Pareto Project Updates
It’s never a bad idea or a waste of time to look over the instruction manual for something, even if you’ve already started using it. You might find some clarity you didn’t have or notice a function he didn’t see the first time. Here is the instruction manual1 for your Pareto Projects:
Click here to read the updated Google Doc.
When I built that guide, the goal was to split your projects into two rounds, which you can see in the original calendar. We also set “deliverable” deadlines, focusing on what you could create and present, in writing or in person, by certain dates.
A couple of months later, I’d like to shift the calendar for these projects. Here is the updated version, which you’ve seen in class and online already:
Course Calendar
Remember that our shift to a GAP score every three weeks shifted our specific lessons and assignments a little bit, and we’ll extend that soft reboot to your Pareto Projects. We will now take one Friday every three weeks to check in on your progress. On those days, you will be in the iLC, where you will be able to spread out and use those resources as you see fit.
Remember, too, that you have spent a considerable amount of time in this course working on organization. When we meet in the iLC on those designated Fridays, you are responsible for setting the agenda and being productive. You must bring your own device, for instance, since we will no longer have a class set of Chromebooks. You must plan in advance for anything else you’ll need.
To help get you in that frame of mind, we have reserved the iLC for every Friday in March. We need to explore that space and see what it offers us in terms of collaborative and innovative learning. That means that you should plan to bring everything you need directly to the iLC, not Room 210, on the following dates:
- March 3 | Pareto Project Checkpoint
- March 10 | GAP 3B Due
- March 17
- March 24 | Pareto Project Checkpoint
- March 31 | GAP 3C Due
You will be able to choose to focus on anything course-related while we are in the iLC, but there are assignments and checkpoints associated with certain Fridays. It’s like everything else in here: There is tremendous freedom and a precise structure. You need both.
Pareto Project Deadlines
Your new deadline for these projects is June. Note that there is no date attached to that deadline. At the start of the month of June, we will use one of the designated Pareto Fridays to talk about presentations, publishing, final essays, final reports, and so on — the potential artifacts that will tie together the work you’ve been doing.
Because those artifacts will differ from student to student, we can’t set a specific deadline for everyone right now. We can only say that you will spend June finishing up these projects. In the meantime, you should revisit the original blueprint you completed for your project, noting that it has been updated to reflect our new calendar:
Pareto Project: Blueprint
What you “deliver” on each designated Pareto Friday will differ from project to project, but you should approach those deadlines with an eye toward producing something. The idea of “finishing” the projects will be refined as we move forward, too. For some of you, June will be about reviewing your goals and your success in meeting those goals. for others, this project will be a labor of love, and it will continue into the summer and into next year. in the latter case, “finishing” will mean something quite different.
For the first Friday after our shift — March 3 — you need to assess the state of your project. Answer the following questions:
- To what extent did you keep up with the biweekly update essays required by this January 3 post?
- To what extent did you “curate a digital presence,” as outlined in this December 20 post?
- To what extent have your project goals changed over the last two months?
- What have you accomplished?
- What have you learned?
- Finally, what’s your next step, and how are you using the iLC on Friday, March 3, to accomplish that next step?
Write your answers in a Google Doc and set it aside, using your new system of organization to keep track of it. Finish it over the weekend. You will be asked to submit those answers next week, and you will have only a portion of a single class to do that. You will go to Room 210, the assignment will be posted to Google Classroom after the bell rings, and then you will need to find your answers to those questions and submit them inside of five minutes or so. Among other things, this is a test of your ongoing organizational efforts and your ability to invest in these instructional posts enough to figure out what to do.
Ask questions about this work or the Pareto Project overall in the comments below.
For lack of a better metaphor. Orwell would disapprove. ↩