Whenever you see bump it up walls or learning walls in classrooms, you probably ask yourself – should student goals be on display?
There are whispers that some educational bodies are discouraging the displaying individual student goals in the classroom, as part of a broader push for student data privacy. Our own philosophies may play a part in how we feel about this, but the reality is that there are ethical and legal reasons why displaying student goals in your classroom may not be acceptable going forward.
What does this mean for you in the classroom?
Keep student goals out of plain sight
Firstly, ensure that student learning goals are not in plain sight. This means a rejig of traditional student goal mats if you are using them. You can do this by adding a flap that can cover the goals while keeping them in close proximity to the learner.
You could also keep goals and goal mats:
In a portfolio folder accessed by you and the learner
In a student’s personal learning device or in their diary
‘Flipping frogs’ goal mat provides privacy to students.
Should student goals be on display? Maybe. Anonymity is key
Secondly, de-identify any student work on display in your classroom, and ensure your Learning Walls and Bump It Up Walls are anonymous. This doesn’t stop the comparison game – hopefully you are having constructive conversations about student work, identifying what students have done well, and how they can improve or ‘bump up’.
You could also:
Include a space, such as a blank square in the top corner, on student work for them to draw an identifying picture or icon
Assign students an identifying number at the beginning of the year that they write on their work instead of their name.
Ensure that student work samples used as practice feedback/editing are de-identified
Over many years we have all argued that students know each other’s abilities – they just know. However, today more than ever, teachers have a responsibility to protect student privacy, from those not involved in their learning, including their peers.
So how do we celebrate learning goals when they are achieved?
We can still celebrate student goals through goal achievement, either as individuals or as a class. Students can still have their success recognized, even in front of the class. I like to give small vouchers for my prize box or extra computer time when students achieve one of their learning goals.
I also love showing my students my de-identified mark book that shows how they have grown as a class across the term or semester – I use my trusty orange and green colors to show this, and it is always so amazing to see how the class has achieved success criteria AND their reaction to seeing my mark book.
Protecting your students, protecting yourself
We know that displaying student marks for everyone to see is the wrong thing to do, but increasingly school districts are seeing increased ethical and legal issues when student data of any kind, including learning goals, are displayed publicly. From student confidence in the classroom to gossipy parents, there are a range of dangers inherent in displaying this information for schools and us as teachers. I’d love to hear your thoughts or even your personal experience with student privacy in your classroom, and let me know – how are you displaying your student learning goals?
My freebie, Student Goals Venn Diagram, comes with a box for students to draw an identifying picture, instead of writing their name.
Do you know how to make your learning walls interactive, so that all students can access them easily?
This is an important question to ask yourself when planning for the learning that is going to take place. Will your students come up to the wall and then mentally take information back to their desk? Are all of your students capable of doing this? Are you capable of doing this?
Memory is a really tricky tool to rely on and doesn’t support your learners at all – especially those who have trouble processing information before it is used. Instead, could you provide ‘take-aways’ in the form of vocabulary cards or checklists? Or another tool?
These are important questions to ask, as it’s one thing to display the information, but if it’s not truly accessible to all of your learners, then your learning wall won’t be used to its full potential.
You wouldn’t teach a normal writing lesson without differentiating for students that have additional needs – for example, providing printed copies of your PowerPoint, or digital text, so it’s important to think this way for your Learning Wall.
First steps? Well, interactive elements are my go-to! Not only are they an easy way to differentiate, but they add an element of fun and can turn a flat, boring wall into a vibrant learning centre.
How can you make your learning wall interactive? Some of my favourite ideas include:
Printed copies of information on the wall that students can take back to their desks: text examples, checklists, how-tos, diagrams, mini-anchor charts. You can print these much smaller so they are mini-versions
Pockets that hold information, such as question stems, vocabulary, sentence structure
Hooks to hold rings of common words, sight words, adjectives, superlatives
Hooks to hold copies of books on rings
Post-it notes readily available to pose questions or add examples
Highlighters to highlight important information
Clipboards to lean on at the wall
Puppets/story rocks for story retells
Interactive flaps on wall, displaying sequential information, or with questions on top and answers underneath
QR codes to digital resources
Using student drawings as examples
Finally, we talk about levels of ability – think about literal levels. Make sure your shortest learner can read all of the information on your wall – if they can’t reach it, it’s not interactive.
If you can imagine it, you can add it to your wall. I think the most important thing to remember is that not all of your students are going to access your wall at the same level, and interactive elements can support those learners and bring your wall to life.
One of the common challenges teachers have when using bump-it-up walls and learning walls is knowing how to co-construct success criteria.
I used to write the success criteria for my walls prior to introducing a new assessment piece. This worked well until during one particular lesson when it became evident that my students were demonstrating skills that should have been on my learning wall, but weren’t because I hadn’t even thought of them!
Why is it Important to Co-construct Success Criteria?
Student achievement is fast-tracked when they have clarity about a learning task, they understand what is required and how to do it. Co-constructing success criteria helps your students to understand everything you require, and also gives you an opportunity to explain success criteria and deconstruct for understanding.
Sometimes students can look at a marking rubric as though it means nothing to them – they are unable to articulate exactly what they are meant to do. As teachers, we’ve explained the task, but not made sure students have understood the elements required.
Beyond understanding, there is also the opportunity for students to demonstrate prior knowledge and mastery.
I realized that because I had given students no input into the creation of the success criteria, I hadn’t given them an opportunity to truly demonstrate their abilities.
I had never given students input because I had never seen co-construction of success criteria modeled by another teacher, and I wasn’t sure that I would be able to lead my students to the success criteria I wanted them to find (another mistake). I really needed to have more faith in my students and in myself.
I knew that I had to bite the bullet and co-construct the success criteria – not only giving my students ownership of the learning process but also ensuring that I wasn’t limiting my students.
To simplify the process, I chose to co-construct all of the success criteria in one lesson, because we were already a few weeks into our unit.
At first, I was a bit worried about how this lesson would work, but it was a fantastic foundation for my students, and still, I use the same process now. I hope that you will find the following sequence useful!
How to Co-construct Success Criteria (Text-type example)
You will need:
A written Learning Intention – this may be taken directly from the marking guide/rubric and/or re-written in child-friendly language). For example, “We are learning to retell a fairy tale from a different perspective”. Your students may not know what ‘perspective’ means – this will need to be deconstructed.
A-level sample (previous student work/teacher written or sourced) Pre-qualify the sample to make sure it includes elements required.
Cards to write and display success criteria statements on
Spend a few lessons immersing students in examples of the text type.
Brainstorm as a whole class, What makes a good narrative*? Write down as many success criteria as possible.
Provide students with an A-level narrative sample – one copy each. This could be from a past student or an example you have written or sourced yourself.
Ask students, What makes THIS a good narrative? Students should read through, individually or in groups, highlighting the different elements that make it a good narrative. They can write notes and use highlighters/colour coding.
After reading, analyzing and taking notes, students use their notes to write ‘I Can’ success criteria statements on cards.
As a whole class, read through each I Can statement and ‘think aloud’ with your students. Refin statements collaboratively.
Carefully select the most precise I Can statements.
If your marking guide is organised into headings such as Language features, Structure, Punctuation etc, organise students’ brainstormed ideas into these headings. Use colour-coding if you are going to continue to use it throughout the unit.
Ask students if they think there is any success criteria missing.
If students have missed any success criteria, teacher should ask leading questions.
Is there any success criteria they don’t understand? How can we re-write so that everyone understands what it means?
Organise the selected I Can success criteria statements on Learning Wall. Organise under headings and colour-code. Use string or ribbon to connect success criteria statements to marking guide and to examples on the Learning Wall.
You could also do this for just one element (introduction, climax) noting all Success criteria used; or you could introduce one at a time (e.g during a lesson on capital letters for proper nouns).
Knowing how to co-construct success criteria collaboratively, and using the process as a teaching and learning opportunity in your classroom, is one of the most effective ways to increase student and teacher clarity about learning expectations. Once created, students can refer back to the success criteria repeatedly during the unit of work and during the assessment, massively increasing their ability to achieve each criterion.
Sorting student success criteria into useful categories.
What if I don’t Have Time to Co-construct Success Criteria?
Writing success criteria (and finding the classroom time to co-construct) is a serious time issue for teachers.
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Bump It Up Walls and Learning Walls share striking similarities, often causing confusion. Many people inquire, ‘What sets Learning Walls apart from Bump It Up Walls?’ It’s a common question, given their resemblance.
Both Bump It Up Walls and Learning Walls serve as manifestations of the Visible Learning approach. They provide teachers with a means to assess their teaching by making student learning evident. These displays play a pivotal role in ensuring students comprehend essential information. Students also receive guidance on effective learning strategies, and develop the skills to assess their own progress.
Furthermore, both displays aim to bring clarity to learning outcomes. They feature aspirational examples and success criteria; however, it’s crucial to note that they are not identical.
So, what is the difference between Bump It Up Walls and Learning Walls?
A Bump It Up Wall shows a linear progression with different exemplars of work. It has a specific purpose. In contrast, a Learning Wall has a broader purpose, with many different elements, and it is not linear.
You can use both separately, and you can use a Bump It Up Wall within a Learning Wall. However, a Bump It Up Wall is NOT a Learning Wall by itself, even if it includes a LEARNING INTENTION AND SUCCESS CRITERIA.
What is a Bump It Up Wall?
A Bump It Up Wall is a visual display, that helps learners know how to ‘bump up’ to the next level of achievement. Bump It Up Walls are also known as visual rubrics – a visual rubric of achievement that makes outcomes ‘visible’!
This teacher has created a Bump It Up Wall that displays five levels, with space for students to grow. Each example includes annotations (underneath( that detail why that sample is at that level. Students at the lower examples can look to the upper examples, read the annotations and try to implement some of those criteria into their own work. This display is linear, moving from left-to-right, and is focussed on the production of a work sample.
What do you include in a Bump It Up Wall?
A Bump It Up Display showcases levelled exemplars of work, categorisng them as ‘good, better, best,’ . You can also benchmarking them according to your assessment/curriculum criteria (e.g., ‘C, B, A’ or ‘Sound, High, Very High’). These displays follow a linear or hierarchical format, moving either from left to right or bottom to top.
Educators can tailor Bump It Up Walls (BIUW) for various improvements, such as narrative writing, handwriting, mathematics, or even maintaining classroom cleanliness. They cater to students of all levels, with early years’ displays adopting a more pictorial approach.
We accompany each leveled exemplar with co-constructed success criteria or annotations that break down the elements defining that particular level. Students must understand how to progress from one level to the next, often achieved by meeting specific success criteria. In early years, we may use icons like a finger image for annotations, indicating elements like finger spaces.
Throughout an assessment cycle, students may place themselves at different levels on the BIUW. Through class discussions and feedback with their teacher, they have the opportunity to progress to higher levels.
Crucially, the Bump It Up Wall integrates feedback as an essential, albeit unseen, element. Students evaluate their progress alongside feedback and BIUW use, empowering them to ‘bump up’ their learning.
Your Bump It Up Wall Checklist:
Levelled examples of a completed piece of assessment (eg a procedure). These can be as simple as three levels (eg C-A) or you can include a level for each level of abiliity in your classroom. Lyn Sharrat (Clarity) suggests the latter is best practice. I argue it is not always practical or best use of a teacher’s time.
Annotations (success criteria) for each level. These are co-constructed with your students, and come from your marking rubric. In fact everything on your marking rubric is included on your annotations.
You can find out HOW I use bump it up walls within a feedback cycle HERE
What is a Learning Wall?
Learning Walls, centre around a LEARNING INTENTION and encompass various elements such as text scaffolds, word walls, and bump it up walls.
Moreover, Learning Walls actively support students throughout their learning journey. They serve as a vital reference point, aiding students in acquiring knowledge, understanding, and the application of skills. Any elements that contribute to building on students’ knowledge as they progress towards their LEARNING INTENTION are seamlessly incorporated. Strive to create interactive Learning Walls to maximize engagement.
Additionally, unlike a Bump It Up Wall (BIUW), the Learning Wall is not linear. It can grow in any direction based on the specific needs of your students.
A Learning Wall has the Learning Intention, Success Criteria, and the assessment rubric as central to its purpose. It is not linear – instead, the wall sprawls from these central ideas and spreads as ideas, examples, student samples and more are added. It becomes a working archive of student learning. Each element within the assessment rubric should be represented on the wall – for example, if student editing is part of the assessment, then effective editing should be explicitly taught and featured on this wall.
Why choose a learning wall?
Learning Walls revolve around the fundamental Learning Intention of the summative assessment, such as ‘To write a persuasive argument to convince an audience.’ This intention prominently graces the top of the Learning Wall in large text, ensuring visibility for all learners.
At the heart of the wall resides the marking guide or rubric. Its elements undergo deconstruction and co-construction into Success Criteria statements, functioning as a checklist for students to fulfill the Learning Intention. For instance, the ‘LANGUAGE FEATURES’ section in the guide transforms into Success Criteria like ‘I can use high modality words.’
Alongside these Success Criteria, teachers or students can contribute examples. Whether provided by the teacher or co-constructed with students, these examples may manifest as posters, post-it notes, or clear plastic pockets for easily removable learning resources.
The Learning Wall is versatile, accommodating student work examples with annotations showcasing strengths and areas for improvement, student goal statements, reference points (definitions, punctuation, and grammar), diagrams, photos, and drawings.
It’s a dynamic, non-linear space that grows in any direction based on the students’ needs. Elements are added as they are explicitly taught, diverging from the linear structure of a Bump It Up Wall (BIUW). Some teachers use paper strips or string to visually link each element back to the marking guide.
As your Learning Wall expands, it becomes a unique representation of your learners and their collective and individual needs. No two Learning Walls will look alike, emphasising the adaptability of this approach.
How can Learning Walls and Bump It Up Walls be Used Together?
Bump It Up Walls stand alone or are seamlessly incorporated into a learning wall. When integrated into your learning wall, establish clear connections between the annotations on your Bump It Up Wall and the criteria on your marking rubric. This is achieved through color-coding, the use of string, or other creative means!
In conclusion, whether used independently or in tandem, Bump It Up Walls (BIUW) and Learning Walls are transformative teaching tools.
Above all, I trust that this post has clarified any confusion between these two tools and has potentially inspired you to try implementing them in your classroom.
To kickstart your journey, I offer a variety of displays and writing exemplars, including visual writing rubrics, designed to save you a substantial amount of time! Subscribe now for unlimited access to the Teachie Tings eLibrary for a full year. Enjoy instant access to our comprehensive resources, featuring daily math slides, bump-it-up wall displays, exemplars, and a wide array of learning activities.
‘Flipping frogs’ goal mat provides privacy to students.
My freebie, Student Goals Venn Diagram, comes with a box for students to draw an identifying picture, instead of writing their name.
