Group+Service+Project+Plan+Directions

Class Service Project

Description
Over the course of the semester, you as a class will be responsible for identifying, proposing, designing, planning, and implementing a service project of your creation.

The class will be responsible for managing itself as a team for the purpose of completing a Community Service Project. This includes establishing roles and responsibilities, keeping yourself on schedule, settling disputes, etc.

During the first part of Unit 2 you will develop a Project Proposal, as outlined below. Your teachers will review the proposal, after which you will have a few days to negotiate and make changes for final submission and approval.

One day per week of class time will be dedicated to this project; the schedule can be adjusted to accommodate more time if necessary. Any purposeful deviations from the project plan will need to go through a Change Request Process, which is outlined as an appendix to the below Project Proposal Outline.

Throughout the course you will manage a page on the wiki called “Lessons Learned,” where you will record all of the lessons you’ve learned from the exercise. We encourage you to think creatively and manage this space in a way that will make it easy for you and others to access at the end of the course. One idea would be grouping lessons into categories such as "About Working in Teams," "About Project Planning," "About our Service Site Specifically," etc.

At the end of the semester the class will deliver a presentation on your group project to a panel of your peers, teachers, and members of the community. This presentation will detail your project, including the process leading up to its completion, and your lessons learned. You will also, as a group, write a paper which is to be submitted to the panel in advance of this presentation.

Individually you will complete a 360° feedback on your performance; this means you will anonymously review your peers and supervisors, and they will review you. This feedback will form part of your individual contribution grade.

Both individual and group grades will factor into the evaluation of this project. 50% of your final project grade will be a collective class grade based on creativity, research, meeting deadlines, integrating themes discussed in class, lessons learned, and impact. The other 50% of your project grade will be based on your individual contribution, as determined by the group feedback exercise and teacher observation.

== At the end of the semester, you will be able to understand and use the following project planning tools: ==


 * Gantt Chart
 * Responsibility Matrix
 * Risk Register
 * Status Reports
 * Wiki
 * 360° Feedback
 * Change Request

=**Class Project Proposal Outline**=

This proposal is to be written with the input of the entire class, and should be submitted by DATE. Please do not hesitate to use your teachers as resources in your planning - while you are the leaders of this project, we are here to help and are committed to your, and the project's, success.

Note: Your plan should be flexible enough to allow for changes. We do not expect you to know now the full details of what will happen at the end of the semester, and as such broad milestones like "host community event in week 17" are acceptable at this time. The important thing is to have an initial roadmap.

**1. Executive Summary**
This section should begin with a cover page including the project's name and logo. The cover page should be be followed by a brief description of the rest of the proposal to be no longer than one page in length, double spaced. Students should think of the Executive Summary as a brief overview that could be reviewed by someone who is very busy (like the headmaster), and/or the text which might appear on the homepage of a project website.

**2. Project Overview**
Think back to the Individual Proposal you all wrote. As in that Proposal, this section will cover the "who, what, when, where, why" of the project. While we do not expect you to know every detail of your project at this time, you do need to know at a high level what you are doing, and you also need to be reasonably sure that you can accomplish what you are proposing. This is why you will have several weeks to complete this proposal - it is important that you do proper research and even take the initial steps in planning the project.

For example, if you propose to have a community playday at a local Boys and Girls Club, prior to submitting this proposal you should have already spoken with people at the Club and confirmed high school students are allowed to host these. You should also have done some basic research to make sure the class will be able to pull this off - such as confirming a date that works for the class AND the Boys and Girls Club.

Some sample ideas:
 * Plant a community garden
 * Work with the homeless
 * Work at a nursing home
 * Putting on a class or presentation in the auditorium

If possible, think of ways you can use the knowledge you are learning from this class to feed the project. Also think of ways you could leverage your network of friends, family, and other groups to create an even bigger impact.

**3. Responsibility Matrix**
This section to detail who will be responsible for which aspects of the project. Having clear responsibilities from the beginning will make sure that all the necessary work is done, and will also help us evaluate your individual performance.

We anticipate that, at minimum, the following responsibilities will need to be addressed (though you may certainly come up with more, and one person could be in charge of more than one responsibility):


 * A final editor who is in charge of compiling written reports (the person who will take everyones contributions and turn them into the the final proposal, and write-up at the end of the semester)
 * Group / Teacher Relations: Someone who is in charge of filing all change requests, and who will be able to speak to the teachers as the voice of the entire class. This person will also need to post a short, weekly status report on the class wiki.
 * External Relations - somehow who will be in charge of explaining/presenting/selling the project to various external parties; including Student Government, Student Media, Local Media, School Administration, etc.
 * Secretariat - Someone who will take meeting notes, generally be responsible for gathering/tracking information such as "lessons learned," and "group accomplishments" over the course of the semester
 * One strategy might be to leave some members of the class without assigned roles at this time, anticipating that new developments will create new roles, and/or that work will be created which does not clearly fall within a role. That said - members with unassigned roles must be diligent in making sure that they contribute to the project's overall success and that that work is recorded
 * Procurement: Person or committee in charge of "getting things" (so, spearheading fundraising, finding donations-in-kind, etc.)
 * Could have a website/wiki manager

**5. Required Resources**
This section should include a list of all resources that the class will need to make this project successful, including financial resources, human resources, and any other help-in-kind (for example the use of school resources such as computer/video equipment, or renting the auditorium for a day, etc.). For any resources which the class does not have ready access to, there should be included an initial plan for getting them.

**6. Risk Register**
This section should include a list of any foreseeable condition or event which could jeopardize the success of this project. With each identified risk there should be an initial mitigation plan.

7. Evaluation Criteria
What quantitative and qualitative indicators will you use to determine if this project has been a success? What quantitative and qualitative indicators should your teachers use to determine if this project has been a success? Please keep in mind that there will be some form of peer review used in determining the grade for this project; students are welcome to participate in planning this peer review either as a part of this proposal or at a later time.

Appendix A: Change Request
If an event comes up that substantially changes the project as outlined above, it is expected that a representative of the class will on behalf of the class submit a Change Request to the teachers. This Request should include information such as:
 * What has changed
 * The circumstances that have caused this change
 * If and how these changes will affect each of the aspects outlined in the original proposal

An example of a circumstance that would merit a change request would be the class deciding not to have a playday at the Boys and Girls Club, and instead putting on a playday for Trinity 6th graders.