Data Walls In the Classroom: How To Create Your Own Data Wall

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If you keep up with the blog, you know that this year I have had to work very hard to motivate my students. After creating my proactive language anchor chart, I decided there was more that had to be done. This is when I created my classroom data wall. It takes a lot for some students to take responsibility for their learning, and data walls in the classroom help with that.

On my data wall, I have a graph of the students’ most recent district test averages, a list of all of the 5th-grade TEKS, and a breakdown of the STAAR test.

 5th Grade TEKS List

 

The point of my data wall isn’t to prepare for any state test, but instead to show the kids where they are at and where they need to be. It puts some things into perspective for a lot of my students.

The graph shows the students where they are compared to the district and my fellow teacher’s class. My kids aren’t winning and they don’t like it.

I also have a list of the 5th-grade TEKS located on the wall so the students can see what they are responsible for knowing by the end of the year.

Most teachers, myself included until now, never really talk to the students about the learning standards. But why? The kids should be held accountable, know what their strengths are, and know where they struggle the most. Only then are they able to make a change. My students know exactly what TEKS they are weak in and can tell you exactly what they are doing to improve.

With this data wall, I give the impression to my students that if they master all those TEKS on the wall throughout the year, there is no way they won’t make a 100 on the state test. Now, do I believe that? No. With a rate of 36% of my kids passing the year before, statistically, there is hardly a chance. However, I make my kids believe it is a possibility and that it could and will happen. Sometimes, all a kid needs is just for someone to believe in them. So, that is exactly what I am going to do. My first step to motivating and holding high expectations, a data wall.

So far, it has been a game-changer. Maybe this could be a great addition to your classroom as well.  What do you think about data walls in the classroom?

If you are interested in teaching, head on over to our teaching page for some other great ideas.