Impact+Projects



This term we are embarking on something we have not done before. It is a new way of thinking and learning and is guided by you. You will be working either alone or in very small groups (2-3 max)

__** What are Impact Projects? **__

Impact projects are a way for you to grow your own agency and voice in your learning by choosing a topic that YOU are interested in rather than something that is dictated by me. The Impact Project you choose does need to have some benefit to our school or community, however what that is, is totally up to you. They key learning for you from this project are organisational and time management skills, leadership and collaboration skills, knowledge construction, real world problem solving, innovation and communication.

Impact projects are highly structured project-based learning experiences that you develop in teams or individually with guidance from me and possibly others within the school community. Through these collaborations you will develop the skills, attributes and networks needed for success now and beyond school. On completion you will present your project and evidence of your learning journey to an audience in an engaging, authentic way. You and I will evaluate your final product and learning against criteria based the four principles of successful impact projects and co-constructed success criteria. These criteria are developed to measure the level of your success.

Possible Project Choices

__** How will they work? **__ There are three stages to these projects:
 * Proposal and Planning**
 * Progressing and Implementing**
 * Presenting and Evaluating**

__**Proposal and Planning**__ Once you select your topic you will need to complete an Impact Project Proposal form. This will detail what you plan to do with your project, and lets you and I discuss how you will go about completing the project, what help and resources you might need and begin to construct the success criteria that you need to achieve by the end of the project.

[|Impact Project Proposal Form] Project Planner Overview

__**Progressing and Implementation**__ Once you have finalised your plan with me you can begin to work on your project. You will have had weekly planning and reflection Google docs shared with you. Use these to plan your weekly tasks and to reflect on what you have done each week. A reflection will also be added by me once a week after our weekly meeting.


 * Weekly meetings**- You need to organise a meeting with me once a week to discuss your project and how it is going. This gives you a chance to discuss what you have done and any problems and challenges you are facing and to plan your next steps going forward. YOU need to book these in with me via Google calendar.


 * Weekly Blog Post**- You (and team if applicable) will need to post once a week to your blog about the progress of your project. You should aim for adding one article of learning (this could be a picture of what you have done so far, or a link to research you have found) per blog post. Your post needs to follow these guidelines using the PEEL process which is good for developing reflections:

**Point** **Example** **Explain** **Link**
 * What was today’s learning?
 * Link to an artefact that shows this (picture, website link, video etc)
 * OR (if artefact not available)
 * Write a specific description of what happened
 * How did this lead to your learning? Why?
 * How will you approach this problem different next time?
 * How does this learning contribute towards your final product/success criteria?


 * Evidence and reflections will then be used to help refine your planning for the following week.**

__**Presenting and Evaluating**__ At the end of the project you will be expected to present your learning on your project in an interesting and engaging way. Part of your planning process will also be about HOW you will present your learning, eg: if you are doing a dance or drama, you would present this to an audience, otherwise you may present as the expert on your topic with engaging slides and/or audience interactions. Your project will be judged on whether you have met your intended success criteria, and your blog posts and weekly meetings will also be used to evaluate your learning.

End of Project Evaluation