Everybody is a genius

As I sit in my classroom preparing for back to school night I thought I would take a minute to post about how the course is going. I am thankful to be in this profession; even if I am sitting in my classroom preparing for an after school event on my birthday (yep, HPD to me).

My students have shown me so many unique projects the first few weeks.  All of the projects have  shown me what they are learning and most of them in ways I would have never thought of myself. Allowing the students to choose ANY way to show me what they learn each week has been amazing.  It is a little more difficult to grade but the students have taken the parameters each week and made it their own.  I included a link to PowerPoints I put together that show screen shots of students work. The PowerPoints do not even begin to do their work justice but you get the idea.  I've seen video clip projects, PowerPoints, sketches, posters, blogs, C# coding, and more. I can't help to think if I would have limited them to only a PowerPoint or research paper; how different would the quality be?  I personally think the students have put a lot of effort in because they have more choice and can do what they are interested in and good at. 

They have to use problem solving to answer the question "How will I show the teacher I've learned" each week.  They are not handed a list that includes every step of what they need to do. They are given basic parameters of what they need to show me and then it is up to them to turn it into a viable project. 

It makes me think of one of my favorite quotes:  
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Yes, all my students are geniuses in their own way and they show me what makes them one each week.