As the evening proceeded, many students came into the Learning Commons to share what they had entered into Iris with their families. Parents were excited to see the photos and videos that were populated in their child’s Iris Student Learning Plan. Students were excited to share their insights, reasons for choosing artifacts, and goals they had written.
As one student logged into Iris, I overheard a father say, “Which of these goals have you achieved?” The student responded with “These are the goals I am working towards. Look at these pictures of my work to see my improvement.” The student and his father then proceeded to have a conversation about the setting of goals, working towards goals and the process of learning.
What did I learn from this experience? Conversations about learning in the presence of student work engages and provokes the participants to think about learning in reference to the evidence in the work and to discuss what the next steps in learning could be. The student’s ability to transform the interaction from a short answer into a conversation about learning is a great example of what can happen when learning is made visible.
Ed Schrottner (@Schrottweiler) is a Science Teacher and a Specialist with Learning Services. He is passionate about science education that promotes hands-on activities and demos that engage, inspire and excite.