This upcoming Friday, my students will be turning in their project proposals. Their next step will be to turn those proposals on paper, into presentations. They know that these presentations need to be outstanding, because they will be giving the presentations to a group of 'investors' much like on the show Shark Tank. This should provide my students with a number of interesting challenges, first, they will need to present their ideas in a clear fashion. Second, they will need to rationalize why they should be funded. Third, they will be fielding questions on the fly from this group of 'investors.' I really feel that this is where a lot of the learning comes in, when students must think on their feet, while not contradicting anything they have previously stated. Making sure that they can accurately respond to questions that they do not know ahead of time, gets at a level of understanding that I think is not really attainable by just writing down on paper.
I started to look over their proposals this past weekend, and as expected, each group of students are in different spots. I am anxious to see how they all progress and what the final product will look like on paper.
Building wise, this may not be the most productive time of the year, but I truly believe that having students figure out what they want to design, figure out a way to justify funding for their projects, and teaching them to write in a scientific manner, have much value; even if they do not see it as such. I want them to understand that in the real world, when you have a group of investors that you are giving a pitch to, they are not just going to give you the money, you need to demonstrate to them why your idea is deserving of their money. So, I feel that there are life lessons the students learn by going through this process, and not just being handed the money for the projects or materials for the projects. They need to earn them.
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