Two summers ago my family and I had the pleasure of visiting the MIT Museum in Boston (https://mitmuseum.mit.edu). The museum displays technology developed by students and faculty, machines, and artwork. As we moved throughout the displays, we talked about the things we saw, pointing out items of interest and questioning things that didn’t quite make sense. We learned much from our exploration and dialogue.
In the book Project Based Teaching: How to Create Rigorous and Engaging Learning Experiences, author Suzie Boss shares a “gallery walk” protocol for reviewing student works in progress, so that students receive quality formative feedback from a number of peer perspectives. Boss shares the following guidelines for a gallery walk (pp. 28-29):
- Post work to be reviewed on classroom walls or in digital stations. Make sure the artifacts are clearly visible.
- Provide students with sticky notes or a feedback guide to be used during the gallery walk.
- Explain the criteria for providing feedback. Use the project rubric as a checklist, and provide sentence starters for completion.
- Instruct students to move around the room silently to give feedback.
- After the gallery walk, have each student who received feedback share it with the class. Have the student reflect on the feedback and plan steps for improving the project.
Students may need to briefly present their project to reviewers during the gallery walk. Allow it. Students may want to provide specific prompts for feedback regarding their project. Allow it. The goal is for students to get their projects reviewed while in progress, so they can make adjustments along the way.
As you plan for next week, think about the things your students are working on. Do any of your classes have projects that would benefit from a gallery walk? If so, plan for about 20 to 30 minutes for such a session. Your students and their projects will benefit greatly.
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