Sophomores are yelling: "Don't Text and Drive!"

Thursday, September 22, the fall driver's education class displayed their projects for this six weeks. The project Coach Brandon Stidham assigned to his class was to create a service announcement on texting and driving. As teenagers become more and more dependent on their cell phones, the number of distracted drivers increase. Texting is now one of the leading causes of automobile crashes. Therefore, Coach Stidham thinks it is important to educate young drivers about the dangers of distracted driving in order to raise awareness so that they are less likely to be involved in a collision.

The students of the Driver's Ed. class could choose between completing a speech, poster board, commercial, or song. All of the students were required to work with a partner; however, they could select who they wanted their partner to be. Out of the eleven groups, the majority of the class chose the poster board. No matter what presentation style the group chose, they all had to contain similar data. All projects had to have factual information and sufficient examples of: safe driving, distracted driving, the importance of driver's education, and the impact and dangers of texting and driving.


John I. Burton's principal, Aaron Williams, attended the Driver's Ed. class as the students presented their projects. He thought this assignment was a great way to get students to share what they have learned this six weeks. He also thought that having four different options to choose from resulted in a variety of creativity from the students. Mr. Williams says that his favorite part about watching the students present their projects is when they express their thoughts and ideas through their school work. Coach Stidham thinks that out of all the things the class has learned in the Driver's Ed. portion, he hopes they remember to not text and drive. He says "Not everyone listens to me when I teach, but if I can just reach one student, we're good." He also feels that it was a positive idea to offer the students more than one approach to the project because it made all of the students more comfortable as they spoke in front of their peers.

This is an early example of how project based learning is being incorporated into Burton classrooms. Most students and teachers believe that classroom projects are making a successful difference in learning.

Written by: Alex C.