One of these reminders came from a poster project. Instead of a traditional poster, I provided students with resources to enable them to create digital posters modeled on scientific posters that one would see in the professional world.
When we started, despite being unsure of the quality of work that I would get, I pushed students to create something that they were proud of. As the posters came together, my grade 7 students again surprised me.
It may seem as if I have low expectations, but I would argue that it’s quite the opposite. I think that the fact that I am constantly surprised by the quality of work produced is because of high initial expectations. Students realize that the bare minimum isn’t enough and push themselves to new levels with each task.
The specifics of this assignment were that students had to choose and research an environmental issue in Alberta and present their findings using a Google Slides template that I had downloaded from the U of C. We were lucky enough to have a parent who was able to print some of the posters at their full size so that students could see their work in the intended format.
Mike Streeter (@mikestreeter) is a Grade 7 Math and Science teacher at Simon Fraser School. Away from school, he enjoys anything technology as well as outdoor pursuits.