When there is no room for student work


At many of my workshops I am asked to share ideas related to organization. I teach in a portable classroom and see about 725 students each week. There is simply no room to display samples of student investigations or share with students what other classes or grades are working on. My solution has been simplified in this age of digital photography.

I am constantly taking pictures of students at work (with signed permission provided to homeroom teachers at the beginning of each school year). I regularly print the pictures in sheets of six pictures and place them in plastic sheet protectors. These plastic "displays" are attached to the metal cabinets by my front door. As students enter the class and line up to leave the pictures are there to be viewed by all. Kids regularly see their friends and siblings and get a peek into what's going on in other classrooms.

For Open House I have expanded this to a slide show that runs non-stop on my Smart Board for everyone to enjoy. Since my program uses science journals and hands on explorations, rather than product driven projects and worksheets, these pictures becomes documentation and a great source for conveying what takes place in the lab.