Do you get excited at the thought of beginning your classroom displays at the start of each year? Some teachers love it and some hate it. I have to admit, I've always been in the second camp until recently.
My teaching philosophy is to be efficient. If anything has a positive impact on the pupils learning then it's worth spending time on. And if it doesn't, why are we wasting so much precious time? We have enough to do as it is.
In the past, I always felt that display boards were exactly that; wasting precious time. A tick box exercise to give the impression of an excellent learning environment for any possible inspectors and parents. I failed to see them as a learning tool when I have 25 computers in my room. My usual attempts of backing paper, bright borders, and then relying on students to fill the empty space, was not supporting their learning. I even planned lessons I wouldn't normally do just so the pupils could fill the empty spaces. That is not an efficient way of working and it wasn't always pretty.
As a Computing teacher, I am very passionate about teaching digital literacy and ensuring pupils are prepared for the world they will enter when they leave school. I want my pupils to see the positive uses of social media, not just the safety aspects telling them what they should and shouldn't do. I also want them to see their is much more on social media than funny viral memes of cats and Donald Trump. As the adults, we need to lead by example and allow pupils to use technology, and make mistakes in a safe and supportive environment such as school, rather than in an uncontrolled environment in their own time. If we don't use technology because of potential behavioural issues, we are doing them a huge dis-service. We are selling our pupils short of a much needed skill set if our only goal is exam results.
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| Twitter board for students |
So I have decided to try something new this year. I am going to use my display boards as a good example of digital literacy. I have created Twitter and Instagram walls instead of the usual display of pupil work. Any pupil, from any class, at any time, can add to either board if they are proud of something they have done or learnt. Also, my notice board reflects my subject after using a little bit of creativity. On my final display, every pupil has written an answer to a 'target' question on a piece of paper and placed into their classes envelope, of which I will randomly select throughout the year for some self evaluation.
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| Instagram wall for displaying pupils work |
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| Goal setting and self evaluation wall |
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| "Tablet" notice board |
The difference from last year? The walls are not specified to a particular class. Gone are the days of instructing one class to fill a wall with a poster. I want the pupils to have more ownership over the classroom and for it to be used in an interactive manner, just like their digital lives.
My hope is that the displays will now be an interactive learning tool for digital literacy. Displays that pupils are interested in all year round. Displays that they want to contribute to and can relate to. Displays that reflect my subject, my teaching style and promote a positive learning environment. For the first time in my teaching career, I am excited by my classroom displays.
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