Learning Trees

Self and Peer assessment are useful tools in the ICT Suite. I wondered how I might develop this for display, and make mine and the students ideas and learning more visible and transparent. I decided on the idea of a learning tree, as this would symbolically represent how our ideas and learning were growing over the course of the term.

The learning tree idea, evolved from something I had previously used in my classroom. On the wall I put up a tree trunk made from cut and shaped pieces of sugar paper. For every year group in the school we chose a different colour paper. These were cut into leaf shapes. In the early shapes I placed learning targets for each year group, and mounted these on the empty branches of the tree. Throughout the unit of work I shared these targets and reviewed them with the students at the end of lessons through the plenaries. As each unit of work developed we shared what we had learned, and added these to the tree as leaves of different colours. The students were keen to share their learning and to have it diplayed for all to see. It also motivated them to share their skills with me as they emerged through the tasks they were doing. So popular was this with the students I was frequently reminded of the tree, when time ran out and the plenary was to slip. Here is our learning tree from term 1. Maybe you might like to try this with your students, not necessarily in the ICT suite, my students loved the tree in their classroom too.