Exhibitions are complex, dynamic events that improve in quality when students make meaningful design choices. Facilitate opportunities for students to shape the experience and to lead authentic audiences through celebrations of their learning.
[AUDIO LOGO] ALEX: All of the planning and all of the– how everything is going to work out, it’s all put into the student’s hands.
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SABRINA SALVATIERRA: I think as much as you can integrate students into the planning, the process, ask what they thought the layout process should be? What was the most important things to showcase?
MICHELLE JACONETTE: I tell the kids from the beginning that the exhibition is theirs.
OSCAR CARRION: We do these vision boards where kids get in groups, they start ideating what exhibition could look like. From there, we get a vision. We vote on it.
JAMELLE JONES: We took the students to the space on field work. We talked about how– what are the best ways that people learn? And so the students said, well, oh, we learn when we play games and we learn when we do brain break video games. So my class created a brain break video game that’s all about sharks.
CHRIS OLIVAS: Us teachers think we know what have been the high points the big learning moments for students, and they will think something differently. And that’s ultimately what we want them to display, and to show, and to live in exhibition, is really what they’re taking away from it and what they’re hoping visitors take away from it too.
ABIGAIL: That little moment of community between the students, and I feel like we’re all working together for a common goal. And at the end, there is something physical that you can walk around and see what everybody chipped in to do.
OSCAR CARRION: Emily and I try to be very mindful of who gets the leadership roles and who’s been pegged as the leader in this grade? And how can we make sure that we elevate other voices that have not been heard of, that we’re starting to get to know and we know their potential? And so we really try to encourage those kids to show up for that leadership work.
MATT LEADER: And I know that whatever might go wrong has been anticipated by students, and they can communicate with each other. If they’re curating a space, there are students in charge of that. It’s not me running to go fix a poster that came down or–
MICHELLE JACONETTE: But they know that I’m there to just facilitate however in whatever way that they need help with their exhibition. And then on that night, they take it all on their own, and I get to stand back and watch.
OSCAR CARRION: Keeps proving to me that we need to include kids in the conversation at all times if possible. You’re not creating projects for them. You’re creating projects with them.
AJ: There’s always a little bit of– yeah, a little teacher, a little student will come together, but we usually make something beautiful.
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