Facilitating Teaching and Learning Activities

Teaching and Learning Values

• Communicate and create values about teaching and learning to make individual thinking available to the group and support collective knowledge-building.
• Help learners make connections across units and subject matter.

Bulletin Board Purposes

• Convey various information, including meeting announcements, parent news, curriculum overviews, and student work.
• Make learning visible, reflecting a class or school's identity.

Making Learning Visible

• Focus on what was learned, as well as what was done, revealing the learning process and product.
• Balance content learning with learning about learning.
• Include what the adult learned, as well as the students.

Creating Effective Bulletin Boards

• Identify the goal and audience for the board.
• Highlight what you are most excited about, and what your students are excited about.
• Consider what might promote additional learning.
• Ensure your commentary is supported by what you share on the board.

Designing Bulletin Boards

• Boards can range from simple to complex.
• Collaborate with a colleague, if possible.
• Include your name, the age or grade of the students, and date on the board.

Involving Students

• Ask students what part of their learning they want to share with the school community.
• Include students' reflections on their learning, such as what was hard, surprising, or exciting.
• Involve students in putting the board together and/or reflecting on it once it is done.

Variations and Extensions

• Revisit the bulletin board with the learners.
• Create a board about works-in-progress.
• Use speech bubbles on a bulletin board.
• Involve students in making the board, such as gathering information, taking pictures, and jotting down quotes.
• Take a learning walk around the school with colleagues or students to explore different bulletin boards.

Explore strategies to enhance teaching and learning experiences by creating opportunities for individual and collective knowledge-building. Learn how to connect learning experiences across different units and subjects, as well as classrooms or time. Discover ways to incorporate reflections on the learning process and visual elements into the educational environment.