Analyzing Scope Creep

                  Have you ever started a project and thought it was going good, until someone saw it and started giving you suggestions on what to do? This happens to everyone, either at work or in your personal life. This is called a scope creep, "when people suggest things that you need to do" (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.). It is funny how many people give suggestions, when they are not even doing or know what you are doing.

                The personal experience I have had with a scope creep was back when I was in my senior year of college, while doing my TWS (Teacher Work Sample). I attended YSU (Youngstown State University) and I had one night class a week.  During this class, I had a Special Education Supervisor who would advise us each week on one part of our TWS. She was very good at her job, and she was very knowledgeable about the TWS. My entire TWS was based off of my student teaching experience, which was a 4th/5th grade self contained unit at a school close by. To start off, I had to get to know my students and school, so I went to my teacher and asked detailed questions about the students and school that I did not know. She was very knowledgeable about both, since she had worked at the school for many years and knew all the students since the first day, and I only started in January. After completing certain parts, I could not ask my teacher for help because I needed to be able to figure out the rest of the information by myself. I had my night class at YSU for help if I needed it. I was the project manager of my TWS, and my stakeholder was my student teaching teacher and my YSU supervisor. With being the project manager, I had taken on the project management role. "The process of guiding a project from its beginning through its performance to its closure" (Portny et al., 2008, p. 20). Within the project, I had to have a lot of collections of papers, activities, and observations from the students, I was doing project monitoring. "Project monitoring is the collection, recording, and reporting of project information that is important to the project manager" (Portny et al., 2008, p. 317). During the completion of the TWS, I realized my student teaching teacher was always looking at what I was writing. She constantly told me I was not writing sections up correctly. So, when confused I would go to my supervisor, and she would tell me it was correct. I was caught in the middle, who do I listen to? I knew my supervisor knew more about the TWS, but I also could not disregard what my teacher was telling me.

                Many times, my teacher would ask me questions about my TWS, and she would always say that is not what they want in this section. She would tell me what she had to put in that section (20 years ago) and I would say ok, and take notes on it, but then she would always want to check my actual binder to see if I would include what she suggested. This was a scope creep because I know my teacher was trying to help me, but she was not giving me the correct information, and it was not the information I wanted to hear, but she was very persistent. It got to the point, I ended up leaving my binder with all of my TWS information at home, so she could not ask me questions. If she did ask questions, I would say I did not know how to answer it because I did not have my things. Because I listened to my supervisor, I got a passing grade on my TWS, and I was thankful for that. I was not upset that my teacher was trying to help, it was just frustrating because she did not know what was needed but always thought she was right.

                In the end, I am glad I did not listen to my teacher. I think it felt like I was being disrespectful to her, but I am not sure I would have passed my TWS if I did. I would not change anything today, because if I had, I might not be a teacher today. If I had been a project manager then, I think I might have handled the situation a little better, instead of a shy student teacher. With being a project manager, you have to have authority and you have to self-confidence. In college, I was very shy and timid, and I never spoke out. Today, I would have told her thank you for your suggestions, I will take them all in, but I have someone to help me with this. If I have any questions, I will come to you. I know this was not a huge scope creep, however, it was very difficult because this TWS grade determined if we graduated or not. I feel I made the best choices for me, but I still felt bad about not listening to an adult who was trying to help.

                Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and evidence [DVD].Practitioner Voices: Overcoming Scope Creep. Baltimore, MD: Author

                Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.