This week, both of my kids had the opportunity to share the projects that they have been engaged in at school and what they have been learning throughout the process in their school-wide exhibition. Like a musical production or a game, an exhibition is a day that their school set up for all classes to put their learning on display, invite families in, and share how and what they were learning throughout the semester. Exhibitions are a critical part of a project because as the Share Your Learning website highlights:
When students know they will share their work with an audience beyond the classroom, they are motivated to make it high quality. The best exhibitions showcase work that has required students to think critically, problem-solve, and revise through multiple drafts.
This is backed by research on motivation and has been evident in my own experience as an educator but nothing beats the opportunity to experience this as a parent!
Leading up to the exhibition, Zack was talking about the fantasy story he has been working on. He had memorized the first couple sentences of his story and was really proud of it. I asked about the rest of the story and he shared the plot. Frankly, I was pretty surprised by what he was sharing and the detail he had thought through. His story was still in draft form and he had a lot of sticky notes as it had been through many revising and editing phases with peers and his teacher but he hadn’t finished typing it and he wanted to work on it at home because the exhibition was on Wednesday.
This task wasn’t assigned by his teacher nor was it something I made him do at all. He wanted to do it. Given this public deadline and ownership over the writing process that he felt, Zack decided he needed to spend more time working on it at home. Seeing how excited he was, I couldn’t have been more thrilled to work with him to finish his 9-page story that went way beyond my expectations. I sat and listened and helped him revise it after he typed it. As he was working on his story, I couldn’t help but think of how much he has grown in his writing and confidence in the last year. He also recognized his growth and effort as he shared, “This is my best work yet!” #proudmommoment
Learning Exhibitions: Process and Product
On the evening of the exhibition, the school was packed with families and students buzzing around to make learning visible and celebrate all the kids had accomplished.
Abby’s 5th-grade class project was “mind control” where they were learning all about the brain and how it influences your actions and reactions. They made calm kits for the younger classes, discussed growth mindset, created their own learner profile, and wrote narratives about overcoming obstacles. During the exhibition, Abby taught us about growth vs fixed mindset, we reflected on the last time we learned something new, did a science experiment to calculate our reaction speed ( it improved each time), she read her personal narrative, and gave me the most in-depth lesson on the brain that I have had since college.
Zack’s 4th-grade project was about exploring nature, why it is important, and how people access it. The class conducted fieldwork by hiking, camping, and reflecting on their experiences in nature, read a lot of articles, and even wrote stories. At exhibition, we started off with a video the kids made about why nature is important, we perused their portfolios and he shared all the different articles they read about nature and the different class discussion that resulted ranging from data on how much time people spend outside and why it’s declining, natural parks and how the program is changing, and the health benefits of nature. Zack and his classmates read their leads from their stories to the audiences by a “campfire” and then we visited the reflection room where they had another video highlighting what they learned through the process.
Both of my kids shared how much different it was knowing that they were doing something that people would see and experience instead of doing the work and throwing it away. My son has referenced this before as “trashcan work”. They shared how much more it mattered to do a project and display so you can teach other people and share what you know.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6AS2i9BR5L/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
I shared this on Instagram and got a lot of messages from educators who wanted to know more about how they could do something similar in their school or classroom. I asked my husband who has led many exhibitions over the years for his tips and he shared the following:
Embrace the chaos. Most of us like to have things very orderly and controlled but the learning process is messy.
Preparation matters. Have work completed and prepare students with how and what they will be sharing at exhibition a few days (at least) in advance
Set the bar high. When kids have high expectations, you will be surprised by what they can and will do.
Create an environment that feels special. Change the layout, go somewhere, and create an atmosphere and products worth sharing.
A poster isn’t a project. Too often the “project” is a dessert, not the main course or something that is done after the learning rather than learning through the project.
For more information, this is a great resource for exhibitions and other ways to share your learning.
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