My students gather around a piece of butcher’s paper. We have been studying a text and I want them to engage with it on a deeper level. 

“On this piece of paper, I would like you to all draw in silence a series of symbols that fully embody the themes and issues presented through the text.” 

They begin drawing. One girl jumps right in and draws a love heart - (The title of the play has ‘love’ in it). One girl writes some numbers - (The title of the play has the word ‘information’ in it.) Slowly another draws a puzzle with pieces missing; one draws a persons head with the tongue rolled out like a sheet of paper and numbers, symbols dripping out of the mouth; one draws a human being using binary code. More images flow and then they stop. We discuss.

“What images attract your attention? Engage you? Evoke emotion or cause you to question?”

Immediately students speak of the paper-tongued lady, the missing puzzle pieces and the human made up solely of information. When they were done, I asked,

“And who drew the heart?”

The kid that drew the heart (a bright and intelligent young lady I might add) begins to apologise, make excuses, explaining she can’t draw. She realises the superficiality of her work from our discussion. I interrupt her apology with the following,

“Thank you for failing.”

“MISSSSS!!!”, she declares. 

“Thank you for drawing what everyone else was first thinking. If you didn’t draw it someone else would have and now we can have a rich discussion because you pushed them to think further. We can also discuss why the play isn’t just this (pointed to heart) or this (pointed to the symbols). Thank you for failing, because if you didn’t then I have no purpose in this room.” 

She looked at me confused as my thanks was both heart-felt and genuine. It was not sarcastic or trite. It was warm and comforting. We then began to dissect why it wasn’t just about love or just about information and by the end of the lesson all the students in my class could see the rich layers within the text. 

This is one example of my new strategy - ‘Thank you for failing.’ I have been using it a lot over the last few weeks. At first there is the initial declaration of my name in horror, “MISSSSSS!!!” but when my students realise I am truly grateful for their error they begin to own their mistakes. This is the culture I want in my classroom.

My year 11’s already know my mantra - “If we aren’t failing, we aren’t learning.” They will heartedly joke that it is ok to ‘Fail in Drama’. They twist my words, but they do truly understand my intention. By creating a space where failing is valued, students become more open to taking risks, more likely to have a go answering a question and lastly become more resilient.

We need to change the language around failure to reverse the negative. When a student gives an incorrect answer to a question or makes an error in a practical task, harness it as a valuable learning experience rather than sighing and moving onto the next student. 

“Why did you think this was the answer?”
“This isn’t the answer so what do you think you may have missed?”
“Why didn’t this work out for you today?”
“What could we do better next time?”

And thank them. Thank them explicitly and whole-heartedly for their mistakes because if they were perfect all the time, there would be no need for teachers.

I wonder if you will like this post. I like that you might wonder about it. Most of all I like this routine in my classroom and wonder where it might take us next.  

Welcome to two of my favourite classroom phrases-  'I Like...' / 'I Wonder...'. 

I embedded this practice into my day-to-day teaching after attending The PBL Australia Conference. At this event presenters from The Buck Institute introduced us to 'Gallery Walks'. I don't believe this a new technique, nor do I claim it to be ground-breaking; however, it is an effective practice that can be beneficial in all classrooms. (Here is an example of one teacher implementing a 'Gallery Walk' in her language classroom.) During the conference we had to present an idea for a PBL unit in our class. We wrote up our concepts on butcher's paper and pinned them up around the room. This is where the 'Gallery Walk' came into play. We had to view and read each teachers proposal and contribute two thoughts on Post-It notes - one beginning with 'I Like...' and one beginning with 'I Wonder...'. When I collected my proposal I found the 'I Likes...' really affirmed my idea and the 'I Wonders..' challenged me to push it further. So I took this technique back into my classroom and the thinking that results from this simple routine continues to amaze me.

Here are some examples of how I have implemented in my classroom -

1. Gallery Walks - I use Gallery Walks hand-in-hand with these prompts. A Gallery Walk a great starting point for a new unit. One lesson I set up 15 iPads around the classroom with different photographs, video and other media loaded to the screen. Students had to go to each iPad, engage with the content (which was centred around various forms of puppetry) and write an 'I Like...' and an 'I Wonder...' for each station. We then discussed the comments as a whole group. As a teacher it informed me of the material they were engaging with and also alert me to the questions that stimulated their 'want' to learn. (Eg. I like how the puppeteer has made this character's emotions come to life through the physicality of the puppet. I wonder how the puppeteer was able to manipulate the joints of the puppet so that it moved in that manner.) I have also set up online Gallery Walks to maximise time. Students record their performances and I upload them to Edmodo. (Could be used for speeches, photos of work or written work too.) Students then comment under each recording using the terms 'I Like...' and 'I Wonder...' . (Eg. I like how you used your voice to convey emotion and engage the audience. I wonder if your could further enhance the character through their use of physical gesture.) Gallery Walks also work well with essays, visual products such as posters or photographs and audio material.)

2. Daily Feedback - At the end of 99% of my lessons students share and showcase their work, both practical and theoretical, with their peers. As we view this work as a class I ask the students to either provide verbal feedback using the terms 'I Like...' and 'I Wonder...' or provide written feedback (generally in the form of Post-It notes) again using the same terms. This either opens authentic verbal discussion about the work being presented or stimulates detailed written reflections in the individual students logbook. 

3. Teacher Feedback - I also manipulate these terms to guide my feedback to students both during the learning process and at formal assessment time. It reminds me to look for and name the positive in the first instance. It also provides a platform from which I can pose my constructive criticism in a way that is palatable for the student. (Eg. I like how you manipulated the elements of Drama to effectively engage the audience. However, I wonder if you could further refine your character to demonstrate more conviction and therefore extract more empathy from those watching.) By modelling this practice effectively the students further engage with the principals of kind, specific and helpful feedback which I believe these prompts clearly scaffold.

4. Exploring Texts - I often use these prompts as a way to discuss text. At the end of a chapter, stanza or a scene posing these sentence starters can lead to meaningful conversations. The 'I Likes...' open up moments in the chapter or scene that the student connected with. The 'I Wonders...' suggest predictions or pose questions that we as an audience would like the writer to answer as we delve further into the story. At the end of text it can also be a great way to being a review or extend on the lives of the characters after the event.

This language is now embedded in my classroom culture. My students are familiar with the terms and use them comfortably, with and without prompting, in classroom conversations. These two simple prompts have changed the way my students approach and respond to feedback. The feedback they provide each other is kind, specific and helpful as a result. The use of 'I Wonder...' compels them to critically think about their learning rather than feel their peers are critical of them. 'I Wonder...' also generates substantial exchanges in relation to new source material or texts. 

This technique takes literally no preparation in its simplest form and can be an effective tool for generating deeper thinking in the classroom. Using it regularly will also help shape the language of the classroom and the way students approach and respond to new material. I challenge you to use it daily for a week and let me know how you find it. I wonder if it will work as well for you as it has for me!

This is what Austin reminded me as a teacher:

1. Ok is not good enough - Always expect the best from your students. If your expectations are high yet realistic and they know you believe in them, they will do everything in their power to reach those standards. So believe they can achieve butterfly six and never settle for butterfly one unless you know it is the very best they can do.

2. Provide meaningful, ongoing feedback - For some students, providing meaningful, ongoing feedback is easy. They want to know how they are going and they seek help along the way. However, I was concerned for the students that wouldn’t show me their work prior to the due date. Usually this was either due to disorganisation or perfectionism. I have had students say “I don’t want to show it to you until I have it perfect.” My question back to them is how do they get it perfect if they are not consciously striving to find ways improve their work? The solution is to build a culture of constructive feedback into your class and insist that students share their work openly no matter what stage they are at. In all my assessments I have now built in progress dates where they must show me their work at different stages so that I can provide them with explicit, ongoing and meaningful feedback well in advance of the final due date. 

3. The importance of a daily ‘I like…’ / ‘I wonder…’ practice - In order to acclimatise my students to a classroom environment where a culture of constructive feedback was thriving, I now have a sharing session at the conclusion of the majority of my lessons. During this session students share the work they have completed that day. The remainder of the class provide them kind and specific feedback using the phrases ‘I like…’ and ‘I wonder…’. Sometimes we do this as a whole class discussion; sometimes we give 1:1 verbal feedback; sometimes we provide the feedback via post-it notes that the students can refer back to later; sometimes we use gallery walks. The result is a non-competitive class open to sharing and receiving constructive criticism. By practicing ‘I like..’ and ‘I wonder..’ daily, students are more open to meaningful, ongoing feedback from me as a teacher even when the stakes are high. 

4. Aim for a personal best - Not all students are going to be able to achieve butterfly six no matter how many drafts they complete. Some students will achieve butterfly six on their second attempt. This is why we must continue to differentiate in our classes and focus on the students personal best rather then the grade at the end. If a student has taken all their constructive criticism and attempted to apply it, but only reaches butterfly three then we as teachers need to look at ways to scaffold tasks for them, revise concepts or actively guide them in their next project so that hopefully they can reach a butterfly four next time. Similarly, if a student achieves a butterfly six on the first attempt then we need to raise the bar and have them aiming for something beyond a butterfly six. We must differentiate and we must make their personal best our overall goal. 

Further to these four points I conducted an experiment last week. I showed Austin’s butterfly to my daughter in Year 1 and a student I teach in Year 12. My daughter was drawing butterflies last Sunday (as little girls do) and I invited her to watch the story about Austin and his butterfly. She was engaged the entire time. When the video was over she asked me to put Austin’s butterfly on the screen, grabbed a pencil and some paper and began drafting, seeking feedback and redrafting. She didn’t get it in six attempts (to be honest she went through a whole ream of paper), but she understood the concept and began to understand the need to receive feedback in order to improve her work.