Gallery Walk

This blog post is about the need to create and implement authentic virtual learning experiences for students in wake of COVID-19 social distancing precautions and how to adapt an in-person student activity to fit a virtual classroom.

If you were to walk into a typical classroom setting and observe a Gallery Walk, you would see students out of their seats - analyzing and discussing various images/texts that are posted around the classroom as if they were strolling around an art gallery. You would see students working together and engaging in rich, academic discourse. You would see Michelle observing a black and white image of the 1930 Dust Bowl, recording facts that stick out to her. You would see Anthony read and re-read To Think of Time by Walt Whitman - audibly counting the couplets with his group members.

A general definition of a Gallery Walk is a technique that allows students to be actively engaged as they walk throughout the classroom. Students work together in small groups to analyze sources, share ideas, and respond to meaningful questions, documents, and images. In a nutshell, this teaching strategy provides students an opportunity to interact with each other and dive deeper into the content. A Gallery Walk is engaging, active, and encourages critical thinking. 

“We need to accept the current circumstances and make a commitment to creatively adapt our beloved in-person teaching strategies to fit a virtual classroom environment as best we can.”

In a world of COVID-19 precautions, social distancing, and remote learning environments - the thought of this activity might be enough to bring a teacher to tears. Teachers are yearning to give students a learning experience that challenges and motivates, but feel like this is “virtually impossible” - literally.

Virtual Learning, Remote Learning, Distance Learning - whatever you want to call it - can be authentic, rigorous, and active.  We need to accept the current circumstances and make a commitment to creatively adapt our beloved in-person teaching strategies to fit a virtual classroom environment as best we can. 

Student-centered activities that seem impossible to plan in a virtual environment are, in fact, possible.

“Virtual Learning, Remote Learning, Distance Learning - whatever you want to call it - can be authentic, rigorous, and active.”

How to Plan & Implement a Virtual Gallery Walk

It all starts with your virtual set-up. You will need to choose a platform to organize and facilitate your virtual Gallery Walk. Will you use Zoom? Google Slides? Or a combination of the two? An organized set-up and plan will ensure that there are no hiccups when students begin the activity - just like planning for in-person instruction!

Step 1: Create Your Gallery.

Copy/paste your Gallery Walk sources to Google Slides. (Remember to change sharing permissions to “view only”). You can also set your slide transition timers so that students have a specific amount of time to view and discuss each source - just make sure students are viewing the slides in presentation mode! You may want to include clear instructions on each slide - What should students discuss at each source? Are students answering a set of questions?

Step 2: Meet With Students.

Host an initial video meeting with all students to explain your Virtual Gallery Walk expectations and instructions. This also provides an opportunity to activate prior knowledge and get the discussion started. Schedule and provide the video link well in advance to ensure that all students can attend.

Step 3: Assign Small Groups.

Create break-out rooms for small groups of students to collaborate and analyze the sources in your pre-made presentation (remember to post your slides to Google Classroom or provide a link in the Zoom chat feature). Students will break-out after the initial video meeting to complete their Virtual Gallery Walk.

Step 4: “Walk” through your Gallery!

As the host in Zoom, you can hop from each break-out room to check in on student progress and ask meaningful questions. You can also send out mass chat messages to each breakout group. Use this feature to send friendly reminders (“Remember to explain ______”) or keep students on schedule (“You should be on Slide 2 now”). You may want to draft 4-5 probing questions to ask via chat message or during your small group check-ins!

Step 5: Wrap-Up.

Students will automatically be bumped back to the original video meeting. Host a quick closing meeting with students to discuss answers and address any misconceptions. Elect a speaker from each small group to share the group’s responses, ideas, and questions. Want students to complete an Exit Ticket? Try using Google Forms or Socrative and view data instantly!

“Student-centered activities that seem impossible to plan in a virtual environment are, in fact, possible.”

Other Things to consider:

Behavior Norms & Expectations: Remember that remote learning is still new and foreign to students. Be sure to set and model expectations for how students should collaborate and discuss. In your initial video meeting, consider using the Raise Your Hand feature in Zoom to ensure that students are taking turns sharing ideas and responses.

Assigning Break-out Rooms: To keep things organized, you may want to pre-assign small groups before your initial video meeting. When it’s time to break-out, students will be automatically shuffled into their correct groups. Learn How!

Time Limits: To ensure students are on-task and using their time wisely, you can use the Zoom break-out room feature to set a time limit. Once their time is up, students will automatically rejoin the original video meeting. Be sure to inform your students that they will have X amount of time!

Submitting Work: If you want students to take notes and answer questions as a group, consider instructing students to use a shared document (Google Docs). Small groups can add ideas, responses, and questions to the document as they analyze each source. Students can submit their work to you by sharing the document at the end of the activity.

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