In 2020, Covid-19 shut down our schools before I could take on another chance at one of my favorite projects. Check out my original blog post here.
Then, in 2021, I had taken a job with an online school and didn't teach content that was applicable for this project. So again, I mourned the loss of another shot at this.
Bring on 2022! The excitement and anticipation I had for this project was borderline insanity. I counted down the days until we could start all spring. I just knew that my group of students was going to absolutely crush it. A few changes to note from 2019 to 2022:
1. A more detailed attempt at a rubric. I wanted this project to be purposefully open ended with very little restrictions. Check out the 2022 rubric here: Desmos Art Project Rubric. Rubric writing is something I am still working hard to get better at. Students seemed to really understand the success criteria and I had very little confusion or questions arise about the rubric.
2. We started the week long project with a full period of exploration in Desmos. I wanted to put out as many fires as possible before they started so they could really focus on the mathematics and the creativity could flow with out roadblocks. We covered all kinds of logistical tools and components in Desmos and I just let them explore and ask questions. This helped tremendously and I believe led to an increase in the quality of the projects turned in.
3. A Padlet for posting projects so that students could view each other's finished projects. They absolutely loved being able to see each other's projects and I do think that the fact that they were responsible for posting their project for others to see led to an increase in quality as well. The Padlet helped me stay organized and made for quick and easy sharing with colleagues and parents.
So here it is, my 2022 Desmos Art Projects:
2022 Desmos Art Projects Padlet
I could not possibly be more proud of my students. The work they put in and the amount of effort and grit they showed along the way to make the best possible version of the picture or image they could was beyond inspiring.
4. After the project was over I asked them to complete a survey about the project and their experience. Here is the survey: 2022 Desmos Art Project Reflection. The results were almost as heartwarming and exciting as the projects for me. Here are a few direct student quotes from the survey:
"I liked that creativity was important in this project which isn't the “usual” in math class, so that one thing i enjoyed."
"I liked the freedom and creativity and that there weren't really any rules that came with the project. It was easy but hard at the same time depending on what grade you wanted to get."
"I liked how challenging it was, some parts were harder to understand; especially the shading. I will say, I restarted like five times before I just stuck to a basic picture I knew I could create."
"I had a lot of fun figuring out how to move each line to match up with other lines. I was thinking about doing more for fun on my own."
"I enjoyed the process of moving around the different functions to perfect certain parts of my project."
"It was a fun way to review and get more practice on this units material."
