Think Like a Teacher

Right about now, it feels as though your students are mired in semi-frozen slush. You worry that they will never master all that they need to know before The Big Test or The End of the Year. They seem to make the same mistakes over and over again, no matter how many times you write a constructive comment or offer extra help. The same students who have been turning in outstanding projects all year continue to do so, while others seem to set their brains to seven hour snooze as they walk through the doors at 7:30 am.

In short, it is February.

I have been talking to a high school bio teacher who has the same worries. She has been using infographics creation as a formative assessment during several of her units this year, and she questions whether the kids are “getting it” at all. She invited me to take a look at what her students have done so far, to visit the class wiki and see the progression of infographics on each student’s page from October until now. She wanted to know whether I could see progress and whether I thought this idea was working or not.

I looked. I was so instantly impressed that I called others to my computer. These kids show what they know by building creative, meaningful infographics.

I learn from what I see. Yes, there are a few students who throw a few text boxes onto a computer screen like fill-in-the-blanks on a worksheet and call it an infographic. But so many more have made steady progress from a few images on a rectangle (their first attempt) to a carefully color coordinated arrangement of words, images, and lines/arrows that explain photosynthesis or DNA replication (attempts 2 and 3). As a set of fresh eyes, looking from a distance instead of from the teacher’s desk in the bio lab, I see understanding. I see science concepts I had long forgotten, now freshly explained to me by a 9th grader. I make comments on their wiki because they need to know that their work makes sense. I also make suggestions (no teacher can ever resist a chance!).

I email their teacher to ask– does she have any idea how GOOD her students’ work really is? Can she reflect from afar to gain perspective? Or does February have her so earthbound that she cannot see the big picture from above?

In a flash of optimism, she suggests surveying the kids on the challenges and positives of using infographics to build understanding and show what they know.  Although the data is still rolling in, it is obvious that they see progress, too. Ask a ninth grader to reflect anonymously via a survey, and you will get an honest answer. Another 30,000 ft view.

We all need to look at our students’ travels from high elevation to trace the paths they have taken in the last six months. Take a February leap — with a colleague or your students — to enjoy the view from 30,000 feet.