One of my goals this year was to help my students realize that they can be leaders. Helping students understand this can be as easy as finding ways that they can be part of something bigger than themselves, showing them their potential, and believing in them. That was the eighth grade teachers' goal when we created what we hope will be a tradition that students look forward to at Central Jr. High School.
The eighth graders collected recyclable materials and brought them into school. They synergized with other students, worked in small groups, collaborated on an idea and used the recyclable materials to create a piece of art or something with a purpose. Some groups created robot-looking sculptures or sculptures that resembled a person. Other groups used plastic, cardboard, and paper to create flower pots, bird feeders, and even a new kind of garbage can that would hold recyclable materials and let the liquid filter through to the bottom.
After the groups finished their creations, each student wrote about the purpose or wrote a story about their sculpture. Then, each group chose the one story they wanted to share. Every group showed off their project and one of their stories to the entire 8th grade class which allowed different leadership opportunities. Throughout the morning, we gave each student the opportunity to be creative, synergize, express themselves through building, writing, and speaking. Each student stood up in front of their peers and read a statistic about recycling. Then, we discussed recycling issues and how we can do our part to help our planet.
Overall, I think it was a great project that the students got more out of then just putting some junk together to make it look cool. I hope we've sparked some interest in recycling and helped our students become leaders of their generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment