Final Exam Projects

I hate taking tests, always have always will. I just was never good at them. And to be completely honest, I do not think I am that great at writing them. I tend to find my tests just to regurgitate memorized information.So, this year I have implemented a lot more project based assessments through my units and my final exams are no different.In my Basic Agriculture class, students have been working on a semester long Agriscience Fair Project which will count as their final exam grade (half from the paper, half from the actual Agriscience Fair)In my second level class, students will be submitting a record book report from the AET. Didn't know that that was an option, yeah me neither, until my teaching partner showed me all about it last year.Here is how those two projects shake out...AGRISCIENCE FAIRStudents pick a topic after we do our scientific method unit (usually in early September) to make sure students understand what the scientific process should look like.Students receive a template written report via Google Classroom and a Due Date sheet. Each item in the written report is given it's own due date. Students turn in those sections throughout the semester. I grade them QUICKLY using Google Classroom (seriously, a life-saver). I also supplied students with a HYPER DOC, basically it is ONE document that has links for EVERY THING the students need help with (ex. how to write an abstract, how to use APA Style in-text citations, examples of old display boards, and how to insert graphs).{Want to know more about HYPER DOCS...Check out this blog post from Write on With Miss G. I saw her post about them on the good ole Instagrizzle (my loving terms for Instagram) and KNEW I had to implement them in my classroom.}Students print and bind the written report, make a display and the last day of classes before exams in December, we host a class Agriscience Fair with judges (alumni, other teachers from the school, administration, etc.) students can get recognized for the top three experiments from the judges. They also get a score for their presentation which counts as half of their final exam grade, the other half is the written report graded with the National FFA Rubric by me.RECORD BOOK REPORT*This is all based off of my amazing teaching partner, Ashley White's Final Exam report idea. You rock!**Our students are pretty versed in the AET, they log hours everyday and get a recordkeeping grade every week.Students are given this rubric. I spent a day walking through how to complete each item (profile, pictures, captions, resume, SAE plans etc.) I also gave them this Hyper-Doc with "How To" do EACH item of that rubric.Students have time during class to work on the items. I will have checkpoints throughout the last few weeks if they want to turn in items early.On the last day of classes before finals, all students print and turn in their COMPLETE record book report (REPORTS, under Annual Reports & FFA Apps click COMPLETE RECORD BOOK REPORT, click ALL SAES, and generate a PDF).The BEST PART of these AET based Final Exams with our second level students is it gives us a gauge of where the student is in the journey toward their STATE DEGREE so we can help them reach that goal! Once they make it to the second level class our RETENTION rate of students for a third class is almost 100%, so we want ALL of them to get the coveted STATE DEGREE! And, YES this counts toward curriculum because FFA AND RECORDKEEPING are part of our standard!So there you have it! Just a quick glimpse of project based Final Exams. I will be doing something different for Spring Semester and when that is all finished I will jump on here and share that too!