Capstone Project - My students had a big project that they worked on, in addition to other lessons, for over a month.  I would call on businesses to allow my class to build a free web site for them - NOT a real tough sale!  In return, the business people in charge of the project had to come in school and present their business to my kids, allowing for Q and A after their presentation.  The kids would then outline their purpose, layout their site, and begin construction.  Once construction began, I would begin each class with a "marketing" lesson, followed by time building their sites.  The students will often change their sites, implementing that day's lessons as they see how it can be beneficial.

When the sites were nearly done, each student (or student team) would prepare an oral presentation with a written outline.  Knowing that many business people wouldn't understand all of the intricacies of their web site, they were challenged with making  them understand.  (For example, when we built a site for a yacht club, one student included a fun little sailing/racing game.  It's purpose was to give visitors another reason to want to come back to the site, kind of like a McDonald's Playland.  The principles involved did not understand why their site should include a game until it was pointed out to them.)  They invited the principles to return, and time only allotted 7 minutes per presentation, so their written outline was critical.  Students then presented to the business, and after they've had a chance to review, the business would decide which site they wanted to use.  We made a big fuss over the "winning" team, complete with news press, custom t-shirts (made 'em myself--now that's custom!), and of course, the prestigious online Soaring Hawk Award!  If you would like my grading evaluation form for the web sites, e-mail me.  If you improve upon it, I hope you'll send me a copy of the revised edition!

Mickey Kosloski
Virginia DECA