Displaying Student Work

A final way to provide positive recognition is to display student work. However, it’s important to do this in a way that students don’t view it as a competition in which only the best students get their work posted. Everyone needs a fair chance to have his or her work on display. At Frank Buck’s school, each student has his or her own “spot” in the hallway outside the classroom. “That spot is labeled with the student’s name and often includes a photograph of the student. Throughout the year, that student’s work will appear in that same spot. Parents can walk through the hallways and know

exactly where to find the work their children have produced. Our hallways are lined with cork strips, which makes the process of posting and changing out work easy.”

However, students should also have a choice. If they truly don’t want to post their work, they shouldn’t be forced to display a product. Suzanne explains,

I have them select their work or have input; if they choose not to have anything displayed, that’s OK, but I want to figure out another way to highlight some success for that child. Some are uncomfortable about handwriting or artwork, and I don’t want to force them to put out in front of world something too personal to share. Some are such perfectionists; they are never satisfied with their work. And what you don’t want is for something that is intended to be positive to turn negative and engender bad feelings (such as, “mine looks so much worse than everyone else’s”). That’s when I turn to something that is a team effort; maybe display group work. That way, the members of group are all listed, but if a child is uncomfortable with written work, his [or her] ideas are included but not in the form of writing.

Finally, here's a great quote from @larryferlazzo: