Project+Design

Page 70

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."--**Helen Keller**

In Project Design, students set out to complete their task as defined in step one. One of the problems students have is they often take shortcuts getting to the final project and don't address everything they defined. McCain address the fact that students don't often set realistic goals: "The overachievers set their sights too high and try to do everything. The underachievers set their sights too low and do as little as possible." The teachers job is to make sure they pick appropriate goals and work toward each goal during the process.

Another area McCain says student struggle with is picking a logical order to complete their tasks. This is often why students have a problem getting started. He theorizes that most students would rather not start for fear of looking stupid.

Finally, McCain points out that this aspect is important because it helps students realize what they don't know, that saying, "I don't know how to do that," is a great first step.