Embracing Mistakes and Feedback

By: Valerie Hoekstra
May 20, 2016

There is a science behind learning from your mistakes, after all, learning is a process, but how do you teach that concept to students and how do you encourage them to take advantage of feedback they receive from their teachers?

One of the ways we accomplish this at Inwood Academy is to display classroom work, with teacher remarks and all, on the bulletin boards that are displayed throughout the halls of the middle school.

Bulletin boards display very different things than when I was in school. Typically, only the prettiest handwriting or best projects were displayed; and usually by the same students month after month. Even today, schools use bulletin boards for diverse purposes. At Inwood Academy, we want to make our students feel good about their learning so we showcase what is actually going on in the classroom on a daily basis.

The boards often include tasks done at different levels based on student need or choice, evidence of how students worked toward understanding of the task, and feedback on the work they did or how the work could be extended. By displaying their work that represents the academic process, students learn that it is the struggle and progress we value, and not just the finished product.

Enjoy some of our work in the month of May! Notice the difference in tasks or choice for students, the academic struggle needed to complete the tasks and the feedback from teachers.

View more boards in our Bulletin Board photo album: