The photo above is at a Facilities committee meeting. Several classes of students designed Sustainability Centers and convinced the Facilities Committee to hold one of their two hour meetings. The committee spent the whole two hours going to over 50 student booths which displayed models, concepts, prototypes for Sustainability Centers that could go on our campus. This is an example of a WOW project, an assignment that exceeds the expectations of the teacher and the boundaries of the classroom. There are myriad ways to awaken our students’ innate capacity, and leveraging this capacity results in more engaged and sophisticated work by our students. And it results in happier teachers and students.

There are myriad ways to awaken our students’ innate capacity, and leveraging this capacity results in more engaged and sophisticated work by our students. And it results in happier teachers and students.  

Prototyping a  Climate Action WOW Project

Business practices guru Tom Peters writes about taking an approach to work that involves “reframing any task into something-that-makes-a-difference.” He calls doing this kind of work that matters “WOW Projects.” Asking our students to do work that matters is one sure way to activate their innate capacity. We need to put our students in a position to WOW us. We need to put them in a position to surprise us. In truth, we don’t know what our students are entirely capable of—and they don’t either. In fact they are often shocked by what they pull off in a classroom that asks more of them than has been asked in the past.

But we cannot challenge students that we doubt, students that we don’t believe in. So instead we tinker around the edges of our curriculum and try to control every moment in the classroom. Doubting students is a self-fulfilling prophecy; but on the other hand, so too is trusting students to pull off a really exciting WOW Project. WOW projects are a response to the claim heard too often on our campuses that our students “are not ready and don’t belong here.” WOW projects imply a 180 degrees reframing of that claim.

What makes a good “Wow” project?

Teachers often say they just don’t have any big projects coming up that they can turn into a “Wow” project? “Maybe I will do it at the end of the semester,” says the teacher.  But EVERY project is a candidate for “Wow.” Selecting your first “Wow” project is easy; it’s simply your next project. Remember, there are no trivial projects. This is especially true when we consider that the Climate Crisis demands an “all hands on deck” approach. Sometimes the smallest tasks can make the biggest difference. Start small, and then work your way up to bigger “Wow” projects. TEA supports teachers to do exactly this. We have decades of experience in prototyping and implementing “WOW.” 

What else should teachers  keep in mind?

Look for opportunities to widen the scope of your project. Most projects come with specific requirements in mind. That’s your baseline. But take it further--be a “Big Picture” visionary. Think of ways your project can be leveraged on a larger scale. This in fact happens organically all the time when it comes to Climate Action projects. Just as everything in the natural world is connected, so too are any projects that address the challenges of healing the natural world. 

Embracing the “Wow”

Embracing the “Wow” brings a huge boost to your students’ visibility and sense of their own capacity. It is natural for a “Wow” project to garner attention. A “Wow” project reflects well on its creators. People will take note of your students’ accomplishments (and yours) when you infuse your projects with the “Wow” factor. We are inviting you to design your own WOW project, to go ahead and try something new. Students will let you; they want themselves--and you--to succeed. Our students are education experts, and they know from years of sitting passively in the classroom how things are usually done. They will appreciate your effort to push past the typical teaching modalities. So why not  surprise yourself and them: design something new. What is most important is richly and creatively using your  time together now. This is one of the implications of prototyping: prototyping is a response to the problem that time ill-spent drains away Capacity. Prototyping Climate Action Projects allows for--in a short period of time--a trying out of and demonstration of Capacity.