The Center for Projects
Welcome! The Center is for students to practice creating and presenting themselves and their skills.
Full Name:
The Center for Projects, Presentations and Portfolios.
Some of the Tools of the Center
What is the first impression of the visitor to the Center for Projects?
The visitor sees quotes about projects and portfolios on the wall (Tony Wagner’s quote about portfolios)
There is space for projects to be assembled (a sign “Workspace for Projects”)
There is a computer identified as the Project Computer (in fact, any computer can be used to make projects, but the Apple computer allows students to make videos quickly)
There is a set of bookshelves with a sign “Books for the Center for Projects” and a sign “Borrow these books”
Binders are labeled to show “Examples of Projects” and “Examples of Portfolios”
Posters
Tony Wagner’s quote:
The single most important thing you could do tomorrow for little to no money is have every student establish a digital portfolio where they collect their best work as evidence of their skills. Where they’re working with their teachers and other adults to present their best work, to iterate their best work, so that they actually have real progress they can show.
Books:
The Center has a set of bookshelves to display books. It is called a “book nook” to invite students to borrow and return books that capture the spirit of the Center.
YOu can learn more about the Book Nook project and the "52 Books" project here
52BooksPerYear.blogspot.
A list of authors and their books is given at the end of this paper.
Binders:
- A set of quotes (posters, measuring 8.5 by 11 inches, with inspiring words for students -- students are encouraged to make posters with quotes using Canva.com
- Examples of Portfolios by students in California
- Examples of projects
- Examples of Presentations (recorded talks by students)
Posters and Messages
The Center has a binder of posters. To “advertise” the Center’s work in the classrooms, a poster from the binder is hung each day in each classroom.
A sign in each classroom explains how to build a project.
A sign gives hours when the Project Center is open. Fridays 9 am to 2 pm
The Project Center is open on Fridays for students to develop their projects. Access to the Internet is available so that students can pull information into their projects and find answers to questions that were developed during the week.
The coordinator for the Project Center, Mr. Steve, displays a small sign in his jacket pocket “Ask me about projects.” Short conversations lead him to identify students who are ready to work on a multi-subject project.
The Center for Projects at SunEd High has the following goals
Project Center: students will have projects displayed on digital portfolios and in binders
Student Newspaper (blog): the student website or blog will be displayed for students to visit
YouTube Channel for the School (with stories and testimonials by students): the channel address will be displayed on the wall. Links to new videos will be sent to students by text and by email (their preference).
