lesson planning, or creating things on the fly, I started using individual projects. I also began using group projects. This was a way to keep students engaged. It also helped maximize learning time during the class period.
I still think it is important, especially as a new teacher, to overplan. You don’t want to be sitting there twiddling your thumbs. A bunch of bored teens for 15 minutes is not ideal. Trust me! A Check-in or End of Class Routine is really all you need. Check out my blog post 8 Classroom Routines & My Go-To Lesson Structure for Better Classroom Management for more ideas.
How I Assign Choice Projects
There isn’t one right way to assign a project. For some projects, I set a deadline for the same or following week. Then I give students class time to work on it.
With Choice Projects, I like to introduce the project early in the unit. Students apply their knowledge of concepts and skills over several weeks and sometimes months. As the teacher I facilitate their work in class and help them with time and scope management.
The beauty of assigning projects like this is that they can be worked on at any time. This includes when there’s extra time at the end of a lesson. They can be applied to new learning after a test or for homework. They can also be used as a Sub Plan. Students even work on them at home, because they want to!
Why I Love Using Choice Projects
When I look back on my school days, the things that stick out the most are the projects I did. In college I remember doing a presentation on the book, Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, for my English Honors class. I did a presentation on French Fashion in my French Culture and Civilizations course.
Projects are amazing learning opportunities because students are immersed in information. They go deep and pursue knowledge that we just don’t have time for during regular lessons. Projects help things stick and make learning last longterm.
I am a certified teacher, and also a certified project manager. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a project manager for 5 years. Then, I went back to school to become a teacher. In my experience as a project manager, I learned a discipline to manage projects. I developed a skillset which helped me elevate my critical thinking skills and hone my work ethic. I gained confidence and valuable skills that apply to different areas in life as well as job and career. Projects are valuable learning opportunities. They require effort and the application of knowledge. They result in the development of skills.
When we do Choice Projects, students incorporate new knowledge incrementally, as well as elaborate on concepts being studied in class. There’s so much we do each day and in each lesson to explore concepts in class. Students are responsible for turning in various pieces of work on a daily and weekly basis. With projects, students get to apply what they learned immediately. This reinforces concepts and extends their learning to outside the classroom. Students take the learning beyond what is explicitly taught in class.
I wanted to write an update on my post What are Student Choice Projects? And Why I Started Using Them because of a recent increase in interest and viewership on my blog. This was one of the first blog posts I wrote. I am a better writer now so I wanted to spruce it up a bit. If people are searching for this information then it tells me there is a need for it in classrooms. My purpose is always to help other teachers. I want to do my best to share my knowledge on this topic.
I understand why teachers are looking for more information on Choice Projects. From my own experience, Choice Projects maximize science learning in my classroom. Students get to go deeper and they truly enjoy doing them. I love when they feel proud of their work. It is so much fun when they share what they learned and their cool projects with the class.
Let me know if you have questions by leaving a comment. I would love to hear from you! Do you have experience with Choice Projects? Comment below! To read more classroom tips, check out my blog and the posts below!
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