• home
  • store

ASCD Logo

  • ASCD.org
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Virtual Events
  • Navigate Applications
    • ASCD Activate
    • myTeachSource
    • PD In Focus
    • PD Online
    • Streaming Video
  • Help

    ASCD Customer Service

    Phone
    Monday through Friday
    8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

    1-800-933-ASCD (2723)

    Address
    1703 North Beauregard St.
    Alexandria, VA 22311-1714

    Complete Customer Service Details

  • Log In
ASCD Header Logo
Click to Search
  • Topics
    • Assessment and Grading
    • Building Racial Justice and Equity
    • Curriculum Design and Lesson Planning
    • Differentiated Instruction
    • Distance Learning
    • Instructional Leadership
    • Personalized Learning
    • Social-Emotional Learning
    • Browse All Topics
  • Books & Publications
    • Browse Books
    • New Books
    • Member Books
    • ASCD Arias
    • Quick Reference Guides
    • Education Update
    • ASCD Express
    • Newsletters
    • Meet the Authors
    • Write for ASCD
    • ASCD Books in Translation
  • Educational Leadership
    • Current Issue
    • Browse EL Archives
    • Digital EL
    • EL Podcast
    • Subscribe
    • Upcoming Themes
    • Write for EL
    • Tell Us About
    • Contact EL
  • Membership
    • Benefits
    • Team Memberships
    • Member-Only Webinars
    • Communities
  • Virtual Events
    • Webinars
    • Symposiums
    • Leadership Summit
    • PreK and K Conference
    • Annual Conference
    • Exhibit with Us
  • Professional Learning
    • ASCD Activate
    • PD Online Courses
    • PD In Focus
    • ASCD myTeachSource
    • On-Site & Virtual PD
    • Success Stories
    • Request an ASCD Speaker
    • Streaming Videos
    • White Papers
    • Emerging Leaders
  • Main
  • Archives
  • Write for Express
  • Subscribe

Tips for New Teachers

Classroom Displays: Keep the Focus on Student Work

Mike Anderson

Displays are essential tools for supporting students' learning and making the classroom feel welcoming and engaging. They're also something that most teachers enjoy doing—and sometimes overdoing! It's tempting to cover classroom walls with bright, beautiful—and teacher-chosen—charts, maps, posters, and photos. That's what I did the first few years I taught.

But I soon learned that having too much "stuff" on display can feel overwhelming to children. That's especially true when it's commercial stuff (no matter how beautiful) that they had no part in creating.

These days, when I'm visiting many classrooms as an elementary school consultant and coach, I'm more convinced than ever that classroom displays should consist mostly of work students have done themselves (along with a few essential informational pieces such as class rules, anchor charts, and reminders about classroom routines).

Now is a good time to pause and look at your classroom displays. Are they mostly student-generated? Are they organized in a way that invites children's attention and enlivens their learning?


Tips for Better Displays

Here are some tips to help you assess and spruce up your displays.

Include everyone. Are all students represented in some way? All students need to know that their efforts are valued, so display work from every child, not just the "best" students.

Display drafts and polished pieces. Showcasing drafts and finished work side by side tells children that we value the process of learning as much as we value the products. It's a great way to teach children that mistakes are an important part of learning, not something to be ashamed of or to hide. Teach children that a polished piece of writing next to a marked-up, crossed-out draft says, "Look how much I've grown!"

Ask for input from students. Giving students a say about what you showcase makes displays more interesting to them, reinforces their efforts, and fosters a feeling of community as they see that the classroom is something they create together.

Put pieces at eye level. That is, put pieces at the children's eye level. They can't enjoy looking at something they have to strain to see.

Choose the right space. Display paintings, writing samples, and other two-dimensional pieces on bulletin boards and other wall spaces. Keep the tops of bookshelves clear for three-dimensional work such as dioramas and models. If you can, create a little more display space with simple wire shelving (either freestanding or wall-mountable) from a hardware store.

Control clutter. Leave ample blank space around everything you display. If you have no room for blank space, put up fewer displays or put fewer pieces in each display. You can always post items in rotation. Remember, too, that less is always more where displays are concerned. Overdoing displays, even those of students' work, can overstimulate children and interfere with your efforts to create a calm classroom environment.

Keep displays fresh. After displays have been up for a couple of weeks, students generally stop looking at them. Be vigilant about taking down work that's no longer relevant.


Sending a Message with Displays

Displaying student work sends several important messages to students, staff, and visitors:

  • As teachers, we value what students do.
  • This is the students' classroom as much as the teacher's.
  • In this classroom, students share their work and learning with one another.

Students will naturally look at their own work more frequently than they'll look at commercial pieces. It is their work, after all. Seeing their own work on display not only boosts students' sense of belonging and significance in the room, but also helps them learn from their classmates and see a greater purpose behind their work. All of these things can help lead to greater academic engagement and deep, meaningful learning.

Mike Anderson is a Responsive Classroom professional development specialist. A 2004 recipient of the Milken National Educator Award, he has 17 years of experience as a classroom teacher, workshop presenter, and school consultant. He is the author of the ASCD book The Well-Balanced Teacher: How to Work Smarter and Stay Sane Inside the Classroom and Out and What Every 4th Grade Teacher Needs to Know About Setting Up and Running a Classroom (Northeast Foundation for Children).

ASCD Express, Vol. 6, No. 13. Copyright 2011 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.

ASCD Express

Ideas from the Field

Subscribe to ASCD Express, our free email newsletter, to have practical, actionable strategies and information delivered to your email inbox twice a month.

Subscribe Now

Permissions

ASCD respects intellectual property rights and adheres to the laws governing them. Learn more about our permissions policy and submit your request online.

  • Policies and Requests
  • Translations Rights
  • Books in Translation

  • ASCD on Facebook (External Link)
  • ASCD on Twitter (External Link)
  • ASCD on Pinterest (External Link)
  • ASCD on Instagram (External Link)
  • ASCD on LinkedIn (External Link)
  • ASCD on Youtube (External Link)

About ASCD

  • About Us
  • Contact Us / Help
  • Governance
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • News & Media
  • Government Relations
  • Whole Child

Get Involved

  • Membership
  • Educator Advocates
  • Affiliates
  • Emerging Leaders
  • Connected Communities
  • Student Chapters
  • Professional Interest Communities

Partner with Us

  • Partners
  • ASCD Job Ramp
  • Advertisers
  • Sponsors & Exhibitors
  • Distributors
ASCD Logo

1703 North Beauregard St.
Alexandria, VA 22311-1714

MISSION: ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

© 2021 ASCD. All Rights Reserved.