For me as a teacher, one of the most fun times is at the start of a new project, where I simply ask my students what they want to do next. With students new to my classes, who are still used to teacher-centred approaches, this can provoke reactions of incredulity and a potential slight panic. Those who have worked with me before often have their first in the air, quietly mumbling ‘YES’, followed invariably by everyone being very focused.

I usually give students who have been with me longer more free reign, since they know what is expected. Choosing a project is not just doing what you want. It always involves a discussion about which curriculum goals need to be achieved and how those goals can be met. Also choosing what they want to do means they are responsible for much of the running of the project as well (with me in the background making sure everything stays on the rails), something new students are not always ready for.

For newer students, it requires more input from me to guide their suggestions towards outcomes that won’t take forever or that won’t blow the whole school budget. Depending on their age, this happens by me guiding them towards doable options, or by simply discussing what our available resources are (including time, money, space, additional help, etc…)

One example of such projects was with one of my secondary classes, several years ago. These students were very familiar with doing projects, and so were given free reign. Since this was near the end of the course, they were allowed to choose whatever they wanted, as long as it would be relevant to the (in this case, language) goals they needed to achieve. It had to be something they could visualise, and the visualisation had to incorporate all their team members.

The initial ideas story sessions lasted between 30-60 minutes. This session can contain anything and is never constrained by goals or resources – absolutely ANYTHING goes. Next, the list of ideas is then whittled down by popularity, feasibility and whether they meet the goals. If one fits all three, then that is chosen. If nothing does, then the ones that fit two of the three are looked at to see whether the third can be achieved by adapting the idea. Also included here is a discussion about how, where and/or when the goals will be met. This can take between 15-60 minutes.

Once an idea is chosen, the story is created – provided the class did not choose a familiar story (e.g. Pinocchio, the Hobbit, etc…) and wanted to write their own. First, we decide what kind of a story we want (adventure, scary, etc…). Then we create an outline with 3-5 lines, from start to finish. We choose the amount of characters in the story, and make sure that this aligns with the number and characteristics of students in the class. It is important to remain flexible, making sure that the process moves along at a decent pace yet leave them enough time to explore creative options. Depending on how well your class works together, this can take between 15-60 minutes again.

Next comes the actual story. First, we expand the story from 3-5 lines to about 30-50 (or more, depending on students’ age and maturity). This could take up to 2 hours, after which the students review it themselves for obvious mistakes (language or other). Un until now, the process would involve the whole class.

After the story is done and reviewed, the speaking parts scripts are developed and storyboarding happens. From here, we either keep the whole class involved, for smaller groups, or we split and rotate (i.e. jigsawing) some of the tasks for larger groups. The scripts are created in one group, while another starts with the storyboarding (only actions first, speaking parts added after). Around halfway the session we exchange the materials we have created for review by the other team, after which that team continues until nearly the end, when we exchange everything again. This can continue for another session, to finalise both parts. This can vary significantly in time and much depends on the scope of what you are trying to achieve – it can be anywhere between 2 hours and 6 hours.

Finally, the scripts are written out in full and everyone highlights their part. We read it through with the whole class, including the storyboarding clues (e.g. X walks into the room, Y is surprised). Next, we read it all again, but on location around the school. This allows us to catch any potential problems we may have to fix. Then we start filming. We try to keep things fun and always continue filming when anything goes wrong (except emergencies, of course) – a blooper reel at the end is always an excellent way to finish things.

After the filming, uncut, we review all of it, and discuss if there any any details that are not clearly explained in the story, if there are any parts not obvious, or if there is anything that still need to be added. Maybe one of the speaking parts contained too much noise or was voiced too quietly or unclearly. In any of these cases, we can still add one more try. After this, it depends on the goals, time left and other resources, whether the teacher or a third party then cuts the scenes and puts them together in order, with sounds effects and maybe background effects, intros and outros etc…, or whether this is something the class can do themselves. I usually do this part myself, and this takes me easily two weeks of work in my free time, but it is always worth it when I can bring the final cut, WITH blooper reel, of course.

At that time, we usually have a screening together with parents and guardians, and the pride at having done all of it themselves is a joy to see. The parents, of course, love such activities, where they can see how their child has progressed. AND it is always fun to be able to have something tangible in hand (or accessible online) from said progress.

You can find the result of this group’s efforts by clicking on the photo below. Please be advised that this group decided to add some themes in their project which would not be suitable for younger audiences. This was eventually allowed, after careful deliberation and consideration.

This is one way to let students take the lead in a project. It is obviously not the only way, and if you have questions or suggestions, or if you would like to work with me on any project, I would love to hear from you via Linkedin.