A former 5th grade student of mine, in response to his own perceived ?not knowing?, let me know: ?Once is not enough. I need three times at least!? His lament reminded me of how I needed exposure to a new idea and the words to explain it multiple times before I could grasp and remember it. Each encounter helped me clarify, understand, and remember the concept better.
Documentation Examples > Documentation Exhibition
Once is not enough: What effects can making thinking visible have on student learning?
School: Benjamin Banneker Charter School, Cambridge, MA
1. Background:
With this inferred admonition in mind, I decided to make a bulletin board with one rectangle for each student to display their ongoing thinking about mass, volume, and density.
Each rectangle contained a picture of the student and room to post quotes from writing and conversation. I wondered how seeing his/her own and each other?s ideas publicly displayed would affect the quality of learning and conversation about density in the classroom.