Making Learning Visible: Documentation for the Celebration of Learning

Yes – these projects are an amazing display of student work! Students poured so much effort, energy and thought into each piece, and they are so excited to share their classrooms with family and friends at tomorrow night’s Celebration of Learning. But our Celebration of Learning showcases so much more than just the final products of our students’ hard work. The goal with each carefully constructed model, every thoughtfully arranged display is for students to tell a story – a story of curiosity and unfolding inquiry, of questions asked and challenges faced, of research conducted and ideas tested.

This kind of documentation aims to make the journey behind the projects visible and to honor the process of learning, including all of the questions, pivots, revisions and breakthroughs that paved the way. What you find at a Celebration of Learning are not just finished projects, but also evidence of all of the explorations over the course of the trimester. Student notebooks are out, research findings are on display, photographs of the students working during the trimester are prominent, and the students themselves are always on hand and prepared to speak about their work.

While the end result is thrilling – and students revel in the reactions of their family and friends – the process of creating this kind of documentation is an integral and invaluable part of the learning journey. Documentation is a profound exercise in reflective learning, requiring students to analyze not only what they have been learning, but how they’ve been learning and why it’s important. They’re encouraged to look at the material they’ve covered and experiences they’ve had and ask themselves: how do these pieces fit together? which information was the most important? how did my ideas change? and how can I communicate all of these insights clearly?

The Celebration of Learning model offers all students the opportunity to showcase their learning according to their learning style strengths, whether they choose to build a model, create a piece of artwork, share a written issue, speak with visitors, create a film, host an interactive demonstration or perform. The aim is to demonstrate the trimester’s worth of learning in a clear and engaging way that brings the visitor along on the learning journey from initial questions through the evolution of an idea and the acquisition of new knowledge.