The teenagers hold the center, seated across from the adults. The adults have just finished their “pitch:” \u00a0a carefully developed idea for a task they would like to give in class. The teens ask them tough questions, mull their answers, and give incisive feedback; no criticism spared.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t a focus group. It\u2019s actually designed to follow the format of the ABC show \u201cShark Tank,\u201d<\/a> where eager entrepreneurs pitch their products to venture capitalists, or \u201csharks,\u201d who decide whether to invest in them. Only in this case the entrepreneurs are public school teachers, and the \u201csharks\u201d are their students. The products? Investment-worthy writing assignments.<\/p>\n The National Writing Project<\/a> developed the shark tank as a format for teachers to tap student feedback on curriculum-in-process. When it comes to the effort it takes to writing and to write well, students are<\/em> investors.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking a good assignment is a really complex act,\u201d said National Programs Director Tanya Baker, a former teacher. \u201cYou have to think of a lot of things: the content they have to know, the kids themselves and their interests, the audience. So when it comes to thinking about tasks and assignments, we liked this premise of the students as the ones making the investment.\u201d<\/p>\n If a student feels that an assignment is worth \u201cinvesting\u201d in, he or she will be more likely to engage deeper with the material and work harder, she explained.\u00a0\u201cYoung people actually have a lot to say about what they\u2019re asked to do in school, and we don\u2019t ask them enough,\u201d Baker said. The Shark Tank format, known to many from the TV show, provided a structure for asking.<\/p>\n