#AlwaysInBeta: Cardinal Innovation Center Vision Starting to Manifest

Part of my vision for the Cardinal Innovation Center was for it to be a living resource for students to display their work and learning for future students to learn. The Sketchnotes, Memes and Booksnaps Galleries were designed to do just that.

The opportunity to be in the classroom part time, teaching two periods of history, have allowed this part of the vision to manifest. Last year, one of the first sketchnoting lessons I presented was to 11th grade US History students who were learning about the atomic bomb. The sketchnote to the right is one of five sketchnotes I collected, scanned and posted to the Sketchnotes Gallery.

This year, teaching 10th grade World History, in our World War II unit, we also cover the use the atomic bomb. My students, this year, were tasked with reading articles about survivors and facts/figures of the atomic bombs.

When it came time for them to sketchnote the atomic bomb, they were given access to the Atomic Bomb Sketchnotes page on cardinalinnovationcenter.org to see the symbols, organization and ideas on this topic created by previous students.

I didn't give them access immediately. I let them get started and when I noticed many coming to a "sketchnoting block", I had them look at last year's sketchnotes. This seemed to energize them. At the time this blog post was published, students were still working on the sketchnotes, but early returns are looking good. Stay tuned.

Another part of my vision was to give students an authentic audience to receive feedback on their work and inspire learning. If you follow me on Twitter, I am constantly tweeting images of students working or links to cardinalinnovationcenter.org showcasing their work.

I always "warn" students when I share their work to a worldwide audience. I get their permission first. The second I get a like, retweet or response to their work, I make it a point to announce it to them. I tell them their work is inspiring learning across the nation and world.  The looks in their eyes upon hearing this is priceless. The more I do this, the more visible their effort is. They ask more questions about how to improve the quality of their work. They feel empowered and emboldened knowing could be inspiring others. Little did they realize that what they are doing in the small, rural town in the "middle of nowhere" in Central California can have a larger impact.

The Galleries in the Cardinal Innovation Center are #AlwaysInBeta as new student artifacts get added each year. The way I present it one year can and will likely change the next. The one constant is sharing to an authentic audience. Share your work, that of students too, so we can learn from each others and remain #AlwaysInBeta.