Overhauling the class is stuck at an unexpected stop – what do I want students to say to their parents about the class around a dinner table after the first day of school. There are easy options – we are going to be 3D printing or making cool projects. But I’ve always been a firm believer that our students are open to bigger, more important concepts than we typically trust them with. A typical first day of class has me talking about big picture things, hopes, and all the possibilities that are ahead. Students are open to it, but I doubt they could summarize it later.

So I need to summarize it myself. This is the hold-up – which oversimplification is best? It can get more abstract as we move up from 5th grade but that is a problem for another day.

Maybe the best option is a better project description. “We’re going to be making a moving popsicle stick creation, it’ll have to have 3D printed parts that are then colored with a 3D pen”

The multi-step custom project oversimplification might just say enough to work with.