{"id":13673,"date":"2020-01-21T15:42:16","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T23:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/?p=13673"},"modified":"2020-01-21T15:42:16","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T23:42:16","slug":"become-an-exhibitionist-of-student-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/become-an-exhibitionist-of-student-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Become an “Exhibitionist” of Student Learning!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michelle Clark
\nOriginally Published at TeachingChannel<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an exhibitionist of student learning\u201d<\/strong>
\n\u2014Public Presentations of Learning Stimulate Deeper Learning<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I loved being a teacher and relished in the futuristic vision of myself.<\/p>\n

I’d sport salt and pepper grey hair like my Grandma Lu, thoughtfully sip my decaf coffee from my Wonder Woman traveler\u00a0mug,\u00a0and still execute perfectly timed dance moves through lessons, discussions, and projects for the enjoyment of my students. I always knew that if I ever left the classroom it would have to be for something important, and I couldn’t think of anything more important than positively impacting the lives of young people. Then I learned about a career opportunity that would allow me to do just that, but on a national scale, and I was all in.<\/p>\n

I was asked to Co-Direct the Share Your Learning Campaign<\/a><\/em>, a national initiative that aims to empower 300,000 teachers to shape the path for five million students to publicly present their learning to an audience beyond the classroom by the year 2020, and I said, \u201cYes<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although I had strong reservations about leaving the security of my classroom and the mutual love and respect of \u201cmy babies,\u201d aka my students, I was eager to be a part of a nationwide\u00a0transformation of student learning.<\/p>\n

Public presentations of learning offer a feasible, high-leverage approach to access equitable outcomes for all students through the cultivation of deeper learning competencies. The three practices we’re encouraging educators to explore are:<\/p>\n

Exhibitions<\/a>:\u00a0Whether it’s getting student work on the walls, showcasing a class project, or hosting a whole-school exhibition with community members and experts, celebrate students\u2019 work and learning by making it visible.<\/p>\n

\"video<\/a>

Click the image to view the video on TeachingChannel.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Student-Led Conferences<\/a>:\u00a0Flip traditional parent-teacher conferences on their head and put students in charge of the discussion.\n<\/p>\n

Presentations of Learning<\/a>: Have students present their learning, grounded in artifacts\/evidence from their own\u00a0work, to a panel of peers and adults who can offer feedback and support for next steps.<\/p>\n

\"video<\/a>

Click the image to view the video on TeachingChannel.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The practices are the \u201cwhat,<\/em>\u201d now let\u2019s talk about the \u201cwhy.<\/em>\u201d<\/h4>\n

My public presentations of learning \u201cwhy\u201d is centered around visibility. When every student has an opportunity to share their learning publicly, it means they’re visible, seen by their parents, peers, teachers, and community members. And, when students are seen and heard, it becomes much easier to respond to their interests, needs, passions, and challenges. It gives students authentic accountability, and it guides teachers toward authentic assessment.<\/p>\n

My Co-Director Mari Jones has a different \u201cwhy.\u201d She believes when students have the chance to do meaningful work and to present that work to people who are important to them or connected to the work, it makes them feel like they matter and that their work has value.<\/p>\n

So, when people ask, \u201cWhy public presentations of learning?<\/em>\u201d, I like to turn the question back to them, and the list of \u201cwhys\u201d becomes unique and personal to each responder. All of these \u201cwhys\u201d add up to increased student engagement and improved\u00a0deeper learning competencies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Equally as fascinating as excavating the \u201cwhy,\u201d is getting to witness the many ways educators engage in the \u201chow.\u201d The Principal\u00a0of Montgomery Middle Steam Magnet school in San Diego, California, Stephanie Brown, is a true champion of student-centered learning. Last year her\u00a0students and\u00a0staff transformed their open house into an\u00a0all-school\u00a0exhibition where students courageously shared their learning with parents, peers, and the public.<\/p>\n

Moved by the student ownership, teacher motivation, and parent participation during the exhibition, Stephanie realized her school was ready for another Share Your Learning<\/em> practice,\u00a0Student-Led\u00a0Conferences. This year, for the very first time, her middle school students took the lead during their conferences. Each student used supportive evidence to discuss their strengths, areas for growth, and plans for improvement. It was a deeply reflective process that allowed for all stakeholders to invest in\u00a0lived\u00a0learning experiences of students and make commitments for future student support. Montgomery Middle Steam Magnet\u2019s success story, among others, are now featured in the\u00a0award-winning\u00a0film, \u201cMost Likely to Succeed<\/em>,\u201d\u00a0an Innovation Playlist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although I’m no longer in the classroom and don’t have students of my own, it’s stories like Stephanie\u2019s that keep me grounded in the significance of this work. The Share Your Learning Campaign<\/em> is a national campaign with an intimate impact, and I’m honored to help educators across the country become \u201cexhibitionists\u201d of student learning.<\/p>\n

Join the movement<\/a> to help five million students publicly share their learning<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0each year by June 2020. Be one of\u00a0300,000 teachers committed and connected<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0across the nation to transform schools into centers of engagement and hope.<\/p>\n

Are you an “exhibitionist” of student learning? How do you give your students authentic audience and assessment? Share your stories in the comments below.<\/p>\n

\n

Michelle Clark is the Project Co-director of the Deeper Learning Hub<\/a>, a national practitioner hub whose mission is to spread deeper learning practices and ensure that more students across the country are achieving deeper learning outcomes. She is co-leading the\u00a0Share Your Learning Campaign<\/a>\u00a0which aims to spread student-centered practices (exhibitions, student-led conferences, and presentations of learning) to five million students by 2020. She also works for the Center for Research on Equity and Innovation at High Tech High\u2019s Graduate School of Education as Coordinator of High Tech High submissions to Education Week\u2019s\u00a0Learning Deeply<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>blog and as a co-planner and facilitator of the annual Equity Deep Dive. Connect with Michelle on Twitter:\u00a0@MichelleSadrena<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Share Your Learning campaign advocates for public presentations to give students an authentic audience and assessment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":13706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[613],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13673"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educatorinnovator.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}