Following are tips in the design of the project to hold interest and to make the educational experience a quality one for at-risk learners, particularly those who are free to exit the class at will.  Stealth teaching classes will provide: 

• initial instant gratification -  In developing classes, it’s important if at all possible to insert a “wow” moment early on – for example, in the Halloween Soundtracks class, kids find that 20 seconds of random clicking will result in a pretty impressive musical score.  An early success reinforces their confidence and sustains interest.
• a base level project that all can achieve, plus a higher level of complexity for older or more technically proficient students - In the movie classes, all students will be able to import and play the movie they shot, and with some help, will be able to export and save the final project.  Some students will complete the advanced portions of the class, learning to vary the frame rate, apply special effects, and add titles. 
• instruction in both subject matter and generalized information  - each class provides instruction in particular software and also in techniques common to most software, such as menu structures, saving and printing.
• for individual creativity – specific instruction is given in software procedures, but considerable latitude is encouraged in the realization – for example, students learn how to use Fireworks strokes to create what appears to be pizza crust, sauce, and toppings, but the size, color, and amount are totally up to the student (with some surprising results).  

Lesson Plans in Project-Based Classes

Successful educational technology project-based classes depend upon carefully developed written lesson plans, particularly when the classes are designed to provide positive experiences for at-risk learners.  When preparing the lesson plan, it’s important to write out each step and to provide a screen shot of what the learner should be seeing, for several reasons:

• Ensures that no steps are glossed over or left out;
• Helps the teacher to anticipate possible mistakes that students are likely to make “…helpless children viewed their difficulties as failure, as indicators of low ability, and as insurmountable” (Dweck & Leggett, 1988, p. 258);
• Screen shots are helpful to students who have difficulty reading or who have difficulty reading English;
• A carefully documented lesson plan can provide a second chance to the child who decided not to stay for the class and returns, sees the fun the children are having who stayed and now wants to complete the project (this happens quite a bit in this program).

THE STEALTH TEACHING CLASS EVENT

The stealth teaching concept does rely heavily on preparation; however, the class itself is the apotheosis.  Remember, the class is designed to provide a positive learning experience for the at-risk learner:

• During class, provide positive reinforcement of talents and skills observed, including:  design ability, musical ability, spatial skills, creativity, as well as basic geek skills.
• During class, relate skills learned to future career possibilities – Virtual Halloween costumes/Hollywood special effects; game programming, very cool job prospects there, artistic and design skills –

More over, students are more likely to approach and engage in learning in a manner consistent with a mastery goal when they perceive meaningful reasons for engaging in an activity, that is, when they are focused on developing an understanding of the content of the activity, improving their skills, or gaining new skills and when task presentation emphasizes personal relevance and meaningfulness of the content (Ames, 1992, p. 263).

• Note that the software they are learning is professional-level, is taught in colleges and isn’t a special dumbed-down kid program.
• Point out features that are common to all software and encourage students to watch for those features in future projects, particularly the common “Edit/Undo” feature that saves mountains of frustration.
• During class, maintain a casual attitude toward technical, mechanical academic aspects of the project, such as spelling and grammar.  You might say, “That’s not the standard spelling; I can help you with that if you like…”
• During class, look for chances to positively improve a student’s social confidence.  It’s perhaps not that surprising that in a class where creativity and artistic abilities are key, closely followed by geek abilities, the pariah child will often outshine the entire class.  Calling the class’s attention to the achievements of the outcast can often make the group see the outcast child in a totally new light.