Teens+Love+Projects

= = = = =Teen Boys Like Projects! = =When I was doing my student teaching, I had a group of seventh grade boys that hated the book that my mentor teacher had picked for me to teach them. The boys really hated the book. The book was called Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt. I was very disappointed that the boys didn't even want to give the book a chance. However, I finally had an idea. The group of boys in my class loved to build and destroy things. So, I decided that I would make a building project one of the assignments with the book. Well, the project ended up being one of the biggest grades the students earned for the book. = = = =The project that I assigned the class was to build the own spring.The base for all of the springs were show boxes that I provided for them. However, after the box the students were on their own. I gave them complete freedom on what they could make the spring out of (as long as it was safe and school appropriate). I was astonished at how much the class came alive with this project. What amazed me even more was how this group of boys worked. I never saw this group of seventh grade boys work hard on anything, but they took control of their groups. They became true leaders of their groups. The boys bought in mulch, grass, sticks, small logs, and every color of construction paper to use on their springs. All three of my classes created amazing projects. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =