The walls of our classroom can be visually engaging, welcoming, colorful, and informative places. They can also be celebrations of learning, and even hubs of activity where students can actively participate in their evolution as their learning progresses. There are many things that we can share through documentation on our bulletin boards and walls, but when we think about what the real purpose of that documentation is, it likely boils down to a few main ideas:

• Create a classroom environment that is a welcoming space reflective of who is in it
• Make student learning visible to students and stakeholders (parents, administrators, visitors to our classroom)
• Foster student learning by providing a tangible way to learn from ourselves and others

It may seem at first like these are fairly lofty goals for a classroom bulletin board. No matter how crafty or thematic we make our walls, in many instances, they are a passive part of the environment. Sometimes this is what is needed, but other times, we can leverage documentation to support student learning and agency.

Documentation as Display

Making the learning in our classroom visible to students and stakeholders is important. When my principal entered my classroom, I wanted her to know immediately what kinds of projects we were working on. Students want to have a way to share their work with parents when they visit. Displays are a great way to do that, as they tell a story of learning that has occurred. For instance…

Here we have a visually appealing memory of the Dragon in the Village Activity Series. There are images of the children working, artifacts from their coding using printables and photos, and words of the students self-describing something they learned. A visitor to the classroom could see that students were using a 123 Robot, and they would be able to see how engaged they were and what they had done to code the robot. Students can see themselves reflected here, and have a recap of what they did during this project.

The presentation itself is very teacher driven, and while the voice of the student is there in some ways, it is presented through the eyes and perspective of the teacher. This is showing a finished product, rather than an evolution. While this communicates something about student learning and creates a welcoming space, it doesn’t necessarily propel learning further.

Living Documentation

A ‘living’ piece of documentation grows and evolves as student learning grows and evolves. Typically, it starts simply, leaving visual and physical space for artifacts and traces of student learning. This style of documentation eases the ‘setup’ burden on the teacher, and is generally done at the start of a project, rather than the end. For instance…

Here we can see many similar items, yet the presentation is shifted. Instead of presenting the product of students’ learning, the evolution of the process of their learning is here. We can see what ‘big ideas’ have been agreed upon, what students are trying to figure out, and the materials they are using to be able to do so. There are additional items, like students’ journal pages, teacher’s recorded conversations, and saved project collections that can help prompt students to see how their thinking has changed, by giving them tangible reminders of what they previously thought through these artifacts.

The presentation, while clearly organized by the teacher, is accessible to students and has components that they can interact with, like the project archive, printables, and activities. The balance of voice between student and teacher is more balanced.

This space is welcoming, reflective of learning, and begins to foster learning by giving students a physical space to revisit their previous knowledge, and a physical space to show what they are currently learning and working through.

Interactive Documentation

Like living documentation, the space grows and evolves. However, with interactive documentation, the students are the ones that are primarily contributing to the space. Interactive documentation can be used to have students share progress over a longer term investigation or project, but (particularly for younger students) it is often used for smaller, more focused parts of a project. For instance…

Here we can see that the ‘setup’ is very simple, and almost like a learning center. The guiding question for the space is open-ended, and one that will allow for a variety of student responses, as there isn’t just ‘one’ right answer. The goal of this space is to show active student learning – to create a hub where students can learn from each other as much as from their own experience.

Learning is documented and shared through the voice and perspective of the students themselves. This is a space that they add to, interact with, take tips and tricks from (physically and cognitively), and their answers evolve over time. When the ‘tips’ are no longer needed, (as determined by students and teachers together) they can be archived to make room for more pressing tips and tricks. This kind of documentation might be part of a larger bulletin board, or just a functional small piece on its own. Either way, once students learn how to interact with it, it is essentially their space to use.

When we think about the walls of our classrooms, many things come to mind – they are probably filled with images, charts, reminders, rules, and student work. We want our classrooms to be places that students are happy to be in, where they feel welcome, and where they see themselves reflected. The walls of our classrooms will reflect the action of the community within it, and hopefully the learning that is taking place as well. Creating spaces that feel welcoming, make learning visible, and foster student problem solving and deepening understanding is not a simple task, but it is one that can be incredibly rewarding and valuable. The walls of our classrooms don’t need to be just a passive backdrop, they can themselves be an active part of the learning environment.