Every project is a story
Lately I've been coalescing my thinking and teaching around this single notion. That every project is a story. Students are telling stories about their learning. Some are written stories; poems, reflections, personal narratives and so on. Some are media based; presentations, videos, music. Regardless of the medium and regardless of the expectations and rubric, any good project a student creates, that truly demonstrates their leaning ,is one in which they tell a story. They tell their story of their learning.
And with any story, start with the why. Why am I telling it? Why am I making the choices I'm making? Why is this the way I telling it?