I have a couple of ideas for new projects, though neither is completely "flushed out" yet.
My first idea surrounds Project 1 and reflecting on fitting in with the community. I think it's important for students to understand their responsibility to "give back" to the community and aid others. I like the idea of asking the students to participate in one of the "Big Brother, Big Sister" or YMCA programs that would require them to become a mentor for a child. I participated in one of these programs my freshman year of college, and it was such a rewarding experience. The students could even volunteer at an after-school program and work with a variety of kids once a week. Of course, then they would write about their experience, things they learned about the children and themselves, how this experience shaped their view of the community, etc.
The only problem is the obvious timeline. Even though more time is given to Project 1, I'm not sure that roughly 3-4 weeks is enough time for the students to gain an adequate amount of information for their papers. They would have to immediately join a program the first week of class, and this might also prove problematic since that is a hectic week.
If there was a way to turn the last essay, the Reflection essay, into a reflection on their experience as a mentor, then that would work better. They would have the whole semester to develop a relationship with a child (or children) while documenting each visit, then use their journals to write a full paper about their experience as a whole. I don't know if this would even be an option since the Reflective essay, as it stands, is supposed to document the students' perceptions on their writing. Again, this idea is not flushed out and I welcome suggestions of how to make it work!
Idea #2 has to do with field research and possible making of a documentary. I thought it would be neat if the students could make their own documentary about a social issue that is important to them (this might be an idea for 1102 rather than 1101 - not sure) and then write about their research. Social issues could include animal rights, gay rights, abortion, obesity in America, etc. (Of course, this would not be as extreme as "Supersize Me" or one of these other documentaries, but something along those lines.) Ideally, the students could share their documentaries with the class. Problem - all of the students won't have access to a video camera. I don't know how to resolve this. Maybe they could just write the essay and not have to document their research via video? It's not as effective, but I don't know how else to work around that issue.
I plan to complete my survey this week, so I am going to ask my students what they would like to see in a project. Hopefully I'll have new ideas after the survey.
Thoughts? Ideas? Please share!