Since you got here from Brave New Teaching, I could assume that you already see the value of collaborative classroom projects, but if you are like me, you were driving to school/taking a walk/folding laundry while listening to the Brave New Teaching episode, so here are some quick hits.
The strategy of whole-class collaborative classroom projects is one of my favorite and most effective ways to engage my classes. There is some frontloading required, but during the unit the students take the lead and I can spend time working with and supporting them, making units fun and enjoyable for the students and for me. I love how well they work for differentiation, strengthening skills, and community building, and since students tend to feel more invested since they are working as a class, I spend less energy pulling them through the unit.
Everything I design for you is with the mindset that everything should be easier…I focus on high impact strategies, and I strive to make my resources easy for you to consume.
Use Whole-Class Collaborative Classroom Projects To…
- Embrace Collaboration: Encourage teamwork by assigning whole-class projects that require students to work together towards a shared goal. Foster skills in cooperation, problem-solving, and contributing beyond individual tasks.
- Spark Creativity: Inspire innovation by providing creative assignments that prompt students to pool their ideas and talents. Examples include designing graphic novels or themed restaurants based on literary works.
- Build Community: Create a sense of unity by establishing a shared goal that engages the entire class. Transform disengaged students into valued contributors, strengthening peer relationships and fostering a positive classroom environment.
- Enhance Learning: Whole-class collaborative projects can align with any curriculum goals while promoting interdisciplinary connections and deep engagement with the content. Use with novels, genre studies, literary approaches, or movements and use as context, paired with reading, or as a final assessment.
Resources!
A free resource to get collaborative classroom projects going in your own classroom
When I introduce a collaborative classroom project in my classroom, after giving the objectives and deliverables of the project, I get them started by establishing an organizational structure. I find that it is helpful to have one student act as a CEO to get everything organized and keep the project on track – sometimes peers are more effective than I am at getting reluctant students to engage!
It’s a big job, and can feel overwhelming at first. To help you help them I put together a free toolkit full of resources to guide your student CEO to success!
A collaborative classroom project in action
Do you like podcasts? Me, too! I wanted to share the love with my students, so I assigned an assignment where they made a podcast together as a class.
It worked so well, I’m sharing it with you so you can use it as inspiration in your own class!
Here it is, secret access to an audio mini-course: A Podcast About a Podcast Unit. You heard about me through a podcast, and now I’m giving you access to a private podcast to tell you about a podcast assignment…so meta!
In these episodes I share details about the structure of the project, the assignments I included, and the way that students incorporated the book we read in the lead up to this project. When you sign up, I’ll also send you some of the resources I used with my students so you can implement this project in your classroom!
This product is in it’s alpha version – and you can help me shape the alpha! Listen, ask questions, and tell me what’s missing. I’ll use your feedback to shape the next version AND you’ll get access to the beta at no additional cost.
Blog Posts for You
- Amp Up Your Class with the Powerful Strategy of Collaborative Classroom Projects: This is the comprehensive guide Amanda referenced in the episode
- …and here I’ve written more about the Harlem Renaissance project I discussed in the Brave New Teaching Episode
My Podcast Episodes to Check Out
Here are some episodes from my podcast, Anti-Burnout for English Teachers, related to the content of the Brave New Teaching episode:
- Episode #31. We Need More Superheroes: Let’s Talk About American Folklore and Mythology: In this episode I discuss The Water Dancer and its connection to superheroes. It’s some of the back thinking of why I wanted a project that connected the Harlem Renaissance with superheroes.
- Episode #22. Teaching English through the Lens of Social Media and Influencer Culture: In this episode, I discuss my most recent whole-class collaborative project. I have students the task of creating a podcast for my next year students and (fake) promoting it on social media.
- Episode #23. Making Group Work Work: Strategies for Successful Collaboration in the Classroom: In this episode I discuss strategies for group work, including making collaboration essential, not just having students work in the same document or complete a Frankensteined presentation or project.
Let’s Hang Out!
Follow me on Instagram and please slide in my DMs! Tell me what resonated with you or any questions you have about the strategy (or anything else, really! I love to talk about teaching…and reality television shows).
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